Summary
Summary SLK 310 Chapter 1,2,4,6
- Course
- SLK310 (SLK310)
- Institution
- University Of Pretoria (UP)
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Chapter 1Child Psychology: An Introduction to Normal and Abnormal
Behavior in Children and Adolescence
Historical views: A brief retrospective
- Prior to the 19th century children were not protected/valued
- In ancient Greece and Rome, disability, physical handicap or deformity was seen as an economic
burden and a social embarrassment = scorned, abandoned, put to death . seen as servants to the
state
- 18th century religious authorities condemned children’s unusual behavior = possession
- Obedience was the guiding principle in raising children, treated harshly/indifferently by parents +
abusive acts by parents the norm
Emergence of Social Conscience: from kill to cure
- in the 19th and 20th century, conditions improved due to an extension of ethnic well-being from
adults to children with "mental defects”.
- John Locke (17th century) pioneered a Sympathetic developmental model: believed in individual
rights and novel opinion that children should be raised with thought and care not indifference and
harsh treatment.
- Jean Marc treated "mental arrest" initiated a new era of a helping orientation toward special
children, initially focusing on the care, treatment and training of people with “mental defectives”
- Benjamin Rush pioneered a medical model of disease: argues that children are incapable of
insanity like adults, due to immaturity of their developing brains prevented them from obtaining the
mental events that caused insanity.
- moral insanity term grew in acceptance as means of accounting for non intellectual forms of
abnormal child behavior
- advances in general medicine, physiology & neurology = moral insanity view of psychological
disorders replaced by the organic disease model (emphasized more humane forms of treatment) &
children needing more guidance and support
Early Biological Attributions: Body Begins
- Late 19th cent. views still focused on blame e.g "Masturbatory insanity" : views masturbation as
morally wrong and sinful, medical opinion was harmful to physical health, psychiatric assertion that
sexual overindulgence caused insanity
- The mental health/hygiene movement lead to "humane treatment" : changing attitudes towards
mental disorders. Clifford Beers efforts: mental disorders a form of disease, criticized societies
ignorance and indifference & sought to prevent mental disease by raising standards of care
- Disabled treated as contagious and with hostility. remained responsible for social ills and blamed
for crimes during the alarmist period that followed. Attitudes dire pessimism, hostility and disdain
Early Psychological attributions: Malleable Minds
- The 20th cent. witnessed a resurgence of focus on social and cultural factors contribution to
mental illness resulting in "diagnostic nosologies" (Written classification of diseases)
1) Psychoanalysis: linked disorders in adulthood to historical roots in childhood making
psychopathology treatable and preventable. experiences play a necessary role in
psychopathology. Course of mental disorders not seen as inevitable anymore but could be helped
if provided with the proper environment, therapy
● Phenonmenological (descriptive) approach favoured currently over psychoanalytic theory
● Current nosologies (classifying mental disorders into categories) non developmental
approaches = attempt to find common denominators that describe the manifestation of a
disorder at any age
2) Behaviourism: pioneered treatment by showing that fear is learned therefore can be unlearned'
● Pavlov’s classical conditioning and John Watson (“father of behaviorism”)
● Watson Scientific investigation of freud’s ideas = developed theory of emotions which he
applied from normal to abnormal behavior
● families, communities, societal & cultural values play a strong role in determining how
, successful current child- rearing philosophies are at benefiting children
Evolving forms of treatment
Progressive legislation
Abnormal behavior Definition
- more often reflects a difference of degree and kind.
- criteria of a psychological disorder
1) Emotional distress - shows some degree of distress, suffering experienced by self/others e.g
DBD
2: Functional impairment - interferes with functioning e.g ADHD their behavior indicates a degree
of disability like impairment that substantially interferes or limits activity in 1 or more important
areas of functioning (physical, behavioral, emotional, cognitive)
3 Distress and disability increase risk of further suffering or harm (e.g death, pain, disability, loss
of freedom)
*these definitions exclude circumstances in which reactions are expected and appropriate as
defined by cultural background . Should consider individual and situational circumstances.
Culturally atypical - not expectable or appropriate e.g PTSD
The Dangers of Stigma
1.Developmental pathways
- the timing and sequence of age appropriate competencies/ behaviors the child develops
throughout his/her life is crucial to diagnosis
- Equifinality: set of different circumstances/factors/early childhood experiences (inputs) that lead to
the same diagnosis (outputs) e.g Major depression
- Multi-finality: sets of same circumstances (inputs) that lead to different diagnoses (outcome) e.g
verbal abuse by parents
- pathways that lead to same similar outcome : genetic patterns, familial characteristics,
environment
- individuals with the same specific disorder express the features of their disturbances differently
2. Risk and resilience
- Risk factors: several risk factors(stressors) increase the chance of maladjustment
(outcome) in children and teenagers e.g poverty, serious caregiver deficits, parental
mental illness, divorce, homelessness & racial prejudice = increased vulnerability to
psychopathology.
- Protective factor: a personal or situational variable that reduces the chances for a child
to develop a disorder
- Poverty limits treatment and opportunity
- non-accidental trauma: neglect and abuse have severe effects
- sex differences: internalising v.s externalising = Anxiety and ADHD
- Emergent sexuality in adolescence
- Cultural differences: effect treatment and expression e.g depression
• Resilience: varies according to type of stressor, context, similar factors. some children
resilient to some factors but not others, may vary overtime and change
- a direct causal pathway rarely leads to a particular outcome
- protective factors: personal or situational factors which reduce the chances for a
child to develop a disorder.
, 3. Competence
- the ability to successfully adapt in the environment.
- developmental competence reflected in the child’s ability to use internal and external
resources to achieve a successful adaption
- developmental tasks: including broad domains of competence such as conduct & academic
achievement. tell how children typically progress within each domain as they grow
Modern Views: the best and worst of time
- Contemporary psychology recognizes the importance of childhood as a "valuable period"
requiring love, protection and understanding.
- 60 % of children who have diagnosis in childhood also have in adulthood.
Chapter 2
Theories and Causes of Childhood Disorders
Case study: De-pathologising
- Adjusting to different cultural norms
- Language barrier, English
- Child acting out = felt like not getting attention
- Ability to integrate what hearing, and what understanding differ.
- Role of his anxiety: poor concentration not just ADHD
- Never 1 single cause
Theoretical Foundations: causes and comorbidity
Developmental Psychopathology: Typologies & timelines
- An approach to describing and studying disorders of childhood, adolescence that
emphasizes the importance of developmental tasks and processes.
- useful framework for organizing study of abnormal child psychology around milestones and
sequences in physical, cognitive, social, emotional and educational development
- This perspective recognizes that a key factor to understanding childhood disorders is the
temporal(time) dimension .
- The child's maladaptive behavior relative to what is normative their age & developmental
level e.g ADHD
- This requires an understanding of the sequence of developmental competencies in children
which relates to multiple factors e.g Eures.
- Biological, familial, sociocultural factors in predicting & understanding developmental
changes
etiology- the study of causes of childhood disorders considering how biological,
psychological & environmental processes interact to produce outcomes overtime.
There are 4 assumptions embedded in etiological models:
1. Multiply determined
2. Discontinuity & continuities
3. Child & Environment are interdependent
4. Change as typical/ atypical
Developmental Psychopathology: the context
Developmental Pathways: Stability and change
- The concept of developmental pathways draws attention to disorders occurring in the
context of different stages or aspects of a child’s lifespan
• Developmental pathways are unique age-dependent aspects of a child’s life such as
relationships, educational demands or developmental milestones
• Each stage of life has unique goals (typical or atypical changes)
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