Social Development and Culture

Hello again!

Here's a little bit about me and the cultural experiences that helped shape the person I am today.

As a parent and future teacher, it is really important to me to help my children and students develop social skills. The culture we know growing up influences our ability to adapt socially. Crain places emphasis on prosocial behavior, such as sharing, helping, cooperation, and altruism, in order to influence students by exposure to the appropriate models (2011, p. 210). 

I am the youngest of two girls. My parents divorced when I was two and my sister was five years old. Prior to my birth, my parents moved from California to Illinois, then ended up in Texas where I was born and lived until age five. Just before kindergarten started for me, we moved back to California where we have lived since 1987. I had a very weak relationship with my father for my whole life, only seeing him every few years, and talking to him only occasionally on the phone. We grew slightly closer before he passed away in 2007.

My mother grew up with five brothers and sisters. She graduated high school, but very few people in my extended family have graduated from or even attended college. Her father was in the military for a short time but spent most of his life as a mechanic and her mother went to college, but I'm not sure if she earned a degree. My father also graduated from high school.

Since my mother was a single mom and my father did not consistently provide child support, my mom worked a lot. I remember that she worked three jobs when I was in kindergarten. I learned then about the values that are developed through hard work. My sister and I did not like that my mom had to work so much, but we understood that she was doing it to provide for us. My mom taught me about attitude and dedication. She never called in sick to work or complained about her situation, and she did not make excuses for why she couldn't do something. I really appreciate her modeling this behavior for me because I now have the same attitude in regards to my work. 

Just like my grandparents and parents, I grew up in a lower middle-class household. Growing up, everyone in my family was Caucasian, although we are more blended now. I attended public schools in a middle-class neighborhood with very few minorities. Some people in my extended family are more prejudiced towards others, but my mother is not and she taught me a lot about open-mindedness. We were never truly poor, but we always lived paycheck-to-paycheck. Growing up in this way taught me about prioritizing my wants from my needs. There were times that I wanted to be involved in more social situations, such as playing sports or attending social activities, but we could not afford it most of the time. We did take time to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter ever year as an extended family. We love to eat lots of standard American foods on special occasions.

My mother's open-mindedness and lack of guidelines did play a part in regards to the rules of courtship and marriage in my family. My sister dated very young and was involved in some unhealthy relationships as a teenager, and I married my first real boyfriend by age 19 although that relationship did not last. Our choices were also shaped by a lack of a father figure in our lives since my mother never dated or remarried. As adults, my sister and I now have strong families and relationships but it took some work to get here.

I'll be back soon. See you!
Elizabeth

Reference

Crain, W. (2011). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Boston, MA: Pearson.