Day Care Centers, Family Structure, and Socio-Economic Status: A Study in Early Socialization.

N

44

Woods Charitable Foundation, Inc., Lincoln, NE.

Child Development; Day Care; Day Care Centers; Early Childhood Education; Early Experience; Family Influence; Family Structure; Field Studies; Identification (Psychology); Interviews; Parent Child Relationship; Self Concept; Social Adjustment; Socialization; Socioeconomic Background; Socioeconomic Influences

This paper examines the impact of family structure variables, family socioeconomic status, and participation in center-based preschool day care programs on the social-psychological development of children in terms of their affective identification with parents, self-concept development, and a variety of indices of social behavior adjustment. Attention is given to four related topics: (1) the impact of day care centers on the socialization of young children; (2) causal factors in primary socialization; (3) theoretical implications of the symbolic-interactionist orientations (i.e., the relationship between identification with significant others, self concept, and social behavior); and (4) some hypotheses of family sociologists about the relationship between institutional encroachments on family functions and changes in the cohesiveness of the family unit. Data were obtained by structured interviews with a parent and a child from 286 families, half of which had children enrolled in day care centers. Data and conclusions are discussed. (Author/SB)

1978

ED143429