The Developmental Niche

In presenting an introduction to the various theories of child development, our course and textbook introduced the concept of The Developmental Niche.  This was a theory first published in 1986 by Charles Super and Sara Harkness ( Super, C. M., & Harkness, S. (1986). The developmental niche: A conceptualization at the interface of child and culture. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 9, 545-569).

This Developmental Niche consists of the physical settings and conditions of the child, the childrearing customs of the culture in which the child is raised, and the childrearing beliefs and goals of the parents.  All three of these aspects are described as interacting in a system to influence a child's development.

Of the three factors contributing to the Developmental Niche, it was the concept of "Childrearing beliefs and goals" that most intrigued me.  My interest was mainly sparked by my experience that parents' goals and desires for their children are so often in conflict with the other aspects of their child's Developmental Niche, as described above.

If one were to look back at our history, or even to more traditional societies today, this conflict might not be so evident.  Throughout most of human history, the various options open to a child were relatively closed.  The child of a peasant/slave would grow up to be a peasant/slave, the child of a elite/noble would grow up to be a noble.  Parents could not realistically hope for a different or "better" future for their children.  Their childrearing goals would mainly be to train their child well to properly fill the position in society they were destined to fill.

With the advent of industrial society and the breakdown of rigid class structures, however, it is now considered normal (almost compulsory) that a parent would want a "better life" for their children.  For a lower-class parent to hope for their children to grow up and join them in their same lower-class life would almost be seen as negligence.  Instead, parents are expected to raise their children to better themselves, to "move up" in society.  In our American society, our belief in the equality of opportunity and that anyone (if they work hard enough) can rise from the lowliest births to the pinnacles of our society is considered to be a natural fact beyond debate.

But how does one raise a child to advance in society and attain this bright future?  Here is where the aspirations and hopes of parents often meet the grim reality of the other two aspects that compose the developmental niche.  Not only do the physical realities of their situation limit the child's opportunities for social advancement, but parents are often completely ignorant of the skills (personal, social and professional) that their child will need to achieve these goals.

In my own life, I have experienced much the same situation.  I grew up in a Midwest, rust-belt town where my father worked at blue-collar factory jobs, and there were few other opportunities.  My parents encouraged me to attain higher education and pursue a professional career, but they had no experience with this kind of life and no idea how to impart skills that would help me succeed.  Instead, I was instilled with what they knew and grew up with:  the values and habits of a good, blue-collar worker.  I was taught the importance of being on time, taking care of my duties and not creating trouble for my peers, deference to authority, and all the other values they had been raised with.  Other vital factors such as ambition, networking and social skills, and an entrepreneurial spirit were not something that my parents or most other members of my community were familiar with.

A creative and fairly successful attempt to totally reform this Developmental Niche for under-privaledged children and help them attain greater success can be seen in the Harlem Childrens' Zone project  .  Rather than trying to simply improve education, this project attempts to improve all aspects of  a child's Developmental Niche.  Parents are taught new and more empowering childrearing and home making techniques, and entire neighborhoods are potentially transformed through their "one block at a time" method.

It's also interesting to look at the role of the Developmental Niche in maintaining social class from the opposite end of the social spectrum.  A recent study by Paul Piff (Higher social class predicts unethical behavior) examined the prevalence of unethical behavior across social classes.  Their findings were that unethical behavior, lying and cheating were more prevalent among upper class individuals, particularly when lying or cheating would protect their wealth or social status.  One can see here how the Developmental Niche these upper class people have grown up with have pre-disposed them to see the usefulness of necessary lies when it comes to maintaining their wealth and social status.