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key features of social development - Coggle Diagram
key features of social development
Infancy (0-2 years)
Interacting with carers
Infants appear to have an in-built tendency to interact with carers. By 2 months, they may start to smile at human faces.
At 3 months, they will respond when adults talk. At 5 months, infants can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar
people. Infants make their first relationships as they form an emotional attachment to carers. In the later stages of
infancy, infants will play alongside other children (parallel play
Early childhood (3-4 years)
First social learning
Young children are emotionally attached and dependent on the adults that care for them. Children begin to learn social
roles and behaviour within their family context (first or primary socialization). A family environment might provide a
‘safe base’ from which to explore social relationships with other children through play. Children will learn to co-operate
with other children (co-operative play). As children grow older they become increasingly independent and begin to
form friendships based on a sense of mutual trust. Friendships become increasingly important as children grow
towards adolescence. Children may begin to form social networks or ‘circles’ of friends who like and who agree with
each other.
Adolescence (9-18 years)
Secondary social learning
During adolescence a person’s sense of self-worth maybe more influenced by their peers than by their family.
Adolescents copy the styles of dress, beliefs, cultural values and behaviours of their own network of friends. Historically
adolescence was seen as a time of ‘storm and stress’. Adolescents have to cope with the development of their own
sexuality (the impact of sex hormones at puberty) and the social transition to full independence from the family. Recent
research suggests that many adolescents experience a smooth transition to adult roles without serious conflict with
parents.
Adulthood (19-65 years)
Maturity
During early adulthood, friendship networks continue to be very important. For most people, early adulthood is
dominated by forming intimate partnerships and by the need to find employment/establish a career. For many people,
marraiage and parenthood represent major social developments in their life.
In middle adulthood individuals experience time pressures that may limit their social activity. Mature adults may have
to split their time between work, caring for parents, other family commitments and wider social activities. Some mature
adults report a reduction in the amount of social activity due to these pressures
Older adulthood (65+ years)
Following retirement, older adults have more free time to develop friendship through taking up new hobbies, pastimes
and travel. Others may choose to increase their involvement with close friends and family rather than extend their
network of social contacts