DAYCARE

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DAYCARE

• KINDS OF DAYCARE
• P. 106/128

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BOWLBYS VIEWS

• Bowlbys views were taken as evidence that women
  should stay at home and look after their
  children.
• But this is an interpretation of his maternal
  deprivation hypothesis. He did not specify this.
• Operation Headstart was designed in America to
  give deprived pre-schoolers a chance to start
  school on a par with their middle class peers

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Day nurseries p.107/129

• Kagan (1980)studied nursery care in Boston.
• PROCEDURE
• 33 infants in daycare were compared to a matched
  control group who stayed at home.
• They were assessed for 2 years. Attachment,
  cognitive achievement and sociability were
  measured.
• There were no large differences between the
  children in daycare and those at home.

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Swedish study Andersson 1992

• Aims to investigate the effects of day care
• Procedure 100 children aged 3-4 from lower and
  middle class homes were studied, and re-assessed
  at age 8 and 13.
• Findings School performance was best in children
  who had entered daycare before age 1, and worst
  in children who had no early daycare.
• Conclusion daycare had beneficial effects

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EVALUATION OF ANDERESSONS STUDY

• It was conducted in Sweden. There may be
  cultural variations
• A similar study in Texas found poorer peer
  relationships and emotional health.
• In Sweden, infants spend the first year of life
  with both parents, due to a special parental
  leave system.
• Daycare in Sweden is given a lot of financial
  support, and staff child ratios are very low.
• Carers in Sweden are highly trained.

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CHILDMINDERS

• People often feel this is preferable because it
  is more similar to care in their own home.
• MAYALL AND PETRIE studied childminded children
  under age 2 in London.
• Findings quality of care varied considerably
• BRYANT found some children were disturbed. This
  could be because some childminders do not feel
  they need to interact with the infants.

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COGNITIVE, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Child care is likely to affect a childs
  sociability, whether positively or negatively.
• SHEA 81 videotaped 3 4 year olds during 1st 10
  weeks at nursery. Sociability increased.
• CLARKE-STEWART et al 94 150 children in Chicago
  were studied. Those in day care had more
  advanced peer relationships.
• PENNEBAKER found that shy and unsociable children
  did not benefit from daycare, as they found it
  threatening.

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Evidence suggests that day care can have positive
  effects on cognitive development.
• BURCHINAL et al IQ of children entering school
  was higher in children who had attended nursery
• BROBERG et al children were tested at age 8 in
  Sweden. Ones who had been at nursery did better
  on verbal and mathematical tests.

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• ANDERSSON Boys in particular benefited from day
  care
• CLARKE-STEWART found that more than 6 hours a
  day of day care was detrimental to young
  children.
• TIZARD found that conversations between mother
  and child were more complex than between nursery
  teacher and child.

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EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Bowlbys attachment theory claims that separation
  from the primary caregiver may cause irreversible
  emotional effects
• BELSKY AND ROVINE supported this.
• They found an increased risk of infants
  developing insecure attachments if day care had
  begun before the infant was 1 year.

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EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Clarke-Stewarts findings contradicted Bowlbys
  claim. They used a sample of 500 children
• 15 month olds in high intensity care (30hours
  per week)
• Compared to
• 15 month olds in low intensity care (10 hours per
  week)
• They found no difference in their reaction in the
  Strange Situation. Both groups were equally
  distressed, showing a strong attachment bond to
  their caregiver.

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INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND DAY CARE

• Some children benefit from day care whilst others
  do not.
• EGELAND AND HEISTER investigated the effect of
  daycare on both securely and insecurely attached
  children.
• Securely attached negative effect
• Insecurely attached positive effect
• This may be because day care compensated for
  insecure attachment

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NICHD STUDY

• This involved the study of 1,000 mothers and
  their babies at 6 months and 15 months. They
  found 2 important variables
• Maternal sensitivity
• Quality of care.
• Those who had mothers low in sensitivity and were
  in poor quality care were less emotionally
  secure.

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CONCLUSIONS OF NICHD STUDY

• The influence of day care on social development
  is modest
• High quality care is associated with better
  cognitive performance and language skills

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EVALUATION OF NICHD STUDY

• High quality study because it compared several
  types of day care
• Selection of Ps was carefully controlled
• Long term consequences to age 12 were considered

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IMPROVING DAY CARE

• It is the quality of day care which seems to be
  the key variable.
• CONSISTENCY OF CARE If a daycare centre has a
  high turnover of staff, infants will suffer bond
  disruption
• QUALITY OF CARE if a child is given a large
  amount of verbal interaction, stimulating toys
  and games, care which is sensitive to the
  infants needs, it improves that childs
  development.
• Staff therefore need to be highly trained

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EFFECT OF SEPARATION ON PARENTS

• Day care can be distressing for parents. They
  may feel guilty about leaving their child, so one
  way to lessen this effect is to create nurseries
  in places of work.
• BROWN AND HARRIS found that mothers who dont
  work and stay at home with young children are
  more likely to become depressed
• SCHAFFER found that children of working mothers
  tend to be more confident in social settings

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THE END

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• Evaluation those who entered daycare before 1
  were from higher socioeconomic status

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• Type of careRatio of adult to childContact with
  childrenLanguage skills at 18 monthsLanguage
  skills at 3 yearsAbility to share and
  co-operateRelativesChildminderNursery

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MELHUISH STUDY 1990