Observation of a child behavior

Observation of a child behavior

Introduction

Observation child study is one of an essential method of research in which the person doing the research observes the behavior of a child or even the target individual systematically without also interfering or influencing the action of the child. This kind of methodology is used by researchers when there are ethical concerns in using other research methods such as experimental design. The process of observation provides the researchers with real exposure of life concerning the child, thus providing valuable information which is vital in informing the clinical practices. Also, the observation study helps the research and the parent to be able to understand their child effectively in terms of the strengths and the weakness of the child and how the responsible people around the child can positively support the child to grow well now that they understand the child’s character and behavior well. The essay, therefore, provides an in-depth analysis and discussion of the kind of behavior observed of a girl at a birthday party with her mother.

The kind of behaviors observed

When one is doing an observation of child behavior, they must remain objective so that they do not affect the result by judging from their expectations. Also, the researcher must remain unknown to the child to reduces the chances of the child to behave in a way that is not her real behavior and socialization. There are several behaviors that I observed as the girl interact, socialize, and participate in the matters of the party. Some of the observed behavior include the girl was actively involved in all the activities been undertaken during the birthday party. She is also cautious and careful while undertaking her actions at the party, sometimes she has uncontrolled yelling, crying, and screaming when something unusual happens to her. She is confident in her expression and while performing all her activities during the birthday party.

Further, the girl is showing some avoidance behavior with the girl trying to avoid some particular people in the party. Also, he loves doing household chaos like cooking, washing, and cleaning. Since her time at a birthday party, she has been willingly participating in all cooking activities. Other observed behavior includes different languages spoken by people though they had a common language English.

Understanding the girl’s behavior through the lens of group dynamics

Their memberships greatly influence the development of a child in different social groups as they grow up. Group dynamism lens holds that people within a group are guided by norms, principles, values, and rules. The group in which a child finds herself influences and determines the kind of behavior the girl will portray in public and a social place. Also, the lens of group dynamism states that if an event is affecting one person within the group, it will, to a greater extent, affect almost all members of the group. In this relation, therefore, the environment, roles, values, and norms regarding birthdays, to a significant extent, determines the kind of behavior the girl showed. For instance, the roles and rules of birthdays dictate that attendants need to be active in participating in party activities, which made me observe the girl been actively participating in activities of the birthday. Although, as members of the group take part, there are chances that some will negatively interfere with the actions and the principles of the other, which made the girl when offended, turning into yelling and uncontrollable crying.

The influence that gender, culture, and class has towards these behaviors

The theories of development explain different factors more so external that affect the event of a child and even old age people. The behaviors observed in the child can be explained as a result of the influence of gender, culture, and social class that the girl grew in. According to Erikson’s theory of psychological development, the behavior of a child is an outcome, and a result of social interactions and experiences. Children are born without any social action. They acquire these behaviors from the environment that they find themselves in. Since most of the time, the girl spends her time with their mother, and she will find herself doing what her mother always does. This is because those are the things that she observes from her mother and goes ahead to do them. Gender roles are defined by the society in which one finds himself or herself in. In additionally, culture and the social class influence and determines what kind of behavior one will portray at childhood level and even during the old age period. The birthday party brought individuals from different cultures and classes from the one the girl has been raised from. Therefore, this resulted in a small misunderstand experienced between the girl and other members present. Still, the girl and other members later got along well since they tried to understand each other.

The clues alluding to class and socioeconomic status and how that is significant to the observed behavior

The goal and objective of children as they grow up are to learn and as much as they can and as quickly as possible. The socioeconomic and class actors are widely accepted to have effects on the mental health of a child. For example, inequalities of socioeconomic and class have harmful effects on the mental health of a child. Based on the observation, there might be some clues on the impact concerning the socioeconomic and class of the girl. This is because the girl’s behavior of avoidance of some people during the birthday party may be an outcome of the experience she went through. According to Freud’s theory of Psychosexual development, the experiences that a child experiences at different stages of life determine and dictates the kind of behavior the child exposes to the people as they socialize. The observed behavior of the girl to avoid some people who appear to be of different social class than she might be due to the experience that she might have experienced before like discrimination based on her socioeconomic class. This, according to Freud’s theory, makes children try to avoid similar happening and, therefore, might be the reason why the girl showed avoidance behavior towards people who showed a high socioeconomic class than her.

Language, ethnic groups observed, and their differences and their similarities

The people present were from a diverse background because of the reason that several languages were spoken during the party. A total of four different styles were being expressed with the members switching to English at some occasions, more so when addressing someone from a different culture. The ethnic groups present were four, with the majority being the whites. The four ethnic groups present at the birthday party showed some similarities in their socialization while, on the other hand, there were significant observable differences. Some of the similarities observed were that all the ethnic groups showed signs of commitment in all the activities that were done during the party. Also, all the groups were trying to interact and socialize with each other in terms of sharing ideas and information since they are from diverse ethnic groups and cultures. Further, the groups seem to be working toward a common goal of making the birthday party a success and colorful, which is the shared agenda for the party. Some of the observed differences include the difference in opinions on how to conduct some events with different people from different ethnic backgrounds, suggesting different views. This is because of the reason that the people had a different perception of how to conduct the party. During the celebration, different groups celebrated differently from each other. Also, the birthday gifts that people brought were somehow similar among ethnic groups and very diverse when it was compared to the larger group. For instance, almost all the whites brought chocolates, flowers, and among others, with the African Americans bringing beautiful clothes, foodstuffs, and like.

How ethnicity and language influenced the social group

Ethnicity involves a shared culture, language, and way of life. Other concepts that depict ethnicity involve religion, clothing, and the like. In any social group, ethnicity plays a central role in ensuring that the group will realize social cohesion or social conflict. This is because of the reason that the present members were from a diverse ethnic background, and therefore, they bare different languages and cultures. Ethnicity and language positively influenced the social group at the birthday party. The majority of the people, though from diverse backgrounds, tried to accommodate others while the young ones decided to learn new concepts from different people of different ethnicity and language.

Knowledge gained from the experience of a girl and group behavior

Every exposure is an opportunity of learning new ideas, concepts, and knowledge. One of the most significant pieces of knowledge gained from this exposure of observation is that children portray the kind of behavior that they acquire from the environment as they grow. Additionally, it was evident the behavior of a child, and even a group is not solely influenced by one thing. Still, multiple factors determine the kind of action a child will portray. Also, I realized that remaining objective while doing observation is essential because it limits prejudgments. Also, in any social group, people ought to embrace diversity if social cohesion has to be achieved.

Conclusion

In an observational study, the researcher need to it is out of what he observes that counts. Further, the observed child should not be aware of the observation lest she behaves in ways that only pleases you and not her origin behavior, thus getting inappropriate results. In any social context, individuals show different actions based on their background, and it is through these that they get to learn new concepts, ideas, norms, values, and how to embrace diversity when in a diverse social environment.