The impact of family on child development Research Paper

The impact of family on child development - Research Paper Example This is because the infants get attached to those people around them who are responsive and provide them comfort. According to Evans and Erikson (12), in the first stage of cognitive development in infants, trust versus mistrust, infants get close to and develop trust on their parents and the family members from whom they find reassurance. How the family interacts with an infant or a young child defines how he is going to make a schema of the world inside his mind. If the family is going to offer him warmth and dependable fondness, the child is going to develop a trustworthy relationship not only with the family but with everyone he will meet in his life; whereas, if the family provides him with insecurities and the child does not feel that his basic needs are being fulfilled, he will develop a sense of mistrust. Thus, the active participation of family and how they meet the basic needs of the infant define if the child is going to trust others, or is going to mistrust others and fee l them unreliable and undependable. If the family has been abusive toward the child, he will grow up to be abusive toward the world and will perceive the world as a dangerous place to live in. The form of relationship the parents develop with their children is a very important indicator of what type of early education the children are receiving at their homes when they are in their infancy. Parents tend to be authoritative, authoritarian or permissive, and each kind tends to educate the child in a totally different way. Very strict standards, that leave no room for communication with children, will make the child obey but will not enable him to learn the logic and reasoning. Permissive parents have very lenient rules which results in the child getting disobedient and even violent at times. Hence, for infants and young children, early education which starts at their homes, is