Becoming a Family Member: Family Conflict and the Development of Social Understanding in the Second Year

DUNN, JUDY, and MUNN, PENNY. Becoming a Family Member: Family Conflict and the Development of Social Understanding in the Second Year. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 480-492. The development of children's participation in family interaction during the second year of life was examined in 2 longitudinal observational studies of family conflict in the home, focusing on 3 developmental issues: first, the development of children's understanding of the feelings and intentions of other family members; second, their understanding of social rules within the family; and third, the relation of emotional changes to these developments in social understanding. Study 1, an intensive study of 6 mother-sibling triads observed when the second-born child was 14, 16, 18, 21, and 24 months old, examined children's behavior in conflict with the sibling and with the mother. In Study 2, 43 families were observed when the second-born child was 18 and 24 months old. Developments in children's teasing, their supportive and prohibiting actions, and their communication about transgressions demonstrate their increasing understanding of family members and family rules. Children were found to be differentially responsive both to emotions displayed by other family members and to the topic of family disputes.