The influence of socio cultural economic and home background factors on childrens ability to engage in imaginative play
Udwin, O.; Shmukler, D.
Developmental Psychology 17(1): 66-72
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-1649 Document Number: 531098
Some of the cultural, socioeconomic and specific home background factors that contribute to fantasy development in early childhood were studied. The phenomenon of imaginative play and its concomitants were examined in unstructured play situations among 60 South African and Israeli preschool children of lower- and middle-class economic status. Socioeconomic status was apparently the overriding variable in determining the observed levels of imaginative play, and it was suggested that the deficits in imaginative play among lower-class children were created not by the lack of experiences or stimulation but rather by the failure of the lower-class parents to help their children with the integration of the plethora of stimuli that confront them in the course of everyday life. A number of the specific home background factors thought to be particularly important for the development of imaginative play are culture-bound.