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Child Developmental Assessments in Sweden from a cultural perspective

The aim of this study is to explore the experiences that migrant parents from the global South have regarding the child developmental assessments carried out by the Child Healthcare Centers in Sweden.  Over the past half-century, the study of child development has been dominated by developmental psychology. Child Studies has taken a critical approach to traditional developmental theories, highlighting the social construction of childhood as opposed to purely biological or universal frameworks. This raises important questions, such as whether all children develop at the same rate, what it means for a child to be in development, and whether various cultures perceive child development in the same way. The data collection method for this study has been semi-structured interviews with five parents originally from the global South living in Sweden who have attended the developmental assessments with their children. The data analysis method has been reflective thematic analysis, resulting in four themes: Age-based developmental milestones according to parents’ cultural perspective, parent’s perceived lack of cultural appropriateness in the child developmental assessments, differences about parental roles in child development according to cultural backgrounds and the centrality of the environment in child development for parents from the global South. The findings of the study are 1. Parents from the global South possess an understanding of child development partially similar and different compared to the one endorsed by the Child Healthcare Centers based on their cultural backgrounds. 2.The difference in the understanding of child development created cultural barriers that affect parents' involvement and contribution in the assessment, and in the appropriateness of the services they received.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-199080
Date January 2023
CreatorsConte, Camila, Weldekiros, Mengisteab Habte
PublisherLinköpings universitet, Tema Barn
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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