The Development of Political Attitudes in Children

Judith V. Torney-Purta

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351483728
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Based on a study of 12,000 elementary school children in eight large and medium-sized American cities, this book presents the first large-scale study of political attitude formation in children. The authors view political development from the perspective of a general theory of socialization, and compare the influences of social class, intelligence, teacher attitude, and religious membership on the growth of political attitudes. The book outlines the way in which the child's political awareness evolvesfrom identification with authority figures such as father, policeman, the president, to a grasp of more abstract political concepts and the rudiments of political participation. Illuminating a topic of great theoretical concern and practical educational importance, the book is a significant contribution to the fields of political sociology, child development and educational psychology, and an important reference work for all concerned with the processes of socialization and of attitude formation in general. The Development of Political Attitudes in Children was based on a major survey, the first of its kind, begun at the University of Chicago in 1960 to as certain information about the induction of children into the political life of the United States, to describe the nature of socialization into citizenship roles, and to examine pre-adult political learning and behavior in terms of other implications for the stability of the political system.

1

Participation of Children in Political Life

“America is the best country in the world, and the President—he’s not like a king but he makes all the important … well, a lot of important decisions.”¹

Introduction

The child’s comment above illustrates the involvement of young children in the political life of the nation. Although the prospect of adult participation is distant, these young citizens develop a view of government, of law and justice, and of the proper role of citizens, and they share some of the excitement of election campaigns long before their interest can have any effect upon the political affairs of the country. These early perceptions, images, and concepts are sometimes trusting and naïve, sometimes cynical, often amusing, and frequently inaccurate and distorted. Yet they are much more than children’s playful fantasy—they are characteristic of a period during which children become oriented toward the values, beliefs, knowledge, and opinions of the political culture, and they provide the basis for later behavior as adult citizens.

This book is concerned with this early learning, which we call political socialization. It is a report of a study that included more than 17,000 elementary school children—research designed to gather information about early involvement in political affairs and to describe its nature and the general course it follows from early childhood into the adolescent years.

The feelings that children hold about the distant persons, institutions, and complex activities that make up political life in the United States vary dramatically from one child to another, as these conversations show:

“Tommy, what is the government?”

“The government is like the President, but he isn’t actually a President. The builders, the street makers, and all these people work for the government. The sidewalks and streets are the government’s property, and he lets people walk in them.

“He has a moneymaking machine, and he makes a lot of money. But he doesn’t use it. I think he uses money for decoration—some money is put on necklaces with little things.

“He works a lot, like the President does. Maybe the President gives him some directions, and he gives other directions to other people. Maybe he makes the laws of the country. Maybe he tells the numbers on the license plates.

“Probably he works in the capital like the President. He does! He lives in Washington. He doesn’t live in the White House. He has his own home.

“He’s the judge of the wildlife service. I sent him that letter about banding birds, and he told the wildlife service to send me that pamphlet.

“I’ve got it! The government is boss of all the governors, probably. Like the President is boss of all the senators. Senators are people from all different states.

“I heard on the radio that he’s in charge of the income tax. He can higher it or lower it.”

“Tommy, what does he spend the money on?”

“How should I know? Like the government doesn’t know what we spend our money on. He spends it for food, clothing, things for his wife, and that sort of thing“

Tommy is seven, in second grade. He is bright, informed, for his age, and imaginative. His conception of the government is specific even when it is inaccurate. It is a highly personalized image—one which includes at the same time the routines of family life and the responsibility for a nation.

In their responses to questions about the role of a citizen and his relationship with government, children often project their ideas of proper behavior onto the political scene, defining an unfamiliar role or describing an unfamiliar person in terms they have learned in their own lives. Nonetheless, they also begin to face some of the more difficult questions about justice and the responsibility of a citizen to his community and they begin to grapple with issues that face the adults around them. George, who is in the fourth grade, gives an example of how some children think about what it means to be a citizen.

“George, who would you say is a good citizen?”

“The President.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but I know he just would make a good citizen.”

“Would there be something about him that would be different than those who are not good citizens?”

“Well, you’d have to be polite.”

“George, just what is a good citizen?”

“A person whose house is clean and who is polite.”

“Is there anyone who lives in this country who is not a citizen?”

“Yeah, some mean people.”

“Well, how does that work?”

“Well, they won’t be polite for one thing and they just don’t get along with others.”

“If a person is robbed by a gangster, then told he will be hurt if he tells the police about it, should he tell the police?”

“I would tell….”

“What would make you want to tell?”

“I wouldn’t want to get hurt.”

“Let’s see—you would tell the police, or you wouldn’t?”

“I would.”

“Even though you might get hurt?”

“But how would he know that I told the police?”

“Well, let’s say he had a way of finding out. Should a person still tell the police?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you might get hurt?”

“There shouldn’t be nobody threatenin’ nobody.”

“Have you ever heard of a political party?”

“I’ve heard about parties, but not political parties.”

“When have you heard about parties?”

“When it’s somebody’s birthday.”

“Well, have you ever heard about the Democrats and Republicans?”

“Well, yeah, they are some sort of organization …”

“Do you think people should belong to that sort of thing?”

“Well, they could or they couldn’t.”

“What comes to your mind about these organizations?”

“Kennedy….”

“What is that?”

“Well, he was a Democrat.”

The emerging concepts are not always reassuring. The system is not always seen as just and responsive. Occasionally a child feels helpless, unable to deal effectively with representatives of government and retreats to passive compliance. Roger, who is a fifth-grade Negro boy 10 years old, expresses these feelings in his conversation with a staff member:

“Well now, Roger, suppose there was a Mr. Jones and he was stopped by a policeman for speeding but the policeman’s speedometer was broken, so Mr. Jones really wasn’t speeding.

What do you think of this?” “Well, he could ask the policeman to check the speedometer or else he would just have to pay the fine.”

“What do you think he should do?”

“I don’t know, I believe he’d have to the fine.”

“Do you think he should?”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be fair but there wouldn’t be no other out of it.”

“Then you think he should just go along with the policeman?”

“Yes, then he wouldn’t have all that trouble.”

At a relatively early age many children acquire loyalty to candidates and parties. Especially during periods following elections there is a responsiveness to the competition developed during national contests. Allegiances emerge which are based not so much on specific knowledge about candidates as on personal preferences and identification. Along with this feeling of support, there is often an awareness of the significance of the power and responsibility that follow election to national leadership. Cris, an 11-year-old boy in grade five, offers these opinions about the Presidency:

“Tell me, Cris, have you ever seen the President on TV?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What was he doing?”

“Well, he’s usually telling speeches.”

“What does he talk about?”

“Well, he talks about the satellites and Russia. I never listen that closely to the President talking. Usually we’re doing something else, but my Dad and my Mom, sometimes they watch it and usually every time they watch it.”

“What does the President do?”

“Well, he has to sign the laws before they go through. You know … bills. If he doesn’t sign it, why then it doesn’t become a law. And, well, he’s just like the President of a company; he does good things for the country and shows what he thinks would be best for it. I think he’s O.K.”

“Uh-huh. Do you know how he gets to be President?”

“No. I know he was a general in the war, fought for our country in the Second World War. He must be an awfully smart man and studied hard while he was in school and a lot of different things.”

“What’s the difference between the Republican and Democratic party?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know.”

“Are your parents Republicans or Democrats?”

“Republicans.”

“Uh-huh. If you could vote, who would you vote for?”

“I think I would vote for the Republic.”

“Uh-huh. What do you think the President could do to be a better President?”

“Oh, I think he could stop sending so much, he’s sending, sent some, but not so much foreign aid and I think he could work out the satellites a little more and get to the moon and everything.

“Uh-huh.”

“I like that idea.”

“I see. Yeah. How do you think the President is diflerent from most other men?”

“Well, I know he is a brave man and he has to be nice so the people like him and will vote for him; he’s a higher-class man so he’s President, and I think any man could run for President but maybe all of them couldn’t do as good a job as he would.”

“When you say a higher-class man, what do you mean?”

“Well, he may have studied more in school and he may have gone, well, some men don’t get much of a chance to go through their college degrees. Some of them don’t run for Master degree or anything, but I think he’s studied awfully hard in that field to be something like that … a leader.”

“Uh-huh. How much education does the President have, do you know?”

“Well, I think he runs up to a Master degree … in college.”

“Uh-huh. Do you know what he took up? What was his subject?”

“Hmm, hmmm.”

“Well, what do you think a President should study if a person wants to be President?”

“Well, oh, arithmetic and science and social studies, being a good leader.”

“Tell me, would you like to be President if you could?”

“Well, when I’m older I think I would.”

“What would you do?”

“Well, I’d do what the President’s job would be.”

These excerpts (and others cited later) illustrate something of the emotional involvement of children with their country and its leaders. For both children and adults, this attachment is one of the most profound and complex ties in human experience. All of us are aware of the feelings that develop in this relationship—a sense of national pride in our country’s achievements (in sports, say, or the conquest of space), or feelings of loyalty and respect during a ceremonial event such as the salute to the flag. The strength and depth of this attachment are apparent at unusual moments—for example, the widespread and powerful outpouring of emotion in a time of national crises such as the attack on Pearl Harbor a quarter century ago, or the assassination of President Kennedy.

The involvement of the individual citizen is evident also in the dramatic activity of national political conventions and in other features of election campaigns, when millions of persons give effort, time, and money to promote a favored candidate or to support an amendment, school bond, or referendum. All these levels of subjective involvement and overt activity attest to the motivating power of an individual’s relationship to his country, its government, and its political processes.

What are the origins of these feelings, motivations, and actions? When do they arise and how are they shaped by experience? What creates attachment or interferes with it? What leads one person to be more active or more concerned than another? How does involvement change over time in the life of the individual? In the study described here, the focus of attention was the growth in children of interest in the nation and its government and the rise of a desire to participate in the political process. This emotional engagement and the wish to take part in the life of the political community will be referred to as political involvement.

The majority of studies of adult political behavior have concentrated on interest in election issues and candidates and on decisions basic to the voting act. Obviously these specific acts and interests are not applicable to the study of political involvement in children, and as a consequence little attention has been given to the political beliefs, attitudes, and activities of children and adolescents. Such a study is justified, however, by a theory of pre-adult learning which connects the experience of children with their later political activities as adults. That is, the acquisition of political behavior can be understood from the perspective of a theory of social learning and socialization—which is useful, although not precise. Social learning and socialization refer of course to the process whereby a junior or new member of a group or institution is taught its values, attitudes, and other behavior. Socialization may be regarded as a life-long process, although much of the basic teaching is apparently accomplished in the early years.

It seems useful to think of this process as one which has both upward reference to agents (like parents, teachers), later...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Introduction to the AldineTransaction Edition
• Preface
• 1 | Participation of Children in Political Life
• 2 | Acquisition of Attitudes and Attachment to the Nation
• 3 | Attachment to Government and Regard for Law
• 4 | Strategies for Exerting an Effect upon the Political System
• 5 | The Family and the School as Agents of Socialization
• 6 | The Effects of Religious Affiliation and Peer Group Participation
• 7 | Social Class and Intelligence as Mediating Factors
• 8 | The Influence of Sex Role Orientation
• 9 | The Impact of Party Affiliation
• 10 | Summary and Conclusions
• Appendix A: Method of the Study
• Appendix B: Demographic Information
• Appendix C: Item Combinations and Scaling Descriptions
• Appendix D: Supplementary Figures and Tables
• Bibliography
• Index