Middle-years children in Rakau : a study of the years from six to thirteen

Abstract

The general aim of this study is to present a social psychological account of the middle-years of childhood in a Maori community. More specifically this reduces to a two-fold aim of i. describing the social experiences of the children, and ii. describing the parallel personality development of the children. The study is confined to the middle-years period, this being defined as the period between six and thirteen years. No rigid line is drawn between the middle-years and years before and after this period but the study is not concerned with children below six or above thirteen. This places a strict limitation on the study and means that it cannot altogether stand alone. One cannot reasonably lift a period of five or six years of life right out of its context and examine it as a self sufficient entity. This consideration gives rise to a further aim, namely having described the middle-years, to fit this description back into the developmental continuum from birth to maturity. The 'fore and aft' periods of childhood in Rakau have been studied independently by three other researches Ritchie, James E. Basic Personality in Murupara. Unpublished thesis. Victoria University College. 1956. Mulligan, D.G. Some Aspects of Adolescence in Rakau. Unpublished thesis. Victoria University College. 1956. Ritchie, Jane Childhood in Rakau. Unpublished thesis. Victoria University College. 1957. and as these studies are all complete it will be possible to relate the middle-years to them and thus restore developmental continuity. The establishment of a fully continuous pattern of socialisation and personality development in Rakau is the task of a wider research project of which this study is but a small part, Ritchie, James E. The Effects of Technological Change on Four New Zealand Maori Communities. V.U.C. Wellington. 1954. Beaglehole, Ernest (ed.) Rakau Research Project Report No. 3 V.U.C. Wellington. 1956. but some attempt will be made here to place the middle-years in its rightful position as an intermediate period.