Woolston, Amy (2007) The development of empathy in childhood. DClinPsych thesis, University of Warwick.

Preview

PDF WRAP_THESIS_Woolston_2007.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (6Mb)

Abstract

Previous research has identified that children and adolescents, typically males, with behaviour problems have poorer empathic skills than their nonbehaviour disordered peers (e.g. De Wied, Goudena & 'Matthys, 2005). Since increased empathy is positively associated with prosocial behaviour and negatively associated with aggression (Strayer & Roberts, 2004) investigating what factors might affect child empathy might be of value in developing proactive and reactive interventions. Chapter 1 aims to review the current knowledge-base and to highlight the variety of parental factors which may affect empathy development in the typically developing child. Limitations of the research and suggestions for future research are discussed. Understanding how empathy develops in the typically developing child is important in order to understand where and why empathy development goes wrong. ! Chapter 2 presents an empirical study investigating empathy in boys with behavioural problems. This study aimed to investigate whether empathy scores were dependant on the relationship between the observer and the observed person. The findings offer some support for the prediction that empathy scores are enhanced when participants empathise with someone they have ~ positive relationship with. The thesis concludes with a reflective paper (Chapter 3) which considers the controversy between reductionism and holism in research and practice.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (DClinPsych)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Empathy in children, Child psychology -- Research, Behavior disorders in adolescence -- Research, Behavior disorders in children -- Research, Parent and child, Developmental psychology
Date:	May 2007
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Psychology
Thesis Type:	DClinPsych
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Knight, Eve, Dr. ; Bickley, James
Description:	Completed in conjunction with Coventry University. School of Health and Social Sciences.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	149 leaves : charts
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1163

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item