Social Competence Paper
The purpose of this paper is to help you turn the theory and research you have learned his semester into practice by:

defining and identifying social competence.
outlining what parents can do to create an environment that best promotes social competence in their children.
For this paper, you are expected to draw from the resources you have received in the class (i.e., the Berk textbook, videos, “A Deeper Look” material, etc.) to support your assertions. Outside references (e.g., scholarly journals and books, Church publications, etc.) are welcomed but not required. This paper should be approximately 7–9 pages long.

I have prepared a “guidelines” sheet of intructions specifying what I want in each section of your paper. Please refer back to the “Writing Tips” and other useful material from your first writing assignment to help you with this
assignment.

Social Competence SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Paper Guidelines
Pts.
Requirements

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Small-child Observation: Choose 2–3 children aged 4–6 years, whom you have permission to observe in a natural setting in which the children are around other children of similar age (preschool, kindergarten, etc.).

Observe each child for 30 minutes.
Record in sufficient detail instances in which the child displays characteristics of social competence or fails to display such characteristics.
Type up your observations for each child.
Attach this list to your paper as an appendix.

Note: These pages do not count as one of the 7–9 pages of your paper.

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Introduction (3–4 sentences): Introduce the topic of the paper and include a clear, one-sentence thesis statement that explicitly states the purpose of the paper.
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Summary of Social Competence (2–3 pages): Social Competence is defined as “the ability to achieve personal goals in social interaction while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others over time and across situations” (Rubin & Rose-Krasnor, 1992). With this definition in mind, you should write a thorough description of a socially competent adolescent. To do this,

Discuss six (6) characteristics of such an adolescent that would qualify him/her as being socially competent. You must identify, define and give an example for each characteristic. (Make sure that the example is an example in a social context with peers rather than adults.)
Consider skills and abilities involved in such things as the display of empathy, obeying structured rules, sharing, communicating with peers, problem solving, resolving conflict, or regulating emotions (these are just a few examples; please include other areas as well).
Remember to include aspects of language development (conversation skills such as shading), cognitive development (as it relates to social competence such as perspective taking, problem solving), and moral development (e.g., intrinsic vs. extrinsic reasons for doing things) are also aspects of emotional/social competence.
See “Milestone Charts” or the summaries of all of these chapters in the textbook to help you with this part of the assignment.
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Analysis of Social/Emotional Competence in Young Children (1–2 pages): The purpose of this section is to determine whether you can already see social competence emerging as early as age four in some children. You should address these questions in this section:

Of the six aspects of social competence you discussed above, which ones were seen in the preschool-aged children you observed? Provide examples from your observations and explain how those examples reflect social competence.
Of the six aspects of social competence you discussed above, which seemed particularly immature or even absent in preschool-aged children? Provide examples from your observations and explain how those examples reflect immaturity in social competence.
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Role of the Family (2–3 pages): In this section, focus on the role that family plays in promoting social competence in children. This section should include these elements:

Choose three aspects of parenting that you think are important (e.g., discipline, physical affection, inductive reasoning, praise, communication, setting limits, chores/work, play), and describe each aspect in detail.
Discuss what types of positive child behaviors are promoted by using these various parenting approaches (e.g., moral reasoning, emotional regulation, communication, etc.).
Explain how or why each aspect of parenting would lead to those outcomes (e.g., modeling, opportunity to practice skills, expectation of rewards/avoid punishment, etc).

*These are simply examples; there are many more aspects of parenting, outcomes, and explanations!*
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Conclusion (3–4 sentences). Without ending too abruptly, briefly summarize your paper for a smooth ending. Re-state a clear thesis similar to that in your introduction, and provide a take-home statement based on your analysis.
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Writing Quality and Mechanics/APA Format: Organization, writing style, grammar, and spelling all count. Your paper must include:

Standard APA formatting
Title page (does not count toward the page limit)
7–9 pages of material typed in 12-point Times font, with 1-inch margins
In-text citations and a reference page

Additional Guidelines:
Use subheadings where logical and applicable
Do not use contractions
Do not use rhetorical questions
Avoid informal tone and 1st-person tense
Proofread your work!
/100 Total Score

**will attach resources later today!