“Mead and Role Taking”

Children under the age of three can only mimic others. They do not have a sense of self-separate from others, and they only imitate people’s gestures and words. Two contradictory elements are basic to all imitation. One is a plastic union in which the external impression is taken in and then discharged again gently from its strange receptacle, leaving only those elements that can be incorporated into existing mental structures. The result is a new, rudimentary capacity.

The second and active aspect, equally important to the first, is execution and completion (Wallon, 25). He imitates people who enjoy the most prestige in his own eyes, those who evoke his positive, affectionate feelings. At the same time, the child "borrows" or becomes these persons. Always totally immersed in what he is doing, he accordingly imagines and wishes himself to be them. But soon his latent awareness of this borrowing arouses in him feelings of hostility against the person serving as a model, which he cannot eliminate. He finally comes to resent this person whose absolutely incontestable and frustrating superiority he often continues to experience (Wallon, 25). The ensuing act requires tentative, and sometimes obvious, groupings. Separation and recombination of suitable elements are operations whose often long-enduring imperfections indicate the difficulties these processes involve. In particular, the rediscovered gestures and movements may not yet be in the right order. Taken by themselves, they by no means reproduce the model; they must conform to the requirements of an internal prototype. However, as they become more explicit, they make possible and even encourage objective comparisons with the external model (Wallon, 25). Alternation between these two contrary but complementary phases of intuitive assimilation and controlled execution may then assume a more or less rapid cadence until the imitation appears adequate.

In conclusion, the most important part of a child’s development is the role the parents play. There is probably nothing so painful for a parent as the rejection of his child. Parents need to take the long view of social problems and to map out a plan to solve them quite as carefully and thoughtfully as they would consider academic or health problems. There are guidelines, which, if followed, will help these children if the parent is willing to take time and initiative. All children developed differently for they may not have parental guidance. For one reason or another, some children do not develop soc

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