The relationship between household density, family size (number of children) and the physical growth and psychological development of more than 1000 black children between two months and 10 years of age was examined. The results indicated that household density was not linearly related to family size or socioeconomic status, as the housing shortage forces most families to share accommodation. Higher household density was found to be related to smaller growth among children from the beginning of their third year of life, and both higher household density and increased family size were found to be related to lower scores on the developmental measures from six years of age onwards. While household density levels were found to remain constant across the age span represented by the sample, household and family structures underwent several changes, including increased nuclearization. In general, household density measures did not yield data relating to important changes in the interpersonal environment of growing children in black townships.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AnastasiA. (1956). Intelligence and family size. Psychological Bulletin, 53, 187–209.
2.
BayleyN. (1969). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
3.
ChristiansenMora J.HerreraM. (1975). Family social characteristics related to physical growth of young children. British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 29, 121–130.
4.
DuckittJ. (1983). Household crowding and psychological well-being in a South African coloured community. The Journal of Social Psychology, 121, 231–238.
5.
GoodenoughF.L. (1926). Measurement of intelligence by drawings. Chicago: World Book Co.
6.
GordonA. (1986). Black education in South Africa: Psychological and sociological correlates of achievement. In EkstrandL.H. (Ed.), Ethnic minorities and immigrants in a cross-cultural perspective. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
7.
GottfriedA.W. (Ed.) (1984). Home environment and early cognitive development: Longitudinal research. Florida: Academic Press.
8.
GoveW.HughesM.GalleO. (1979). Overcrowding in the home: An empirical investigation of its possible pathological consequences. American Sociological Review, 44, 59–80.
9.
GrieselR.D.RichterL.M. (1986). The influence of family background on the growth and development of black preschool children in South Africa. Paper presented at the XVIIIth Congress of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (O.M.E.P.); Jerusalem, July.
10.
HamillP.DrizdT.JohnsonC.ReedR.RocheA. (1977). NCHS growth curves for children birth-18 years. National Center for Health Statistics, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
11.
HarrisD.B. (1963). Children's drawings as measures of intellectual maturity: A revision and extension of the Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc.
12.
HeerD.M. (1985). Effects of sibling number on child outcome. Annual Review of Sociology, 11, 27–47.
13.
HeftH. (1985). High residential density and perceptual-cognitive development: An examination of the effects of crowding and noise in the home. In WohlwillJ.F.van VlietW. (Eds), Habitats for children: The impacts of density. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
JayesC.S. (1985). Some characteristics of a group of coloured runaway boys aged 8–16 years and factors that these boys and their mothers perceived as contributing to their runaway behaviour. Unpublished Master's Dissertation, School of Social Work, University of Cape Town.
15.
LiddellC.KrugerP. (1987). Activity and social behaviour in a South African township nursery: Some effects of crowding. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33, 195–211.
16.
MashileG.G. (1985). Contained urbanization in South Africa: A Study of Sowetans' attitudes towards their living space. RSA 2000, 7, 80–83.
17.
McCarthyD. (1970). Manual for the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
18.
MoenoS.N. (1969). The urban African family disorganization with special reference to the problem of illegitimacy. Unpublished Master's Dissertation, University of South Africa, Pretoria.
19.
MurieA. (1983). Housing inequality and deprivation. London: Heinemann Educational Books.
20.
PauwB.A. (1963). The second generation: A study of the family among urbanized Bantu in East London. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
21.
ReitanR.M. (no date). Manual for Administration of Neuropsychological Test Batteries for Adults and Older Children. Indianapolis: Indiana University Medical Center.
22.
RichardsonB.D. (1973). Growth standards: An appraisal with special reference to growth in South African Bantu and White pre-school children. South African Medical Journal, 47, 699–702.
23.
RichterL.M.GrieselR.D. (1988). Bayley Scales of Infant Development: Norms for interpreting the performance of black South African infants. Pretoria: Institute for Behavioural Sciences, University of South Africa.
24.
RichterL.M.GrieselR.D.EtheridgeA. (1986). Some features of family life in South Africa's black townships. Internal Report 86–06; Institute for Behavioural Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria.
25.
RichterL.M.GrieselR.D.WortleyM. (1989). The Draw-a-Man test: A 50-year perspective on drawings done by black South African children. South African Journal of Psychology, 19, 1–5.
26.
RichterL.M.OberholzerD.GrieselR. D. (1987). Technical report — Parameters of the urban black population in South Africa of relevance to the standardization of three sets of child development measures. Internal Report 87–02; Institute for Behavioural Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria.
27.
RutterM.MadgeN. (1976). Cycles of disadvantage. London: Heinemann.
28.
SchmittR.C. (1955). Housing and health. American Journal of Public Health, 45.
29.
SimkinsC. (1986). Household composition and structure in South Africa. In BurmanS.ReynoldsP. (Eds), Growing up in a divided society: The contexts of childhood in South Africa. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
30.
SlabbertM. (1980). Repetitive cycles. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, Institute of Criminology.
31.
SloanW. (1955). The Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development Scale. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 51, 183–251.
32.
South African Advertising Research Foundation (1984). SAARF and AMPS '84, Condensed Pocket Edition. Sandton: South African Advertising Research Foundation.
33.
Van StadenF. (1983). From crowding to density: Conceptual developments, methods and research. South African Journal of Psychology, 13, 128–134.
34.
Van VlietW. (1985). The role of housing type, household density, and neighbourhood density in peer interaction and social adjustment. In WohlwillJ.F.van VlietW. (Eds), Habitats for children: The impacts of density. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
35.
ViljoenS.le RouxT. (1984). The marriage and family life of some black population groups in Southern Africa — with particular reference to single parent families. Centre for Sociological Studies, University of South Africa.
36.
WachsT.D. (1976). Utilization of a Piagetian approach in the investigation of early experience effects: A research strategy and some illustrative data. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 22, 11–30.
37.
WachsT.D. (1978). The relationship of infants' physical environment to their Binet performance at 2,5 years. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 1, 51–65.
38.
WechslerD. (1949). Wechsler Intelliqence Scale for Children. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
39.
WilsonF.RampheleM. (1987). Children on the front line: The impact of apartheid, destabilization and warfare on children in Southern and South Africa. A Report for UNICEF.
40.
WohlwillJ.F. (1985). Residential density as a variable in child-development research. In WohlwillJ.F.van VlietW. (Eds), Habitats for children: The impact of density. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
