Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis

The age of latency, according to Freud, is age seven to ten, is when we acquire social competence, which helps us separate from our parents. It is difficult to make the break if we are riddled with fear, anger, and a harsh conscience, but it is in this stage that we learn our parents are not perfect. We begin to learn through others and feel more in control, mastering certain tasks and developing what Erikson calls a "sense of industry." Non-family group membership helps develop our sense of identity. It is at this age that an adult, other than a parent, might influence a child, and when we develop a clearer sense of reality in our play. This is a good time of life because we own our identity and still have the protection and security of being a child. Many...