Daycare Children's Establishment of Territory to Experience Privacy

Abstract

One hundred randomly selected three-, four-, and five-year-old children from ten randomly selected daycare centers were inteviewed to determine the extent to which they established territory as a means of achieving privacy in their group childcare settings. Fifty-eight of the 100 children indicated they had a special place in their center that they perceived as belonging only to them. Fifty-five of the fifty-eight children were able to show their special places, such as a cubby or chair at lunch or hideaway underneath aplayhouse, and to tell what they did in these places. Forty-four children said they had no special place at their center. Nineteen of these children declared that their special place was at home. Ramifications of findings are discussed within the framework of Altman's (1975) theoretical framework of privacy. Recommendations for future research are offered.