The Development of Children's Relationships with their Country

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the development of children's relationships with their country at different ages, and to describe the manner in which this relationship becomes organized and the possible stages in its development. One hundred Irish children, aged 10, 12, 14 and 16, were asked to describe their thoughts and feelings about their country. Content analysis of the narratives at different ages suggests that the relation of the child to his/her country is a developmental phenomenon that is mediated by cognitive processes, but that the affective quality of the child's attachment to his/her country is influenced by the cultural-historical milieu in which it emerges and develops.