OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN CHILDHOOD: HOW FAMILY BEHAVIORS SHAPE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Childhood is the most formative phase of a human life when one acquires behaviour, attitudes, emotions, social values and the skill to interact in the social environment which influences an individual’s whole life till adulthood. Among many agents of socialization, family is of peculiar importance to the child because it serves as first and the most important learning environment throughout an individual’s childhood. Children are constantly watching the behavioural activities of their parent, siblings, grandparents and every member of their family, and learning behaviours, emotional expression and behaviours by observation. This helps them build behaviour, emotion and in their social adjustments. Therefore, learning in this phase of life in any given environment through observation learning in a family lead in the developing and formulation of the social behaviour of a person.This research paper studies the impact of the behaviour in a family on the overall social and emotional development of the children through the mechanism of observational learning. Relying on Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory;1using literature2from the field of developmental psychology, sociology, education, law and child rights, this study analyses how children’s constructive and dysfunctional behaviours are learnt by observation of family and parenting strategies, the manner in which emotion between the family member interact, the interrelationship within a family members, family living environment and contemporary changing societal pattern. It also considers how children are learning and behaviour is influenced due to various changed structure of family such as the changing family setup.With the research and analytical approach, this paper analyses the interplay of the psychological theories of learning and the legal frameworks established for safeguarding the holistic developmental interests of the children. It underlines the critical significance of the constitutional principles,3child welfare legislations, educational practices, and international child right documents that foster family environments that encourage role modelling. It argues that observational learning should not be viewed merely as a psychological phenomenon but as an instrument with social and legal dimensions because the behaviour pattern learnt in the childhood influences social conduct, future Civic behaviour, relations of adult in community.As one of the most significant determinates, that the behavioural patterns of family influence the most to the social and emotional development of the children; the role of the positive parental behaviour cultivates an empathetic, courageous and principled personality but however, the negative behavioural examples from family significantly affect overall developmental prospects even throughout life; thus promoting positive parental behavioural norms, creating awareness, and reinforcing social legal &educational support is fundamental to meet the objectives of developing a socially adjusted, emotionally sound, resilient, empathetic and an ethical individual.Keywords: Observational Learning; Childhood Development; Family Behaviour; Social and Emotional Development; Albert Bandura; Social Learning Theory; Child Psychology; Parenting; Family Environment; Child Rights; Developmental Psychology; Socialization