Spiraling effects of socio-economic factors on child development

Sara Fernandes (MA and PhD in Philosophy from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon) is developing a post-doctoral project (Cados/Porticus, Portuguese Catholic University) "Spiral effects of socio-economic factors on child development. A neuroethical study", under the mentorship of Professor Alexandre Castro Caldas.
The project aims to answer two main questions: 1) How can neuroscience help us understand the possible multiple effects of socioeconomic factors on children's development? 2) What contribution can neuroscience make to designing and implementing policies that promote eliminating socio-economic risk factors for child development?
The research goal is threefold:
1) To carry out a quantitative study on children aged 7/8 with tests in the cognitive (comprehension and expression of the Portuguese language and mathematical reasoning) and moral domains, varying the socio-economic conditions of the families and dividing the children into 3 groups: low income and attending schools in their social neighborhood, low income and attending schools outside their social neighbourhood, and children with high average income. The aim is to assess whether there are differences in performance between the groups, and if so, how different and to what extent, as well as whether there is a correlation between cognition and morality or whether they are independent areas of development in children.
2) Philosophically evaluate the concept of poverty developed by John Rawls, A.Sen, Martha Nussbaum, and Martha Farah, assessing the extent to which socioeconomic resources affect children's multiple capacities, especially of the most disadvantaged; and whether investment in more social and economic resources and capacities are the best way to restore social justice.
3) promote greater awareness among civil society and governments of the real impact of socio-economic factors on children's development and how their risk factors will require more social measures that enhance the capacities of the disadvantaged until the standard level is reached.

Spiraling Effects of Socio-Economic Factors on Child Development. A Neuroethical Study © 2024 by Sara Fernandes is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/