Fragmentation, fluidity, and transformation: nonlinear development in middle childhood

The results of a small group of children studied through ages six through eleven suggest that latency is no longer an accurate term to describe middle childhood and preadolescence. This longitudinal research suggests a more nonlinear process than has previously been documented in psychoanalytic research and supports a dynamic systems approach to development. Self structures break down and remain in an ongoing state of non-linear development. Without stable structural organization, sexual and aggressive thoughts and feelings are less contained and less differentiated throughout this period of development. Gender role identity is in a continuous state of fluidity during middle childhood. While both boys and girls experience gender role fluidity, the meaning of male and female gender identifications and the expression of sexual and aggressive feelings differ for boys and girls.