Creating Capabilities: Fostering Social and Emotional Development in Young Children

This panel was recorded April 24, 2010 as part of the conference "Creating Capabilities," held at the University of Chicago Law School and organized by James Heckman, Martha Nussbaum and Robert Pollak.

Socioemotional capabilities are a frequently neglected area of child development. Their importance has been highlighted in recent work.  They include the ability to control oneself and one's inappropriate emotions (anger, disgust), the motivation to succeed, the ability to understand the perspective of another person (empathy), the ability to achieve self-confidence, and avoid crippling shame.  A statement of recent evidence will be presented.  What interventions, in both the family and the surrounding culture, have the best chances of success? 

• Chair: Steven Durlauf and James Heckman
• Angela Duckworth 
• Dario Maestripieri