Final answer:
Social development varies across historical eras due to changes in cultural attitudes, legal norms, and socio-political climates. The 1960s counterculture in the West exemplifies the challenge of established norms and the role of social constructs in shaping beliefs. Different attitudes towards child discipline and socialization practices illustrate how historical periods shape social development.
Step-by-step explanation:
Social development varies substantially across historical eras, influenced by a variety of factors including prevailing cultural attitudes, legal norms, and the socio-political climate of the time. The counterculture of the 1960s serves as a prime example where people actively challenged established norms and deepened the desire for social change, addressing issues like women's rights and racial inequality. This era saw the rise of new ideas about the nature of societal constructs, as indicative in Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's book The Social Construction of Reality, where they argue that our belief systems are informed by social constructs.
An example of how social development and norms change over time can be seen in the evolving attitudes towards child discipline. Sixty years ago, physical punishment by parents was common and not considered overly strict, while today such actions may be viewed as child abuse.
Socialization practices also differ internationally, with the United States placing legal mandates on childhood education and strictly regulating child labor, unlike countries such as Niger and Sierra Leone where child labor remains more culturally accepted and less legislatively regulated. These differences in social development are heavily influenced by historical changes and are not uniform across societies. The process is complex, highlighting variations in social norms, cultural values, and policies that arise from different historical contexts.