The study explored young children’s perceptions of their social worlds by analyzing an archival dataset comprised of 122 ecomaps created by African American kindergarten and first grade public school children (45% female) in 2013. An ecomap is a graphic representation of a person’s phenomenology about his or her social network; children drew representations of key relationships, coding each as stressful, supportive, or ambivalent. Results of concurrent mixed methods analyses indicated children were most likely to include family members (both adults and children) on their ecomaps; children also included friends, animals, and teachers. A number of children coded themselves. Across all relationship types, most children (i.e., boys and girls, kindergartners and first graders) perceived most relationships to be supportive. First graders were more likely than kindergartners to report ambivalent feelings about relationships. This study informs school psychologists and other researchers and clinicians who seek developmentally and contextually appropriate methodologies for gathering phenomenological data from primary school-aged children. In addition, it may also provide insights into the specific social experiences of young African American children in New Orleans. Study limitations and implications are discussed.
