The Life Course - Term Paper Example

«Life Course» Life course can be defined as the sequence of occurrence of certain psychological development events and processes during an individual’s life. It can be said to be the approach used when a person’s life is analysed using early development progress and the contribution that encountered experiences make to behaviour. For personality analysis to be effectively carried out, the background information is gathered on early events and how they influence a certain behavioural position held by the individual. To perform the analysis, diagnostic observations are made on the person’s history, social life factors as well as biological factors at a particular time. In a nutshell, life course entails giving explanation to particular attributes of the person’s behaviour with regard to social and historical influences experienced during early developmental stages. Life course therefore means the step by step encounters that an individual has with natural and social influences and the impacts left on growth and development. The said steps occur through such stages as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and late adulthood. Analytical parameters involved in this case are limited to those factors that affect behaviour such as those in the environment. The analysis involves the connection between the state of mind between when an individual is born and the gradual learning process where the individual appreciates the environment in which they are grow in. Adolescence Adolescence is the transitional stage of life between childhood and adulthood that is characterised by rapid changes, both in physical and mental growth and development. The swift changes that occur in terms of physical growth are usually in preparation of sexual maturity necessary in adult life, paving way for the propagation of the human race. Puberty takes place at this stage marking the beginning of sexual maturity. The age when puberty takes place varies in both sexes; beginning at an average age of nine years in girls and twelve years in boys. However, the exact time for an individual to experience the onset of these changes is determined by their own biological clock as well as environmental factors. During this stage, a number of mental development processes also take place defining cognitive capabilities, emotions and attitude. Mental maturity leads to growth towards identity building as well as personality development which usually create intrapersonal conflict. Hormonal changes may generate confusion and defiance before the individual comes to terms with the biological changes. The adolescent becomes very sensitive to the environment as they embark on a self finding and exploration mission which is not always permitted by environmental factors. Conflicts arise between parents at this stage characterised by careless and risky actions. Even though the adolescent is more flexible than younger individuals, they tend to be more hostile and inflexible when compared to adults. As to whether Tony, who could possibly be of African origin, is facing discrimination or whether he is being stereotyped is a delicate question that requires keen scrutiny. There are several reasons that would link the observed behaviour to identity crisis experienced during adolescence. Whereas discrimination and stereotypes can be some open answers to the apparent behavioural change, it is not until scrutiny on the underlying challenges has been carried out that we can rely on such generalizations. The case presenting challenges have been isolated and discussed using some cited references. At fourteen years old, Tony is in early adolescence which is characterised by susceptibility to negative behaviour such as being rude and rowdy. This is illustrated by the description that he is boisterous maybe it is the reason why the mother is worried he will turn out to be like his father. Conflicts are evident in that he is never fond of doing what he has been instructed to do and is ‘out of control’. When the mother describes him as out-going, it is a show of a mix up of feelings and attitude; from being boisterous to being out-going explains the confusion that accompanies the stage changes. Imprisonment of the father has implications on the behaviour that the boy displays. Withdrawal of the father figure which has been present in his life alters the direction of the remaining psychological development processes. As discussed below, even if the violence committing father has been taken away from the family, it does have some implications due to the impact that parenting roles make on an individual. Concerning possible racial discrimination, adolescence would blow things out of proportion since negative attitudes provoke individuals to have wrong perceptions about themselves. When sceptical personalities are placed in an environment likely to make them feel like they are subjects of ridicule, it often follows that they feel rejected even without the required supporting evidence. Sensitivity twists facts where ordinary mistakes committed against them are translated to serious accusations such as racial discrimination. Bronfenbrenner Theory Tony is at early adolescence and his personality could be suffering from direct negative effects of the environment within which he has grown in. According to the psychological theory developed and postulated by Bronfenbrenner, a child’s development is a product of several forces among which the environment is included. He divided and accordingly named the various levels of environment influence as microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and the macrosystem. Microsystem is the smallest locality within which the child lives. The closest and the most immediate interactions that the child encounters include family members, house help or caregivers, day care and school environments. All these interactions become very important determinants of psychological development, since they have a direct influence on the individual. How favourable and nurturing the environment is in the microsystem shape the future of a desired development and vice versa. However, temperament which includes special genetic and biological factors also plays a centre role in social and psychological development of the child. Mesosystem is the level that incorporates the functioning of the various microsystem aspects, whether they act in tandem in the positive growth of the child or detachedly. Complete development requires that these factors pull towards the same direction and not in a conflicting manner. For instance, parenting squabbles affect the child even if the care givers perfect their part of role playing and vice versa. Exosystem involves distant factors that the child may not interact with regularly, yet they have some influence on the manner in which the child develops. Extended family members, family friends, the general neighbourhood and parents’ workplaces are a few examples of such factors. Positive or negative effects on the child development are determined by the manner in which the child witnesses the family interact with them. For instance, neighbours having a sour relationship with the family directly affect how the child deals with disagreements. Macrosystem is the category that includes the largest and the widest scope of influences that play a role in the development of the child. Cultural practices, government policies as well as economic performance are but a few examples to be include in this category. Perceptions about the distant world may take a long time and begin from what the family experiences are. From these insights, interactions with the mesosystem could be the major cause of personality problems. The fact that the father has been committing vices such as violent assault, perhaps within his son’s sight, could have caused a breakdown in the mesosystem. The mother seems worried that the vice could creep into his personality; this can be the missing link in mesosystem where parenting effort fails to complete the puzzle. Possible dysfunctional mesosystem could be attributable to lowered self esteem if his peers’ environment poses discrimination based on his colour. Stereotypes could arise from his father’s apparent bad inappropriate behaviour. Prisoners’ Children Psychological Development Reporting for Barnado’s, Clewet and Glover (2009) said that a child with a parent in prison has a higher risk of poor mental health and associated negative outcomes than other children not in a similar situation. Additional pressure heaps on the remaining parent as far as parenting and provision roles are concerned. The associated stigma as well as coming to terms with the situation constitute a classical loss and grieve case that always goes without the necessary attention. The study by Barnado’s further reveals that the surrounding circumstances may force these children to have hardships in their educational responsibilities or even employment if assistance is not accorded at the earliest opportunity. A hard core attitude may develop from loss of friends at school and bullying. The sustained psychological injury always results in provocation which pushes the children to be as tough as the parent in prison. The report says that it is not unusual if the child behaved antisocially due to all the underlying pressure. However, it may appear to be beneficial in some instances if a violent parent is incarcerated and removed from the environment within which the child grows. A whole family’s assistance approach is very vital in the development of a complete individual according to Barnado’s, an aspect that is lacking in Tony’s development. Apparently, all these insights from Banardo’s perfectly fit in the arguments raised that the imprisonment of Tony’s father has a direct influence on his latest unsocial behaviour. Being aggressive could be an adaptive mechanism since all things appear to fall apart for him. This is contradicted by the proposition that a violent member of the family has been withdrawn, creating a positive growth environment. Other factors could as well play part in this behaviour. In their statistical findings, Clewet and Glover (2009), report that 65% of boys whose fathers are incarcerated tend to become offenders of a similar level. They also report that the threat of such children engaging in un-welcome antisocial behaviour is three times higher than in other children. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory In his studies, Bandura (1986) found out that social learning in children is largely determined by the behaviours possessed by others as well as the outcomes of the observed behaviours. Children learn by observing role models that first present in the form of their parents and later change with a more interactive encounter with the environment. This is to say that other people’s behaviours cause a certain behaviour orientation observed in a learning child. On the other hand, behaviour is said to cause a certain environment to exist. Proponents of behaviouralism base their personality arguments on the effects of the environment on an individual’s trait. It is on this premise that Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory was developed and formulated. The theory reflects on the perception capacity of the child and ability to integrate environmental perceptions on behaviour into their own behaviour. He concluded that children brought up in an enabling and favourable environment end up in developing certain desired attributes such as a high self esteem. Positive social learning enables the children to cope with hard life situations as well as make right decisions concerning their lives. The theory further provides that in their lives, well developed children will change the world constructively, placing the ball in parenting court concerning positive behavioural development. Attachment Theory Similar sentiments are given by Bowlby and Nickerson in their theory of attachment as cited by Goldberg et al (2000). The theory postulates that human beings become connected and attached closely in a relationship with at least one person during the early development stages. It is often expected to involve a parent or a caregiver since early development life falls under their watch. The main psychological reason for this attachment is the need to have some assurance represented by proximity of a certain person during hard situations. An attachment enables the individual to absorb shock and heal quickly in stressful instances. Attachment levels graduate towards independence as age progresses. Parental figures are the most important of all attachment figures, since they mostly constitute the better part of interaction with the children from birth and through other life stages. During separation, responses similar to those of loss and grief are very normal for the children. The apparent change in behaviour is a psychological adaptive mechanism to ensure that the survival of the individual is not compromised. Both the Attachment Theory and Social Cognitive Theory explain the apparent shift in behaviour by Tony. One of the explanations is found in incarceration and withdrawal of the father figure from the environment he is growing in. Lack of the ordinary proximity of the father creates a huge dent in the manner in which he deals with interactions within the environment. Biological Factors of Psychological Development Becket (2002), tries to disclose scientific basis of behaviour connection to the human growth and development. Whether behaviour is a product of nature or nurture is a question of fact that will vary form one case to the other. He argues that biological inheritance is not exclusively responsible for a particular personal behaviour that an individual displays.. However, stereotypes are created in connection to biological inheritance, for instance a son inheriting violence trait from the father. Genetically speaking, it is not possible to pass a bad behavioural orientation gene to an offspring. Environmental factors play the biggest role in determining the individual’s behaviour. A very complex interplay of the two factors presents the best argument in favour of biological and environmental impacts on behaviour. From the work by Becket (2002), it is clear that no particular factor is attributable to the change in behaviour displayed by Tony. It would be prejudicial if a certain aspect within the myriad collection of factors was blamed. Aldgate et al (2006), report that the development of a child is influenced by many forces, making a lifelong imprint in the life of the child. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of the individual character of a child. Traumatic encounters that happen when the child is developing usually alter the processes necessary in the development of a whole person in the individual. Developmental-ecological approach has been explored to reveal that children can recover from stressful situations with the necessary assistance. Parents need to be enlightened on the dynamics of child development, in order to make the much needed contribution inputs. In this work by Aldgate et al (2006), parental responsibilities have been designed at the various stages of development, as personality building progresses. It is especially pointed out that at adolescence important occurrences take place; self identity, transgender relationships exploration, academic interests as well as personal identity building. It is important that the parental role played by the parents coincide with the input required for assistance to be effective. From these revelations, Tony is lacking assistance to go over identity crisis which can further be aggravated by the prevailing unfavourable situation with his peers, family and the general environment. Besides, the father is usually assumes disciplinarian roles in many families. Resilience is the capacity to withstand harsh environmental influence and stimuli as studied by Bernard (1992). The extent to which a child can be stressed without burn-outs is largely determined by the situations that the child was brought up in. Where the attachment with the parent figures is too strong, it can easily compromise the ability of bouncing back from a stressing situation. Stress happens at one point or another during the developmental stages. Independence and resilience qualities develop as positive behavioural attributes are adopted by the individual. Apparently, Tony suffers from unpreparedness to handle stressful situations, if the incarceration of the father is anything to go by. Resilience in psychological development enables a person to handle such factors as discrimination, separation and stereotype implications so that they are up and strong again as soon as possible. With Tony, it is not the case since he has become stubborn from the involved stress burn outs. Other relevant theories and frameworks that touch on the individual’s factors of growth and the interactions that affect behaviour are discussed briefly as follows. Psychodynamic theory attempts to solve the psychological development puzzle by explaining how personalities form as well as offering a means to assess emotional needs. Family therapy theory provides a variety of psychological mechanisms that address the family situation and relationships thereon. Family strengths approaches highlight the techniques that can assist a family to approach and solve relationship and other challenges including parenting. Sociological theories attempt to respond to problems around an individual child and the family regarding the society as a source of behavioural influences. Social policy approach gives insights on the structural issues in the social platform and how they affect children needs. Biological theory mainly deals with physiological and neurological design of the organ systems in an individual and tries to relate this to developmental impact on an individual. Crisis intervention is aimed at offering assistance to parents and caregivers in times of understanding temporary fluctuations in behaviour and assist building on strengths Task centred practice offers assistance to families to achieve certain desired goals on the child’s development. References Aldgate J. J., Jeffrey C. & Rose W., (2006). The developing world of the child, London, Jessica Kingsley. Bandura A., (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall. Beckett C., (2002). Human growth and development, London, Sage, Inc. Bernard B., (1992). Fostering resilience in kids, New York, Routledge Publishers Clewet N. & Glover J., (2009). Supporting prisoners families: how Barnardo’s works to improve outcomes for children with a parent in prison, Essex, Barnardo’s. Crawford K. & Walker J., (2007). Social work and human development, Exeter, Learning Matters Goldberg S., Kerr K. & Muir R., (2000). Attachment theory, New York, Routledge Publishers Read More