Theories on Child and Adolescent Development - Essay Example

?Outline I. Introduction Thesis ment II. Developmental Theories Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Development Summary Theory’s usage in mental HealthTreatment of Children Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Summary Theory’s usage in mental Health Treatment of Children Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Summary Theory’s usage in mental Health Treatment of Children III. Conclusion: Similarities and Differences Theories on Child and Adolescent Development I. Introduction Human experiences involve a “lifelong process of human development, which can be studied scientifically and empirically,” in which people undergoes a continuous growth in terms of the three areas in human growth, and these are physical area, cognitive area, and psychosocial area (Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007, p. 8). The physical area of development involves changes of the human body and neurological structures across the lifespan, such as increased in height and motor development. As for the cognitive area of development, it involves the evolving intellectual capacities of individuals, molded also through human experiences and biological structures. Lastly, the psychosocial area of development involves the relative shift of feelings, characteristics, and the manner of relating to other people, such as friends and parents (Berk, 2006). According to Berk (2006), child and adolescent experts have grounded from various principles in apprehending the stability and shifts in the three areas of development since the beginning of life until the period of adolescence. There are many different theoretical assumptions and viewpoints concerning to the human growth, but with a similar aim “to describe and explain the human development and to predict what kinds of behavior might occur under certain conditions” (Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007, p. 29). In line with this, the current research paper aims to understand the different theoretical perspectives in describing, explaining, and predicting the human growth from infancy until adolescent stage. II. Developmental Theories In this research paper, the researcher focuses on three different developmental theories, and these are the Freud’s psychosexual development, Erikson’s psychosocial development, and Piaget’s cognitive development. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Development Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual theory involves the psychological aspects of gratifying the different body sexual impulses or libido in the different stages of human development. Furthermore, Freud identified the id, ego and superego as vital elements in the development of one’s personality across the stages of human growth. The id emerges from the very beginning of human life, and this element is the source of the innate and biologically determined urge to attain a goal or satisfy a need, such as the sexual drive. On the other hand, the superego emerges along the human growth and serves as the system that carries the person's socially acceptable principles or standards of behavior. Consequently, the ego serves as an intermediary for the function of the id in accordance to what actually exist in the world and what the superego dictates (as cited in Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007; J. Feist & G. Feist, 2009). In relation to human development, Freud identified five psychosexual stages of development, and these are the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage, and genital stage. Specifically, in oral stage (birth to 18 months), the infant’s sensual action focuses on their mouth, in which the baby will take into the body something that is pleasurable and throw out those that are not satisfying (Garcia, 1995, p. 499). Consequently, infants may unfold different practices that can help them satisfy their oral desires (e.g., smoking) during the course of adult development. In anal stage (18 months - 3 years), a young child’s sensual action focuses on their anus, and learns to control one’s bowel movements through “toilet training.” The sufficient support and commendation from parents may assist the child to understand the real way of controlling oneself through releasing or retaining life demands and decisions. However, when the child feels the parental pressure of expelling the waste matter, the child may develop excessive points of character, such as being rigorously tidy, or rebelliously untidy at one point. In the phallic stage (3 to 6 years), the child will discover gratification in the arousal of one’s reproductive organs (i.e., genitals). In this stage, a young boy will develop venereal lust towards his mother (Oedipus complex) while a young girl will develop a venereal lust towards her father (Electra complex), but later on recognize oneself to the parent with the identical gender as compliance to the moral function of the superego. In the latency stage (6-11 years), the child’s innate sensual drive gradually stop because of the strongly evolve function of the superego, in which the societal standards are learned and understood by the child. Lastly, in the genital stage (adolescence), an individual sensual action during the phallic stage will reemerged but focuses on mature sexuality. However, the success in this stage depends on the productive success of the previous stages in which the individual has not endangered himself/herself to the state of fixation because of great or lack of satisfaction on the sexual impulses or libido (Berk, 2006; Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007; J. Feist & G. Feist, 2009). According to Freud, individuals who suffered from neurosis are those who have the sexual desires out from the bona fide world, but have to repress these immoral thoughts in accordance to societal standards. Thus, this insight have led Freud to introduce his psychoanalytic therapy as a method to help individual strengthen their ego and balanced out the id’s senseless desires and the moral standards of the superego. One essential method for psychoanalysis is transference, which denotes the transferring of repressed emotional conflict from childhood towards the therapist (J. Feist & G. Feist, 2009). For example, a 14-year old boy who was in conflict with his father have later realized that his father has his own limitations of giving what is best for him (Sarles, 1994). However, for the past years the methods for psychoanalytic therapy were regarded as lack of evidence, but these have sustained empirical researches to back up the efficiency of psychoanalysis (Midgley & Kennedy, 2011). Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Erik Erikson identified his psychosocial theory as a sequence for ego growth, in which the individual will obtain positive or negative viewpoints of self in accordance to the attitudes and behavioral characteristics of a particular social group. Moreover, an individual needs to equilibrate the fundamental collision between the positive and negative interrelation of social factors and individual thought or behavior, in which it will define an adaptive or unhealthy outcome in specific developmental phases (Berk, 2006; Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007). In this theory, Erikson identified eight stages of human growth; however, this research paper will focus only five stages in relation to the child and adolescent development, and these stages are the following: basic trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, and identity vs identity confusion. In basic trust vs mistrust (birth to 18 months), the baby’s primary source of perceiving a trusting relationship is through his/her parents, in which the baby will perceive the universe as dependable and trustworthy for his/her personal needs. On the other hand, babies who have an uneasy and troubled relationship with their parents will perceive the world as suspicious and distrustful in attaining one’s necessities. Consequently, a trusting child will incorporate to oneself the kindness of the society and develop a virtue of hope in attaining the child’s needs and wants while the mistrusting child will redirect his/her own wants to another person and have difficulty in building and maintaining relationships. In autonomy vs shame and doubt (18 months to 3 years), the young child learns to regulate one’s behavior without any extrinsic supervision from the parents or society. On the other hand, a young child who has no power over outside forces (e.g., parents) tends to be timid, uncertain, and hesitant in one’s actions or decisions. Moreover, a child who perceive oneself as shameful and doubtful is the one who is afraid to be noticed and judged by the society. Thus, it is considerable for a child to have a sense of strong desire in order to establish oneself as independent and self-contained. In initiative vs guilt (3 to 6 years), a child learns how to weigh in the desire to do something with respect to the ethical principles of what is right and wrong behavior. On the other hand, children who are unable to follow the societal standards with respect of doing what they want will have the feeling of guiltiness. Thus, it is necessary for a child to know the positive intention of his/her actions without causing any harm towards others. In industry vs inferiority (6 years to puberty), a child learns to be efficient in his/her assignments and be able to accomplish and achieve the society’s expectations (e.g., parents expect high grades). On the other hand, children who are incapable to achieve a better performance are those who perceive themselves as inferior among other children. In this stage, a child needs to value competency and efficiency in order to be successful and attain the personal and societal goals. Lastly, in identity vs identity confusion, an adolescent learns to have a consistent perception about oneself through his/her own beliefs and the responses of others (e.g., friends). On the other hand, an adolescent who has no rigid perception of oneself turn out to be in the state of perplexity and puzzlement (Capps, 2004; Hoare, 2005; Berk, 2006; Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007). Moreover, according to Miller (1989), the acquisition of confidence, independence, initiative, and diligence all bring out the personal characteristics of the adolescent (as cited in Garrett, 1995). Erikson’s theory was another implication in solving the individual’s divergence in the previous stages of psychosocial development. For example, in a study made by Wang and Viney (1997), Chinese children are more likely to be interested on how to constitute confidence and efficiency. However, when children who have restricted access of things that are valuable for them (e.g., toys or books) are more likely to develop subordination and perceive oneself as useless (Daniels, 1992). Consequently, children who have the lack of confidence in one’s worth or abilities are those who unsuccessfully strengthen their personal ego with the society (Massey, 1986). Thus, in strengthening one’s ego, an individual needs to connect with his social system in order to achieve one’s revitalization strategy (Ridgeway, 2001 as cited in Vogel-Scibilia et al., 2009). Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Piaget introduced his cognitive development as the capacity for human individual to form operatively and acquire information through personal experiences based to his/her interaction to the environment. The principal viewpoint of Piaget’s framework is the idea for an individual to adjust appropriately within the surroundings and be able to attain a state of intrinsic and extrinsic balance. In this development, an individual will undergo four sequential phases that started from infancy until the adult developmental stage, and these stages are the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. In sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the interplay of infants with their surroundings plays an important role because it allows the baby to use his/her senses and motor abilities in investigating the environment. In this stage, an infant will develop actions from innate responses (i.e., reflexes) to a continually learn behaviors (by chance or experience) that are purposely done for enjoyable and pleasing results. In preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), a young individual will learn to employ and practice the importance of language as a main tool for interactive relationship with other people. In this stage, the child will be able to use portrayed images and symbols in order to express their personal experiences. In concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years), a child learns to use rational thinking, with the use of concrete operations. In this stage, the child learns to understand the concept of conservation, in which a child understands that an object will remain the same even though there are changes made to its properties (e.g., height, weight). Lastly, in formal operational stage (12 years and above), an individual learns to imagine, contemplate, and reflect experiences and ideas with no virtual existence at all. Moreover, in this final stage, an individual gradually learns advanced intellectual processes by which he can reason out hypothetically and abstractly (Berk, 2006; Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007). Piaget’s cognitive theory was an essential contribution for therapeutic intervention concerning cognition, emotion, and behavior among individuals, such method includes cognitive-behavioral therapy (Favre & Bizzini, 1995) and healing narratives (Cook-Cottone, 2004). For example, an alcoholic adolescent female has a hard time in expressing her own personal experiences; however, along the course of healing narrative, the subject was able to conceptualize her own experiences abstractly and concretely. Moreover, the cognitive therapeutic approach was more on the purpose of revealing the entrenched way of thinking in order for an individual to determine and reorganize one’s way of thinking and behavior (Cook-Cottone, 2004). Conclusion: Similarities and Differences The three developmental theories discussed in this paper (i.e., psychosexual theory, psychosocial theory, and cognitive theory) were introduced by its proponents with a similar focus, and that is to describe, explain, and predict human development. Furthermore, these theories have taken into account the importance of developmental stages in acquiring a significant shift in an individual’s features and qualities. However, aside from these commonalities, these theories differ among with each other in terms of content, proponent’s principles, and viewpoints with regard to human growth. The focus of the human growth in psychosexual theory is on the gratification and satisfaction of sexual impulses in different areas of the body. Children who have normally sustained the needs of their sexual impulses, with the help of parents, are those who will later develop a healthy personality during the adolescence stage. However, children who are unable to satisfy the body’s sexual impulses in every developmental stage will later suffer from neurosis, such as attachment anxiety, low self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and disappointments (Garcia, 1995; J. Feist & G. Feist, 2009). In contrast to the psychosexual theory, focuses on the sexual impulses, the psychosocial theory on human growth has focused on the importance of society’s influence on the ego or the self in order to balance two opposing factors (e.g., trust vs mistrust) in every developmental stage. Children and adolescents who have acquired a specific virtue along the developmental stages will help them established a firm ego. On the other hand, children and adolescent who failed to strengthen their ego will later develop pathological condition, such as the effects in the psychosexual theory (ie., low self-esteem, attachment anxiety) (Wang & Viney, 1997; J. Feist & G. Feist, 2009). Lastly, the cognitive development focuses on the intellectual growth in human development. Children and adolescent who have the proper cognitive functioning are those who have well-adjusted self towards the environment. On the other hand, children and adolescents who failed to adjust are those who have the irrational way of portraying and expressing their life experiences (Cook-Cottone, 2004; Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007). In summary, Freud's theory contributed to the understanding of Erikson’s psychosocial theory and Piaget’s cognitive theory (Wulach, 1977; Hoare, 2005). Moreover, Erikson’s theory and Piaget’s theory have agreed on the importance of emotional development as well as social development (Light, 1973). Thus, despite the different content and concepts, these theories have led each other with the existence and significant contribution to describing, explaining, and predicting human growth. References Berk, L. E. (2006). Child development (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon/Longman. Capps, D. (2004). The decades of life: Relocating Erikson’s stages. Pastoral Psychology, 53(1), 3-32. Cook-Cottone, C. P. (2004). Using Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to understand the construction of healing narratives. Journal of College Counseling, 7, 177-186. Daniels, J. (1992). Empowering homeless children through school counseling. Elementary School Guidance & Counseling, 27(2), 104-112. Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Favre, C., & Bizzini, L. (1995). Some contributions of Piaget’s genetic epistemology and psychology to cognitive therapy. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2(1), 15-23. Garcia, J. L. (1995). Freud’s psychosexual stage conception: A developmental metaphor for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73, 498-502. Garrett, D. (1995). Violent behaviors among African-American adolescents. Adolescence, 30(117), 209-216. Hoare, C. H. (2005). Erikson’s general and adult developmental revisions of Freudian thought: “Outward, forward, upward.” Journal of Adult Development, 12(1), 19-31. Light, D. W. (1973). An analysis of Erikson’s and Piaget’s theories of human growth. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED116776.pdf Massey, R. F. (1986). Erik Erikson: Neo-Adlerian. Individual Psychology: Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 42(1), 65-91. Midgley, N., & Kennedy, E. (2011). Psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents: A critical review of the evidence base. Journal of Child Psychology, 37(3), 232-260. Papalia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2007). Human development (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Sarles, R. M. (1994). Transference-countertransference issues with adolescents: Personal reflections. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 48(1), 64-74. Vogel-Scibilia, S. E., McNulty, K. C., Baxter, B., Miller, S., Dine, M., & Frese, F. J. III (2009). The recovery process utilizing Erikson’s stages of human development. Community Mental Health Journal, 45, 405-414. Wang, W., & Viney, L. L. (1997). The psychosocial development of children and adolescents in the People's Republic of China: An Eriksonian approach. International Journal of Psychology, 32(3), 139-153. Wulach, J. S. (1977). Piagetian cognitive development and primary process thinking in children. Journal of Personality Assessment, 41(3), 230-237. Annotated Bibliography Capps, D. (2004). The decades of life: Relocating Erikson’s stages. Pastoral Psychology, 53(1), 3-32. This journal article intended to discuss the eight psychosocial stages by Erik Erikson, in which the author decided to shift these stages according to 10-years age interval of a person (1-9 yrs., 10-19, etc.). This article has made this research paper possible through the definitions and author’s understanding on the eight psychosocial stages of Erik Erikson. Cook-Cottone, C. P. (2004). Using Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to understand the construction of healing narratives. Journal of College Counseling, 7, 177-186. This journal article aimed to understand the process of healing narratives among college students. In this article, the author found that student’s have a hard time in expressing their personal experiences. This article has helped the researcher conceptually assessed Piaget’s cognitive development through the therapeutic methods. Favre, C., & Bizzini, L. (1995). Some contributions of Piaget’s genetic epistemology and psychology to cognitive therapy. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2(1), 15-23. In this article, the authors focused on the Piagetian concepts and notions in dealing with the client’s way of thinking and expressing themselves. Moreover, this article may not directly involve with Piaget’s cognitive development, but this has served as groundwork for cognitive therapy. Thus, this article has helped the researcher understand the influential contribution of Piaget’s cognitive development in psychotherapy. Garcia, J. L. (1995). Freud’s psychosexual stage conception: A developmental metaphor for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73, 498-502. In this article, the author noted that his counselling process is ideally similar to Freud’s five stages of psychosexual development. In this article, the author defines each of Freud’s psychosexual stages in a simple and comprehensible manner. Thus, the researcher had focused the attention, not on the counselling process but on the author’s understanding and definition of the psychosexual stages. Midgley, N., & Kennedy, E. (2011). Psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents: A critical review of the evidence base. Journal of Child Psychology, 37(3), 232-260. The authors of this article made a crucial literary review on the scientific and empirical findings regarding Freud’s psychodynamic therapy. However, this article focused more on the results rather than explaining the reason behind such findings. Nevertheless, this article has helped the researcher understand the growing number of empirical study regarding the psychodynamic therapy. Sarles, R. M. (1994). Transference-countertransference issues with adolescents: Personal reflections. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 48(1), 64-74. In this article, the author focused on the transference-countertransference method, one of Freud’s famous therapeutic methods. The author noted two cases in which he had personally experienced and used the transference-countertransference method. This article has made this research paper possible through how the article portray how Freud’s method influenced psychotherapy. Wang, W., & Viney, L. L. (1997). The psychosocial development of children and adolescents in the People's Republic of China: An Eriksonian approach. International Journal of Psychology, 32(3), 139-153. These authors of this article aimed to investigate Erikson’s psychosocial development among Chinese children (age ranges from 6 to 18 years old). The findings suggest that Erikson’s stages may not generally portray according to age because of some related factors, such as experience. Nevertheless, this article has helped the researcher empirically understand the development of children in line with Erikson’s psychosocial stages. Read More