Changes in Human Behavior - Essay Example

? Human Behavior Table of Contents Answer to Question 2 3 References 8 Answer to Question 2 At two years and eight months, Robert’s development fallsunder the autonomy versus doubt and shame stage in Erikson’s psychosocial development stages model/paradigm. Here there are relevant case facts that enable us to make an assessment of whether Robert has been able to successfully hurdle the developmental challenges that are inherent in the second stage, and the general assessment is that Robert has largely failed. A telling sign is Robert’s inability to successfully become toilet trained in an independent fashion. It is likewise telling that Robert is able to utilize the toilet properly only in the presence of his mother Tisha. This is a sign that Robert has failed to develop the necessary autonomy to be able to learn the skills necessary to use the toilet on his own. Moreover, from Robert’s relative good command of his motor faculties, as evidenced by his ability to be able to control his own movements with good coordination, to walk and to run with success on his own, it can be said that his inability to use the toilet without Tisha’s supervision is not due to a physical inability. These case facts and accompanying analysis all point to Robert largely failing to hurdle the challenges of development in this stage of the Erikson model. In short, Robert has failed to achieve autonomy. The development stage is marked by doubt and shame, a marked deficiency. It is noteworthy that the literature mentions toilet training as a milestone event in this stage. The ability to dress oneself is another important milestone. That the case highlights the shortcomings of Robert in these areas is an obvious sign of Robert’s general failure to successfully achieve autonomy as required in the Erikson model for the Autonomy versus Doubt and Shame stage (Cherry, 2012; Davis and Clifton, 1995; AllPsych, 2003; Grove, 2012). Taking a step back, we analyze Robert in the context of Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development, and that is the Trust-Mistrust stage. It is to be noted in the case that Tisha was able to nurse Robert for three months, after which Tisha’s work got in the way, and Tisha’s mom had to take over with the job. That care giving by the grandmother had been done poorly, as evidenced from the way the case described Tisha’s mom as being generally lacking affection towards the children. Mapping these case facts with Erikson’s model, the lack of affection from the grandmother or Tisha’s mother is a telltale sign. As indicated in Erikson’s model, this lack of sustained affection is a factor in infants not successfully hurdling this initial Trust versus Mistrust stage, and infants being unable to develop that important sense of trust. That Tisha likewise had to leave him early contributed to this. Tisha’s leaving him at three months must have contributed to Robert developing a sense that the care that he is getting is neither constant nor reliable, nor affectionate. The case facts contribute to the conclusion that Robert did not receive the proper amount of constant care and affection to be able to hurdle this first stage. What developed in the absence of trust is this sense of mistrust and of fear that is expected of children like Robert, growing up in the way that he did during the first few months of his life. Moreover, it does not help that physically and developmentally, Robert had to deal with the consequences of Tisha’s use of alcohol, cigarettes and amphetamines, all substances that could have impaired his normal fetal development. Robert was born with these severe handicaps that were further compounded by gaps in his rearing during the first few months of his life. The consequences of the substances use by Tisha was evident first and foremost in the suboptimal physical birth characteristics of the infant- low birth weight, unusual silence and passivity, and developing the ability to walk at around two years. It is also notable that the lack of proper medical care during those fateful first few months also further made matters worse as far as Robert’s physical development during that time is concerned. All these are factors that pile up and strengthen the case for an assessment of failure of development on the part of Robert based on Erikson’s Trust-Mistrust stage. In all, Robert failed at the first and second stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development stages model (Cherry, 2012; Davis and Clifton, 1995; AllPsych, 2003; Grove, 2012). Moving on to Freud’s psychoanalytic development stages and their application to Robert’s case, the general prognosis from the case facts is that, as in the earlier analysis, Robert failed to develop adequately at the oral stage, which covered the first 18 months of his life, and at the anal stage, which covered Robert’s life from 18 months up to his age at the time of the case, which was two years and 8 months. At the oral stage, there were problems with gratifying the oral urges, as evidenced by the fact that Tisha had to leave Robert at just three months and had to get him off her nursing so that Tisha could work. In Freud, these are telltale signs of failure at hurdling the oral stage of his psychosexual model. Meanwhile, Robert’s progress through the anal stage was also deficient, which in turn may have something to do with the way Tisha herself dealt with Robert’s toilet training. In place of ideal positive feedback and reinforcement/care, Tisha yelled and swore at times, which may have had the effect of traumatizing Robert, and of preventing Robert from developing properly according to the standards of this stage. Meanwhile, other aspects of his behavior, such as his general passivity towards the invitations of his brother to play with the ball, and his inability to focus when playing with rings or blocks with Tisha, do not seem to conform with the predictions of Freud’s model. He is neither obsessive nor messy, just generally passive and unable to develop as normally as one would expect of someone his age. To recall, this was the general assessment of the daycare worker had observed. Other case facts corroborate this judgment. On the other hand, viewed another way, the passivity may be construed as a manifestation of a total lack of control too, which is in a way a sign of Robert being anal expulsive. This fits in with the general lack of affection on the part of the surrogate caregiver, the grandmother, and with Tisha’s general absence from Robert after the third month of his life, indicating an opposite lack of supervision (Cherry, 2012b; Felluga, 2011; AllPsych, 2003b; Freud, 1910, pp. 472-488; Goldstein, 1995, pp. 72-84). Of the two theories, it seems that Erikson’s model is able to accommodate more of the case facts, and in general is able to make more sense out of what is happening to Robert at his stage of development. It is able to account for the passivity, as well as the dependence of Robert on his mother to perform his toilet rituals. That Robert was unable to develop trust as suggested by the first stage of Erikson’s model likewise fits in with the predictions of the model, including the eventual development of dependency attitudes towards the mother and the failure at achieving a certain level of autonomy as the model predicts. On the other hand, there are obvious shortcomings in the two models. One is that both fail to adequately account for Robert’s general passivity towards his mother and brother, and his general good relationship with his sister. The models also fail to adequately explain the other observed deficiencies in Robert’s development, such as his inability to sustain an interest in his mother’s attempts at play, and his slow language skills development, among others (Cherry, 2012b; Felluga, 2011; AllPsych, 2003b; Cherry, 2012; Davis and Clifton, 1995; AllPsych, 2003; Grove, 2012; Freud, 1910, pp. 472-488; Goldstein, 1995, pp. 72-84). References AllPsych (2003). Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. AllPsych Online. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/psychology101/social_development.html AllPsych (2003b). Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. AllPsych Online. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/psychosexual.html Cherry, K. (2012). Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Summary Chart. About Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm Cherry, K. (2012b). Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. About Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm Davis, D. and Clifton, A. (1995). Psychosocial Theory: Erikson. Haverford College. Retrieved from http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html Felluga, D. (2011). Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development. Purdue University/Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Retrieved from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html Freud, S. (1910). The Origin and Development of Psycho-Analysis: First and Second Lectures. The American Journal of Psychology 100 (3-4). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1422690 Goldstein, E. (1995). “Chapter 4: The Ego and Its Defenses”. Ego Psychology and Social Work Practice. New York: The Free Press. Grove, H. (2012). Understanding Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development. Regis University CPS Blog. Retrieved from http://cps.regis.edu/blog/understanding-erik-ericksons-psychosocial-stages-of-development/ Read More