Human Growth and Development Theories - Essay Example

?Introduction Human growth and development theories are all-encompassing and can inform about physical, behavioural, cognitive and emotional issues in the individual. Development has long been of interest to psychologists, which has led to a number of influential theories that have shaped psychology and social work today. The purpose of this essay is to explore a case study, Phil’s story, to show how development theory can be applied to an individual to help inform social work about the needs of the individual. The discussion will focus around Phil’s development up to early adulthood. Knowledge of human growth and development can explain some of the behaviours exhibited by an individual, as well as help a social worker understand the emotional reasoning behind it (Bernstein, Clarke-Stewart, Penner & Roy, 2008), hence why it is a useful tool. During this essay, the discussion will focus on Erkison’s stages of psychosocial development theory (Callaghan & Lazard, 2011), a well-known and strongly supported theory of human growth and development that can be used to inform about the needs of an individual. Summary of Key Issues Phil has a number of key issues which could benefit from social work. These are important to bear in mind when applying the Erikson’s stages to Phil’s case, and therefore will be briefly summarized here. Firstly, Phil has had an usual relationship with his mother throughout his life. In his early stages, his mother seemed to blame him for her difficult life. Later, she became a negligent parent with a history of violence, which affected Phil and lead him to be brought into care. This situation has led Phil to have a difficult relationship with women, as his relationship with his mother was damaged and his home and school environment did not provide opportunity to mix with females. Recently, Phil has been living back with his mother and providing her care, although he left for a brief violent relationship with Pamela. Following this, Phil lost a limb in a car accident and began to claim disability benefits and get involved with the church, which has led to his second marriage to Brenda, a woman with learning difficulties, and their two children Ruth and Peter. Human Growth & Development The work of Erikson on human growth and development is extensive. One of the most interesting things about Erikson’s theory is that it provides a “virtue” (positive outcome) and a negative outcome for each of eight life stages that he identifies. This can be of use to the social worker, as it can help explain some of the issues which an individual is currently facing (Callaghan & Lazard, 2011). Additionally, it acknowledges that there is both good and bad in the world (trust and mis-trust, for example) and both of these elements must be held in balance for an individual to become truly “virtuous” in this life stage (Bernstein, et al, 2008). Overall, it is a very interesting theory that remains influential today (Callaghan & Lazard, 2011), and provides a lot of points of discussion that can be used as a social worker to try and identify issues. Phil is currently in a fairly complex life situation. He is disabled and married to Brenda, to whom he has to provide care. Additionally, Phil must provide care to Ruth (who also has a learning difficulty) and his demanding son Peter. This would be a challenge for many people, but for someone with a chequered past such as Phil, this must be extremely stressful (Cassidy & Giles, 2012). In Erikson’s theory of development, Phil should be occupying the intimacy vs. isolation stage, in which he is seeking to find companionship and love with another person (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). Evidently, Phil is still in the midst of this stage, as he is on his second marriage and still seeks to avoid isolation from his mother. At the moment, Phil needs to answer the question “can I love?” to become truly aware of his relationship with Brenda and other people in his life (Crawford & Walker, 2010). This will help prevent him from becoming violent as he had done in his past marriage and improve on his relationships (Crawford & Walker, 2010). Erikson has an interesting theory about the balance between intimacy and isolation, in that it can lead to distantiation, which is where rejection is so painful that an individual withdraws and isolates themselves from relationships which may cause them pain (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). This is interesting, as Phil has already been through a painful relationship and therefore may be trying to avoid getting into a similar situation, as some do (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). This could have led to the development of his relationship with Brenda, as a learning disabled individual is more likely to rely on Phil and may be less likely to leave him and cause pain (Crawford & Walker, 2010). Interestingly, Erikson argues that early adulthood is still confused with the lingering need for an identity that forms the basis of the adolescent stage (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). This is where the term “identity crisis” comes from, and is a reflection of the need to impress others and discover a personality away from the home which is seen in teenagers (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). When considering Phil’s story, it is important to bear this in mind. Phil’s adolescence was mainly spent in a group home, which provided him with little chance to socially interact with others. In a group home, individuals can feel as though they are part of a homogenous group (Jack, 2010), lacking an identity of their own. Erikson maintains that many individuals have to confirm their identity over longer periods of time (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009), and it seems as though Phil’s life situation is one in which an individual would take a longer time to discover their identity (Ingleby, 2010). This may be one of the reasons why Phil chose a partner who was not right for him in his early adulthood, as he was not sure of his own identity. In social work, there is often a focus on how elements of an individual’s current life are based on their choices, their emotional capacity and their development (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). This knowledge can be used to try and inform how they should tackle the future. Phil now needs to finish his early adulthood and move onto middle adulthood, characterized by Erikson as the generativity vs. stagnation stage of life (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). The term generativity is used by Erikson as a way of describing the human concern of guiding the next generation into the correct path and helping them move through the stages in a satisfactory manner (Ingleby, 2010). As Phil has two children, Ruth and Peter, he needs to work out how to complete his own development whilst guiding theirs. One way in which Phil can achieve positivity is perhaps by developing his relationship with Brenda’s mother, as she used to be Brenda’s carer before the marriage. Developing this relationship could allow Phil to reduce his caring duties for both Brenda and the children, and allow them to develop a wider range of relationships. This would take pressure off Phil, as caring for a disabled spouse and children can lead to significant anxiety and stress (Li et al, 2012), which could lead to the resurfacing of issues such as violence which we have seen in Phil’s previous relationships. Building on this relationship could also improve Phil’s sense of trust and mistrust that was intended to develop in stage one (Ingleby, 2010), but could have been significantly impacted by the actions of his mother. Within Erikson’s theory, the middle adulthood stage is all about ensuring that your life counts for something, including both parenthood and career (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). Phil has been on disability benefits as a result of a car accident, which caused the amputation of a leg. This means that Phil may find it difficult to find work, but could benefit from finding some part-time work or a hobby that allows him to fulfill his needs in middle adulthood (Miell & Wetherell, 1999). This would again help to improve his relationships with others, as he would have maximum contact with individuals who are not close family. There are several key tasks that are associated with middle adulthood, including the ability to use leisure time creatively and be proud of your own accomplishments (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009), which would be appropriate in this sense. Additionally, undertaking this task if at all possible would help Phil to provide a good example to his children and provide them with information about how to move through their own stages. A suitable hobby, if found, could be used to help Phil bond with his son (Nevid, 2012) and could reduce his difficult nature. These are all things to consider with reference to Erikson’s stages. Positives & Negatives of Human Growth & Development Theory Evidently, there are a huge number of positives of using Erikson’s theory in social work. Firstly, it can help guide the social worker toward understanding some of the crises of an individual like Phil, who has many different things going on in his life that cannot be explained easily (Salkind, 2004). Understanding his early development, such as his relationship with his mother and absence of female companionship, can help explain why he was violent in his last relationship. More importantly for social workers, it can help identify where things wrong and which questions need to be answered by the individual to help them to resolve their crises (Salkind, 2004). It can therefore be considered as a useful method of pinpointing the source of problems to allow for targeted solutions (Salkind, 2004). One negative of using Erikson’s theory in particular is that the stages are set out in a sequential way and Erikson gives age ranges for each stage (Salkind, 2004). This can be confusing for social workers and therapists because it appears as if Erikson is suggesting that each stage must occur in this strict manner or the individual will be stuck with the non-virtue that they have acquired from misadjusting in this stage (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). This criticism has been targeted by Erikson himself, who insists that each developmental stage is only a phase and the age ranges should be used as guidelines (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). Additionally, Erikson’s theory appears to have more value than Freud’s similar stage-based theory because it provides stage information for the entire life span (including adulthood), which supports the truism that we continue to develop psychologically throughout our lives (Beckett & Taylor, 2010). Another issue with developmental theories is that they often do not cover all the crises that an individual can experience throughout their life. Erikson’s theory is limited in this way, as it suggests that the relationship with the mother is the most important during early infancy (Beckett & Taylor, 2010), but Phil developed his relationship with his mother later in life. From what is written in the case study, Phil must have affection for his mother to be her carer although this is an assumption. Additionally, Phil did not learn to mistrust her enough that he wanted no contact with her. Developmental theories are also more difficult to apply to individuals with a chequered life history, like Phil. Erikson himself preferred to use case studies based on famous individuals, which may make it harder to generalize the theory to people in situations like Phil. Conclusions In conclusion, the theory of development and growth can be a useful tool in social work. One theory, posited by Erikson, covers all life-stages and therefore can be used to assist older individuals like Phil, making it more useful in a wide range of social work. Erikson’s theories offer up various balances that must be upheld in a certain life stage (trust vs. mistrust, for example) and without this balance an individual can experience a crisis in later life. Phil is currently approaching middle adulthood, where he needs to begin generativity (passing on information and skills to his children) as well as ensuring he is kept busy and productive. This is particularly applicable to Phil, as he has two young children and cares for a wife with a learning difficulty and remains unemployed due to a disability himself. However, it must be noted that not all elements of a troubled life such as Phil’s can be neatly pushed into growth and development frameworks as there are a lot of interacting elements. Additionally, life does not always follow a sequential pattern, as suggested by many of these developmental theories, which is important to bear in mind when applying theory to real-life social work. References Beckett, C. and Taylor, H. (2010) Human Growth and Development, 2nd edition. London: SAGE Publications. Bernstein, D.A., Clarke-Stewart, A., Penner, L.A. and Roy, E.J. (2008) Psychology, 9th edition. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. Callaghan, J. and Lazard, L. (2011) Social Psychology. Exeter: Learning Matters. Cassidy, T., Giles, M., 2012. Further exploration of the Young Carers Perceived Stress Scale: Identifying a benefit-finding dimension. British Journal of Health Psychology 18, 17-30 Crawford and Walker (2010) Social Work and Human Development. Learning Matters Ltd. Ingleby, E. (2010) Applied Psychology for Social Work. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. Jack, G., 2010. Place matters: The significance of place attachments for children’s well-being. British Journal of Social Work 40, 755–771. Li, R., Cooper, C., Bradley, J., Shulman, A., Livingston, G., 2012. Coping strategies and psychological morbidity in family carers of people with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders 139, 1–11. Miell, D. & Wetherell, M. (1999) Doing Social Psychology. London: Sage Nevid, J.S. (2012) Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications, International Edition. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. Salkind, N.J. (2004) An Introduction to Theories of Human Development. London: SAGE Publications. Shaffer, D.D.R., Kipp, K., 2009. Developmental psychology. Cengage Learning. Read More