Piagets Theory of Lifespan Development - Essay Example

Life Span and Development Question Piaget’s theory of lifespan development d that children’s thought processes change as they interact with the environment and grow. In his theory of cognitive development, he proposed four stages that are unique and ordered which every child goes through. They include; sensor motor stage, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational stages (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014). Kohlberg similarly stated that moral development was through a sequential set of stages borrowing the idea of progressive stages from Piaget’s cognitive stages development. He categorized them into pre-conventional, conventional, and post conventional. Selman on the other hand, focused on Role Taking, which is the ability to adopt the perspective of someone else and thinking about things in another person’s point of view. Like Piaget, he believed that the ability to take another person’s idea is limited and that children go through four stages of thinking about others. Question #2 Brofenbrenner views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from the immediate settings to the laws customs and cultural norms (Nichols et. al., 2000). The environment is rarely static; it is dynamic and therefore affects people in varying ways. Vygotsky views social interaction as very important in the process of children acquiring ways of thinking and behaving that makes up a people’s culture therefore cognitive development is a socially meditated process, which varies from culture to culture (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014). These two theorists have affected American child education where different states have different levels of competencies essential for success depending on all the different cultures. Furthermore, American children live in an industrialized society. Their teachers, therefore, teach them how to read, drive cars and use computers, which may not be the case in different environments. Question #3 Erikson did accept Freud’s basic psychosexual framework but expanded the scope at each developmental stage. His stages are referred to as psychosocial stages since his emphasis was on the interaction of the inner instincts and outer cultural and social demands unlike Freud who based development only as caused by inner instincts (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014). Freud viewed development as only occurring in childhood. Erikson expounded this concept further by saying that development continues throughout the entire lifespan for the child; as they develop into adults with a sense of an ever-changing identity. Each of his stages has a pair of opposing possibilities that successful resolution resulted in the development of a particular strength and it is this strength that permits the individual to contribute constructively to the society. Question #4 All these factors are referred to as nurture in the nature nurture conflict of life span development both of which are equally complex. The family is the first context of development a person undergoes. The family system is ever changing and constantly adjusting itself. Each person’s behaviour in a family influences the behaviours of the other members in both direct and indirect ways (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014). For instance, family social class affects the timing and duration of phases of the family life cycle such as marriage and getting children. It also affects the interactions of parents with their children where in lower social class families, parents focus on providing for the family more than interacting with their children in parenting therefore neglect their children while they are developing. How siblings interact, also affect their personality development whether one will turn out with a quick temper or not among other things. Question #5 The success of any marriage is based on the interaction of the spouses. For there to be good interaction between spouses, it is important for each spouse to understand the life span development phase of the other spouse and in so doing one avoids passing too harsh judgements on the faults of the other (Nichols et. al., 2000). In new couples, the balance of passion, intimacy and commitment helps move the relationship from the intense sexual attraction of passionate love towards the more settled companionate love and this requires effort to understand the different stages they are going through. Question #6 In families with adolescents, parents need to establish new relationships with these young adults mixing guidance and freedom without losing their control over them (Nichols et. al., 2000). The young adults often display rebellion and experimentations with various things and this takes a toll on the parents who are going through midlife crisis. Most parents are able to handle this stage but others end up in family therapy in case of tension in the family. The eldest generation on the other hand start experiencing physical changes and get sick more often since their health declines. The older women start experiencing menopause. All these may make them feel as if they are no longer needed as they go to retirement while others may be just fine with it and be happy to relax and take life easy. Question #7 Child abuse could be sexual, physical or emotional and it is very important for the counsellor to tell the signs of a child who has been abused and identify the abuser. A child who has been abused experiences consequences which most of the time are severe. These include low self-esteem, mistrust of adults, depression and feelings of anger and hostility, which can persist for a long time (Nichols et. al., 2000). Children with childhood disorders also need to be taken care of and the counsellor ought to explain to the parents how to handle such children. The best way to treat families with young children and adolescents is to make sure that the chances of abuse and violence are minimizes and prevented from continuing if already present. Parent should be enrolled in educational programs to help them bring up healthy, safe children. Question #8 All cultures have special rituals for celebrating the end of life and helping the bereaved cope with the profound loss. As every life is unique, so is every death and it is essential for the survival of our species. According to Nichols et al, fear of death declines with age with people with mental health problems expressing more severe death concerns (2000). Teenagers tend to be high risk takers therefore do not put much thought into death while middle-aged adults end to understand more fully the inevitability of death while as the aged at times welcome thoughts of death without worrying. References Broderick, P., & Blewitt, P. (2014). The life span: Human Development for Helping Professionals (3rd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Nichols, W, Pace-Nichols, Becvar, D.S & Napier, A.Y (2000). Handbook of family development and intervention (1st ed.). New York: Wiley. Read More