Effect of a Parents Death on Child Development - Assignment Example

Education Parenting Question Effect of a Parent’s Death on Child Development Erikson’s theory on psychosocial development According to Erickson, a parent’s death will mark an end to breast-feeding, which will physiologically affect the infant. The infant will also forego the maternal and paternal bonding, which is associated with the infant stage of child development. The infant learns to trust the caregivers. In this regard, the departure of the parent will make the infant to loss trust in people. The breast milk is also essential and enables the infant to bond with the mother parent. Additionally, the infant will forgo maternal and paternal affection, which is essential in the development of the child. The demise of a parent depressingly affects a toddler. Erikson’s theory stipulates that during this stage, the toddler undergo intensive training of light tasks like toilet training. The absence of a familiar human figure results in slow psychosocial development because it will take long before the toddler recognizes new caregivers. The stepparents will not understand the toddler fully as the parents do. As a result, the child will suffer and retreat. A preschooler will lose the motivation offered by the parent. The close supervision of the parent is essential in the development of the pre-scholar. Additionally, the child is able to learn independency of thought and exploration of the environment. Erikson stipulates that a pre-scholar is usually aggressive and anxious of many learning escapades. The scholar will forgo the financial support, which will lead to psychological disturbance. Even so, the effect will be short-lived because of the long time the child spends in schooling. The long period spent in schooling shifts the child’s attention from the parent’s demise. The adolescent is mature and has sense of identity. The parent’s death will negatively, affect the youth’s social and psychological well-being because of the relatively long association with the parent. Additionally, the youth is aware of the social and financial gap created by the parent’s death. Piaget’s Cognitive development theory According to Piaget, the infants learn through sensory experiences. In this regard, the parent’s death will negatively affect the cognitive development of the child. The infant will also forgo the parent’s bonding, which provides the child a first-hand experience. The natural sense of touch is also lost because the sensory experience of the child attached to the parent is lost. The toddlers also suffer in a relatively similar way as the toddlers. However, the toddlers learn through manipulation of objects in the environment. The parent’s lose will also lead to slow toddler cognitive development because the parent usually assists the child in the interaction with the environment. According to Piaget’s cognitive development theory, the pre-scholars belong to the pre-operational stage of cognitive development. The pre-scholars learn from the views of the people close to them, hence the parent’s death will affect them negatively. The school-age children belong to Piaget’s concrete operational stage. In this regard, the children will fully recognize the demise of the parent. The children are usually aware of the effect of losing a parent. The psychological disturbance will deter their cognitive development for some time. Adolescents belong to the formal operational stage of Piaget’s cognitive development. According to Piaget, adolescents are able to deductively reason and make concrete decisions. As a result, they will be the most affected by the parent’s death. Parental Support Erikson’s view According to Erikson’s psychosocial development a parent supports the infant with breast milk and infanthood care. The parent also helps the infant learn through sensory experiences. The role of apparent is essential in the general growth of the infant. The early stage of a child is critical and in consequence, parental care and comfort is paramount. The care determines a complete growth and development of a child in psychosocial, physiological and spiritual aspects. A parent helps a toddler to learn to accomplish some basic activities like toilet training. A toddler also requires close attention in order to have easy learning process. A child in this age bracket usually crawls and experiences many kinds of things especially through the sense of touch. In this regard, a parent must help the child accomplish his natural lessons. A pre-scholar child requires a parent’s guidance in order to start his academic life well. The world of academics is exciting and threatening for some children. For that reason, parents determine the destiny of a child thought advice and guidance offered. A parent also helps a pre-scholar to grasp basic academic ideas and concepts. Additionally, the parents help the child to relate to the environment. A parent also helps a school-aged to work hard in the class academic tasks. A parent’s motivation results to high academic performance of the child. This is because the child believes in the advice of the parent. Parents play a big role among the adolescents because the children at this age are rowdy and unstable in their emotional life. This calls for advisory and counseling service of the parents. Parental guidance helps in controlling the behaviors of the children. Piaget’s View An infant requires parental care to benefit from motherly guidance in sensory exploration of the environment. The motherly care is deemed special for the infants given that it accords the children the psychosocial growth and development they require. The toddler child also requires parental care because parents offer guidance in the learning process of the toddlers. The manipulative behavior of the toddlers is guided well by parents because they understand their children better than any person does. The pre-scholar child also benefits from the parental guidance in accomplishment of kindergarten assignments. In this regard, a child is able to conceptualize and relate simple ideas pertaining to the environment. The school age child cannot succeed without the guidance of the parent because he requires guidance in sorting logically challenging issues. As a result, the child develops well with regard to logical cognition. The adolescent also need parental guidance although they can deduct and reason rationally. The children are usually in a confusion state because they are fond of experimenting of many things in life. In this regard, they need parental guidance and counseling. Question 2 Baumrinds parenting style includes the authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved styles. When parents are accommodative of their children, the authoritative style is used. The style is suitable for the children because it enhances coordination between the parents and their children. The style is moderately restrictive given that it contains guidelines on child behavior. In this regard, the parents are attentive to their children. The parent will remark, “…dare not extend your curfew time or else you face punishment…!” The authoritarian style of parenting is manifest when the parent has little communication with their children. Lack of communication is an impediment to health child growth because communication with parents provides a child with an opportunity to seek inspiration from parents. In this case, the parent will respond, “…I will surely punish you today…!” The permissive parenting style involves a friendly approach in the nurturing of the children. The parent will respond, “…kindly reconsider your decision…!” The uninvolved parenting style is used when a parent shows little concern for the child. The parent will respond, “…you will blame yourself for your own mistakes…!” This notwithstanding, the style is overprotective of children, which is risky for the child’s growth and development. Arguably, the best form of parenting style is the authoritative style because there is a set of rules and regulations a child ought to follow. Failure to comply with the rules results in the child’s punishment. Additionally, the method of parenting is reliable, given that it accommodates children. The rules guide the children and they inform them of repercussions of their misdeeds. Children dread any form of punishment. Attachment of punishment to mischief is good for the children given that it serves as a deterrent measure for the children. Although the other parenting styles have their merits, the authoritative style is the best. Question 3 Bowlby’s attachment styles include the secure and insecure attachments. Secure attachment refers to when an infant is strongly attached to the parent to an extent the baby is insecure when the parent departs. Insecure attachment refers to the scenario when a child is insecure when strangers come close to him/her even when the parents are present. If a child develops a secure attachment, it will have little problem in childhood-adolescence transition. Secure attachment theory shows that the adolescent children benefit from a parent through social support, which leads to commendable academic performance. The adolescent is able to learn many things from the parent, which leads to bonding. For instance, the success of a parent is a motivational factor for the adolescent. A parent helps an infant in gaining the first sensory experience. A child benefits from the guidance of a parent. Additionally, the parent helps the toddler to engage with the environment because of the learning, which occurs at this stage. A parent helps a child resolve logical difficulties in childhood. The move helps the child to learn logical evaluation of issues. As a result, a child is able to interact with the environment. A parent helps the school-age child in their psychological and cognitive development because the children under this age bracket are usually rigid in their thinking process. The youth learn stress management skills from their parents, which adapts them to environmental responses. The social bond, which exists between the parents and the children, makes the youth to identify and relate well with their parents. However, the child is subject to insecure attachment. On the contrary, a child with insecure attachment will face problems in the transition process from childhood to adulthood. The parents can learn to stay close to their children during the childhood period in order to promote secure attachment. Insecure attachment is categorized into anxious avoidant, anxious resistant and disoriented behavior. Anxious avoidant behavior is exhibited when a child is indifferent when the parent is present and absent. Anxious resistant is a scenario whereby a child protests the presence of strangers and does not feel at ease establishing any form of rapport with strangers. Disoriented child behavior is manifest when a child is fond of the mother but occasionally avoids the mother. Question 4 Galinsky Parenthood Stages 1. The Image Making Stage This is the planning stage for parenthood, whereby, the parents form and reform images of the yet-to-be-born child and the prognosticated changes while the mother is still pregnant. 2. The Nurturing Stage At this stage, the parents start to compare the image and the real experience with the child, as from when the child is a toddler to between eighteenth and twenty forth month stage when he/she can first apply the word ‘no’. This stage involves attachment and oppugning of the parent’s priorities. The parent’s time spending trends are subject to change to cater for the new member of the family. 3. The Authority Stage As the child grows, that is, between the ages of two to five years, it is upon the parents to decide which kind of authority to take. This stage entails setting and developing rules, also ensuring that they are followed strictly. 4. The Interpretive Stage Between the preschool period of the child and the beginning of adolescence stage, the parents are burdened with the task of making sure self-concepts and the child’s are interpreted. Since the children are now getting exposed to the world, it is imperative for the parents to interpret it for the child to avoid crucial mistakes that may affect the life of the child. 5. The Interdependent Stage This stage stretches throughout the child’s teenage years. Parents have to again embark on the authority issues but from a different perspective. New solutions are sort while the parents start building a novel relationship with the semi-adult children. 6. The Departure Stage There comes a time when children, who are now adults, are expected to leave home and start their own lives. In that case, the parents not only lose their contact with their offspring, but also the experience of parenthood is lost. Life course postulates that there occur changes in people throughout time because of the experience they possess. In the context of Galinsky, the interpretation stage and the authority stages serve as experience-givers to the children. As they become adults, starting their lives alone, they will take up the steps as thought by their parents. Life course also considers a family as a group and not an individual development, Galinsky’s parenthood stages encompasses all the parents and the child without isolation. The stages set out by Galinsky are salient for each parent who wishes to be successful in pursuit of parenting. Parents need to know that through proper parenting, a whole subsequent generation will enjoy proper parenting too. As observed from life course, changes in life come because of experience and proper parenting gives rise to positive experience. Question 5 Gottman Coaching Techniques 1. Be aware of emotions The parents should let the child express his/her emotions. With the same measure, the parents should also express their feelings too in an appropriate manner. The starting point of emotional coaching is the freedom of feeling and expressing emotions. This situation can be likened to the search for solutions because questions problems. Bearing this in mind, the parents should not judge nor criticize the child for hating school due to loneliness. Even so, the misbehavior instance the parent should avoid the misdemeanor through paying attention to the way the adolescent responded to his emotions. In this case, it is anger since he slammed his bedroom door. The parents ought to sit down with the child and listen to him/her while observing how he/she responds to emotions in order to be aware of the manner in which he expresses his/her feelings to enable forestalling of misbehavior. 2. Connect with the child Parents should perceive the period of emotions as an opportunity to enable the child learn. The adolescent’s negative emotions should not be fixed but instead the parents should make him/her understand that it is a normal thing to have and express various emotions. The parents should encourage the adolescence to speak out his feelings and intervene whenever they see him/her upset. 3. Listen to your child Paying attention through careful listening plays a key role in emotional coaching. Parents can do this by corroborating the adolescent’s feelings by showing that they are in agreement with his/her feelings. By encouraging the adolescent to always talk about his feelings and taking his feelings seriously, he/she will feel appreciated and come to understand that having no friends is something normal. 4. Name emotions Parents should avoid dictating the child on what to feel. Alternatively, the parents should remark on what he seems to feel. For instance, they should tell the adolescent that it is evident that he/she had a bad day at school and it is a normal thing. Phrases like ‘calm down’ should not play part during emotional coaching. Being able to name the adolescent’s feelings consoles and enables him/her appreciate the minimal effort necessitated for him/her to express his feelings. 5. Find solutions The main objective of emotional coaching is to prevent misbehavior as much as possible. Once parents identify that the adolescent is almost entering a situation that can see him/her devastated, they should advise him/her on how to handle the devastation before it happens. Slamming the door was a form of misbehavior and the parent s should help him/her with alternative behaviors that he/she should indulge in when expressing his/her anger such as drawing a picture. Read More