Development stage observation

Introduction

Human development tends to be a lifelong process starting before birth, and it extends to death. The physical change largely drives the development process as our cognitive abilities advance and decline in response to the growth of the brain in childhood and reduced function in old age (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2009). The physical growth also influences psychosocial development as our changing brain and body and the environment shape our identity and relationship with other people. In this report, I provide a description of the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of a young adult (Nancy) I observed and interviewed. The report also describes what developmental theorists would say about Nancy’s cognitive and psychosocial development.

Description

I observed and Interviewed Nancy, a 20-year-old mother, for approximately fifty minutes. Nancy is a Caucasian lady who lives in the South. During my interview with Nancy, I first realized her drinking and smoking behavior. Nancy lives together with her three-year-old daughter. She does not have a mother as her mother passed away three years ago. She also does not know her father since she has never met him. Since she dropped out of school when at a very young age, she does not have the knowledge and skills necessary to develop as a normal young adult. Her living arrangement is a one bedroom apartment with her daughter. The socio-economic status of Nancy is very bad as she does not have a stable job and only relies on working as a waiter that she does not keep for a long time because of her drinking behavior. Upon spending some time with Nancy, she was just talking about how her extended neglected her and refused to take her in after the death of the mother. Nancy looks depressed and stressed and considers drinking so as to try and forget her problems.  Nancy behavior is affecting her child as the child looks unhealthy and malnourished as Nancy does not afford to provide the child with her basic needs and especially healthy food.  

Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development

The current issue that is affecting Nancy is the health implication as a result of her habitual drinking and smoking behavior. The Maladaptive behaviors such as the ones observed in Nancy can become entrenched; thus, creating a barrier to the maintenance of good health. When not at work, Nancy spends most of her time drinking and smoking and at most times goes without even eating. In the long-term, her drinking and smoking behavior can result in the development of chronic illness and disease.

Cognitive development refers to the acquisition o the ability to solve problems and reason (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2009). In the case of Nancy, the current issue is that Nancy does not have education and, as a result, it leads to the development of minimal literacy and numeracy skills.  Nancy dropped out of school when she was just 13 years old so that she could take care of her sick mother. After her mother's death, she did not have anyone to take care of her and did not go back to school. Because of lack of education, it causes a barrier for Nancy to successfully develop important life skills and also master tasks of the daily life. The lack of education affects the ability to navigate the employment process, acquiring new skills, knowledge, and information, budgeting, and assisting her children.

Nancy lives alone with her child and tends to socially isolated from her family. Her extended family normally lives in the North, and there tend not to be a connection between them. After her mother’s death, Nancy has never been in touch with any of her family members. She also does not have friends as she tends to leave an isolated life. Some of the changes expected in her development include searching for her identity, establishing new social networks, and explore and manage her role as a parent. Nancy has depression that is likely because of life stress, bereavement and grief issues. As a young adult, this stage tends to be a challenging stage irrespective of the individual characteristics. Nancy also has the responsibility of being a sole parent. During the process of finding her identity, she must also be fully independent and responsible for her child. Since she is experiencing depression, the changes expected include depreciation of self-efficacy and self-esteem, difficulty in performing daily life activities, and the tendency to withdraw from social activities and situations.

Developmental theorists

Theorists Freud and Erickson had interest with how people develop. Most of Freud’s work focused largely on sexuality and the ages of birth to about five years. However, Erickson did not believe that development only based on sexuality and that development ended at the age of five. While observing Nancy during my study, I realized that people normally develop according to Erickson’s psychosocial development theory. The Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development help in explaining the current development issues that Nancy is experiencing. The theory tends to provide an explanation to the understanding of her behavior that helps to identify her specific needs and also highlight the issues experienced (Shaffer, 2008).

When considering the views of Erickson on Nancy’s development, it is evident that since her childhood, Nancy’s current life span of adolescence has been experiencing many difficulties causing a significant impact on her development. Erickson tends to consider the major conflict of adolescence as Identity vs. Role Confusion (Shaffer, 2008).  According to the theorists, some of the questions that Nancy may be having at the moment is wondering who she is and how she fit in the world. Nancy did engage in sexual activities when she was still young and, as a result, she did not have the opportunity to go back to school; thus, interrupting her rites of passage in adolescence. It led to her getting into the adult arena with the responsibility of being a parent. In this stage, Erickson would consider it role confusion that is having a negative effect leading her to depend on alcohol. If her depression continues, her developing sense of self will likely become weak. According to Erickson’s, he claims that all the psychosocial stages, adolescence, and its outcomes tend to have a critical impact on later development.

Recommendation

The adolescent stage characterizes Nancy’s development, and she will be soon be entering the adulthood stage. For Nancy to be able to live life as a parent to her three-year-old child, she will need counseling so as to change her way of life. It is essential to treat Nancy’s depression as it will help in improving her well being and health and also ensure that she does not neglect her basic needs and those of her child.

Reference

Gerrig, J., & Zimbardo, G. (2009). Psychology and Life. New York, Allyn &Bacon

Shaffer, D (2008). Social and personality development Cengage Learning

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in legitimate essay writing service. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from research paper services.