Looking At Human Growth And Development Social Work Essay Example

Looking At Human Growth And Development Social Work Essay As a societal attention worker I have frequently learned through test and mistake what works in the existent universe, establishing my pattern on common-sense and non on abstract theories. But I recognise my positions are frequently based on sentiment and bias instead than evidence-based, peer-reviewed cognition and as Beckett suggests, our ain theories and thoughts about why people are as they are and behave as they behave, are normally rather inconsistent and arbitrary, based on our ain experience and on our ain demands ( Beckett, 2002:8 ) . Human growing and development theory is concerned with understanding how people grow and change throughout their lives, from the critical early phases to old age, and hence is indispensable for informing societal work pattern. The theory can be applied to a assortment of countries within human life and behavior including societal, cultural, emotional and psychological, and besides, moral, rational, religious and biological point of views. In this assignment I will concentrate on the psychological and cultural significance of the phases of development in relation to a 12 twelvemonth old in surrogate attention. Jake, a double heritage British male, was taken into attention 4 old ages ago following him being removed from his female parent Maggie an African Caribbean female aged 32. Jake and Maggie lived in a 3rd floor, 2 sleeping room flat in an country where drug dealing and drug related offense is common topographic point. In Jake s sleeping room he had a plastic box for his apparels and mattress on the bare floor with a pail for a lavatory as Maggie would lock him in his room when she went out. Maggie had been utilizing drugs for many old ages and her old spouse ( Jake s male parent ) introduced her to heroin 5 old ages ago. She rapidly became addicted and the relationship broke down shortly afterwards. Jake s male parent has non had any contact or attempted to do contact since the interruption up. Jake and Maggie had been known to Social Services as Maggie was a victim of domestic force and spent 4 months in a adult females s safety. 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It is thought that whilst Maggie was traveling through a depressive episode she would physically mistreat Jake. Jake was frequently left on his ain for long periods whilst Maggie would be out in hunt of drugs. When she returned home Jake was subjected to emotional maltreatment and was frequently blamed by Maggie for their state of affairs. Jake has been in the fosterage system for a figure of old ages and in that clip he has non formed any meaningful fond regards. Whilst in arrangement Jake disclosed events and ideas which alerted Foster carers to the fact that there may be some unsolved issues that need to be addressed before Jake can travel on with his ain growing and development. Jake would frequently return to drawing his hair and slaming his caput on the wall if he felt he had done something incorrect and was traveling to be blamed for it. For illustration, when he by chance interrupting a cup. Jake is being assessed by CAMHs as he has been exposing behavior that indicates there may be an implicit in depressive mental wellness job. Theories of human development have produced accounts about the beginnings of mental upset in the countries of psycho-analysis and kid psychological science, from the early expansive theories of Freud and Bowlby and farther developed by Klein and Ainsworth. Freud saw psychodynamic theory as a more enlightening theoretical account in associating past psychological events to present twenty-four hours symptoms. Freud believed behavior is non ruled by witting procedures but conflicting unconscious procedures, he saw a individual s psychological procedures affecting antagonizing forces viing in an intra psychic struggle , a construct shared by many theoreticians of human growing and development. In Freud s theoretical account a kid starts life with specific basic instinctual demands, such as for nutrient or sexual satisfaction. Internally, the Idaho continually seeks to run into these demands, while the self-importance mediates between the desires of the Idaho and the restraints of the external universe, peculiarly the demands of important and powerful grownups in the kid s life, such as his female parent and instructors. Harmonizing to Freud these grownup figures are finally internalised in the signifier of the superego, or grownup scruple s. The kid s self-importance efforts to negociate the viing demands placed upon him, developing his ain distinguishable personality and come oning to adulthood ( Freud, 1949 ) . Erikson s psychosocial phases of development have Freudian psychodynamic beginnings. The thought that unconscious procedures cause struggle within worlds is besides cardinal to Erikson s theory. His staged development theoretical account is based on the thought that these intra-psychic struggles occur throughout our lives and necessitate to be resolved satisfactorily if we are to avoid psychological hurt and mental unwellness ( Erikson, 1995 ) . Erikson s psychosocial theory of human development physiques on Freud s psychodynamic theoretical account, but while Erikson accepts thoughts, such as the unconscious, he rejects constructs of the personality which are described entirely in footings of gender. Again, like Freud, Erikson believed childhood was cardinal in the development of personality, but that the personality continued to develop beyond the age of five ( Erikson, 1995 ) . Erikson s psychosocial theoretical account describes eight phases from babyhood and maturity. At each phase a individual encounters new challenges. If they are non successful in run intoing these challenges, they may re-emerge as jobs in the hereafter. However, while each phase presents new challenges, they besides provide chances to cover with the unsolved issues. In Erikson s theoretical account there is no premise that one phase has to be to the full completed or that the most favorable result has to be achieved before traveling on. In fact, he acknowledges that it is likely that everyone will hold unresolved issues from old phases and there is a favourable ratio between favorable and unfavorable results ( Erikson, 1987 ) . However, the more unsolved issues carried frontward, will hinder successful progressionaˆÂ ¦an unfavorable result in one phase makes it more hard to run into to the full the challenge of the following phase ( Beckett, 2006:42 ) . Erikson s theoretical account proposes a first phase that involves set uping a sense of trust ( 0 1 yrs. ) . If partially or wholly unsuccessful at this phase, so it will be more hard to accomplish a sense of liberty at the following phase ( 1 3 year. ) , and so more hard still to develop a capacity for enterprise in the following phase ( 3 5 year ) . The following phase in Erikson s theoretical account ( 6 11 year ) involves set uping a sense of competency and accomplishment, assurance in one s ain ability to do and make things ( Beckett, 2006: 43 ) . It is hard to reason how successful Jake was able to negociate old phases, nevertheless it has been suggested that despite hardships some kids are able to develop moderately well-balanced personalities showing resiliency and normal development under hard fortunes ( Crawford A ; Walker, 2003: 48 ) . One of the failings of Freud s and Erikson s theories of human growing and development utilizing phases as the theoretical account, is the underlying premise that everyone s lives follow these peculiar linear lines, and that we all, more or less, achieve the same mileposts at the same clip. However, we know this is seldom the instance. It appears, for case, that these theories were based entirely on a white, male Eurocentric theoretical account, and do non see specifically imposts from other civilizations or position. Baltes ( 1987 ) , for illustration, suggests human development is multidimensional, affecting biological, cognitive and societal dimensions, and multidirectional, non to be viewed as a individual fixed path which represents the norm, but as periods of changing growing and differing waies. Bowlby differs from Freud in that he saw an fond regard between kid, and female parent or primary attachment figure ( which may differ harmonizing to the societal and cultural background of household ) , as an indispensable demand in itself and non merely to run into basic demands, such as, nutrient and sex: Mother love in babyhood and childhood is as of import for mental wellness as are vitamins and proteins for physical wellness ( Bowlby, 1953 ) . Attachment theoreticians maintain that the manner we relate to other people through our lives is influenced significantly by our first relationship with our female parent or primary attachment figure ( Howe, 1995 ; Howe et Al, 1999 ) . They suggest, like Erikson and Freud, that many jobs in adulthood root from unsolved issues in these early fond regard relationships and these early relationships can determine an adults ability to organize relationships, to parent, to cover with loss, and influence mental wellness in maturity ( Bowlby, 1 990 ) . While accepting much of his work, critics of Bowlby claim he placed excessively much accent on the child/mother relationship and suggest kids may organize several fond regards which can be every bit of import ( Rutter, 1981 ; Fahlberg 1991 ) . However, kids who experience injuries are sometimes unable to come on without quashing or shuting down portion of their witting consciousness of these events. We can conceive of Jake necessitating to close out his experiences of childhood disregard and, harmonizing to Freud, automatically and unconsciously quash the events of disregard and maltreatment. We can see how barricading out these unsolved issues could emerge in the signifier of depression at some point in the hereafter. There is grounds of the societal beginnings of depression in adult females, proposing that specific life events, losingss and major long term jobs, such as childhood maltreatment, are important causes of depression ( Brown A ; Harris, 1978 ) . I feel that thi s best reflects Maggie s current state of affairs. We can conceive of Jake sing a sense of loss or maternal want ( Crawford A ; Walker, 2003 ) when faced with his female parent s depression. This is a common emotional reaction in carers of grownups with depression, the apparently most cardinal and common experience was the feeling that the individual they had known who had become sick had gone off: they had become person elseaˆÂ ¦there is the loss of the individual that was, and secondly, and more complexly, there is the experience of the loss of the old possibilities ( Jones, 1996: 98-99 ) . Although Maggie may hold experienced depression continuously before Jake s birth, it is more likely that she had periods of reprieve when her capacity for emotional heat and heed to her boy s demands was greater than during times of backsliding. The difference in the consistence and strength of a kid s attachment relationships is considered an of import factor by a figure of attachment theoreticians ( Ainsworth, 1973 ) . The theories of human growing and development discussed above suggest that Jake s experience of maltreatment as a kid may forestall him from developing into a mentally healthy grownup. He may hold automatically and unconsciously repressed the injury of these events, merely to see the mental hurt of depression in the hereafter. Jake may hold experienced physical maltreatment from an early age and failed to successfully accomplish a sense of trust or liberty or develop a capacity for enterprise while turning up. Even comparatively short periods of physical maltreatment at important phases may hold placed terrible force per unit areas on his relationship with his female parent. Jake may hold merely known his female parent as down, but their relationship may hold determined Jake s future capacity to organize relationships, for case, with surrogate carer s or at school with friends and instructors. The method of intercession in Jake s life could be usefully informed by research that links mental hurt with experiences of impotence. It has been suggested that mental hurt may be seen as utmost internalizations of impotence puting a paralysing power both over those who may see such signifiers of hurt, and those who portion their lives ( Tew, 2005: 72 ) . Using societal theoretical accounts, Tew suggests two complementary ways to understand mental hurt, internalization or moving out of nerve-racking societal experiences and a header or survival strategyaˆÂ ¦to trade with peculiar painful or nerve-racking experiences ( Tew, 2005: 20 ) . A individual s mental wellness demands may, to a certain extent, be determined by their rank of certain societal groups that experience systematic subjugation ( Fernando, 1995 ; Gomm, 1996 ) . Oppression, exclusion and impotence are the cardinal subjects of many societal theoretical accounts of mental wellness demands, related to structural inequalities in footings of age, gender, race and category and so on, and affecting households in footings of maltreatment. As societal workers we occupy a comparatively powerful place and may conspire with the systematic subjugation of black people with mental wellness demands: Factors such as subjugation, unfairness, societal exclusion or maltreatment at the custodies of powerful others may be implicated in the sequences of events that lead up to many people s experiences of mental and emotional dislocation. Power issues may besides determine the reactions that people receive from professionals and the wider community-for illustration, grounds suggests that African-Caribbean people may be more likely than many white groups to be dealt with more coercively ( Tew, 2005: 71 ) . When coming to a phase where we may be better able to understand Jake s current fortunes and doing initial judgements about the type of intercession most effectual in this instance, we need to recognize the restrictions of our penetrations and avoid the booby traps of doing noncritical premises. Tew suggests that authorization can be an built-in portion in the procedure of Jake s recovery. He outlines a theoretical account of power in footings of protection and co-operation and oppressive and conniving: In its more negative signifiers ( oppressive or conniving power ) it may be seen to play a function in building societal state of affairss which contribute to straiten or breakdownaˆÂ ¦in its more positive signifiers ( protective or co-operative power ) it starts to specify the district for effectual partnership working, anti-oppressive pattern and the enabling of recovery and societal inclusion ( Tew, 2005, p. 86 ) . Harmonizing to the psychodynamic theoretical account of human growing, Jake may hold grown up with many intra-psychic struggles which may be emerging in the signifier of a neurotic or reactive depression. He may hold many witting and unconscious demands which she has suppressed and repressed. In denying and barricading out the fulfillment of these demands, he may hold shut down countries of his consciousness which allows him to: experience emotion ; interact with others in a self-generated manner ; or see carry throughing close and intimate relationships with carer and their partner. Depending on the extent of physical maltreatment he encountered during his upbringing, it would be sensible to presume that he may hold been wholly or partially unsuccessful in: accomplishing a capacity for trust with his parent ; accomplishing liberty ; or developing a capacity for taking inaugural, as described in Erikson s psychosocial theoretical account. For these grounds, it seems likely he will h old failed to keep a healthy, consistent and sustained relationship with his female parent or other primary attachment figure in the opprobrious state of affairs he found himself. Intervention must take to turn to issues of power and impotence, both in the Foster carer/child relationship and outside it. As a adult male, as a individual with mental wellness demands, and as a member of a black or minority cultural group, Jake may see subjugation, maltreatment and societal exclusion. To turn to these issues elements of authorization and partnership should be portion of the attack with an intercession designed to turn to Jake s mental wellness demands should affect edifice on his attempts to accomplish his ain full potency. This will include his ability to organize and keep healthy relationships with others, that would decrease any dependance on formal bureaus and develop an alternate beginning of positive support and increase societal inclusion.