Week 2 / Theories Of Development /Journet

      

   In Chapter 2 we are introduced to the many theories of development.  One theory that is considered to be the foundation  of many other theories is Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory.  This theory has five stages of development and they are based on wants or needs.  Each stage is named after a pleasure center and is assigned to an age range.(Life Smart 30)

1.             The Oral Stage(0 to 1.5 years) goal to obtain a certain amount of sucking, eating and biting
2.             The Anal Stage (1.5 to 3 years) goal to successfully potty train
3.             The Phallic Stage (3 to 5 years ) goal to develop healthy sexual interest
4.             The Latency Stage (5 to 12 years) goal to develop physical, intellectual and social skills              while sexual desire is dormant 
5.             The Genital Stage (12 years and older) Surge of sexual hormones occur.  People look to               establish relationships outside of their immediate family

       This theory is based on wants or needs and if they aren't met aspects of the individual remain in that stage preventing him or her from fully maturing. This theory may lose popularity among some people because it focuses on the sexual instinct of people and it stops at the age of 12.  It implies that people 12 through 99 remain at the Genital Stage.

    

     In my opinion I like the way Erik Erikson Psychosocial Theory is set up.  It has 8 stages that go beyond age 12.  This implies that development continues even at a later age.  This Theory focuses on the impact of social experiences.  Each stage is marked by a life crisis that must be resolved in order to move on. (Life Smart 32).

   

                                            Age                 Stage                       Psychosocial Crisis

1.              0-2                  Infancy                    Basic Trust Vs. Mistrust
2.               2-3                 Early childhood       Autonomy Vs. Shame & Doubt
3.               3-5                 Childhood                Initiative Vs. Guilt
4.               5-12               Middle Childhood        Industry Vs.Inferiority
5.               12-18             Adolescence             Identity Vs. Identity Confusion
6.                18-25            Young Adult            Intimacy Vs. Isolation
7.                 25-65            Middle Age             Generativity Vs. Stagnation
8.                65 +              Old Age                  Integrity Vs. Despair       

I can relate to this theory a little better.  I wonder can someone be older in life say 40 years old and still be in Psychosocial Crisis of Identity Vs. Identity Confusion (12-18)  or Intimacy Vs. Isolation (18-25).  In my opinion some may take longer than others to get through a  specific life crisis.

    

    I also enjoyed reading and strongly agree with Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.  There are 5 stages of needs being met and utilized.  I'm hoping the percentage is greater than 2 percent when it comes to the individuals that reach the Self Actualization Stage.  I have seen individuals that get stuck in the first stage where life consists of meeting their most basic of needs like food and shelter. I wonder if it is possible to go though this hierarchy of needs while being able to skip a need like Love.  Can you meet basic needs, feel safe,  not be in love or really connected to some one yet feel good about yourself and reach the point of Self actualization.  Does Love include self Love?  I'm just thinking out loud.  I feel that I may be in the 3rd or 4th stage of this pyramid and hope to reach the point of Self Actualization in my lifetime.

Week 1- Journet

 In Chapter 1: Life Span Development, we read about lifespan development which refers to an examination of the biological,cognitive/psychological and social changes that happen over the course of a human life.  Development being the process of changing and the changes that happen through the lifespan.  We as humans go through similar stages in life. Those stages are as follow: The Prenatal Period (Conception to Birth), Infancy  ( birth-age 2), Early Childhood (ages 3-6), Middle Childhood (ages 7-11), Adolescence (puberty:ages 12-18), Early Adulthood (19-34), Middle Adulthood (ages 35-64) and Late Adulthood (65 and over).   Although we all go through these periods in our life, we can agree that we are all very different.  We may have things in common or not much in common at all.  Why is that?  Well it is a combination of things.  Nature (our innate being) and Nurture(our environment) have a huge influence on who we become.  Our culture has a major influence, our faith, our gender, and many more factors play a role in who we are, how we perceive the world and how we react to it.  Chapter one calls all these factors Biopsychosocial Interactions which is the influence of genetic, biological, psychological, and social/environmental factors and processes.  

While I read some of my classmates "getting to know each other" posts.  It is very evident that all have diverse backgrounds. We all currently have this class in common.  Some of us are going into teaching, We may have other similarities like sports or cooking and perhaps Faith.  However, we all went through so many differences in our life to get to this point.  Some went through normal deliveries at birth and perhaps some of us went through a hard or complicated birth.  Our child hood may have been a happy one or a dreadful one.  We may come from single parent homes or a huge extended family.   Our genes may be healthy or may carry inherited diseases.  High school may have been a breeze for some of us or maybe some of us wish to forget that period in our life.  Some of us are married or single by choice or by life events.  Some of us have children and some of us still feel like children.  I can go on and on about all the factors and interactions that we have gone through that have shape who we are today.  This is how I understood the The Biopsychosocial Model on page 13 in our LifeSmart Book.

I also understood that not everyone who has gone through tough times in their past especially in childhood is a "bad apple".  In other words because someone has lived in poverty,lacked resources, or grew up in a violent environment, this does not necessarily mean that this person is destined for a tough adulthood as well.  Yes, I know statistics show the correlations between a negative childhood and a negative adulthood.  However, Resiliency is powerful and you may have an individual that will overcome the negative factors and knock down the stereotypes and step all over those statistics to achieve great things in life. 

 Examples:  Helen Keller (became deaf /blind by age 2) went on to receive her Bachelors degree from Radcliff College and gave many speeches lobbying for equality, women's rights and disabled students among other things,  Richard Branson (dyslexia) developed Virgin Records. Oprah Winfrey (was repeatedly sexually abused) is now one of the most famous and wealthiest woman on Earth.  

On the opposite end, You can have an individual who grew up in the lap of luxury, came from a "good home" , had an overflow of resources, a nuclear family dynamic with loving parents. Everything pointed to the fact that this person will do great things in life and who knows they end up abusing drugs or killing people.  People are left scratching their heads of what may have gone wrong with this person.

Examples: Robert Bale (good kid, upbringing seemed good) pleaded guilty to murdering 16 civilians in Afghanistan while he was enlisted in the Army)
Ted Kaczynski- was considered a math prodigy, skipped 2 grades in school, attended Harvard at 16 and graduated.  We now now him as the Unibomber, He plead guilty to 13 federal bombings that killed 3 people and wounded 23.

There is no specific mold that determines who becomes good, bad, or normal as an adult.  However, the biopsychosocial interactions and processes do have a major influences on our individual human development.