Human Growth and Development

Assignment 4.1

Human Growth & Development

This assignment requires me to research the main psychological factors that have an affect upon human growth and development, I shall identify the primary social factors that influence psychological and social development then apply them to myself; discussing how these factors may impact upon the individual and within a counselling setting.

I will also deliver to my peers a presentation on Daniel N. Stern and his work relating to human growth and development (see appendix), discuss my research of his theory within this assignment then comment on the work of additional theorists.

Daniel N. Stern

Professor Daniel N. Stern is one of the world’s leading scientist in the field of infant psychology along side, Bowlby, and Winnicotte. Stern developed detailed models of how infants as young as a few weeks of age begin to develop and retain a representation of the mother-child interactions which they are experiencing. He demonstrated that the infant could bring to the mother-child interaction an influence of its own, and that the very young infant's inherent or genetically given characteristics, reflected largely in its patterns of affective sign and degree of motor activity and non-verbal communication, these were factors in later behaviour that could be characterized as secure or insecure. Stern’s studies also showed that the quality of mother-infant "face play" starting at about three months has a profound and durable effect on later measures of security and cognition.

Stern believed for the infant to develop representations of him/herself, its mother or other primary carer, and the nature of their interactions, it is obviously necessary that infants are capable of constructing and retaining these representations in some form of nonverbal or preverbal memory. It was once believed that only toward the latter part of the first year of life, and that for the first couple of months after birth the infant is generally unresponsive and unaware of the physical and social environment, but rather lives in a sort of autistic fantasy. Over the past 25 years, the notion that even a very young infant does not distinguish itself as separate from its environment nor develops representations of objects and events has been systematically contested by experimental observations of infants by a large number of researchers. Stern (1985; also cited in Bowlby, 1988, and Beebe and Lachmann, 1988) presents his own work and that of many other researchers demonstrating that infants virtually from birth are able to perceive and begin to store images of perceptual constancies and inconstancies in their environment, including those representing spatial shape and patterning.

These capacities are seen as necessary in the process of developing secure or insecure attachments. The shape of events in time and the infant experiences in interactions with the mother (or carer) are retained by the infant as preverbal representations, and if their adaptive or maladaptive disposition are maintained consistently through the second year, these representations come to form a significant component of the growing child's sense of core self.

Summary of my research:

Stern has formulated a theory of affective attunement or attachment behaviour grounded in modern evolutionary theory. Research by Ainsworth, Beebe, Bowlby, Main and many others have explained the mechanisms through which variations and types of maternal-infant interaction can affect the infant's models of self, mother or other principal caregiver, and self with others. It also explains the effects of these models on the infant's and the growing child's attachment behaviours, sense of security and the resulting ability or inability to interact with the world, to form healthy attachments through the lifespan, and to provide parenting for his or her own offspring.

Comment on a range of other Theories / Theorists

Different theorists have identified separate psychological stages that outline factors which influence human growth and development. Sigmund Freud believed a child’s sexual life began at birth and passed through five stages of development called Psychosexual Stages, these included the Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital stage, with the infant’s personality being permanently shaped by the influence of primary care givers on its unconscious during the first six years of life. The Latency stage is entered around the child’s sixth year and lasts through to puberty, ...

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Comment on a range of other Theories / Theorists

Like Freud there are many who comment on the early stages of development, including Anna Freud; Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson and Melanie Klein.

Melanie Klein first became interested in psychoanalysis after reading Freud’s book “On Dreams” and began her work with children analysing her own children by developing play techniques which led to her development of play therapy. Klein recognised the way children played revealed infantile fantasies and anxieties which could affect the child’s developing ego, superego and sexuality resulting in emotional disorders. Melanie’s ideas did not always match those of Sigmund Freud which led to conflict between Klein and Freudian followers, especially his daughter Anna.

Anna Freud was influenced by the work of her father although she realised that

“Children needed to be analysed differently (than adults) because their symptoms were different and were related to developmental stages”.

Anna recognised additional difficulties when working with children with their inability in speaking about their emotional issues. She also realised that the relationship between therapist and child is different to that of an adult and that the therapist must be aware of not taking the place of the parent.

Anna recognised how a child used ego defence mechanisms such as fantasies, play or behaviour traits to cope with changing reality. The focal point of Ann’s work was with children who were socially disadvantaged and emotionally deprived. The Anna Freud Centre today still works with children and families faced with emotional difficulties; together with training in child psychology, and is a testament to the work undertaken by Anna. Anna was a pioneer of ego psychology, enabling Freudian theory to be expanded in order for it to be applied to social and developmental issues (Xavier, A., 2006).

Erikson was a student of Freud’s but believed there were eight stages known as Psychosocial stages that developed throughout the human lifespan. He highlighted social and cultural influences upon development believing psychological growth to be a continual progression throughout the life time which was impacted upon by family, friends, school, home and work environments.

The first five stages corresponds with Freud’s, however Erikson’s developmental stages, as detailed in “Human Growth and Development” (Knowles, J., 2006), do not centre on the child’s sexual life and continue further through adulthood.

Erikson believed personality development was an ongoing process affected by social and cultural events in which a state of maturity is aspired to.

Stage 1 The infancy stage covers the child’s first one and a half years, where primary care givers need to maintain a nurturing environment in order for the child to develop trust.

Stage 2 The anal-muscular stage from eighteen months to four years sees the child enter a phase where a level of independence is achieved. Care givers need to generate an environment in which firm but fair boundaries are implemented in order for the child to develop an assurance of own abilities.

Stage 3 From the ages of three to six the child enters the genital-locomotor stage were an understanding of right and wrong develops. An even balance of guilt and initiative should produce a child that is aware of its own capabilities and the affects its actions have on others, however, the child that has no clear understanding of right or wrong could be prone to hurting others and would see guilt as being “weak”.

Stage 4 The Latency stage occurs from approximately age 6 to twelve years where social skills are derived from the young person’s surroundings. However, during the Latency stage development is affected in a larger degree by external factors such as school friends, teaching staff and the extended family. At this stage the child has to learn how to feel competent.

Stage 5 From the ages of approximately 14–20 years the young person enters adolescence where a sense of role identify is developed with the individual understanding who they are and their place in society.

Stage 6 Young adulthood is entered between the ages of 20 – 35 years where intimate relationships are developed with the expectation of giving and receiving love, and where many couples decide to begin a family.

Stage 7 As adults enter maturity (ages 35 – 65 years) they are seen to develop through guiding their own children. Love, at this stage, is given freely to children without the expectation of receiving it back. Investment in future generations is the motivating force in this stage; however an extreme of this Erkison calls “Overextension”.

Stage 8 Adults in this stage are referred to as many different things such as “Old Age Pensioners”; “The Twilight’s”, “Senior Citizens”; “War Babes”; “Veterans”; etc. In different cultures individuals entering this stage are treated with different measures of respect. In some cultures adults in this stage are seen as having achieved wisdom with a sense of well-being and are sought after for their perception and knowledge.

In contrast Jean Piaget saw development in terms of attaining balance of intellectual structures.

Piaget believed that children are fundamentally different thinkers than adults, being incapable of understanding particular things before achieving certain stages in their development . He also described children as being “egocentric…. because a young child cannot understand how someone else’s point of view may be different from their own..” (Edmonds, V., 2006). Piaget’s proposed four major stages of development can vary greatly due to the individuality of the child and cultural influences.

The first of Piaget’s developmental stages, Sensorimotor, occurs between the ages of 0 to 2 years in which the child identifies the difference between self and other objects. This is also the stage where a child learns by touch or as Piaget relates “touch tutors vision” (Butterworth, G., & Harris M., 1994, p234).

The Preoperational stage from 2 to 7 years identifies the period when language is developed.

Between 7 to11 years the child is in the Concrete Operational stage where the ability to think logically in regards to events and objects in the “here and now” is developed.

The Formal Operational stage between 12 to 15 years is when the young develop the ability to solve abstract or hypothetical problems.

Piaget’s theory behind these stages was that logical thinking develops slowly with intellectual development being a gradual evolution.

When looking at the different theorists perspectives in relation to Human Growth and Development I feel more drawn to the work of Piaget’s and Eriksson in their acknowledgement of the impact of social factors upon development.

There are many social factors that could affect psychological and social development, these may include the social class that a child is reared in; the level of wealth or poverty within the household or surrounding environment; disability of the child or other family members; the ethnic group to which the child or family belong to; gender of the child; religious observances within the family; or abuse towards the child or within the home environment. A subsequent resulting factor could be the affect of living within a different lifestyle to others in the surrounding environment be it relatives, peers, neighbours etc. This could apply to a child or young person who has been raised in a working class environment whose parents decide to send them to a “better” school. The child could feel very different from others in the school and may feel inadequate in comparing themselves and their families to those at the “better” school. The young person may then present with low self-esteem or self-worth.

When applying social factors to myself I realise that I can relate strongly to Bowlby’s theory of attachment and Erickson’s eight stages. Stern’s theory of attachment at a early age is very significant, but being the middle child of nine and coming from an era and culture where “It takes a whole village to raised a child” (old African saying) I found it difficult to subscribe to the non-verbal messages that transfers from the child to its primary carer, especially when everyone and anyone could be that primary career.

I am the middle child of nine children, my mother worked as a cleaner in the local hospital and my father was a musician who travelled for months on end, they both came over from St. Kitts to England in the late 50’s. By the age of 10 my father immigrated to America promising find a job there and take us over but I never saw him again until the day of my mothers funeral when I was 38. There was only three main rules, Love the Lord, Never fight each other and whomever was the eldest in the house at any given time was the person with the responsibilities. Coming from a working class, area and living in a predominantly white community in a time where discrimination was unacceptable but not against the law, I struggled in stages 3 to 5 of Erikson’s model. Being Black, female, young and not knowing of my learning disability had a dramatic impact on my self-esteem, confidence, identity, individualism and acceptance within society but not the community I lived in. Within my community, social circle (which in the beginning was predominantly black) we all shared similar or the same stories, it was where I held on to my identity, self-image, confidence, integrity, and faith. I learnt there were good and bad in all people regardless of their race, faith and social background. We had an elderly English neighbour who looked after her disabled daughter, she constantly had us over for tea, and brought us gifts for no reason. I experience a teacher who knew I was constantly being bullied and attacked in the playground, so made me the “milk monitor” bringing authority and respect from the other children as they had to collect their milk from me.

The experience of having a variety of positive and negative people in my life helped me to see the world with a balanced perspective. Despite the injustice and discrimination experienced I learnt tolerance, to be a peacemaker, to negotiate and to compromise. This I believe has empowered me to approach stages 6 to 8 in a very optimistic and positive view, and still hold onto the ethics, some traditions and values I was brought up with to my children. Love the Lord, Don’t fight each other and everyone is responsible for their own actions and behaviour. Therefore when considering social factors I can relate to Erikson’s model and stages. When considering personal growth, relationships and development , I understand and can relate to Bowbly’s theory of attachment and that there are many social factors to be aware of when counselling. These apply to what the client brings but also to what the counsellor may, or may not, be aware of.

In bringing this essay to a close I believe that I have identified the main social and psychological factors affecting human growth and development. I have applied social factors to myself, discussing the impact they may have upon an individual and upon the counselling setting.

In conclusion I have found that looking at the developmental stages outlined in this module particularly useful in working with the young people, by understanding the different developmental stage, be it Erikson’s Psychosocial stage that relates the impact of social and cultural forces or Piaget’s stages of Intellectual development,