Child Development Case. The development theory I find most useful when assessing Isagani is Eriksons (2002) theory of Initiative vs. Guilt. The theory indicates that children desire is to copy the adults around them. In Isagani case this is show

University Degree Biological Sciences

Isagani Assessment

SOWK 503 Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Mid-Term

Melinda Duplichan

University of Southern California Fall, 2011

Professor Michael Rank

Isagani Assessment

Isagani is a 5 year old male, who has recently lost his father and has been showing signs of some problems at school. Isagani stopped talking to his teacher, and has become disruptive in the class. He has become physical when upset, and no longer plays well with other in class. The teacher fears Isagani behavior is out of control and has removed him from group. Due to Isagani behavior he has been referred to SOS Services for a mental health evaluation.

There are four attachment styles secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. Isagani evaluation shows he suffers from ambivalent attachment style as stated in Bowlby attachment theory. Ambivalent attachment is defined as being unable to use the caregiver as a secure base, seeking proximity before separation occurs. Not easily calmed my strangers, distressed on separation with anger, and return to play upon return. he sits close to his mother when with other people. Isagani is saddend with grief and only speaks in the comfort of family. Isagani behavior in school could be because his mother leaves him, and since the loss of one his father, he does not feel secure when away from his mother, because he does not know if she will return or not. Isagani is showing signs of other attachment styles; however because he is not comforted by the teachers or others outside of the family it’s not secure base attachment. He is not treating others like he would treat his mother, it’s the opposite as he does not want to play or speak with them. He shows a high level of distress when his mother leaves him at school; this shows signs of avoidant attachment. Even though Isagani behavior has become physical, and he has stopped complying with instructions, he clearly is not disorganized in this behavior.

Isagani uses defense mechanism to help cope with the loss of his father. Defense mechanism are defined as a mental process that protect the personality from anxiety, guilt feelings, or unacceptable thoughts (Baker, 1999). Isagani uses introjections and has begun to imagine a world where everyone in his life is being bad and no one is good this is an adaptive behavior; because he is not listing in class and is creating a reason for the behavior. Isagani believes there are no good people in the world then why should his behavior be good. Isagani is blaming his behavior for the reason why his father is no longer with him. Isagani sees all the good things he used to do were bad because even though he helped his father out it didn’t prevent his father from dying. Isagani has come to believe that he is bad person and because he sees his father as a good person, and a hard working person because his father is no longer in his life there can be no good. Isagani uses isolation as another defense mechanism and stopped talking to the teacher, won’t play with other kids, and prefers to be alone during the whole time in class this is a adaptive behavior. Isagani is detaching himself from people he knows he feels that if he gets to know them become there friend or even play with them, they will leave him too. This is part of the attachment he had with his father. His father would play with him and take him places which created a very strong bond with him Isagani feels if he creates this type of bond the person will leave. Splitting is another defense mechanism Isagani using. Isagani is not complying with instruction, becoming physical when playing with other kids this behavior is maladaptive because Isagani is trying to relieve his frustration of why his father is no longer with him, but he can’t control the way he feels so his behavior becomes physical. Isagani has developed these defense mechanism in order to cope and adjust to the lost of his father it is not uncommon for a child to develop defense mechanism at this age after experiencing such traumatic stress.

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Isagani shows signs of the ego mastery level Id, according to Freud (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008) The Id are the primitive psychic force hidden in the unconscious. It represents the basic needs and drives upon which other personality factors are built. The id also seeks to be expressed regardless of the consequence, and if the Id is deprived of one of its needs, the resulting tension motivates a person to relieve the discomfort and satisfy the need. Isagani has begun to express the need to be more attached to his family members. While he feels talking to his family is all he needs he shows no signs of wanting to socialize with others outside of the family. Isagani nightmares are a result of the goodness that his father brought to his world, and now that it’s gone his reality of his world has now gone bad. Isagani behavior is his way of expressing how he feels about the lost of his father. Isagani is having a hard time expressing it verbally so when he becomes angry and frustrated he begins to show physical aggression toward others. Isagani is being deprived of the attachment, the bond then he and his father shared. In one of Isagani nightmares he stated that there is a man that is running, but he cannot catch up to him. This represents how much Isagani is missing his father; it’s how much he wants to see his father but he can’t so he can’t catch him in his dreams. The kite diving down biting him is reference to him not being able to fly the kite anymore with his father, so Isagani dreams the kite is harming him so he develops a fear of the kite. Isagani’s whole world has just been turned upside down. Isagani however still sees the goodness in his father as he draws him looking over his mother, sister and him. Isagani also understands why he draws his family so he is not without understanding of what is going on which can mean he is moving into the ego mastery level.

The development theory I find most useful when assessing Isagani is Erikson’s (2002) theory of Initiative vs. Guilt. The theory indicates that children desire is to copy the adults around them. In Isagani case this is showed early on before his father’s death. Isagani would see how hard his father was working and wanted to be just like him. Isagani took the initiative to learn how to take out the trash. He would get up in the middle of the night to wait and open the door and lock it after his father was in the house. In Isagani eyes he was just like his father, we later see that when he learned how to fly the kite all by himself. He was excited about it, letting everyone know that he could do it without his father’s help. It further goes on to say they play out roles in a trial universe, this is Isagani dreams where he thinks everything is bad in the world, and the fact he is trying to catch a man that is running the man would be his father. It also says if frustrated over natural desires, and goal they may feel guilt. This happens when Isagani plays with the other kid, he would rather play with his father he then becomes frustrated and angry that’s when the physical aggression comes out mainly because he does not know how to express his feelings of guilt. This makes Isagani guilt because he feels like he could have done more to help his father and because he didn’t his father died.

Looking a Freud’s phallic stage stresses the primary erogenous zone and pleasures are derived from genital stimulation (Cherry, 2000). I don’t think Isagani main focus was to possess his mother, by replacing his father. I think because their bond was so strong even from the beginning when Isagani was born, the way he followed his father voice, too when his father took him to church, and spends time with him. We could see that as Isagani gets older he would want to be just like him not so much as be him. Erikson’s theory helped me the most because it showed and walked me through Isagani feelings, and why he is expressing them the way he is during this time. It’s the attachment for his father he was so close to his father that he feels responsible for his death as well as guilt, we see that whenever the intern talks about his family and father he feels ashamed as he let them down in a way.

There are many theories and they all have strengths and weaknesses. Theory is defined as a set of logically connected ideas that attempt to explain why a particular phenomenon exists. They guide us to what factors may be important in understanding a particular situation, and how they work together, and what it might take to resolve the issue (Baker, 1999). In psychoanalytic theory the first strength is how it helps explain unconscious, conscious, and pre-conscious repression (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008). In reference to Isagani in his dreams, he somehow is repressing his feelings, by dreaming in which he is unconscious. Another strength is the developmental model for the structural theory notably the Id, ego, and superego this helped to reference which level of Isagani development. Two weakness of the psychoanalytic theory it does not consider cultural influences and it over diagnosed behaviors (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008). This is seen in the history of the family, Isagani father was orphaned and worked hard to provide for himself and also for his family. As Isagani father was making sure he understood where he comes from, he instilled those values of their culture in him, which is not seen during the assessment.

Two strengths of ego psychology are it includes environment, including identification with others, learning, and mastery of developmental task. The other one is it contains more optimistic view of human functioning. In this case it helps us to understand the history of Isagani and the way he learned throughout his development (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008). It also gives us an idea of the way he will function in a crisis, under stress, and trauma. The two weaknesses are it gives a positive view of a potential crisis, and it’s sometimes difficult to know where the line is drawn between ego psychology and psychoanalytic theory (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008).

Ecological systems strengths are it emphasize social focus and is concerned with people’s social connections and relationships. Two weakness are it assumes that by affecting one part of a system, it will send change to the rest of the system, but this does not always happen and it’s not prescriptive as it does not tell us what to do or how to specifically affect particular systems (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008).

Object relations strengths are they are centered on the client’s inner world because it allows the social worker to gain insight into imagined representation. And it helps the social worker understand the earliest process and the role of defenses (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008). The weaknesses are it does not address fathers as caregivers or other familial members as primary caregivers and the theory was developed in the U.S and England at a time when the focus was on mothers who were at home with their children.

Attachment theory’s strengths are the primacy is human connection and it has a relationship based focus, and stresses that attachment should not be equated with dependency. The weaknesses are the strange situation has never been fully accepted, and attachment theory is often seen as too behavior because of the emphasis on research early on (Berzoff, Flanagan, & Hertz, 2008).

In conclusion Isagani suffers from ambivalent attachment, and is acting out in school with counseling and family support Isagani can overcome what he is feeling. Isagani is feeling shame and guilt in not being able to do more for his father. He also is not able to share his feeling with others and has begun to isolate himself from others. Isagani feels comfortable only in the presence of family members, and not others. His culture and the way his father developed a deep bond with him has made Isagani create a world where he believes everything is bad. Isagani still views his father has hard working and a good person.

Bibliography

Baker, R. L. (1999). The Social Work Dictionary. NASW Press.

Berzoff, J., Flanagan, L. M., & Hertz, P. (2008). Inside Out and Outside In; Psychodynamic Clinical Theory and Psychopathology in Contemporary Muliticultural Contexts. Jason Aronson.

Cherry, K. (2000). Freud's Stages of Psychosexal Development.

Harder, A. F. (2002). Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson.

Robbins, S. P., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. R. (2006). Contemporary Human Behavior Theory. Pearson Education.