Psychology

Notwithstanding the modern advances that the world has reached nowadays, the issues that pertain to human nature such as how we learn, live, adapt and become who we are at every stage in our life still remains a question partially left unanswered.

This has something to do with the diversity and complexity of the growth and development stages of the individuals. Hence, it is essential that everyone should have the in-depth understanding of the different theories which best explain the factors that shape human identity (Berger 2007).

Most of the significant changes in the life of an individual take place from infancy through adolescence, it is indeed important that the individual should have a good and balanced foundation in terms of human growth and development (Zastrow  Kirst-Ashman 2009). In this light, it is advantageous to know some of the theories that have something to do with the human development such as Erik Eriksons Psycho-social theory and Sigmund Freuds Psycho-sexual theory.

This case study interviewed a 15 year-old male from West Virginia, USA. The respondent, whose name was intentionally hidden for his protection and privacy, belongs to a lower class status in the society. According to the interview conducted, the respondent has been experiencing a lot of problems in his growth and development. During the childhood stage of the respondent, he was left in the custody of his uncle because her mother cannot afford to suffice all his needs in life particularly in terms of financial aspects. He was taken care by his uncle from his childhood until now. Nevertheless, the respondent has a very sad story to tell in his life. When he was a child, he experienced sexual abuse with his uncle who happens to be a homosexual. This incident in his life, according to him, was the most miserable nightmare in his life. Because of this, he experienced a lot of problems during his growth and development. Likewise, the respondent has also a not so totally good environment which adds to his anxiety as a developing individual. There are so many bad influences around their area which eventually forced him to become a problematic adolescent. He is not performing well in the school. He does not even posses good relationship skill with the other people.

Considering the theories of Erickson and Freud, the case of this respondent has something to do with the social and sexual aspects of human growth and development. Eriksons Psycho-social theory deals with the eight stages in which a human should pass from infancy to adulthood in order to be considered as a healthy developing individual (Zastrow  Kirst-Ashman 2009). Freuds Psycho-sexual theory, on the other hand, delves on how human sexuality begins from a very young age and develops through various fixations (Shaffer  Kipp 2009).

With regards to Eriksons Psycho-social theory, the respondent becomes problematic because of the social factors that trigger the respondents development of negative reinforcements. Psycho-social theory states that individual, during the development stages, experiences psychosocial crises which include Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair (Zastrow  Kirst-Ashman 2009).

The poor performance of the respondent in the class and the attitude of being rude and irresponsible can be largely associated with his development of mistrust in the persons around him. Since he was not properly cared by his mother, he developed the opposite of trust in the first stage of social development theory of Erikson. In addition, he was abused by his uncle which greatly adds to his negative attitudes towards his life. This incident has also caused  the respondent to be sexually attached to his peers of the same sex and eventually made him to become homosexual person. This has something to do with the development of his idea on identity and role confusion.

 The respondent, likewise, does not develop the sense of autonomy and initiative because the lack of guidance of his real parents. He definitely lost his sense of purpose, self-reliance and determination, confidence and courage because of the discouragements that keep on struggling in his everyday life. Furthermore, these incidents in his life triggered the development of the respondents view on love and affiliation, care and production, and wisdom and renunciation. It means that the respondent developed most of the negative aspects of Eriksons theory because of his problems in the social aspect.  

As regards to Sigmund Freuds Psycho-sexual theory, the respondents development and growth was severely affected and altered. In terms of the oral stage, since the respondent was not properly cared even during his early childhood, he has encountered problem on his oral fixation which resulted to his oral receptive personality such as smoking and drinking alcohol (Shaffer  Kipp 2009). Another problem of the respondent lies on his unsuccessful fixation on anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. Since he was not taken cared by his parents, he encountered dilemma on these stages of development. Just like in the theory of Erikson, the respondent becomes problematic in his sexual orientation because of his experience with his uncle.

With the following analyses about the development of the respondent with respect to Erickson and Freuds theories, it can be projected that the respondent will encounter different problems in the next 5 to 10 years. Based on the history of the development of the study, the respondent will most likely to have a problematic future development. He will probably engage to more negative activities because of the experiences that he had in his early childhood until now.

Hence, it is indeed important that the individual should be nourished from the very beginning, especially in terms of social and sexual aspects, so that healthy developing stage will successfully occur.