Case Study Of Jacob: A Problem With Attention-Deficit And Low Self-Esteem

A description of the learner type

Discuss about the Case Study Of Jacob.

Jacob is an 8-year old boy primary school pupil. The behaviour of the child and his ability to conduct himself in terms of academics is a major concern for his parents. Jacob needs to be involved in the Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder. The biggest concern that has been witnessed by the parents, as well as the teachers, is the fact that Jacob finds it difficult to concentrate, listen and follow orders or tasks that have been provided to him. He suffers from frequent fits in which he shouts out and remains his tasks incomplete. He cannot perform multiple tasks and is overloaded with information. However, one bright spot in the life of Jacob is that he enjoys working with computers and has expressed a strong desire of taking it up as a course in the future. He also gets frustrated if he fails to understand anything at school.

The setting of the case takes place at the primary school and home of the child. SENCO primary school is the place from which feedback regarding the behaviour and habit of Jacob has been taken. At the same time, the feedback of the parents has been of huge help for analysing the condition of Jacob. The educational history of the child is kept in the primary level and keeping the educational setting of the child in mind it can be said that the SENCO provides a proper analysis of the condition of the child. Jacob's parents are middle-class people and have four other children. It is a concern for the parents that they have to provide more time to Jacob instead of the other four children. Jacob’s twin brother is completely opposite to Jacob as he is seen to be doing well at school and is not a concern for the parents.       

The problem faced by Jacob is that he is unable to remain focused at school. His behaviour has led him to be isolated from other children of his age and the parents to contain his behaviour at home have faced difficulty. Therefore, enrolment in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service is needed so that Jacob can develop himself and be involved with other children at the school. His parents also have to compromise and are content with the behaviour displayed by Jacob and in the process remains unfair to the other four children. Therefore, it is necessary that Jacob is provided with proper education at home so that he remains at a distance from other children until his behaviour improves.

A description of the context and setting

He frequently gets involved in conflicts with other students and because of this; his social may be hampered as he does not have any friends. Personally, Jacob suffers from lack of memory strength. He takes in excess information and is always forgetful in doing his homework. With his strong interest in computers, it can be said that said that Jacob could be motivated to continue with his dream of trying to learn the subject properly in the future. His frustration of failing to learn new things in school can be seen as a positive factor as it symbolises the fact that Jacob is interested in learning and require proper guidance for pursuing with the type of learning activity that he wants to adopt.

Analysis and Conclusion

The problem stated in the case study is based on the cognitive learning and development of a child. The perception of the child of the atmosphere set for him at the school and home is the main reason for triggering the aggressive behaviour of the child (Jung, 2015). Moreover, it is also important that the parents take initiatives in trying to find out the real cause of the problem and take mitigating steps. The fact that the mental capacity of Jacob is low can be attributed to certain factors after proper analysis of his cognitive behaviour.

Based on the analysis of the case study it can be said that the problem of Jacob can be attributed to the lack of motivation and low self-esteem. This is mainly because of the fact that despite providing support to Jacob, the parents seem to be reluctant to do so particular given the fact that the twin brother of Jacob is excellent as compared to other children of the same age. Therefore, Jacob suffers from low esteem as it is evidenced by the fact that he remains frustrated if he is unable to understand any educational activity.

The wider factor that may lead to the current situation of Jacob is the fact that he is not involved in any social life. As pointed out by Kratochwill (2015) in the modern world, excess internet or social life can be considered as an overwhelming problem. However, in the case of Jacob, the major problem lies in the fact that he is extremely intolerant and his behaviour with other children or with his parents are rude. Therefore, this can be considered as a great deal of concern for the development of Jacob in the society.

A description of the topic or problem faced by the person

Renninger et al. (2014) stated that low self-esteem and lack of motivation of a person is mainly due to the lack of encouragement of the peers and other people supporting the person. In the case of schools, these may be related to events such as lack of support from the teachers or cause of bullying from the other students. However, it can be said that in the case of Jacob these are not applicable. This is mainly because the case study provides evidence that the behaviour of Jacob is the reason for his isolation from other students. Instead, the low self-esteem can be deemed to the fact that he remains frustrated due to lack of learning.

The case study provides evidence that Jacob has difficulty in going to bed which suggests that he is deprived of sleep. This may be because he is using an excess computer. The case study also states that Jacob is fond of computers and an excessive use of the technology can be the reason behind the lack of sleep for him. At the same time, extra exposure to computers may be a reason for Jacob to fail to understand the education imparted to him.

Jacob has failed to attend the characteristics of the theory proposed by Piaget. According to Müller, Ten Eycke and Baker (2015), Piaget’s theory provides a description related to the stage in which each child need to find itself. In the case of Jacob, it can be seen that children among the age of 7-11 years need to develop a concrete operational concept. This means that scientific factors are understood in a proper manner. However, in the Jacob, this cannot be applied as he has difficulty in storing and understanding the information provided to him.

The case study also suggests that SENCO can provide evidence that can be used to understand the performance of other children. For example, the case of Chantelle can be used to understand the development that has taken place. Chantelle is a 12-year old female primary school attendee who has good academic records, particularly in Mathematics. Therefore, a difference between the two can be analysed from the educational history of SENCO.

It can be said that the class teacher has the ability to comment on the behaviour of the students and the interest they possess. In the case of Jacob, the teachers of the primary school have observed his behaviour with the other classmates and have duly reported it to the parents. This provides evidence that the responsibility of the teachers is attained. The fact that Jacob finds it difficult to concentrate in class and understand teachers is a huge problem for the development of the child.

Analysis and Conclusion

Watson (2016) is of the opinion that the use of Bowley’s attachment theory can be used to understand the relationship that exists between Jacob and his parents. It has been seen that the parents reluctantly deals with the problems suffered by Jacob, which suggests that the attachment between the people are not healthy. Moreover, that fact that is twin brother is considered as highly talented makes it difficult for Jacob to develop any type of attachment with the siblings. Therefore, it can be said that overall the attachment of Jacob with his family and siblings are not strong.

Therefore, the problem suffered by Jacob is the fact that he is reluctant to continue to interact with other children and make proper communication both at home and in school. This is evidenced by the fact that the parents of Jacob have to keep up with the behaviour of Jacob so that proper peace can be maintained at home. Moreover, it is also evidenced that the other children do not invite Jacob to play due to the behaviour. Hence, these can be considered as factors for solving the problems.

Therefore, an appraisal can be made that helps in understanding more information about the problem and the involved people. To do so tests related to the mind can be conducted. For example, a Rorschach test can be conducted to identify the thoughts of Jacob and the manner in which he reacts to the images shown to him. This can help in identifying his observational skills. To develop his memory, a memory game can be conducted to sharpen the storage of knowledge.

Coordination with the teachers and review of the records related to the academics of the primary school need to be conducted to understand the specific problem. In the case of Jacob, interaction with the teachers is needed so that the parents can pinpoint the problem suffered by Jacob. It has already been evidenced that Jacob suffers from mental problems and an inability to store information. Therefore, it is necessary to review records that may help the parents gain other cases related to similar problems faced by the children and the parents.

The information needs to be gathered from teachers, peers and parents. The case study provides evidence from the point of view of all three people involved with Jacob. The opinion of the teachers is stated which provides evidence about the fact that Jacob has difficulty to retain and understand information. The behaviour of Jacob has affected the parents and the peers. This is evidenced by the fact that the peers do not invite him to play and the parents have to spend more time in fulfilling the needs of Jacob. Therefore, this information points to the evidence of educational problems suffered by Jacob.

Therefore, it is considered as the duty of the parents and the school assistants to implement certain practices that can help in the growth and development of Jacob. The recommendations can be based on the type of educational prowess displayed by Jacob in terms of learning capacity and development of self-esteem. The support plan also needs to be based on the level of problem that the person suffers (Pervin, 2015). In the case of Jacob, the plan can be implemented based on the feedback from the teachers and parents.

The focus of recommendation that can be provided to Jacob is the fact that support can be provided by conducting group sessions with other children. This can help Jacob to interact with the other children and the teachers can analyse the behaviour of Jacob. Intervention refers to the act of improving the medical condition of a person (Larsen et al., 2017). Therefore, in the case of Jacob, the intervention can be in the form of enrolling him to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Therefore, the social skill training method can be implemented to cure Jacob.

A set of targets can be put in place so that Jacob can develop himself with the aid of the parents and the teachers. For example, support needs to be provided so that social and emotional well-being of Jacob can be developed. Jacob needs to reciprocate advances in friendship provided by his peers so that he can be socially involved with the peers. This can help in his development as guidance regarding academics can be obtained from his peers. At the same time, Transactional Analysis Techniques can be implemented to understand the level of interaction between Jacob and his peers. This particular theory was developed by Bernie and involves counselling, education, organisational development and psychotherapy. The application of this particular theory on Jacob can help him to be developed mentally. It helps in changing the manner in which interactions between two people take place so that aspirations of the people can be achieved (Berne, 2016). In the case of Jacob, the behaviour he has towards the other students of his class can be improved by the application of this technique. The interaction of the students with Jacob can improve and therefore, the social life of Jacob can also improve. The Transactional Analysis Techniques can be useful in the primary school as monitoring of other children can be done keeping in mind the analysis need to be made based on their interaction with Jacob. Hence, this can be considered as an effective technique.

The people that can be affected by the intervention can be Jacob and his family. This is mainly because for Jacob the intervention can help to develop his mental capacity and ensure that his behaviour towards the other children improves. Jacob’s parents can benefit from such an intervention as they can provide time to all four children and remain happy with the progress that has been developed by Jacob. At the same time, educational professionals such as the teachers can be affected by the intervention as they can ensure that Jacob gets proper guidance like the others.

The use of applied psychology has contributed to the growth and development of Jacob. The problems related to him are analysed that can help in the practical implementation of the solutions. Theoretical psychology is used in this case to refer to the philosophical aspects of the problem. The recommendations provided for Jacob can be considered as a philosophical approach to understand and widen the scope of studying the major factors related to the development of social interaction among the child.

As stated by Freud (2017) every intervention technique need to be strategically analysed so that it can be developed properly. The intervention technique needs to be based on the manner in which a person provides the responses. In this case, the intervention of Jacob needs to follow a strategic approach that assists him so that his behaviour can be controlled. This has been considered as the root cause for the mental problem faced by Jacob. This is mainly because of the fact that the isolation from the peers is one of the biggest factors for Jacob to have a low self-esteem.

Hence, it can be said that it is necessary to review the progress of the intervention method. The review can be conducted after every six months so that the progress of Jacob can be analysed. The people involved in the monitoring can be the parents, teachers and the medical professionals taking care of Jacob. At the same time, the peers of the child can be asked to provide a review of his behaviour and reciprocal of approach to them.

Alternate strategies can be developed to address the problem faced by Jacob. For example, the introduction of a buddy system can help him to open up his feelings to a particular person. Although this can be a challenge as developing a friendship, is an abstract quality and need to have the proper consent of the person selected as the friend (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Hence, it can be said that this strategy can be implemented for Jacob.

At the same time, discussion on friendship can be developed by using circling time. In this manner, Jacob can understand the importance of friendship and maintain proper goals in terms of developing a social life. Hence, it can be said that friendship goals can be discussed and Jacob can get a proper social life with children of similar age.

A diary can be maintained that provides an overview of the home and school interaction of Jacob. The parents and class teachers need to interact with one another so that proper comparing of notes can take place. A weekly assessment of the progress can help the parents and teachers understand the development that has taken place within Jacob. These diaries can be compared and proper analysis can be provided so that it can help Jacob in his development.

The school can contribute to developing the interest in social media and internet. This can be done by providing a session that involves the pros and cons of the use of the internet as a source of interaction and learning. In the case of Jacob, the fact that he is interested in computers can help him to learn this at a rate faster than the others. This one factor can help in the contribution of the interests of Jacob.

At the same time, the teachers can allocate regular jobs to Jacob. The job can be in the form of academic learning and development of the mind. For example, a memory game can be developed so that Jacob can enhance his mental capacity and ensure that he can remain positive while getting the academic education. At the same time, Jacob can try to interact with his peers so that a proper friendship can be developed. Hence, regular and positive feedback needs to be provided in the class.

The strengths of the solutions proposed are that it can help Jacob to develop his mentality and ensure that a proper social life is developed. This can help him in remaining active and take responsibility for the actions performed by him. However, the weakness of the strategy is that Jacob may be treated as an outcast as other children may consider him as a mental patient. This may have a recoiling effect in the development of Jacob in his social life.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that the case study provides an effective understanding of the cognitive development that is required in a child. The case study of Jacob provides an excellent example of the manner in which development can take place in the social and cognitive front. The fact that the mental capacity of Jacob is underdeveloped is the root cause of his being isolated in the school and at home. The application of proper applied psychology can help in understanding his problem and an intervention can help him to develop. Applied psychology is the study of the behaviour of the people and solving the problems based on scientific psychology. The difference between human and animal behaviour can be analysed so that the individuals can be diagnosed properly. Applied psychology can help to analyse the problem of Jacob using scientific method and get him to behave in a social manner. Therefore, it can be said that the intervention technique and the application of the Transactional Analysis Techniques can help Jacob to gain social recognition and manage to concentrate in the education that is provided to him. Hence, Jacob can be treated properly and made to be accepted in the society in a proper manner.

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