Lifecycle Development Theories And Jade's Psychosocial Growth

Select ONE lifecycle development theory that is relevant to the development of Jade. Suggested theories: Attachment theory, Piaget or Vygotsky’s theory on cognitive development, Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, Bandura’s Behaviour Theory;

Cummings and Henry Disengagement theory, Havinghurst Activity Theory, Nature or Nurture theory etc. If you choose a life span theory (one that covers all ages and stages) choose one stage only.

1. How does the theory you have chosen explain what has happened to the development of Jade?

2. Discuss how the theory may or may not be helpful to the support worker?

3. Are there any flaws in this theory?

Different lifecycle stages with special reference to Jade’s life

Life cycle encompasses each and every significant stages of a human life that are integrally related to the holistic development of human beings. This study focuses on different aspects of lifecycle development in the whole life span of human beings. In this context, it can be mentioned that the discussion of lifecycle development has been revolved around the given case notes regarding Jade and her child. For that reason, the study has discussed lifecycle stages with relation to stages of Jade’s life. Attachment theory and psychosocial theory have been explained for e better understanding of Jade’s lifecycle stages. Furthermore, needs of lifecycle stages have been illuminated in the context of Jade and her child. Along with that, nature or nurture theory has been analyzed with an interrelated description of Jade’s lifecycle development. Moreover, the usefulness of the chosen lifecycle theory has been mentioned further in the study. 

Bodies of human beings change as time moves forward. In order to be more specific, human beings go through different periods in a lifetime that refer to lifecycle stages. These stages can be compartmentalized by age group or developmental periods. For example, a normal human being goes through more or less nine stages that include prenatal stage, neo-natal stage, infancy, toddler period, childhood, puberty, adulthood, middle age and old age (Beckett and Taylor, 2016). In this context, this must be mentioned that each and every lifecycle stage contributes to the overall development of a human being. Similarly, any occurrence of trouble in any of these stages can bring hindrance to the development.

Piaget is one of the initial psychologists to talk about lifecycle stages of development that are characterized by four kinds of development. These kinds include language, memory, morals and reasoning. According to Taylor (2005), there are four lifecycle stages of development in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development namely sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage and formal operational stage. Sensorimotor stage revolves around initial ages (birth- 24 months). Other stages cover up to adulthood of a person. Unlike this basic theory of lifecycle stages, psychosocial theory of Erikson describes life stages in a more detailed way from a more complex angle. In opinion of Scott-Parker et al. (2013), there are eight stages of lifecycle in psychosocial theory that include some detailed stages like early, middle and later adolescence and early and middle childhood. In this context, it can be added that these stages are differentiated with different virtues (like Hope) and different psychosocial crisis (like trust versus mistrust).

On the other hand, stages of development can be perceived from different angles too. As mentioned by Bowlby and Ainsworth (2013), attachment theory gives importance to relationship between the child and the carer or the parents as an integral factor for development in each stage of lifecycle of that child. According to Peggy Emerson and Rudolph Schaffer’s attachment theory, attachment effects the initial ages of a human life and thus four stages can be mentioned that include asocial (birth- 6weeks), indiscriminate attachments (6weeks-7momths), specific attachments (7-9months) and stage of multiple attachment (10months-ahead).

Lifecycle stages

Jade is a 23 years old girl who is also a mother of a five years old child. According to the case notes, Jade grew up with many foster parents and never got to be attached with her real mother in her later childhood and adolescence period. As per Piaget’s cognitive development theory, Jade has passed through three subsequent stages that include sensorimotor, preoperational (2-7 years) and concrete operational (7-11 years) stages and now is in formal operational stage. Thus, it can be said that Jade is able to receive abstract concepts and can make hypothesizes as per the features of formal operational stage. In order to be more specific, it can be mentioned that Jade is now in early adulthood stage (20-39 years) of lifecycle development as per Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development. Thus, it can also be added that she has passed through five stages of development till now. According to Gerhardt (2014), main expected virtue of this stage is love and thus lack of love can affect the psychosocial growth of her. In this context, this can also be mentioned that Jade is a mother while the expected significant relationships in this stage is with partners and friends and not with children.

One of the most difficult crises of this stage for her is crisis of being isolated. According to psychosocial theory, Jade is lagging behind a normal pace of development. From the above mentioned description of attachment theories of lifecycle stages of development, this can be added that being grown up with many foster parents, Jade fails to conform to the stage of development that she is in. for example, she is now in multiple attachment phase as per attachment theory but due to lack of a significant and constant attachment figure in her initial years, she does not respond fully to the expected developmental features of the attachment stage that she is in.

As per the case notes, Jade is considered a vulnerable parent who is unable to satisfy the needs of her child. One of the reasons behind this lies in the fact that certain factors of lifecycle development are dysfunctional in case of Jade. According to Sugarman (2001), many factors influence the development of an individual that include environmental factors, psychological factors, social factors and more. In the case of Jade, it has been seen that no constant relation has been established between her and real mother.

On the other hand, her early childhood was spent with an alcoholic parent and her older childhood and adolescence period have been spent with foster carers in residential care homes. For that reason, both her academic career and economic condition have been suffered (Break, 2018). On the other hand, her health has also been affected and as a result of her problematic childhood and unsuccessful life choices, she has become alcoholic and self destructive too. In this context, it can be said that some of the vital factors of lifecycle development such as health, economy, social proximity and education have been affected in Jade’s life. As an outcome, each and every stage of her development suffered. For example, as per stages of psychosocial development, Jade did not even overcome her first psychosocial crisis (trust versus mistrust) due to weak relationship with the first carer, her mother.

Theories of lifecycle stages of development

Nature and nurture work as two significant factors in the development of a human being in each stage of development. Hereditary factors fall under nature of an individual and environmental factors fall under factor of nurture (University of Queensland, 2015). According to some classical theorists of lifecycle development, nature is the only important factor that affects the growth of human beings. In this context, it can be said that being a child of alcoholic and irresponsible parent, Jade also got attracted towards drugs and irresponsible life choices. Contrarily, theories like psychosocial theory support the significance of nurture in every stage of development (Harvard University ND, 2018). In this context, this can be stated that Jade spent her life without any strong guidance from loving carers especially in her early childhood years. Thus, it can be figured out that the reason behind her vulnerable state is her harmful environment in which she grew up. Thus, this can be said that both nature and nurture have been taken important roles in her lifecycle development.

Needs are one of the most essential part of being an organism for living in a healthy way. According to Taormina and Gao (2013), needs refer to a psychological characteristic which drives an individual for acting towards a specific goal at every stage of the person’s lifecycle development. In this context, it can be mentioned that human needs are seen to be modified at every stage of development. Apart from some constant basic needs like need of food, water and shelter, every other needs change as the individual grows up. On the other hand, it has also been noticed that different human beings show different needs that are essential for their own diverse developments.

Role of human needs can be better understood through a discussion of Needs hierarchical theory by Abraham Maslow. According to this theorist, needs occur in a hierarchical order and can be shown in a pyramid form. This hierarchy of needs follow an ascending order where basic needs form the base and higher level of needs form the top of the pyramid (Newman, Tay and Diener, 2014). This is so because each level of needs must be satisfied in order to proceed with the next level of need for an individual. In order to be more specific, human beings have fundamental needs from the time of their birth that include deficiency needs. This level of need include love, friendship, physical needs and security.

Absence of satisfaction of this primary level of needs can make an individual feel de-motivated to go on with the life ahead. It has been noticed that fundamental needs of human beings are generally physiological needs. On the contrary, needs keep turning into psychological ones as an individual crosses boundaries of childhood (Howe, 2011). Both the types of needs are interrelated as none of them can be satisfied without fulfillment of the other. These higher level of needs include need of self actualization which refers to the ultimate potential of an individual. Moreover, this can be said that an individual shows some different types of needs that include biological needs, safety needs, need of belongingness, esteem and need of transcendence in a course of a lifetime.

Lifecycle stages of Jade

As per the case study, Jade is in the stage of early adulthood and her child is in early childhood stage. According to the psychosocial theory, people belonging from early childhood phase need to get involved in taking initiatives on their own. In other words, children show needs of exploring with guidance of their carers. In this context, it can be added that children cannot be expected to fulfill their needs on their own. Thus, they need the assistance of elders who can look after them as they learn to explore the surroundings. On a different perspective, Jade’s child is expected to have some common biological needs such as need of shelter, water, proper sleep and food. Apart from that, Maslow thinks that children show strong need of security or safety from their parents or carers in order to be able to rely on them to solve problems (Datta, 2014). In addition, the child needs a purpose in this stage of her life as per Erikson’s psychosocial theory. So, this can be said that Jade’s child needs to be in an intimate bond with her mother at this stage of her lifecycle.

On the other hand, Jade also shows the fundamental needs as she did not cross the boundary of early adulthood yet. In order to be more specific, she also has biological needs, need of safety and belongingness. The difference lies in the fact that unlike her child, Jade has self esteem needs and needs of intimacy. In this regard, this can be stated that love is the main psychological need in both the lives of Jade and her child. Jade needs love or intimacy from a loving partner whereas her child needs to be loved by Jade. These needs are significant because satisfaction of these needs can only lead them to next level of development of their lifecycle (Lynch and Salikhova, 2016). Body and mind are interrelated and thus both physiological and psychological needs are important for a person to be developed. In this regard, this can be mentioned that the above mentioned criteria are identified as needs because they help in the overall developmental process of an individual. For example, if a child is unfed then that child can not be able to survive for long. Similarly, if an individual is devoid of a secure place or a reliable carer then that individual cannot be able to maximize own physiological and psychological potentials (Harold et al. 2013). In addition, they will remain de-motivated throughout their lives.

As per the case study, Jade has been devoid of a constant parent in her childhood because of having an alcoholic mother. This scenario is repeating itself as Jade’s child also happens to be with an immature mother who herself is not able to fulfill her own needs. This is important because Jade shows a directionless life that affects the life of her child too. Moreover, fundamental needs such as biological needs are not getting fulfilled because Jade does not have any constant career or a good academic qualification. Thus, being economically challenged, Jade’s higher level needs suffer a lot.

Factors of lifecycle development of Jade

As mentioned earlier, each and every need is important in making the developmental process complete at every stage of lifecycle development. Similarly, unfulfilled needs affect an individual to cope up with both physiological and psychological demands (Pietromonaco, Uchino and Dunkel Schetter, 2013). As per the case study, it has been noticed that Jade’s child has poor attendance at her nursery and even at her health visits. Moreover, it has also been noticed that the child comes in inappropriate cloths that does not go with the weather. Thus, it is confirmed that her fundamental needs are not fulfilled. This is so because her mother’s needs are not fulfilled too. As a result, it has become a difficult task for the child to survive in that situation and for having unfulfilled needs Jade cannot be able to perform her role as a mother to her child. In addition, Jade herself has become unable to overcome her own psychological problems because of having unsatisfied needs from the time of her childhood. 

Nature or biological predispositions and nurture or environmental effects have been seen as two vital factors that affect one’s lifecycle development. According to Montag et al. (2016), both of them are equally important in forming a physiological and psychological structure in a human being. As mentioned in the case notes, Jade has been unable to provide a secure environment for her 5 years old child. In addition, she is unable to quench her basic needs as well. When researched further, it has been noticed that Jade used to have poor attendance in her school in childhood. As an outcome, she has not been successful in earning a good qualification or a good job. Apart from that, Jade shows symptoms of depression in such an early stage of life. After studying her recent psychological condition, it can be said that her upbringing has affected her development from the beginning. In this regard, it can be mentioned that her hereditary history does not show any remarkable abnormality that may have caused her faulty development.

However, it is important to note that she has spent a disturbing childhood and adolescence without any guidance of her real parents. Constant shifts in carers may have generated mistrust in her that drove her towards alcohols and drugs (Anelli et al. 2018). Moreover, her suicidal tendency foregrounds the fact that she has no strong hold of love that she needed from her childhood to be stable in her life. Thus, it can be said that faults in nurturing happen to be a sole reason behind her developmental errors (Parenting for Brain ND, 2018). Incomplete and unsatisfied needs have led her to her present condition especially because of having no guidance beside her during the time of her early pregnancy.

This theory of nature or nurture can be helpful for the social workers to deal with her conditions. This is so because the theory shows that the main reason behind her developmental error is lack of proper nurturing. Thus, the social workers can provide her with a stable home and a decent job that may direct her towards a normal and stable life. On the other hand, the child can survive the chances of being neglected by Jade and this can save both of them from being vulnerable.

Role of nature and nurture

Each and every individual is different and thus there is no confirmed result of application of any psychological theory. It is true that nurturing is a vital factor that may lead a person to a better lifecycle development. On the other hand, it is also true that nature and nurture walk hand in hand and thus any deficiency in the nature of an individual may hinder the effect of nurture in a person (Meloni, 2014). These are some faults in this theory that can only be tested after applying this theory in the life development of Jade and her child.

Conclusion 

This study has focused on lifecycle development and the stages of development as well. In addition, this study has revolved around the case study regarding a vulnerable mother and her child. For that reason, the study has discussed the life stages that the vulnerable mother, Jade, has passed in order to elaborate the stages with their respective needs. On the other hand, the study has focused on the lifecycle needs of Jade and her child in order to show the significance of those needs. The study has also foregrounded the outcomes of the unfulfilled life needs of both of them. In addition, some important factors of development have been illuminated along with discussing the important factors of Jade’s development. Theories of cognitive development, psychosocial stages of development, attachment theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have been utilized for a better understanding of the situation of Jade and her child. Moreover, Nature and nurture theory has been analyzed in order to understand the faulty development of Jade and so that the social workers can be beneficial in taking care of both of them. 

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