Human Growth and Behaviour - Research Paper Example

Human Growth and Behaviour + Human Growth and Behaviour Introduction The study of human growth and behaviour helps define and espouses an in-depth understanding of the changing aspects of relationships as well as the backgrounds and concerns of the same. Since social relationships offer a vital theme and the foundation for human lifestyles, major aspects of human behaviour emerge if its analysis focuses on the perspective of an individuals personality and relationships with other people. The effect of personal relationships in the growth and development of behaviour has been emphasized in psychological studies, and qualifies as the key contributor of the developing multi-disciplinary field of social sciences (Collins, 2010). This paper carefully reviews a number of theories addressing issues to do with human growth and behaviour, while relating them to the case study on the lifestyle and relationship between Jimmy Lee and his parents, Wang and Yin Chin. Part one discusses Life cycle theories, part two loss and change theories, and part three adult partnership theories. These theories will give a general explanation of the problem and the setting of the most efficient intervention. Erikson’s Life Cycle Theory Regarding the eight stages of human growth and behaviour outlined in this theory, having an in-depth analysis of the personal story of the author in line with his personal development simplifies and opens up an understanding of the advancement of his psychology (Kakar, 1968). He led an extraordinarily individualistic life that in some way can match the life of Jimmy Lee. In addition to the fact that Erikson was an illegitimate child, he must have felt that he did not fit in the mainstream cultural practices of the Jewish people. Due to these strange and frustrating situations, he had a noticeable identity issue that largely affected both the unconventional way of life he led and his philosophies about the predicaments that many people experience at different stages of their lives (Archer, 2011). While reflecting the similarity of a difficult life that Jimmy Lee’s parents led in Cambodia, his father, Wang came from a cruel family background and his anger and frustrations always fell on his son in the event of any misunderstanding. With both parents habitually blaming him for problems arising within the family, Lee feels isolated and detached from his parents, for example, he remembers one event in his childhood when he came back home very distraught after falling and injuring himself. Klein (1959) claims that “in the depressive position, fear of anger and destructiveness is managed by making amends/developing empathy with others.” Erikson expressed the notion that every stage of growth has its distinctive challenges, referred to as crises. He held that such egocentric crises offered challenges to the identity of an individual (Riley and Erikson, 1979). Successful psychosocial development or personality development relies on addressing and overpowering these responsibilities or crises. The first stage of development and the crisis faced by the child involves the basic trust versus basic mistrust of an infant, which emphasizes that when parents meet all the needs of an infant, trust develops automatically. “The basic strength of the first stage is hope, or the expectation that difficulties in life, presenting whatever challenge they may, will eventually result in a positive outcome” (Archer, 2011). Accordingly, the infant would require this sense of hope at his subsequent stages of behavioural development to meet any impending challenges (Lawler, 2002). The weakness of this stage or rather the direct opposite of hope is the hopelessness and withdrawal. Jimmy Lee felt hopeless during his infancy because both his parents worked at their restaurant for long hours, leaving their son under the care of other Scottish friends and relatives who looked after his interchangeably for the first two years of his life. Such events made Jimmy hopeless of whom to develop his trust leading to hopelessness and withdrawal from his parents. The second stage, autonomy and shame during toddlerhood involves parents who generate supportive and caring surroundings to let the toddlers to study and apply independence and gain their personal confidence. Parent who overprotect and disapprove toddlers espouse behavioural patterns of children second-guessing themselves in later stages of life. After Jimmy’s parents left Cambodia to settle in Scotland, they arrived with a handful of clothes to wear and since they failed to embrace the culture of their new residence, Jimmy’s life changed confusedly. His parents hardly spent money on his clothes and considered English a second language, which they rarely use, making it difficult for him to study and apply self-sufficiency in the basic tenets of life (Cvetkovich, 1978). The third stage, initiative versus guilt for a pre-schooler, states that children gain self-esteem through regular discipline and reassurance while learning to take chances. “Children at this age are extremely active and mobile, or in Erikson’s terms, locomotive. They are talkative, and they experiment and learn through imaginative play” (Riley and Erikson, 1979). Children usually try to imitate the things their parents do through observation and if children only encounter rebuke; they might grow with a dominant sense of guilt (Mofrad, Abdullah and Uba, 2010). In the course of stage, children tend to develop and enhance their mechanical skills and become more absorbed in social connections. With Jimmy date of birth almost coinciding with the establishment of the family’s Chinese restaurant, his father constantly wanted his mum to stay beside him instead of Jimmy. Jimmy grew knowing that no one would approve his efforts in anything he did, whether good or bad, hence leading to immoral behaviour, such as shoplifting because he felt his parents isolated him completely and only cared about the restaurant. Industry versus inferiority, especially during elementary school represents the fourth stage of development, which helps children develop some sense of competence and diligence while making friends and performing better in school. In contrast, they might feel inadequate and have low self-esteem. In line with Jimmy’s difficult lifestyle between the age of two and five, most of his friends pointed out his bad behaviour to him and abandoned him completely. Such events made Jimmy develop a sense of inferiority since he could no longer associate with his friends or even his family and he habitually led a lonely life in a corner of their restaurant. He also soiled himself even after going through toilet training. According to Shariff (2006), adolescence influences the better part of an individual’s adulthood, and stage five of Erikson’s life cycle theory represented by identity versus role confusion echoes this sentiment. Since Jimmy is currently thirteen years old, his adult life can turn out better or worse of his parents do not appropriately address the problems he has experienced during his childhood. At this stage, adolescents should effectively respond to the question about who they are as they improve a strong sense of themselves. On the other hand, if they continue to wallow in their confusion regarding their identity, they can eventually grow up with the failure of making critical decisions (Brajša-Žganec, 2014). The fact that Jimmy has already attended three secondary schools shows that he has not had a chance to improve a strong sense of himself. Furthermore, he is an underachiever despite the fact that the slightly higher IQ he possesses, making it look like he is still confused about his identity. Since most of Jimmy’s childhood, he led a lonely life; his intimacy depends on a concrete sense of identity gained in the former stages. If young adults remain doubtful about who they are, they will eventually feel isolated, avoid responsibility, and fix themselves in egocentric mannerisms. Object Relations and Attachment Theories When it comes to the analysis of human relationships, the object relations and attachment theories serves as ethological, psychological, and evolutionary approaches to analyse human behaviour. According to the object relations theory, Belsky (2003) asserts that, “it is generally agreed that the infants first object is his mother.” The work of Ainsworth stretched out the conceptions of attachment theory and facilitated the testing of its empirical tenets. With the early invention of Bowlby, Ainsworth steered observational examination by pairing infants and parent throughout the first year of the child, linking far-reaching home visits with the behavioural studies in specific circumstances (Grossmann et al., 2013). The most significant principle of the theory involves the fact that young children usually develop relationships with a minimum of one key caregiver to help them develop normal behaviour both socially and emotionally. In infantile dependency, infants usually focus on relating to partial objects to give their experiences an idealistic like quality, which consequently influences their personal relations (Klein, 1959). According to the attachment theory, an infant tends to behave uniquely by inclining towards an attachment figure known as the caregiver during stressful circumstances. Bretherton, (2000) states “attachment refers to an affectional tie that one person forms to another specific individual. Attachment is thus discriminating and specific.” Children usually feel a significant sense of attachment to adults who are thoughtful, receptive, and sensitive while socializing with them, and continue with this consistency as caregivers for a certain period from approximately the age of six months to two years. Throughout the concluding part of this phase, infants start to relate to their carefully selected familiar figures as safe havens for exploration and refuge (Belsky, 2002). According to Klein (1959), “the self therefore is to be understood to exist and be defined in terms of the relationships it has, remembers, desires, or creates with others.” In line with this notion, Jimmy led a lonely life throughout his childhood, with his hardworking dad barely having time for him, but usually became the first to discipline him whenever he did anything wrong. Such repetitive events of physical chastisement using both slippers and belts worsened his behaviour. By spending long hours along treating his wounds and picturing life with his parents still wealthy, made him look at life in a pessimistic and wishful point of view (Langford, 2014). The responses of parents bring about the advancement of different forms of attachment, which consecutively, initiate in-house working simulations that will monitor or control the infant’s emotional state, opinions and anticipations or beliefs in future relationships (Archer, 2011). The family backgrounds of Wang and Yin have affected Jimmy Lee, especially with the harshness of his father’s family. Wang left Cambodia with his wife and never returned to see his parents leading to disintegration in physical, emotional and psychological attachment from them, which he does not show his son because they have struggled to survive since they arrived in Scotland. This led to the ideal object (Wang) splitting his central ego in others (Yin), thus Jimmy becoming the exiting or rejecting object (Klein, 1959). Furthermore, until now, both Wang and Yin did not have the chance to trace their parents who stayed in Cambodia, as they later believed they have already died. However, they have struggled to believe that their parents have died, especially because they have never attended their funerals. Currently, Jimmy suffers the same agony, as separation anxiety or misery after losing an attachment figure seems to characterize a normal and adaptive reaction for an attached child (Broussard, 2003). Such behaviours might have developed with Jimmy’s parents because they have jeopardized the probability of survival of their son. Even though it is normal for the mum to act as the main attachment figure, infants will constantly feel attached to caregivers who are sensitive and receptive while socializing with them (Shariff, 2006). Attachment Patterns by Ainsworth The form of attachment that infants develop hinges on the eminence of care that the child receives. Every attachment pattern relates to certain distinguishing patterns of behaviour. These include: a) Secure – This pattern uses caregiver as a security for exploration. When the caregiver leaves, the infant protests, pursues proximity, and is consoled on coming back, as the child keeps on exploring. The child can give a chance to a stranger to keep him or her relaxed, but clearly chooses the caregiver through actions. Consequently, the caregiver responds to the child appropriately, punctually and dependably to needs (Brown, 2009). b) Avoidant – This form of attachment exemplifies a child with little emotional involvement. The child does not show any significant distress when the caregiver leaves, and shows little or no observable response on arrival. The child also ignores or turns away with no determination of maintaining contact when picked up. Such children equate a stranger with the caregiver. Conversely, the caregiver shows a slight or no response to the troubled child, encourages self-autonomy and discourages crying (Bretherton, 2000). c) Ambivalent or Resistant – The child cannot use the caregiver as security, as he or she pursues proximity prior to the occurrence of separation. The child feels distressed on separation with doubt, irritation, and reluctance to relate to the caregiver earnestly and keeps playing when caregiver returns. Inattentive with the presence of the caregiver, the child seeks contact but resists angrily when realized, and a stranger cannot calm the child. Consequently, the caregiver shows inconsistency between suitable and casual responses (Broussard, 2003). d) Disorganized – The child clearly resists the caregiver upon arrival with actions, such as rocking and freezing. There is also the nonexistence of a clear attachment approach presented by inconsistent, confused behaviours, for example, approaching the caregiver with a turned back. The caregiver displays a frightening behaviour, insensitivity, withdrawal, disapproval, role confusion, emotional communication errors as well as mistreatment (Bernier, Larose and Whipple, 2005). In line with the above forms of attachment, Jimmy is avoidant and disorganized. He is avoidant because parents do not show him any signs of sensitivity to his problems and needs. He is also disorganized because his father displays behaviours that frighten him, hence making him withdraw from them and disapprove their care. The dad to Jimmy is incapacitated with the appropriate way of developing his son’s behaviour because he still has attachment issues originating from his family in Cambodia. This detachment also comes out by the way he mistreats his wife and forcing her into bizarre sexual acts (Brajša-Žganec, 2014). Loss and Change Theories Regarding adult partnership, the case study demonstrates some loss and change as well as anger and denial in some cases. Since experiencing grief is the price people pay for love, then the lack of attachment would lead to a senseless loss. When an individual separates from a loved one, some internal working representations take over in the intergenerational spread of attachment patterns. Such models clearly manifests in the family of Jimmy Lee, as his father still feels a sense of loss and grief for the loss of his parents. In Attachment and Separation, “the interplay among behavioural systems was implicitly treated as one of competition, not higher level regulation” (Langford, 2014). In contrast, people who develop into relatively stable and self-sufficient individuals usually have supportive parents who encourage their children to embrace responsibility and allow them to live independently. According to Kubler-Ross theory, individuals always feel some anger towards their families because they have not done enough to make them happy. Jimmy’s father still feels a sense of loss and grief for the loss of his parents and expresses his anger to his son and wife because he feels his parents did not do enough to make him a good father. The theory also involves depression, as Wang usually feels very low when Yin is not around him (Shaw and Dallos, 2005). Parents exemplifying the habit of constantly engaging their children in equitably candid communication patterns that function for their child, for their own working models, and of others. (Berry, John, Mishra and Tripathi, 2003). Such tendencies give the child the indication that the working models allow them to question and revise their lifestyles with their parents and others. Jimmy Lee did not have this liberty, as his parents never gave him a chance to revisit the happenings in his life, his parents’ lives, and even those of his friends. Therefore, the inheritance of psychological wellbeing as well as ill health through the micro-culture of families is less significant, and might be more significant than genetic inheritance (Shariff, 2006). Even though defensive segregation practiced by Wang and his son usually protects an individual from going through intolerable psychological pain, misperception, or mental struggles, it can impede with the implementation of internal working models to outward truth. Various scientific studies reviewed in separation and loss recommend that defensive segregation results in a split of the internal working models. Jimmy developed split ego during his childhood because of his need for emotional support, which led to defensive segregation. With his currently damaged ego, it could affect his relationship with his spouse later in life. However, “this depressive position is reached when a person can tolerate ambiguity and ambivalence” (Shaw and Dallos, 2005). The most significant set of functioning models open to responsiveness and debate and based on a child’s mannerisms characterizes the characters of the parents as good or the rejecting behaviour of parents triggered by the child’s immorality. Another model represents the experiences of the child, but defensively omitted from responsiveness, signifying the hated or substandard behaviour of parents (Berry, John, Mishra and Tripathi, 2003). Adult Partnerships and Family Theories Family systems have interconnected elements as well as arrangements. The elements of the family system include the family members. Every element has its unique characteristics, which influences the relationships with other members, meaning the relationships function interdependently (Riley and Erikson, 1979). Altogether, they create a structure, together with the involvement in the system as well as the boundary separating the system and its family setting. Jimmy is an introvert because of his father’s anger and frustration towards his mother, which sometimes gets to him. This scenario creates tension in the family and makes their relationship rigid and wanting. Such relationships lead to the creation of subsystems, which have their unique guidelines, boundaries, and features. Relationships in the subsystems can change progressively. Jimmy’s family is predominantly an open boundary system since it permits external elements and situations influence them (Lawler, 2002). Conclusion The family of Jimmy Lee has instigated the generational problem of inadequate interdependency within the family, which started from their immigration to Scotland and the death of his grandparents. With the harsh background of his dad, and the submissiveness of his mum to his dad, Jimmy Lee has led a life of loneliness, basis mistrust, disorganization and avoidance (Langford, 2014). He lacks the moral support not only from his parents, but also from his peers, making him engage immoral activities, such as stealing, lying, segregating himself, and leading to low self-esteem. He acts as a sub-system to the family because he is constantly segregated and without consistent care and trust, he will eventually grow into a troubled adult with an insecure life (Bretherton, 2000). The present-day advancement of socially relevant technological platforms helps in advancing psychological knowledge, but only with intensive analysis of the relationship perspective that most significant human behaviours display. References Archer, J. 2011. Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 82(4), pp.923-924. Belsky, J. 2002. Developmental origins of attachment styles. Attachment & Human Development, 4(2), pp.166-170. Bernier, A., Larose, S. and Whipple, N. 2005. 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