Developmental Analysis: Childhood-Adolescence Essay

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Developmental Analysis: Childhood-Adolescence

Childhood and adolescence are two developmental stages in a life where the young ones are growing into young adults. For that reason, they have their own psychological and social needs for wholesome growth and advancement. Each group has its own basic universal needs that need to be addressed depending upon their personal, cultural, and social factors. Childhood requires care and protection, while adolescence demands attention and guidance. The goal of this paper is to use developmental theories and concepts to analyze their developmental processes focusing on childhood and adolescence.

Personal Introduction of Childhood-Adolescence

My name is XYZ, and I was raised to attend Sunday school. My mother, uncle, and my stepfather were involved in my raising, and they were also my support system. I was a bright learner in school and was considered as an honor roll student. My support system rewarded me for my achievements. I had two brothers to whom I close and even helped them since I was the oldest. We had always been involved in sports, and we were raised with many cousins. Our families had frequent gatherings. I knew about what things to refrain from, such as telling lies, miscommitments, staying away from stealing, etc., and was aware of good habits in life, like dealing elders with respect and treating younger ones with love and being obedient to my parents. I wanted to be baptized at the age of 12. Two of my girl cousins and I were discouraged by my family. I made use of my prayers a lot and always helped others. I was always available whenever someone needed a listening ear. I was sensitive and emotional since my mother allowed me to express my feelings.

My parents got separated when I turned 16 years old, and I became a mother at the age of 17. My relationship was abusive and did not work well. Hence, I ended up being a single mother of three kids whom I raised without any help. When I turned 24, I longed for the love of a gentleman since neither did I get love from my father, nor my ex-husband was a man enough to do so.

Theoretical Perspectives of Development

Adolescence is a developmental stage from childhood to adulthood. It is divided into three phases: early adolescence, which ranges from 10 to 14 years, middle adolescence, which ranges from 15 to 17 years, and late adolescence, also called young adulthood, which ranges from 18 to 24 years (Curtis, 2015). Theories have been put forward to understand better how a child’s brain and body develop over time based on social, historical, and cultural progressions. Some theories have been selected here to describe and explain how they are relevant to their childhood and adolescent developments.

Stage of Development According to Freud

Freud suggested that psychological progress in childhood takes place during five psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital (Silverman, 2017). In the first stage, the child’s focus can begin by sucking his thumb for which he makes use of his own body. Although I was raised around several cousins, and we had frequent family gatherings, my mind was focused on playing and having good times with my fellow family members. However, sucking of thumb was evident when I was one or two years old.

The next stage, according to Freud’s theory, is the anal stage. This is the stage where the child is fully aware of his excreting desires and is ready enough to deal with parental demands of toilet training. There is a clash of meeting his parental expectations for cleanliness and his pleasure of discharging bodily wastes. I experienced this stage when I was two and a half years old since it was the time when my parents demanded from me to use the toilet instead of diapers. I was reluctant in the beginning; sometimes, I did on the floor rather than in the washroom and got scolded too. My mother was kind and patient in this matter, and soon, I learned to use the toilet within a matter of a week or two.

The third stage is the phallic stage in which the child becomes aware of his genitals and the pleasures attached.

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At this stage, mainly boys believe that everyone should have this previous organ, and the clear difference of opposite sex is unmistakable. This stage takes over at the age of 3 to 6 years, and when I was in this phase, I tried to identify myself with my mother because she was of the same sex. I tried to become familiar with the same sex organs that females have, and for that, my mother was the only close same-sex person in our home. There were mixed feelings of tension, fear, and attraction.

Then comes the latency stage at the age of 6 years. It is that time when sexual instincts are inactive and are lost somewhere in new activities such as school, sports, and same-sex friendships. I was also busy in acquiring new skills at that time since there was new knowledge to gain, and playing with my cousins…

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…cousins, whom I had started to recognize well.

Faith Development

According to Fowler’s stages of faith and identity, when I was at the first stage, which is a primal or undifferentiated stage, I was not very familiar with my Christianity faith as I was only an infant. I was busy gaining knowledge of my surroundings, and my mother was facing her troubles with my first father and her transition to her second marriage. The second stage, which is the intuitive projective stage, came into my life when I was a preschooler. I needed concrete symbols and Christianity stories, but my family was settling down to the changes in their lives; hence, I was not strong in my beliefs at that time. Next came the stage where I wanted to get baptized, at the age of 12 and in Fowler’s terms, mythic literal stage. My parents discouraged it, but this was the time when I came close to my faith and started to identify myself as a Christian. The synthetic, conventional stage came when I was an adolescent and needed a specific set of values to be followed. I started to wonder things and created my identity by building relations with my family and cousins. My deeper self and companionship helped me gain guidance and support. The individuative reflective stage is when early adulthood tarts, and at that phase, I was already experiencing new things, such as my broken marriage and arrival of my kids. I was committed to my family and knew that I had a responsibility towards my children as my interpersonal relation pushed me to seek further answers to my questions of faith. Conjunctive faith is the stage that I have not experienced yet, but I am close to it. Besides, the universalizing faith stage would help me to harmonize my thoughts and beliefs of Christianity and my actions in the future. I will try my best to practice what I had learned as a Christian.

Challenges and Success

When my mother re-married, it was a challenge for me to accept my new father since a child already has a deep attachment to his biological father. My stepfather was nice and kind. Hence, it did not take much time for me to adjust, but that phase was a hurdle for me to overcome. Furthermore, when my husband left me alone to parent my kids all by myself, I was heartbroken. I did not understand how I will manage on my own with the children who needed guidance and support from their father as well. Nevertheless, I consider it my….....

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