Meet Washington’s Case Study
PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet Washington’s Case Study approach to child development encompasses the use of theories in child psychology along with ethics and research findings in the cognitive, social, and physical development of the child. Applying Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development to the case of Ava Washington, a nine-year-old from Riverbend City, could help better understand her behaviors, relations with peers, and self-conception. Self-archetypes of Ava within the “Industry vs. Inferiority” stage of her development elucidate the nature of the dynamics of family life and relationships with peers, and her interests to capture her emotional and social development needs. Following Erikson’s stages of development, this paper employs research relating to Ava’s experiences in social relations, family settings, and self-identity to identify the possible manner that constrains her developmental process.
Applying Psychological Theory
Using Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development in understanding Ava Washington a nine-year-old child from the Riverbend City family case study would enable one to unravel some of her behaviors and social requirements. Of course, at her age, Ava is in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage where children work to gain mastery and worth in social activities and achievements. In this stage, success promotes feelings of industry and failure feelings of inferiority (Orenstein & Lewis, 2022). From the family interactions relayed it is evident that Ava has some development issues as a two-year-old. Although she emotionally relates to her friends and wants to stay with them, and she also has hobbies of collecting stones and reading maps, she doesn’t feel happy in her family. Her siblings are older and busy most of the time hence leaving her alone making her feel neglected. As argued by Hammond, (2021) Ava’s growing self-sufficiency, and her happiness in helping her father, such as in locating new pathways in Google Earth show that she wants to be useful, and this is right on the money with Erikson who posited that children in this stage look forward to feelings of accomplishment.
PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet the Washington’s Case Study
The theory of Erikson can be deemed helpful in analyzing Ava’s need for acknowledgment and personal worth (Maree, 2021). According to the theory of development, children need encouragement in various activities to foster growth (Khairani & Maemonah, 2021). For instance, objects like stones or maps can provide avenues for Ava to experience success. Oftentimes, when her father commends her, it probably increases her self-esteem, due to the demand for approval that she enjoys during this stage. Nonetheless, this theory does not explain the whole process that Ava has faced in detail. For example, the model fails to consider the cultural and family relations scenarios that surround Ava.
Since Ava is in a family home location there are rather complicated family relationships and the stage-based theory may not be able to explain. Furthermore, Erikson’s stages lack specificity in defining distinct personality characteristics (Mitchell et al., 2021). Therefore, Ava’s unique personality traits and coping style may influence her psychological self-esteem differently from that of other children her age. While using PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet the Washington’s Case Study, it is possible to say that it is rather useful to analyze the necessity to provide Ava with experiences that will help to develop her competence, at the same time, it is rather important to refer to the theory that would take into account the specific features of the family setting and personality characteristics of the child.
Applying Research Findings to Ava Washington’s Case
In the present study of child development, children’s peer relationships have been found to affect self-images and interpersonal skills during middle childhood (Pivnick et al., 2021). Culturally, it is established that children who receive acceptance from their friends have bolstered self-acceptance and are well prepared to face conflict and other considerations in other aspects of life (Stefanidi & Masten, 2020). In Ava’s case; she gains significant worth from friendships since she sometimes feels excluded within her family. The research indicates that friendly communication helps Ava to receive social support which she never gets from her siblings regarding her value in society. This finding strengthens the argument that children of the age that Ava need peer relationships in their developmental process.
Eccles (1999) it has been found that self-concept starts developing during middle childhood with considerable contribution of feedback from the family as well as peers (Alsaker & Kroger, 2020). As for Ava the attention she gets from her family and the lack of care and attention from her older siblings appear to influence her concept notably her physique and her performance. The evidence in development shows that comparative behavior with siblings or peers impacts their self-configuration, during this stage. Another example is self-awareness, “I’m not as pretty as my sisters” is an example of how Ava has adapted to implicit comparison within her family. This is why the given research findings enable us to understand why Ava feels such a high need for recognition and acceptance within the context of the developmental significance of supportive interactions in the family and among peers.
Applying Ethics to Ava Washington’s Case
PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet Washington’s Case Study is connected with the fact that Ava’s family status influenced her psychological state and estimative processes. It is the APA Ethics Code for psychologists working with children to ensure that the best interest of the child is served and that the child is protected and nurtured (Watts et al., 2023). In Ava’s case, resentment emanating from her exclusion in the family catalyst condemning her as unworthy in front of her siblings could make her have long-standing self-esteem esteem issues. An ethical approach to the problem should promote family interventions that address the issue to engage her in timely conversation and create an encouraging environment where she will not feel left out (Carvalho & Veiga, 2022).
Some practical concerns are likely to arise; for example, privacy has to be respected because Ava is young and developing her self-identity, and she has other siblings with whom she may be compared. Thus, in terms of ethical consideration, it would be important for any practitioner working with Ava to maintain privacy issues at the same time while involving family members to respect both Ava’s rights of self-determination and her emotional state. Professional codes provide for culturally and developmentally appropriate and acceptable endeavors that can influence the family’s practices toward the creation of a healthy self-structure for Ava. By applying these ethical principles qualified practitioners can protect the element of the child’s social and emotional well-being, hence the interventions to be offered are fitting to her changing needs (Clare, 2022). This has not only an ethical rationale but is similar to explaining why the family-centered approach is required to resolve such matters in Ava’s case as self-esteem and well-being.
Evaluating Research for Ava Washington’s Case
When evaluating case studies on child development and family issues in Ava Washington’s case, it is very important to analyze research results with a view to genuineness and usefulness. Shepherd et al., (2020) presented that the children with good quality siblings bond display higher self-esteem and social well-being. Still, this finding could not be taken into account in Ava’s specifics because of the feelings of exclusion from her older siblings. PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet Washington’s Case Study’s main strength and weakness is that the study assumes positive relationships and excludes situations in which the siblings would have a negative relationship like Ava’s situation.
According to Borchet et al. (2020), self-depiction by children is closely associated with the feedback they receive from parents, not from their siblings or peers. However, this view has been disputed by studies that point towards childhood relations, particularly friends’ approval influence self-esteem during middle childhood, especially if family relationships are unsupportive (Laursen et al., 2021). More recently research offers a more balanced view of Ava’s social and emotional needs though she remains heavily dependent on her friends for affirmation.
Contributions of Biological, Cognitive, and Sociocultural Domains in Ava’s Development
Explaining Ava Washington’s development possibilities, researchers take into consideration biological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors that are effective in the formulation of her activity and experience. From a biologically defined developmental perspective, Ava is now in middle childhood where important changes in a child’s physical development have a crucial impact on her emerging self-image (Abdulaeva & Smirnova, 2021). Their concern over how they look particularly in comparison to their sisters is a normal developmental process in which we see children develop self-conceptions based on what they feel over physical transformation.
Develop Problem-Solving Skills
When it comes to cognitive development Ava seems to be developing problem-solving skills and spatial thinking by mommy as she loves maps and assists her daddy with navigation routes when using Google Maps. This has a reasoning in cognitive development like logical thinking and spatial quality of the children which falls in the concrete operational stage of Piaget (Azenda Ikyegh, 2023). It was further reflected in her increased cognition when she sorted her stones on one basis or another, in a bid to organize whatever she came across.
In sociocultural development, Ava as the main character interacts with her peer group most of the time. Due to her lack of acceptance in the family, she attaches significant value to friendship which she states as acceptance. PSYC FPX 3210 Assessment 3 Meet Washington’s Case Study at this stage responds to the sociocultural context of children during this period as they seek acceptance in other relationships outside the family domain. As we shall see, the biological, cognitive, and sociocultural aspects collectively provide a multifaceted picture of the environmental press that helps shape Ava’s development: each of the contextual influences bears different yet closely connected dynamics on Ava’s development profile.
Conclusion
The development of Ava Washington is complex across the biological, cognitive, and sociocultural dimensions, family environment, and peers. Comparison of Erikson’s stage of Industry vs. Inferiority helps to explain Ava’s need to acquire her proficiency and to be recognized, however, this theory fails to take into consideration her family structure. Discussions derived from the investigations of peer influence variables and self-concept also underscore the significance of social acceptance regarding the formation of her self-esteem; ethical issues also stress the significance of encouraging family acceptance as a crucial determinant of her emotional health. By critically analyzing the literature on sibling relationships and self-concept, Ava is put into a different perspective and what has been suggested about her development through her friendships is identified as important to consider.
References
Abdulaeva, E. A., & Smirnova, E. O. (2021). Formation of a spatial self-image at an early age. New Ideas in Child and Educational Psychology, 1(1), 24–42. https://doi.org/10.11621/nicep.2021.0102
Alsaker, F. D., & Kroger, J. (2020). Self-concept, self-esteem, and identity. Handbook of Adolescent Development, 90–117. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203969861-6
Azenda Ikyegh, Css. (2023). The relevance of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to initial formation. African Journal of Contextual Theology, 12. https://www.acjol.org/index.php/ajct/article/view/5053
Borchet, J., Lewandowska-Walter, A., Połomski, P., Peplińska, A., & Hooper, L. M. (2020). We are in this together: Retrospective parentification, sibling relationships, and self-esteem. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(10), 2982–2991.