Theories of Development

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Theories of Development
Quinn Sinanan Neal
UNST 115C: Ways of Knowing
1st February, 2016

In this case study it seems that Carmen is experiencing nightmares, separation anxiety, and
temper tantrums due to the separation of her parents that happened 5 months before being
admitted to treatment. This case study further explains that Carmens parents had a violent
relationship that involved verbal aggression, as well as an incident being witnessed by Carmen
herself. The incident being Carmens father slamming her mother into a wall and injuring the
mothers face. After this incident Carmens mother filed a restraining order against the father,
which allowed the father to only have weekend visits with Carmen. After the separation of
Carmens parents, Carmen and her mother moved in with the grandmother who lives in a
dangerous city, which allowed Carmen to witness both drug dealings and drive by shootings.
There was also a conflicted relationship between the mother and grandmother that stemmed back
to when the grandmother left Carmens mother at a very young age, as well as enduring physical
punishments by the hands of the grandmother too. With this in mind when Carmen and her
mother moved in with the grandmother, the mother and grandmother argued quite often with
Carmen in the room, even at time where Carmens mother would threaten to move out and not
allow Carmen to see the grandmother again. At the time Carmen and the Grandmother seemed to
be getting along fine.
When thinking about Eriksons approach to knowing the Case Study of Sam and
Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory, I think the relevant factors in Carmens case are
the times including when Carmens parents got onto the physical fight, when the parents split up

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which allowed Carmen to see her father less, the time when Carmen and the mother had to move
in with the grandmother who lives in the dangerous neighborhood, and the mothers backstory
between her and the grandmother. According to Erik H. Erikson in Childhood and Society, The
human being, at all times, from the first kick in utero to the last breath, is organized into
groupings of geographic and historical coherence: family, class, community, nation. A human
being, thus, is at all times an organism, an ego, and a member of a society and is involved in all
three processes of organization (Erikson, 1950, 1963, p. 36). It is these instances in this case
study that effect Carmens family, her social class, and the people around her that start to build
into her psyche that causes her to gain the nightmares, anxietys, and temper tantrums. For
example, when the therapist gives Carmen the daddy tiger she throws it and states, Hes not
coming back. And then tells the therapist who is holding the baby tiger to Cry. The therapist
then came to the conclusion that Carmen was using these tigers to share how much she misses
her dad and explained to the mother that she probably felt the same when she was Carmens age.
This temper tantrum that Carmen displayed was the result of her witnessing dad leaving, and
could have been in connection with how the mother endured the same with her parents leaving at
a young age.
The proposed solution to Carmens problem in this case theory, was by the mother and
grandmother being empathetic towards Carmen. They started to help her with her nightmares,
when she started to feel anxiety, and made the living space a healthier environment. They also
realized the importance of respect and hoped she would know how to act toward others in a
loving, well-mannered, and respectful way. By creating a more consistent caregiving routine,
Carmens nightmares and separation anxiety significantly decreased.

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Carmens case shows that her problems can be solved through knowing how her life has
developed through her parents, peers, and geography, and with that knowledge a solution can
come to fruition.

Eriksons theory of development consists of eight psychosocial stages of life that when
encountered helps develop the identity of the human. The first stage in this development process
is Trust Versus Mistrust, which takes place in the age of infancy and determines whether or not
the human will develop to be trustful to himself and others as well as mistrustful. The second
stage is Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt, this takes place around the humans childhood
and helps develop the humans self-determination. However, being sheltered too much at this
early age could instead develop a sense of self-doubt making it harder for the human to attempt
new possibilities. The third stage is Initiative Versus Guilt, around the ages of 4 and 6 the
human develops more capabilities like language and being curious, which then helps the human
learn more about the world around them. In the fourth stage Industry Versus Inferiority, the
human develops moral values and self-confidence. This stage is prime for beginning to develop
interests, and by discovering interests can help keep the human motivated for years to come.
There is a chance that if the human does not gain or is not allowed to develop interests this will
lead to low self-esteem and lack of motivation for the human. According to Rolf E. Muss on
Eriksons Theory of Identity Development, If the child fails in the task to acquire a feeling of
success and a desire for recognition for work well done, there will be a lack of industriousness
and a feeling of usefulness (Muss, 1988, p. 6). The fifth stage is known as Identity Versus
Identity Confusion, it is at this point of human development where the human finally establishes
its own identity by determining its strengths and weaknesses that was learned in its earlier stages

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in life. In the later final stages, the human learns to love, care, and think back to what they
achieved in the earlier stages, thus bringing the humans development to decide whether its life
was an accomplishment or disappointment.
The Navajos theory of development in ways is similar to Eriksons, but pertains more to
the development of good thought rather than identity. In the first stage of Navajo development
you learn more about self-discipline and responsibility in youth, rather than being able to trust
oneself and others. In the second stage the Navajo learn to become self-aware and learn the
importance of kinship relations. Those relations being relationships towards earth, hogan, fire,
water and air, which is usually taught by the parents. James Chisholm states in Navajo Images of
Development, They are being taught that ones relationship with the earth and ones home
should be like ones relationship with the ones mother (Chisholm, 1996, p.176). Therefore,
Eriksons theory is more directed to an individuals identity while the Navajos is directed to an
individuals relationship with itself and the world around. The Japanese theory of development is
very different compared to Eriksons, as Eriksons pertains mainly to western cultural
development. For example, in Eriksons theory the idea of developing trust takes place in the age
of infancy, whereas in the Japanese theory that idea seems to take place in adulthood, where
relationships are roll-based, socially supported sense of commitment (Yamagishi & Yamagishi,
1994, p. 160) (p. 7). Another difference is in childhood where in America parents try to
emphasize the childs self as well as the childs skill to help develop their own selfdetermination. Japanese parents on the other hand try to emphasize empathy and meeting the
expectations of others. Roland states, Japanese children are discouraged from making their
wishes known; instead, they rely on others to sense and meet their needs (Roland, 1988, p. 12).
By seeing the differences and similarities between each theory of development, I believe that the

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nature of human development will always be different between cultures and can very well
change overtime.

In Orienting Concepts and Ways of Understanding the Cultural Nature of Human

Development Rogoff argues that there is unlikely to be one best way. She explains that being able
to understand different practices does not require to label what is considered right. She also
explains that by understanding different cultures we can be open to more possibilities that do not
prohibit one another, as well as learn from other cultures without giving up our own. She does
explain however, that it is important to suspend ones own assumptions briefly to be able to
consider other cultures and separate efforts to understand cultural phenomena from efforts to
judge other cultural values. According to Rogoff, It is essential to make some guesses as to what
the patterns are, while continually testing and open mindedly revising ones guesses. There is
always more to learn (Rogoff, 2003, p. 12). We should never consider what is to be the superior
culture, we should instead learn from other cultures and find out what makes each culture
superior in its own way.
When understanding human processes Rogoff argues the importance of understanding
how we think about cultural processes and their relation to human development. She goes on
further by explaining it is important to understand someones cultural heritage. Rogoff states,
Cultural processes surround all of us and often involve subtle, tacit, taken for granted events
and ways of doing things that require open eyes, ears, and minds to notice and understand
(Rogoff, 2003, p.11). For example, when reading the story of Richard Rodriguez and his family,
you learn about their struggling transition from Spanish to English and how it made it hard for
them to speak together as a family. In this time period of the story, Robert and his family were

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not allowed to speak their native language, as by doing so Robert would supposedly not be able
to succeed in his education. By not being able to understand Roberts cultural heritage we are
taking away his voice and forcing a language upon him and his family that makes it even more
challenging for them to function in an American lifestyle. It would make more sense if Robert
was to learn English, while English kids learn Spanish, as it would help make Roberts and
everyones life more diverse and welcoming.

A way in which Obedience can be defined is the act of obeying to jurisdiction or higher
authority. In Robert A. LeVines Parental Goals: A Cross-Cultural View, Parents from diverse
cultural backgrounds use obedience to help minimize economic risk, protect against disasters, as
well as be ready for scarcity and uncertainty. By protecting against disasters the parents are
meeting the first main goal which is the survival and health of the child. By minimizing
economic risk, the parents are meeting the second goal which is developing the childs behavior
for economic self-maintenance in his future. And finally by making the child be ready for
scarcity and uncertainty they are meeting the third goal, which LeVine states as, The
development of the childs behavioral capacities for maximizing other cultural values (LeVine,
1974, p. 230). Those cultural values being morality, dignity, wealth, religious piety and
intellectual achievement. For example, LeVine mentions the African parents he has worked with
that apply obedience in institutional school learning. In school they expect the child to follow the
orders of the teacher, and by doing so expresses obedience. Because they place strict discipline in
the classroom, failing to follow orders of the teachers is seen as disobedience. Teachers also
encourage the children to preform chores, which is said to help train the children for the patronclient and master-apprentice relationships that the children will most likely have when they are

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permitted to work in the future. In ways this system is very similar to western cultures in
teaching, yet may not have as great as an emphasis on obedience due to less economic risk in
western societies.

References:
Chisholm, J. S. (1996). Learning respect for everything: Navajo images of
development. In Images of childhood (pp. 167-183). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Erikson, E. H. (1993). Relevance and relativity in the case history: A neurological crisis
in a small boy: Sam. In Childhood and society (pp. 23-47). New York: Norton

Levine, R. A. (1974). Parental goals: A cross-cultural view. Teachers College Record, 76,
226-2

Muuss, R. E. (1988). Eriksons theory of identity development. In Theories of

adolescence (pp 1-25). New York: Random House

Rogoff, B. (2003). Orienting concepts. In The cultural nature of human development (pp.
3-36). New York: Oxford University Press

Rothbaum, F., Pott, M., Azuma, H., Miyake, K., & Weisz, J. (2000). The development of
close relationships in Japan and the United States: Paths of symbiotic harmony and generative
tension. Child Development, 71(5), 1143-1146.

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