Running Head: Growth and Development Assessment
Running Head: Growth and Development Assessment
Running Head: Growth and Development Assessment
During this stage, individuals examine their lives. We evaluate our accomplishments
and decide if we succeeded or not in life. If people see their lives as unproductive,
they become dissatisfied with their lives and develop despair.
During the first three stages of Zoes life, she excelled and developed very quickly. She
had a great mother who took care of her every needs which led to a great sense of trust. Zoe
continued to develop and show signs of maturation even at a very young age. I remember taking
her to the park and whenever kids would get in arguments she would always try to resolve the
issue in a moral fashion. Zoe did not slow her development until she reached Eriksons fourth
stage of development, industry vs. inferiority.
Her father was a very talented athlete. He played baseball in college and passed his
athleticism on to her, as well as her brother. Zoe grew up watching her family boast about her
brothers athletic accomplishments. In sports, she constantly battled for her peers approval, as
well as her familys. She states, I wasnt confident that I could ever be as good as you in sports,
and I knew dad would be disappointed. This sense of inferiority continued into her current stage
of development, adolescence.
Currently, Zoe is in the adolescence stage, or identity vs. role confusion. Because of her
being so young within this stage, she has not yet developed a role in life, which is the norm.
Although, her interests in school and deciding about her future are quite cloudy. Since she has
recently gone through puberty and is starting to mature sexually, her interests in the opposite sex
have vastly increased and recently got her first boyfriend. Despite only being 14, she has a
thorough understanding of the risks involved with sexual intercourse. She explains that she has
learned about sex from school as well as friends. She also explained that she has had very brief
discussions of the topic with her father. Without having a mother to talk about personal
situations, Zoe says she turns to her friends for advice.
Like many other teenagers in the U.S., she is a little overweight and has poor eating
habits. Although she has dropped weight consistently in a healthy manner. She explains that even
though she may be overweight still, she is happy with where she is at and at least is doing it the
right way. Because of adolescents being so concerned with body image, there has been a trend of
eating disorders, of which Zoe is aware and has even saw her friends participate in. Being
overweight with the added stressful life event of her mother passing has led to the concern of
depression, which is common among adolescence. Although she objects to such a thought, there
may be some concerns. She shows signs of constant irritability and boredom which are signs of
depression. She tends to be holding in her emotions, something a lot of her family does. Her
relationship with her father is up and down. She explains that he cannot relate to her life and
problems, which creates a major communication issue. Because of her relationship struggle, Zoe
shows signs of an adolescent rebellion. Furthermore, Zoe displays several risk factors for teenage
drug abuse. She surprisingly admitted to have trying alcohol, although she despises drugs
because of her moms extended history with drug abuse. Her friends and her family create a huge
support system for her. She explains that her friends feel just as close as family, a feeling
common among many other adolescents. Staying involved and maintaining a tight support
system will allow her to continue to progressively develop.
Moving forward into life, Zoe will stay on track of her developmental process. She is a
very strong minded girl who has had to cope with events that most teenagers never endure. Her
family has been successful and progressed in their developmental process their entire lives.
Although she is currently going through a rough phase in her life, she is maintaining her
composure and coping with the situation very well. Maintaining her support system and reaching
out for help in times of need will be her keys to successfully stay on track of her developmental
process.
References
McLeod, S. (2008). Erik Erikson. Retrieved May 28, 2016, from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Papalia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2009). Human development. New York:
McGraw-Hill.