Social Development Case Study

Familial Background

Growing up in a middle-class society within the United States has been critical to my growth as a woman. In the college age, there are experiences that I have witnessed, which have also served to shape my character and build my confidence in life. As a native African, living within the New York neighbourhood, where we often got to interact with children from various races provided with the opportunity to appreciate multiple races. However, the close ties that have with my family have been defining, especially, that which I have with my sister and my mother.

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My name is (insert name, a female first-born member of my family. I have two siblings, a brother, and a sister. In the inner family, I have a closer relationship with my sister to whom we are 11 months apart. We often walk together and engage in banters. When I first got a cell phone as my birthday gift from mum, we often shared it with my sister. Our closeness makes her open up to me on issues that could be affecting her. For example, when her classmate decided to hit on her when she was in grade 7, she did not know what to do and came to me. I advised her to ignore the boy and instead make friends with other girls whom they were within the same class. Being one step ahead of her in class, she often chose to be close to me during breaks, and we had lunch together in our time together in primary school.

My father has also been loving through the friendship that I have with my mother and sister tends to outweigh that for my brother and father. My mother reminds me of the struggle that she went through in giving birth owing to the complications that arose from the pregnancy. My father was a factory worker, and mum was a housewife who wholly depended on my dada for the provision of all the family needs. During the first trimester of pregnancy, they only went for two clinic visits which were all deemed as being okay, based on the report of the doctors. However, in the second trimester, mum often said that I had mild kicks and would sometimes be terrified when the baby did not lick for close to three days. However, owing to the financial constraints that the family was experiencing, she was not capable of going to the hospital for the regular checkup. During the final trimester, she once fell while taking a stroll and later was a gush of blood, which then compelled her to go to the hospital. They were worried that she could lose the baby, but ultrasound scans affirmed that the baby was safe and she was admitted. On her 38th week, she had a normal birth of a bouncing baby girl, despite going for prolonged labour lasting about 18 hours.

In our family, we have a close relationship with our maternal and paternal grandparents. We often make time to visit our grandparents in the countryside during the holidays. However, our maternal grandmother often visits us and is a good storyteller. She loves having fun with us and would even make up play games in the kitchen garden after school.

Parenting Style

Being the first born in my family, I received parental love from both parents. Dad is a strict disciplinarian. At age five, he was often authoritative and had a one way of communication. What he said was what had to be a done, and none dared to challenge him for anything that he said. When I began schooling, he often wanted me to be the best in class and was more focused on the positioned that I attained. When I was in grade 3, I was among the top 5% best in my class and such prompted him to buy me a bicycle. Furthermore, dad has been demanding on the type of friends that I should keep and does not tolerate me having friends who would have negative influences in my life. When home, he advises of the television to watch and expects everyone to take up in dong house chores and to make the house and compound clean.

My mother exudes a permissive parenting style, based on the manner in which she treats the three of us. She is overprotective and would not tolerate anyone hurting any of us. She has never spanked any of us, at least, I have not seen her doing so. Owing to her friendly nature, I often informing her of any need that I could be having. Therefore, the parenting style that my mother exudes has enabled her to nurture the family. All my siblings would have a preference of informing mum instead of dad owing to the strict nature of dad. However, my success in education and sports is highly credited to my father. She often ensures that everyone has done his or her homework in time. At times, he makes time to help us with our assignments, and further ensure that we have a good understanding of that which we have been taught. The positive values that I have inculcated in me, such as excellence and hard work are primarily credited to the disciplinary nature and standards that my father has shown me. When I was in high school, dad often asked me of the career that I wanted to pursue and was commonly available in helping set targets in my school work and has the required scores that would qualify me for admission in the courses that I wanted to pursue.

School experiences

I was brought up as a Catholic and diligently went to church. The Christian values were also taught us at a young age, and I grew up knowing that I had to pay often, read the bible, respect dad and mum and avoid doing anything that is deemed as being evil. Both my dad and mum and Christians and would often pray every evening after dinner. Prayers are part of the family tradition that we had to maintain while growing up. The Christian background is also foundational to the schooling experiences that I later gained. The parochial school is where I started schooling, and some of our teachers were Catholic faithful who besides teaching, instilled in us the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic church. However, throughout my schooling, I often view myself as an average student. My favourite subjects since primary have been life sciences and mathematics. However, sciences have often been a challenge to me.

Important Friendships

My most important friendship is that which I have with sister. She has been supportive and even confides in her the stresses that I go through when dad pushes me to do my best when a bot is hitting on me and even the bodily changes that I experienced during puberty. Additionally, there are two childhoods friendly Wendy and Cliff whom we have been close and the best of buddies for the years that we have lived close to each other. When I was 12, my skin began becoming tender, so was Wendy's. I was first shocked when a bump was developing off my chest and often wore sweaters throughout the day to conceal it. However, I viewed myself as being mature and would be able to make choices, such as birthdays to attend, time to study and to organize my bedroom.

Social development

Erik Erickson's theory of psychosocial development tends to summarize the developmental milestones that I have realized while growing up. The theory divides the stages of development into eight steps.

First stage: Trust vs. mistrust.

The stage entailed the building of a close relationship with my caregivers. My mother was my primary caregiver, owing to her status as a housewife. The close relationship that I have with my mother, compared to my father, is credited to the trust that I developed within the first year of development.

Second stage: Autonomy vs. shame and doubt.

This stage majorly applies for a child whose age is within the range of 2-3 years (Erikson 244). The phase entails exploration, and the child begins to take control of the items that are within his or her environment. The stories that my mother has told me that I was often possessive with my toys and even made a choice of which toys to play with is a significant contribution to the building of my character. On Sundays when going to church, I also made choices about which shoes to wear, which at times were not matching. Such built a sense of autonomy in me.

The third stage is Industry vs. Inferiority

The stage is marked within the age of 6 to 12 years (Scheck 146). To me, it covers the duration of primary school. At this stage, I have the capability of comprehending that which was happening within my environment and area of control. I could compare my performance in school work against that of my peers in classwork. Excellent performance affirmed me, and such led to building the understanding that I am indeed industrious.

Fourth stage: Identity vs. Role Confusion

The stage covered my time to finish primary school and an entire high school period. This is the stage where I received my driving license. In the United States, having a driving license is a sense of accomplishment and would enable one to identify him or herself as an adult. The stage also marked my entry into adolescence and had a room for myself. When I was 13, my parents bought a new house, which was bigger and each of us had a room of his own. I often took the time to look at myself, the changes that I was having at the body and affirmed myself that I was now a grownup woman with the capability of making decisions. One such decision was the need to have a career and excel in that which I was doing. Dad was no longer domineering over me. For example, she did not ask for assignments as she did during primary school and would seldom look into my performance. I only briefed him of the needs that I had in school and informed him of the career choices that I wanted to pursue. My three top careers were, being a doctor, psychologist or lawyer. However, I had a strong sense of becoming a psychologist based on the movies that I watched and the need to assist people goes through their problem. I was empathetic with the people who were suffering and felt in me that I could do something to help them go through the stressful situation. Such lead a self-discovery process which can be termed as identity.

Fifth Stage: Intimacy vs. Isolation

This is the stage which I am currently experiencing in my life. The issue affects people within the age range of 20 to 40 years of age (Scheck 146). The stage entails the recognition that one is an adult and has graduated from adolescence. Currently, I'm in a relationship that is stable. I also intend to ensure that the relationship grows into something bigger and be impactful to the life of my partner. At times, when we are in good times, we find it easier to reconcile on account of the dreadful thought of being in isolation.

Works Cited

Erikson, Erik H. Childhood and Society. , 2014. Print.

Scheck, Stephanie. The Stages of Psychosocial Development According to Erik H. Erikson. Munchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2014. Internet resource.