Human Growth And Development

Human Growth and Development

A research paper

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Introduction

Psychological, development in one of the areas that many scholars have engaged in trying to understand the development of human beings .It is well known that human beings develop through various stages that as they grow. Some of the developments are observable physically while some of them are not seen physically. This is the reason why it has this subject has brought also of debate in trying to figure out is a human beings develop through stages or the process of change is continuous through the life of a person. This paper will deal on the thesis statement that psychological development is a never ending process through the life and not through set of stages. In the paper I will look at the different stages and argue in accordance with the thesis statement.

Main body

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In the first two years this is the stage that the child state learning to walk.In the process a child begins to learn about social roles, there is development of the motor skills and also this is the stage that a child begins to use language in the communication. This is usually the stage by which a child begins to recognize the members of the family and the socialization process usually starts at this stage. The child usually has the capacity to understand the communication process. The child can derive meaning of some language signs .This shows that her mind is developing and also that the mind can be in a position to have some life skills. (Thies 2001).

This is stage where most of the needs of the child are usually met by the parent. The mother is the center in the life of a child. Here a child usually requires a lot of security. If this fails there is a probability of a sense of mistrust occurring. This is a stage that has a lot of impact to the life because this is the stage by which the child starts taking view of the world. The more the child is cared for the more he builds a positive perspective of the world and vice versa. (Thies 2001).

Looking critically at the process of development it is possible, to find out that there are some children at this year this is not a stage but is part of the human development process.Inorder for one begin his or life process one need s first to be cared for so that he or she can adapt well to the world. So according to me this is just a process of getting adapted to the world and life itself.

In the play years of the child third is the stage where the child starts gaining control of the eliminative functions and also develops in its motor abilities. There is the desire for the exploration of the surrounding environment by the child. This is where the patent is supposed to have a lot of patience and encouragement to the child. This will help in fostering of autonomy in the child. Its good for the child to be given the power to make free will because if a child is shown also of restrictness it may be difficult for the child to take new challenges in life. (Newman 2008). In this stage the child is in a position to satisfy some of its need. They learn how to feed themselves, wash or dress themselves. This is the time by which the child is mastering the world around her. The child takes a meaning of purpose when engaging in any activity. This is because at this stage the child has realized that everything is usually done for a purpose. The child gets emotionally disturbed if a certain action that she takes fails to produce the results that she desired.

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This is the time where the child ifs faced by the challenge of planning and also in the development of a sense of judgement.Here the child is in a position to prepare and take initiatives to perform roles that would bring achievements. There is the development of some risk behaviors in the child at this stage e.g. crossing the road alone. It is also at this stage where the child starts developing negative behaviours.This mainly arise as result of frustrations if the child fails to achieve a goal desired. This is when she exposes some kinds of aggressive behaviours.Some of the most common observable behaviors include yelling and throwing of objects haphazardly. (Beckett 2002).

Most of these characteristics that are exposed by children in this phase of life are out of the mental development of a child. As one gets to grow its possible to start developing some skills in life according to the environment which one is growing in. So this cannot be termed as a stage because there are those children who will not show the above characteristics at this age because of the kind of exposure they will have. There are also children will pass through these year of life without exposing the above characteristic. They may expose them in later years in life or they may have shown the characteristics when they were younger. So this is not really a stage that is defined for everyone. People will learn these behaviors through a learning process. (Thies 2001).

In the school years the child usually develops the desire to do something that is productive rather than playing. There is usually development of technological fundamentals .This is the time by which many children becomes more aware of their individuality. (Newman 2008). They strive to be right, good and also to become more responsible. They develop the capacity to reason and develop. This is the time that the child is able to develop some traits which are related to the ones that her age group has. The child is also in a position to be able to understand important concepts e.g. space and time. They are able to understand this concepts in a more practical and logical ways. The desire to learn more complex things e.g. writing reading etc.

It is usually at this time that they learn about the moral values of the society, learn about culture and also their personal differences. At this stage they are in a position to manage their personal affairs. There is also development of sense of independence which is exposed by show of

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disobedient, rebellion etc.This are the years which are the basis of the development of self confidence. They also need to be recognized by their actions e.g. being praised .this helps them to be more industrious and diligent. There is also need of encouragement to children at this age because if they are punished or discouraged they usually form an inferiority complex. (Newman 2008).

Human beings are created in a way that they have the desire to acquire knowledge. They also have the desire to be independent as we are all unique. So in life there is that process of gaining the characteristics which will make us be able to accomplish this. We do not acquire that at the same age. Factors such as socialization process will make as attain this but it is not usually a stage by which people have to pass. The age when one goes to school determines this but its not a specific stage. The years will vary. (Beckett 2002).

The adolescent stage is one of the most delicate process of human development. This is the stage where a person starts understanding his personality well. The most concern that a person has is how one appears to others. In this stage there are a lot of physical changes that appear in the body. this makes the adolescent to feel more superior as he or she compares himself or herself with the adult. This being the stage of exploration the adolescent is very eager to understand many other aspects in life. The issue if career in life is usually an issuer at this stage. There is also the development of sexual identity. There is also the emotional attraction to the opposite sex.This is where the stage becomes more delicate as this is the time that most people start engaging in sexual activities. Adolescent usually needs a lot of guidance from parents and other elder people as this is a stage where one can make or break life. This is because this is a transition period from child hood to adulthood. There is much reflection of what role one will play in future life. There is so much confusion in the mind in this stage. This is the stage by which one is in a position to identify who he or she is and also the direction that their life is taking. (Beckett 2002).

As I had mentioned earlier our bodies functionality process changes with time. This changes occurs at different times in our life. There are those people who reach adolescent at very young age even eight years. There are also those who reach adolescents when they are even 20 years. So I don’t think that this is a specific stage which will depend biological make up in a person. Its also good to mention here that at this age one has already understood the world well

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so its normal to start reflecting on the future because one understand that he or she holds a future. There are people who start doing so when that are even when they have not reached adolescent wand even others so in their late twenties. So I still have the feeling that is still one process in development which would continue even in future.

The early adulthood stage is usually characterized by isolation and intimacy conflict. In the beginning of this phase of life there is the desire to for the blending of identity with members of the same peers. There is usually the desire to fit in the group. This is a stage that is characterized by the fear of rejection, being turned down or any friendship breakups. This fear comes as a result of the experience that most people at this stage have gone through some pain which they may not want to go through again. It is still at stage where people re ready to make long term commitments to others in life. This comes after they build a lot of trust to those people. They are in a position to make intimate and reciprocal relationships and also ready to make sacrifices. This is as a result of understanding that these relationships require such compromises. Failure to form such kinds of commitments there is usually the formation of a sense of isolation in a person.

The middle adulthood is a stage where one starts having the desire to have tasks that will make some contribution to the society and also in giving guidance to the future generations. This is the stage by which a person develops the feeling of societal feelings. The contribution when one makes is raising a family or getting involved in a activities that work towards betterment of the society. If one fails to do this by becoming self centered there is a probability of development of a feeling of stagnation. The main characteristics of this stage are: maintenance of healthy life patterns, development of sense of unity, creation of comfortable home, make achievements in social and civic responsibilities, have love for others etc. (Newman 2008).

The late adulthood stage is the stage by which a person slows down in their productivity and also view life as people who are retired. This is the time that a person takes time to make reflection on what one has accomplished in the entire life. This is the stage that one understands whether he has led a successful life of unsussceful life. This is done by figuring out whether one has accomplished ones goal in life. There are usually chances of despair or desperation in many people if one finds out that his life is a failure.

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Conclusion

Therefore as it can be seen in the above description of how human development take place it can be deduced that all the levels of development occur through process because if it were stages then it means that all human beings would develop at the same rate but this is not the case as people develop at different paces. There are factors which determine the rate by which the process of change takes place. For example the environment, socialization process and also body physiological process which is unique in every human being. (Beckett 2002). Another thing that should be noted is that its not a must that these characteristics happen at specific ages. Some people will expose various characteristics at different times in their lives. This is also another reason why the psycho social development should not be defined in stages.

References

Beckett, C. (2002).Human growth and development, SAGE, ISBN0761972498, 9780761972495

Newman, P. (2008). Development through life: a psych social approach, Cengage learning ISBN0495553417, 9780495553410

Thies, K. (2001).Human growth and development through the lifespan, Jones and Bartlett publishers ISBN1556425066, 9781556425066

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