Case Study #2-Chapter 6 1

Running head: Case Study #2-Chapter 6

U07a1: Case Study #2-Chapter 6

Anthony Rhodes

Psy7210

Life Span Development

2911 Hamilton Blvd. 444

Sioux City, Iowa 51104

Telephone: 712-301-9258

Email: anthonyrhodes54@yahoo.com

Instructor: David Chapman, PsyD

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Case Study #2 : Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P./Chapter 6

Discussion Questions

1. How do you assess the problem?

Alex appeared to be a child with tremendous developmental potential. As a third grader,

he seemed well-adjusted in temperament, self-confidence, motivation and social interaction with

peers. Parental relationships create a trajectory for self-concept, self-esteem and a capacity for

self-regulation (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Alex’s parents were committed

authoritative caregivers who seemed to have demonstrated proper care, warmth and

responsiveness to their children. Research indicates that when babies are securely-attached to

their mothers, there is a tendency towards independence, self-confidence and social skills

development at 10 years old (Stroufe et al., 1983, as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P.,

2006). This greatly contributed to Alex’s positive levels of adaptability, achievement, social

skills and peer acceptance as well as low levels of antisocial behavior.

Alex is also from a Cuban-American family. It is not clear from the case study what

influences biculturalism may have had on the development of Alex’s self-concept. Gray-Little

and Hafdahl (2000) concluded that minority groups demonstrate a higher level of ethnocentrism

than Whites (as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Other developmental research

reported that children from minority backgrounds suffered from low self-esteem as a result of

their negative status and the internalization of pejorative attitudes (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt,

P., 2006). However, it appears the consistent demonstration of care and responsiveness by his

committed parents significantly enhanced the early development of Alex’s positive self-concept

thus minimizing the negative psychosocial effects of his minority status.

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While Alex was in third grade, his parents, Ernest and Isabel, began to experience

conflict in their relationship as a result of Ernest’s close relationship with a co-worker. After

frequent attempts at marital counseling and conflict resolution, Alex’s parents resigned

themselves to separation as their only option. Under the new custody arrangement, Ernest and

Isabel formulated a financial and visitation strategy to continue their long-standing commitment

to proper parenting for their children.

Initially, Alex appeared to have adjusted well to the new living arrangement. He showed

no apparent negative effects from the recent separation upon entering 4th grade for the new

school year. Studies indicate that secure attachments can launch long term positive processes

and allow children to tolerate more separation because of the confidence they acquire from their

mother’s availability (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Furthermore, according to Selman

(1980), children at the “Reciprocal/Self-reflective” stage learn to master a critical developmental

task. They can assume the psychological position of another as their perspective-taking ability

reflects a two-way reciprocity (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). It appears certain that

Alex was able to somewhat understand the new parental restructuring arrangement and make

psychosocial adjustments in counsel with his parents.

The hallmark of concrete operational children such as Alex is their ability to decenter

from focused egocentrism to identify reversal relationships (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P.,

2006). Alex’s excitement to see his friends upon returning for the new school year indicates that

his perspective-taking abilities helped him to form strong and important friendships at school.

This could provide a secure emotional base and validate his emerging self-concept amidst the

changes at home.
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Nevertheless, the stability of the secure parental attachment that Alex had grown

accustomed to over the years had been shaken and reinvented in a different and confusing

format. Hetherington (1986) reported that parental separation has detrimental effects upon a

child’s emotional well-being (as cited in Baydar, 1988). Further research provided evidence that

the emotional effects of parental separation upon a child were not substantially large but was

positively associated with four of the ten emotional problems tested: being easily confused,

withdrawn, having a strong temper and problems with teachers (Baydar, 1988).

As financial responsibilities became more burdensome for Ernest, Isabel went from a

part-time to a full-time employee to help meet financial obligations. This limited her time as a

caregiver to her children and left Alex with his grandmother as a primary caregiver. Three

months later when Isabel became sick and was hospitalized, Ernest filled in with some of

Isabel’s parenting responsibilities but was limited by time commitments with his job. Research

indicates that father’s may find himself overwhelmed by his own attachment issues and hence,

ill-equipped to provide the child with sensitive responsiveness on a consistent basis. Such

inconsistent responses would help explain the development of hyperactivating strategies in the

child (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994 as cited in Bernier & Miljkovitch, 2009). As parental involvement

and time grew limited, Alex’s social network of music lessons, games, sleepovers and trips were

eliminated. As a result, both his peer culture and family culture were severely disrupted.

Childhood psychosocial development entails not only friendship understanding and skills

but friendship valuing (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Friendship valuing is the

emotional attachment or investment that a child makes in a friendship. Alex had suffered the

loss of the secure attachment and protective factor of both his primary caregivers and his
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network of important social relationships. Consequently, Alex began to show signs of

depression and apathy towards his schoolwork.

Alex’s teacher, Mr. Williams accepted the teaching position to teach Alex’s grade level

reluctantly and was inexperienced in the cognitive and social developmental needs of Alex’s age

group. He lacked the incentive and ability to provide the scaffolding and cooperative learning

environment needed to encourage cognitive growth and problem solving.

Vygotsky described his concept of scaffolding as a learner’s ability to grasp a concept or

perform a skill only with the support or scaffolding of an advanced individual (teacher, parent or

peer) (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) described another

form called adult behavior scaffolding in which an advanced individual presents tailored and

challenging instruction to a child. Mr. Williams appeared to have little motivation to provide the

necessary scaffolding needed to guide Alex during this troubled time. His disciplined style of

teaching only served to further diminish Alex’s positive self-concept.

When Alex got in an argument with one of his friends, Mr. Williams impersonal and

authoritarian style of leadership sparked an angry revolt in Alex. One of the key cognitive skill

developments in children is narrative skill which is the ability to tell a coherent story. This

aspect of memory improvement and learning is enhanced when adults allow children to share

their experiences by asking questions and constructing narratives together about experiences and

events (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). Mr. Williams lacked an understanding of this

vital aspect of cognitive development in his rigid style of leadership. Consequently, instead of

allowing Alex to share his story, his reaction and recommendation to suspend Alex and refer him

for special needs evaluation appeared extreme and insensitive.

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2. What are the different perspectives involved in this conflict?

There are several perspectives to consider in this conflict. There is the perspective of

Ernest and Isabel as struggling parents who sought to fulfill their convictions on proper parenting

but failed. Their lack of conflict resolution indicated that their lack of empathy and

understanding of each other’s needs were much deeper than Ernest’s infidelity. Nevertheless,

financial difficulties eventually prevented them from providing the protective, secure attachment

necessary for positive cognitive, social and moral development for Alex.

Mr. Williams reluctantly accepted the position to teach Alex’s 4th grade class because he

lacked seniority to pursue a position teaching older students. His lack of motivation and

interpersonal skills resulted in a rigid and ineffective approach to learning and child

development. His authoritarian style of leadership was low on responsiveness and high on

demanding. This kind of leadership often produces anger and anxiety in a child (Broderick, P.

C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Alex’s perspective changed over time. His promising cognitive and social development

began to dismantle amidst the growing stress, tension and loss of his family and social culture.

Research indicates parental separation resulted in depression and anxiety disorders in children

which were partly due to environmental disturbances associated with separation

(Tyrka, Wier, Price, Ross, Carpenter, 2008). Children need collaborative support from adults to

foster a positive self concept and develop social and cognitive skills. In addition, as children

develop skills of perspective taking, peer group relationships are vital for developing social

competence and performance (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

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3. What actions would you take and what recommendations would you make as a counselor in

this situation?

As a counselor, this author’s first assessment and intervention would involve Alex and

his parents. Parental guidance and support is critical and cooperative efforts on the part of

Alex’s parents needs to be discussed and encouraged. Parenting styles play a major role in

helping children develop healthy domains of self concept by affirming a child’s strong self

concept components and deemphasizing their weaker ones (Capella University, 2009). When

assessing antisocial behavior in children, counselors must assess what risk factors have

contributed to the child’s behavior and what adjustments can be made to create a supportive

environment, developmental opportunities and positive social modeling to promote healthy

cognitive, moral and social development.

Parents need to affirm a child’s growing sense of self-concept, their stories, perspectives

and interests (Capella University, 2009). Allowing Alex time to narrate his story and

experiences through scaffolding with adults will provide an opportunity for Alex to develop a

better and more accurate autobiographical memory and dismiss prior knowledge that has or can

develop into false memories or feelings of guilt (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). A 25

year longitudinal study that interviewed adults from divorced families concluded that they

believed as children their family relationships were unstable and unreliable. Almost all

remembered feelings of loneliness, loss, violence, abandonment and anger at their parent’s

breakup. Some of the participants suffered memory fragmentation or loss and could not recall

violent scenes but recalled having nightmares (Wallerstein, J., & Lewis, J., 2004).
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As a counselor, this author would encourage Alex and his parents to communicate their

commitment to each other. Next they should devise a plan for providing the secure attachment,

positive social networks and ongoing open communication Alex needs at home and at school

with appropriate time for follow up and feedback. Parental warmth, responsiveness and

demandingness characteristic of authoritative parenting styles appears to produce positive results

by providing a sense of security and protectiveness during the development of a child’s cognitive

and social self concept (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Parents and adults who want to encourage cooperative learning need to take into account

a child’s age, their roles in social groups, personal relationships, motivational levels and domains

of knowledge (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006). When children practice collaborating with

adults through suggestions, established rules and monitoring they improve in cognitive and

social skills (Socha & Socha, 1994, as cited in Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P., 2006).

Secondly, as a counselor I would encourage Alex’s parents to meet and discuss their plan

of action with Mr. Williams and include him in the process. Mr. Williams could assist by

understanding and providing special attention to sensitive scaffolding of Alex’s cognitive and

social developmental learning needs.

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References

Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2006) The Life span: Human development for helping

professionals (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Baydar, Nazli. (1988). Effects of Parental Separation and Reentry into Union on the Emotional

Well-Being of Children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(4), 967.

Bernier, Annie, Miljkovitch, Raphaële. (2009). Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment in

Father-Child Dyads: The Case of Single Parenthood. The Journal of Genetic

Psychology, 170(1), 31-51.

Tyrka, Audrey R., Wier, Lauren, Price, Lawrence H., Ross, Nicole S., Carpenter, Linda

L.. (2008). Childhood Parental Loss and Adult Psychopathology: Effects of Loss

Characteristics and Contextual Factors. International Journal of Psychiatry in

Medicine, 38(3), 329-44.

Capella University (2009), Psychology 7210 Online Discussion, Minneapolis, Mn. Retrieved

May 23, 2009, from http://courseroom2.capella.edu/webct

Wallerstein, J., & Lewis, J. (2004). The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: Report of a 25-Year

Study. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(3), 353-370.