People go through many phases throughout their lives, the three main phases are childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (Kuther, 2019, p. 4). In each phase the individual experiences physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development (Kuther, 2019, p. 5). The development throughout life can be described by these five principles; multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, influenced by multiple contexts, and multidisciplinary (Kuther, 2019, p. 5). These principles help us understand the complexity of development. Many people believe that once you become an adult you stop developing, but this is not true. Development continues from infancy to death (Kuther, 2019, p. 5). How you develop throughout the childhood and adolescent phases will influence you in adulthood. Once you reach adulthood you are fully developed and can experience declines in physical abilities. Specifically, in middle adulthood, you can perform lots of tasks, but you may not be able to do everything you could as a child or adolescent. For example, you may not be able to play football anymore because of the strength and coordination needed for the sport. In middle adulthood, individuals can do lots of physical activities, just not as intense as in earlier phases.
Middle-aged adults enjoy activities such as working out, swimming, yoga, hiking, or practicing Tai Chi. Exercise can provide many positive benefits throughout all life phases. Exercise can help reduce the risk of illnesses that are common in the middle adulthood phase (Kuther, 2019, p. 121). Grace is a 45-year-old woman who is enjoying life in the middle adulthood phase. She is married and has two kids, ages 15 and 11. She is peaking in her career as an accountant and has just received a promotion. Due to Grace’s busy schedule, she has neglected to eat healthy and exercise regularly. Grace was recently diagnosed with diabetes, specifically, type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors (Kuther, 2019, p. 182). Normally when blood sugar enters the body, the pancreas will produce insulin which allows glucose to enter cells (Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, 2019).
This will be used as energy, the remaining glucose will be stored in the liver for later use (Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, 2019). Once the glucose is stored the blood sugar levels decrease and so do insulin levels (Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, 2019). In type 2 diabetes the cells no longer respond to insulin (insulin resistance), the pancreas is overworking to produce insulin but eventually, it wears out (Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, 2019). Since the cells aren’t responding, the individual’s blood sugar level continues to rise (Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, 2019). Grace’s story is common among people diagnosed with diabetes. With the development of fast-food restaurants and busy work or home life, diabetes is a very prevalent diagnosis in middle-aged adults in the United States. The table below, provided by the CDC, shows the number (in thousands) of people in different age groups estimated to be diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018. If we look at the incidence estimate of people diagnosed for each age group, we see that middle-aged adults (45 to 64) are diagnosed at a higher rate. The incidence estimate for people ages 18 to 44 was 4.3 thousand, for ages 45 to 64 the incidence estimate was 9.9 thousand and for people ages 65 and older the incidence estimate was 8.8 thousand. Based on the data, diabetes is a more prevalent diagnosis for people during middle adulthood, but it continues to influence adults later on in life. Not only does diabetes affect different age groups but it can also influence men and women differently.
Women tend to be diagnosed at the same rate as men (Kuther, 2019, p. 182). If we look at the table, we see that there is only a 0.7 thousand (700) difference in the incidence estimate of men and women. Although, women with diabetes tend to experience a greater risk of heart attack or stroke than men (Kuther, 2019, p. 182). Diabetes can be prevented by exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and having a healthy diet (Kuther, 2019, p. 182). Managing diabetes is influenced greatly by having a low-sugar diet and monitoring glucose levels (Kuther, 2019, p. 182). Managing diabetes is not easy for everyone and will require a lot of life changes. Bronfenbrenner’s biological systems theory contains multiple systems that contribute to an individual’s development (Kuther, 2019, p. 21). Microsystems is a part of this theory and it can help people with diabetes develop a new healthy way of life. Microsystems are a person’s direct physical and social environment (family, colleagues, church) (Kuther, 2019, pp. 21-22). The family of the individual with diabetes can help support them to eat healthily. They can avoid buying or tempting the individual with unhealthy foods and encourage them to exercise regularly. Both family and colleagues can be aware of low or high blood sugar level symptoms and remind the individual to check their glucose level throughout the day. If an individual is religious, they can seek support and help from their church.
Diabetes is a very common disease in the United States. Understanding diabetes and knowing its symptoms will help me in my future career as a nurse. This knowledge will also help me educate my family on the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise. Many people just like Grace, get too busy in life and neglect to take care of their bodies. Diabetes occurs more often in middle-aged adults and has lasting effects throughout life. It is important to develop healthy habits to prevent the development of this disease. It is never too late to start!
The middle age is the stage of life past young adulthood but prior to the beginning of old age. The period is between the ages of 35-60 and it is said to be the third quarter of the lifespan of a person. The human body goes through various changes including health, physical development, marriage and leisure activities. Most people at this stage in life begin to revisit their life activities and at times may question what it all means. At this stage, one begins to involve themselves with meaningful activities and matters that relate to family. One takes the roles of taking charge of their life something one never took seriously before. The person in this stage also feels the need to create a conducive environment for the people around and finds pleasure in taking care of other people. The person feels the need to form a stable relationship as well as take care of the family. This paper looks at the challenges that people go through during middle life and how to avoid them.
Main body
In the period of middle adulthood, most people will have been married at least once in their life. At this stage, most people also declare that they have achieved marital satisfaction more than they had done at the stage of young adulthood. This fulfillment increases afterward by the fact that one achieves financial stability and less responsibilities of parenting when the children have moved out. Research has shown that most couples that are still married after the last child has left the house will most likely remain married for at least 20 years. This is possible only if they had not planned to divorce after the child has left home. (Lachman)
However, middle age does not mean that a couple does not experience any problems in their marriage. In the United States, 50 percent of all marriages end up in divorce with an average period of the marriages being at least 7 years. These marriages end for various reasons including the case where the couples’ interests change and they go in different directions. Others couples feel they are incompatible while others cannot deal with problems in their relationship. Other cases include emotional stress as well as falling out of love. These marital problems are also evident in middle age couples and especially among those couple at their early forties. (Willis & Martin 402)
The understanding that evolves between two people over time can be wonderful. The perception of love among many adults is the idea of complete commitment, understanding as well as passion. In many middle adulthood marriages, passion weakens and for most of them the commitment and companionship grow stronger. The marriage is based on companionship without passion and thus they have to find ways to increase their passion and intimacy. Other couples find that their marriage has fallen apart due to lack of passion and closeness. The other problem that may occur in the marriage is if the couple may base the relationship on fascination with the assumption that love will take care of all marital crisis. This will create more problems as they have not learnt to solve their problems well. When this happens and passion fades away, the marriage results in unhappiness and this leads to divorce. (Willis & Martin 408)
The marriages in middle adulthood have become more common but couples who have been married for long time are not likely to divorce. In the event of a divorce it is very painful and especially to the women. This is because they not only experience psychological problems but also the problems of financial strain since they had invested so much in the marriage. This also affects the children because they had not prepared themselves to the separation of the parents. (Lachman)
The development stages in the middle adulthood through Eriksson’s’ Genarativity and Stagnation theories have been very excusive. Individuals at this stage in life try to find ways to help other people especially their children. Those that do not have children concentrate on their careers and when they are inactive, they feel worthless in terms of their family activities and commitments. The middle adulthood give importance to knowledge as well as physical strength. In this case, an individual who does not have physical strength feels that knowledge is replaced with the lack of physical strength. They also feel the need to socialize and make new friends in the case where they feel they are aging and one uses past knowledge to solve current issues. (Generativity & Stagnation)
In the middle adulthood, an individual accesses the past life and tries to make changes by making better decisions. One becomes more determined to achieve the youthful dreams they had in a realistic manner while making creative ideas and choices. Other people at this stage prefer the safe method of living comfortable lives while others keep themselves well organized and active. In the late fifties, individuals who did not go through mid life crisis start to experience it while those in their late sixties start to prepare for adulthood. This mid life crisis may cause one to be stressed in their life and pose a danger of psychological trauma. It is important that those who are in the mid life crisis get the right protection and care that is required. Others are affected by the onset of menopause causing them to be stressed and leave them feeling inadequate. (Lachman)
Women who are at the middle age stage start to feel burdened by the many responsibilities of work, children as well as financial strain. They also feel the need for protection by being in stable marriages with a caring partner in their life. Those women who are not independent make their marriage and family as their priority while those who are independent experience marital problems and become very organized in their work places. However, these women possess great self-confidence and they help their children achieve their dreams in the careers they choose. They are flexible and adapt to different situations within family and their career goals. (Generativity & Stagnation)
At this stage, people stay close to their partners and the marital fulfillment takes a U- shaped curve. The fulfillment increases when they are newly wed, decreases while they are raising children and increases again in the period of late adulthood. The couples at this time may be able to create leisure activities to give them fulfillment and happiness. Leisure in a marriage helps reduce stress and allows the parents to be energized. This will allow the couples to bond and strengthen the marriage as well as keep their love alive. This is very important to the middle adulthood marriage because they will be required to keep the relationship from being boring and thus avoid a divorce. (Cliffs Notes)
Middle-aged people also experience changes in their health issues including showing signs of aging, lack of skin suppleness as well as their hair graying. The body physical fitness may decline and increased body fat while strength and flexibility also reduces. The fertility levels also decrease in both male and female as they age. This can pose a danger to women especially in their late fifties in case they become pregnant such as miscarriages. The children also because of old age may be affected in terms of their health such as mental problems or the problem of Down syndrome. (Berger 620)
In many cases, the middle-aged people may also have a problem with maintaining friendships because of the many responsibilities they have and hence they do not have time to socialize. This leads them to have only a few close friends whom they value. Others have only the workmates as their friends as well as the retired people. Although the middle adulthood people have very few friends, they cherish them and do not try to get into fights with their friends. In this way, they are able to maintain their social friends and feel important in the society. (Cannon)
Conclusion
One thing that I have learned about middle life is that it is a very volatile time in ones life. This is the time when many marriages are built and broken. The information I have learned should help me deal with any pitfalls that may come my way. It is important for families to stick together during this crucial time since the problems they will be undergoing will definitely be overcome after the kids have grown up. Middle age is also a time to reflect on the mistakes that one has done and make atones for ones mistakes.
Works Cited
Berger, Stassen.K. The developing person through the life span, (6th Ed.).Worth Publishers 1.1(2004):589-667.
Cannon, Mary.” Contrasting Effects of Maternal and Paternal Age on Offspring’s Intelligence” Public Library of Science. 2009. Web.
Cliffs Notes. Crisis in Middle Adulthood: Age 45–65.n.d. Web. 2009.
The feeling of loneliness has been studied scrupulously both in science and from a general perspective. Being very haunting and having a tremendously negative impact of an individual when growing out of proportions, it remains one of the most haunting emotions. According to Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010), social interactions are vital for an individual’s well-being, which is why most people naturally seek company. In their article, Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010) analyze the mechanisms of loneliness development, concluding that loneliness impairs patients’ immune system, causing them to develop disorders in physical and mental health. Although the article could have used more references to real-life cases, the general argument is very strong and coherent.
The presence of strong evidence that supports the argument, as well as a profound theoretical background, should be deemed as the essential advantages of the article. Despite the fact that the state of loneliness and the negative emotions that it causes are very subjective phenomena, the article features solid statistical analysis that proves the presence of correlation and, perhaps, even causation between loneliness and negative changes in one’s body (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010). Therefore, the incorporation of the tools that allow supporting the specified perspective and obtaining the evidence that can be used to elicit vital information, is strongly appreciated.
However, there have also been several oversights made by Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010) in their study. The descried gaps in the quality of the evidence that Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010) have produced reduces the credibility of their previous research, yet it does not change its outcomes entirely. Instead, Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010) manage to convey that a balanced approach toward assessing individuals’ experience in relation to their engagement with their communities is needed in order to produce the desired effect and prompt change in the patterns of socialization.
Nevertheless, the authors have managed to provide a compelling analysis of the problem of loneliness as one of the essential contributors to mental health issues in vulnerable groups. The emphasis on the sociocultural factors that define the development of mental disorders associated with loneliness has made the study particularly important. The issue of chronic perceived isolation that constant loneliness entails is a major warning sign of the need to change the environment and introduce an individual suffering from loneliness to a community where the said individual could communicate with others and socialize. Therefore, the study plays a crucial part in understanding how the mental health issues linked to loneliness are developed, and how the further deterioration of a patient’s mental health state can be prevented in the scenario of an increasing feeling of loneliness.
Despite the lack of evidence from a social worker’s practice, the study by Hawkley and Cacioppo (2010) still produces a major impact due to the threat that it emanates. Since loneliness in its social essence is often equated to ostracism, the state of being lonely may be linked to being shunned or otherwise socially punished. Therefore, the sense of shame that the experience of loneliness may entail is expected to affect an individual on a very deep level, causing a disruption in their social functioning. Consequently, since loneliness is most likely to be perceived as the state of relationship with no reciprocity, it can be deemed as highly conductive to the development of health issues, including disruptions in mental and physical health.
Reference
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218-227. Web.
The relations between the generations were always complicated. The older people always indicate that it their time the situation was different and people behaved in the different way. At the same period, the younger generation says about the impact of the modern tendencies, changes of the way of life that give an opportunity to claim that the younger generation is more advanced.
However, as it clearly seen though the history, such attitude of the generations to each other was always the same. Therefore, although the technical facilities, cultural and economical changes impact the society, it is possible to claim that there are no significant changes in the relations between the generations, they are neither improving, nor getting worse.
Analyzing the cultural aspect within the conflict between generations, it is necessary to admit that such cultural issues as art, music, fashion have a tendency of the permanent change. Thereby, it is obvious that the different generations which do not have the same tastes and fashion, cannot understand each other’s needs. And especially this aspect is sharp within the relations between teenagers and their parents.
Today, the tradition hierarchy of family is different than two centuries ago. Elder members of family feel themselves as the intruders. From the other side, their children can easily send parents to the social houses. During the past century, the patterns of solidarity in friend and family relations had been changed (Allan 2008).
The transformation of the family and friendship aspects influences the Western communities since 1970s. People got more freedom and, as the result, the gap in the relations between young people and their parents increased (Thompson 1998).
From the other hand, the flexibility in the constructing of personal life and relations within the social groups is also increased. As the diversity in the priorization provided more facilities and made the personal choice more complex, the cultural changes of the past century can be considered as positive.
The relations between adult and old people can be also considered from the mentioned below position (Edmunds & Turner 2002, Huntley 2006). Thus, in the article Building Positive Relationships (2008) is written about the relations between 57-years old woman and her 89-years old mother.
As it understandable from the article, the conflict between the generations still exists, however, due to the physical disability of old mother, both woman try to find a solution and to rebuild their relations.
Being in the difficult situation, old people need more attention. For adult people, “the decline of a parent’s health, death of one parent or financial pressures often mean an aging parent will need increased social and emotional support or services from family – such as help with meals, cleaning, transportation or financial matters” (Building Positive Relationships 2010).
In this context, it is necessary to admit the position of Klinenberg (2001) who indicates the tendency of increase of a number of old people who are estranged from their previous social circle and who live alone without a strong connection with their children.
Many old people have to live in the social establishments due to unwillingness of their younger relatives to care about them. This tendency demonstrates that the traditional cultural attitude to family, marriage and old parent is changed.
Obviously, the economic conditions influence generations. Wyn (2006) explores the rupture of the educational and employment outcomes as the peculiarity of the current situation of the young generation.
As it was normal order of things, today, such disbalance is widely spread that makes young people face with a number of problems while searching a job as “the transition processes for the majority of young people born after 1970 are different from those of the majority of their parents’ generation” (Wyn 2006, p. 6).
From this point of view, it is possible to notice that the younger generation has a significant reason to claim that the current situation on the labor market is more difficult than it was years ago.
According to the statistics provided by Wyn, “by the year 2000, at the age of 27, 68 per cent of the respondents had achieved permanent jobs, and 76 per cent were in full-time jobs” (Wyn 2006, p. 10). However, from the other hand, the elder generation has much more problems within this aspect. Although old people are more experienced, many employers prefer to accept a young person than the elder one.
Analyzing Mannheim’s essay The Problem of Generation, Pilcher (1994) indicates that “the notion of generation being widespread in everyday language as a way of understanding differences between age groups and as a means of locating individuals and groups within historical times” (Mannheim’s sociology of generations: an undervalued legacy, p. 481).
Thereby, it is possible to say that the present problem existed during the history and never turned into the tendency of improvement or worsening. Different social models, tendencies, fashion and other issues dictate the rules of the relations between generations. Although a number of researchers indicate the increasing way of generation gap, history demonstrates that such tendencies were presented at all times.
Today, teenagers and young people feel themselves free and independent as the world is controlled by them. The number of old people is growing day by day as the result of the demographic characteristics. The present century requires more fast reaction, creative ideas and flexibility which are typical for younger generation. Wyn claims that today the process for becoming adult is different and emerging.
The typical issues of those changes are “an increasingly flexible labor market, dissolution of occupational boundaries, deregulation of labour, and increases in contrast, part-time employment” (2006, p. 12). At the same period, the cultural aspect also changes. Thus, the attitude of the young people to marriage and family is different while the level of fertility reduces.
Privatization of educational services diminishes the capability of young people to get better education. Changed attitude to the elder relatives led to a big number of the old people abandoned in the social houses. Generation gap is the key moment within the understanding of the relations between generations.
There is possible to say about the sharp conflict which is concerned with different parts of life and particularly with economic and cultural aspects. Young adults and elder people have the different possibilities to find a job, to increase their financial status according to the current tendencies in the society and they have different cultural tastes and traditional values.
However, although the cultural and economical changes impact the society and the generation gap is significant, it is necessary to claim that the relations between the generations are neither improving, nor getting worse. The historical knowledge provides the demonstration that such situation was always actual and topical.
Reference List
Allan, G 2008, ‘Flexibility, Friendship and Family’, Personal Relationships, 15: 1-16.
Building Positive Relationships 2010. Web.
Edmunds, J & Turner, B. S 2002, ‘Introduction: Generations, War and Intellectuals’, Generations, Culture and Society, Open University Press, Buckingham, pp. 1-23.
Huntley, R 2006, ‘From X to Y’, The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation, Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, pp. 1-23.
Klinenberg, E 2001, ‘Dying Alone: The Social Production of Urban Isolation’, Ethnography, 4:2, pp. 501-531. Web.
Pilcher,J (1994), ‘Mannheim’s sociology of generations: an undervalued legacy’, BJC, Vol. 45, Issue 3: pp. 481-495.
Thompson, K 1998, ‘The Classic Moral Panic: Mods and Rockers’, Moral Panics, Routledge, London, pp. 31-56.
Wyn, J 2004, ‘Becoming Adult in the 2000s: New Transitions and New Careers’, Family Matters, 68: pp. 6-12.
United Nations High Commission for Human Rights says that “playing is an important part of a child that should be recognized as a right of every child” (1989, np). This right is however contested by the issues of child labor and mistreatment practices. Not all children are privileged to the right of play and some of these children are not enjoying the full benefits of this right to the maximum.
This is forcing the children grow up too quickly missing out on the benefits that playing has to offer and limiting their ability of developing their own personal unique potential UNCHR (1989) notes “playing develops the cognitive, social and emotional well being of the child and the parents as well.” In some cases, play in a child’s life may not be preparing them for their future social life; it may be the way by which a child actively takes part in social life and negotiating relationships (Strandell 2000, 155).
Social development
Social development is an important aspect of a child’s healthful progress in life. Child development on the other hand describes the biological and psychological changes that take place in an individual between birth and the end of adolescence. The foundation of a child’s social development determines whether the child will be able to form nourishing relationships and assimilate into social situations with ease when they are adults.
A child begins to develop socially when it first and foremost interacts with its parents. The parents are supposed to give and show their child love and paying attention to their needs as these are the building blocks in social development that will help the child grow into a content, self-assured and socially healthy person (Dwase, 2008)
Stages of social development
Social development of children does not happen overnight, there are different stages that the child goes through so as to develop socially among peers and other people around them. These stages are the building blocks of how one will interact with other people socially as an adult. Parents and care givers therefore are to pay close attention to how their children are developing socially as this will determine how the child will interact socially as an adult.
The stages of child development are; trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion. During these stages the person develops differently learning how to fit in with different people and how to interact with these different people.
This paper will focus on how playing affects the child social development as a child and as an adult. Childhood friends give children more than just a playmate, learning to make friends and maintaining them are crucial aspects of a child’s development skills that help them not only in their personal lives but also in their professional lives in the future (kid’s development 2005)
Role of play in a child’s social development
Child development is influenced by many things that the child comes in contact with as they grow up, playing is part and parcel of the social development of the child and it is quite important. Playing among children is chosen due to free will, naturally inspired and directed from a personal view.
According to a report by American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) limitless and free play is necessary for assisting children reach significant social, emotional and mind developmental high points making the children be better mangers of stress and become flexible. This shows that playing shapes how the child will view circumstances in the future and how the child will relate to other people. Playing with other involves patience, tolerance, understanding and most of all sharing; this will help the child carry these aspects to the future.
Play in children has other responsibilities apart from helping the child develop socially. “These responsibilities include but are not limited to; getting rid of surplus energy, understanding the social world, help children develop cognitively, helps children develop communication skills, assists children cope with their feelings and fears and to manage their emotional states, develop positive dispositions towards challenge, change and self-initiated learning” (Hyder 2005, 20).
Playing gets rid of the excess energy children have as they do not work and this energy needs to go somewhere thus this energy is used up during play. Playing plays a function when it comes to understanding the world. Play helps the child understand the role of adults in the world, this is seen when the girls tend to play with dolls imitating their mothers and boys tend to play with action figures imitating their fathers.
This role play helps the children understand the world of adults as they try to fit in. Piaget developed the notion that play is part of in the child’s cognitive development. The child needs to explore and experiment for themselves so as to fully understand and develop cognitively in the abstract view of aspects. During play a child is able to think in more intricate ways than their everyday life their imagination is used in play.
Play supports a child in developing communication skills through the use of language. In most games, the participants are required to talk so as pass on or receive a message, through the use of language the child learns how to communicate with their peers during play time. Language is used in classifying and organizing their games, imaginary playing, emphasizing social chain of command in the play ground. Through use of language, shy children can learn how to interact with others gaining and building their self confidence (Hyder 21).
Importance of play
Play has several important aspects in a child’s life. Through playing, a child develops and learns new things that may be of help to them in the future. Through play a child studies the skills that are essential to efficiently take part in tier world in regards to play. Playing gives children a natural platform where they can actively take part in different activities that improve physical, language, social and cognitive growth.
By taking part in games, children are able to expand their knowledge and understanding of themselves, others, and the physical world that surrounds them. Through understanding themselves first and others children are able to form a strong base for their future relationships that are more often than not likely to be healthy. (McFadden, 2010)
Another importance of play is developing the child’s motor development. This is through the physical activities that play offers the child becomes fit at no extra cost and the playing keeps them fit. Physically fit children are healthy and health is one of the recommendations of healthy child development.
By management of playing materials, the child develops small valuable skills for instance motor skills. Large motor skills alternatively are acquired as a child gets involved in vigorous physical activities while playing for instance in a game of soccer. These motor skills will assist the child as the child advances in school (McFadden, 2010).
Play is important in developing language skills in children whereby when they engage in recreation activities, they try out different words so as to convey their feelings and convey information to others and so on. As children become more experienced in their play skills, their language development becomes more and more mature.
Language in play is used to solve problems come up with new games and communicate ones wishes. Language skills are used in paying through playing name games, singing songs and reciting jump rope rhymes just to mention but a few (Illinois State Board of Education, 2010).
Playing provides a forum whereby children can socially interrelate with their peers. These relations can be through how the children team up to play certain games, discussing rules for a card game, deciding who will play which role in a game. Through these relations children learn the significance of societal norms and how to live with other children.
In the course of the social interaction children realize how to state and manage their emotions and to solve misunderstandings with others. Social interrelation during play helps the child develop a sense of value and ethics that is useful in the future of the child’s life. Playing provides opportunities whereby children promote cooperation amongst themselves. Through playing, children discover the advantages of working together in a team and sharing their toys with others (Tombs, 2006).
Playing is important as it enhances a child’s creativity and imagination. The children make up stories during play time, put on a puppet show for their friends play dress up improving their creativity and imagination through exploiting this aspect of play, the child may become a successful play writer or movie maker in the future (Illinois State Board of Education, 2010).
Through playing children are pushed to look at and control objects and materials in their environment and this improves their cognitive skills. McFadden (2010) notes “children gain more confidence in themselves as they play through encountering fun and success in their games.
The enhanced confidence motivates children to further explore their world and find more challenging activities to carry out.” Thoughts and views spoken by children during play increase and turn out to be more complicated as their play skills become more and more enhanced (Encyclopedia of social elements, 2010).
Play allows the young child to be in charge of their actions and this in turn develops their self esteem. children will also leave beyond their actual ages when it comes to play, they may pretend to be an astronaut, a lawyer, an engineer all in the name of play. When these activities are encouraged by care givers the children believe tend to believe in themselves making them prosper in their everyday lives and in all that they do in the present and in the future (Dixon, 2008, 63).
Types of play
Klugman and Fasoli (1995, 45) states “there are different types of play that develop a child socially. These types of play are functional play, constructive play, pretend play and games with rules play.”
The first type, functional, deals with a situation where a child deals with the same type of play playing materials thereby gaining motor and applicable handiness. This type playing involves a wide range of activities hence not limited to the traditional types of playing activities for instance outdoor games hence, functional play occupies more than 51% of a child’s recreational activities when they are less than 3 years old. This type of play reduces as a child gets older but it remains important in addition, a child can engage in functional play by themselves or with other children.
Constructive play involves the child making something and coming up with solutions to problems these can occur when they are playing with building blocks, dolls and so. Children between the age of four and six engage in this type of play almost 50% of their play time. Constructive play enhances judgment and interpretation skills, problem solving skills and originality.
Pretend play involves children changing themselves, other people and objects from reality to make belief. This can be a one child activity or a group activity. Children in Pre School and kindergarten use this type of play most and forget it as they get older. Weiss (1993, 108) says, “Pretend play assists children in processing their emotions, events they have gone through as well as put their social skills into practice, learn values, develop language skills and generate a rich imagination.”
Games with rules involve pre set rules that have to be followed for the game to be successful they include soccer, board games, and so. This type of play provides children with an opportunity to gain knowledge of and observe cooperation, reciprocal understanding and reasonable thinking.
Attachment between childhood and adulthood
Play begins when children are first born and is continues until one reaches the end of adolescence the onset of adulthood. Play as we have seen previously is quite important in the lives of the children as it helps them into the future generation. This is simply to say one can pick out adults who were allowed to exercise their rights to play and those who were not.
Adults who exercised their right to play tend to be easier to communicate to as they developed people skills at an early age. On the other hand adults who did not exercise their right to play tend to be difficult to communicate to, they may turn out to be people who commit violent crime due to their antisocial nature from the time they were children (Weiss 1993, 45).
An adult, who was encouraged to play as a child, will have high self esteem and be confident with carrying out things he needs to do contrary to an adult who was punished for playing. Playing gives one the building blocks of life that are essential in making the future life more pleasant to enjoy as many of the skills they have obtained were encouraged and developed through playing as a child.
Playing teaches children the importance of sharing and how to express themselves as well as how to solve problems this reflects in their adult lives as they understand the different situations and people around them. Playing makes one open to different situations and possibilities that the world offers in addition to this a child learns how to be resilient to problems as an adult. (American Academy of Pediatrics 2006, 182)
When it comes to leisure as an adult, one tends to link the play time he experienced as a child to the leisure he is experiencing as an adult. This simply means that leisure in adult hood depends on the leisure one had as a child. Both the leisure activities are linked as one may be looking for the joy they felt as a child. This means that if a person was allowed to exercise the right of play when they were children they will most likely venture into leisure activities as adults so as to allow themselves to relax and enjoy their lives.
Leisure to adults is equivalent to playing children and both these two aspects are related. In order to enjoy leisure as an adult, one must have enjoyed playing as a child; it is evident that leisure is as a result of play in ones early years. Leisure is a form of play that has evolved over the years as one grows up. Leisure activities and play may be similar but leisure is a bit more complex as the individual has matured.
Examples of leisure activities for adults include scrabble a board game where one needs to have a good command of language, filling complex cross word puzzles just to mention but a few. Some leisure activities that include sports may be one and the same for adults and children but the intensity varies (Bull et al 2002, 39).
Conclusion
In conclusion, play is a very important aspect of not only a child’s life but an individual’s life. Play helps a child develop alone and get guidance from its care givers so as to keep improving in different aspects of life. Play has several roles and importances in a person’s life, this is not to say that play is the only thing that plays a part in developing a child socially but it plays a huge role when it comes to a child’s social development.
Children develop socially at different ages and through different situations, these situations include observing and participating in play. Children are supposed to be encouraged to play as it is through playing that they will develop their own individual personalities and learn how to cope with the different personalities around them and in the world.
Play opens up the mind of the child to many different situations and possibilities. Children learn who to play with and who not to play with; they choose their friends based on how they get along when it comes to playing.
The interaction that children have as they playing determines the kind of people they will turn out to be in future. Some children also use playing as an arena to air out their feelings and their ideas and this helps them learn how to adapt to different situations and circumstances and how to deal wit issues that affect them directly and indirectly.
Play also help the children keep fit and develop their motor as well as their cognitive skills and language skills. The physical activities that involve running about, jumping keep the child fit and healthy. The controlling of their toys helps children move about their hands and feet such that they are not sitting in one position the whole day. Planning about their games, thinking of new ways to play help the children develop innovative brains and encourage them to be more creative in their day to day lives which is big help for their future lives.
Language skills are a result of reciting rhymes, singing songs and passing on messages that help the children become more articulate and eloquent in their speech and their communication skills. Language is a big part of human life and if one does not learn how to communicate correctly as a child it may become a huge problem when they grow older and they have to pass on information yet they cannot seem they correct way to pass the intended message.
Play promotes a child’s self esteem such that the child is not afraid of voicing their concerns or to ask questions. Self esteem and self confidence are big parts of an adult life, they enable one to communicate with other people correctly and this self esteem is build and reinforced when one is a child.
Self esteem first shows when the child is playing by themselves or with other children, it is up to the parents and care givers to reinforce the self esteem and self confidence of their children through playing so as they can turn out to be responsible and successful people in the society.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2006). The importance of Play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. American Academy of Pediatrics. Web.
Bull, C., Hoose, J. & Weed, M., (2002) Introduction to leisure studies. London: Longman.
Dixon E., (2008). Importance of play in child development. New Jersey, NY: Cengage.
Dwase, D. D., (2008). Child social development. Ezine articles. Web.
Klugman, E., & Fasoli, L., (1995). Taking the High Road Toward a Definition of Play, Play, Policy and Practice. St. Paul, Minnesota: Red Leaf Press.
McFadden L., (2010). The Importance of play in Early Childhood Development. Web.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Web.
Strandell, H., (2000). ‘What is the use of children’s play: preparation or social participation?’ in Penn, H. (ed.). Early Childhood Services: Theory, Policy and Pactice pp. 147-157. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Tombs M., (2006). The Importance of play in a child’s development. Web.
Weiss. R., (1993). The attachment bond in childhood and adulthood in Attachment across the life cycle. Routledge, London.
During their lifespan, people experience different stages of development. This paper will move deeper in development during middle adulthood, outlining the major influences on similarities and differences of people in this stage of life. Generally, middle adulthood takes the age approximately from 40 to 65. Although the body of people starts showing some signs of aging, middle adulthood is considered as a peak of personal abilities and skills.
Physical, Cognitive, Emotional and Social Development
The main process that can characterize middle adulthood is the increased physical aging of people. People in middle adulthood can face more serious and life-threatening diseases, their hearing, vision, skin, reproductive systems experience fundamental changes (Berk, 2017). However, people in countries with a differentiated level of development fell themselves in a different way. For example, the study conducted with the data for 1986-2006 showed that 85% of Americans reflected about their health condition either “excellent” or “good” (Zajacova & Woo, 2016). In contrast, in some low developed African countries, life expectancy is lower than 60 (Worldometer, 2021).
As for cognitive development, Berk (2017) indicates that “adults who use their intellectual skills seem to maintain them longer” (p. 526). This use of intellectual skills is not always related to intellectually demanding jobs because people can have leisure occupations like reading or playing intellectual games. These activities make people’s brain to be active through more time.
Emotional and social development also have some similarities and differences between people. While interviewing two respondents of age from 40 to 65, there were made some assumptions about the essence of such variations and commonalities. The major observation is that people in middle adulthood become quite conservative in their views, trying not to strikingly change their worldview. It is a quite applicable empirical trait to Valiant’s theory of adaptation of life. Berk (2017) explains Valiant’s ideas underscoring that “in societies around the world, older people are guardians of traditions, laws, and cultural values” (p. 542). Nevertheless, my respondents did not feel any “midlife crisis” anymore in their age, which many people in middle adulthood have. The main reason was that they have already overcome these difficulties in their early 40s, so in middle adulthood, they found a firm meaning in life in their family and cultural activities.
Influences Affecting Similarities and Differences
The similarities and differences between people could be explained through different lenses and perspectives. In other words, development is multidimensional because it is influenced by biological, environmental, cultural, social, and psychological forces (Berk, 2017). First of all, biological influences are fundamental for the explaining of differentiation. It is evident that there are some biological reasons that can explain why some people in middle adulthood feel better than some other people. For example, there can be the situation when two identical males who live in the same town and buy similar food in the same supermarket can feel strikingly different in their late 40s.
Experts call such phenomenon primary aging, which is determined by biological, genetically influenced factors (Berk, 2017). This influence is limited only to individuals’ health conditions, which could not be explained by environmental or other factors.
Environmental influence presents the other side of influence affecting people’s development in their middle adulthood. Scientists refer to such influence as secondary aging, distinguishing it from biological one. Differential susceptibility theory explains that people in middle adulthood are more sensitive to the environmental factors surrounding them (Kawamoto, 2019). More precisely, environmental factors impose different impacts on individuals with distinctive characteristics.
For example, the climate of Russian Siberia impacts differently on people. While the native residents of Siberia have adapted to such severe conditions, people in their middle adulthood who moved there will definitely experience serious health and mental disorders. It also results in different life expectancies, so people in their 60s can feel differently about their health conditions in various environments.
Cultural influences presumably have an impact on the social and emotional development of middle-aged people. The way how people reflect on their health is different worldwide. The relevant explanation is the various cultural codes that form the perception of diseases, aging problems, and so forth. Berk (2017) explains this phenomenon in the example of menopause, which is a characteristic process in middle adulthood, and women’s response to it. For example, in cultures where aged women are respected and have new roles and responsibilities in their new life period (caring for grandchildren) rarely complain about menopausal symptoms (Berk, 2017).
This cultural understanding is prevalent in Asian cultures; in Japan, women do not think about menopause as an important signal of aging. Another example is Yucatán Mayan women, who marry and can already have children much earlier than in other countries (Berk, 2017). They perceive aging as happy news because they will be freed from the obligation of childbearing. This broad example of menopause highlights the importance to value the cultural influence on similarities and differences of people.
Besides the biological, environmental, and cultural influences, there are many important factors that have an effect on people in middle adulthood. People in their 45-65 do not have many opportunities to change their occupation, so the economic influence is also crucial. Rich people will have much more ways to improve their health conditions than poor people. Also, there are quite complicated psychological influences that could be explained in Freudian terms. All in all, students of human development should have a firm understanding of the multidimensionality of factors affecting it.
Conclusion
Middle adulthood is a border stage that encompasses characteristics of early and late adulthood. People in their 45-65 sometimes feel “free like a youngster again” but they already have the set of obligations and foundations that make them more conservative in their decisions. The main observation is that almost all people in their middle adulthood are extremely different. Such variations are determined by various influences, from biological to cultural.
References
Berk, L. E. (2017). Development through the lifespan (7th edition). Pearson Education. Web.
Kawamoto, T. (2019). Personality change in middle adulthood: With focus on differential susceptibility. The Journal of psychology, 153(8), 860-879. Web.
Zajacova, A., & Woo, H. (2016). Examination of age variations in the predictive validity of self-rated health. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71(3), 551-557. Web.
The four articles investigate different aspects concerning how incidents that one went through as a child may have an effect on adult behavior that includes inflicting pain and injury on oneself. Gratz, Conrad and Roemer (2002) examines the possibility of issues for premeditated personal hurt among university going scholars.
Some of the concepts that are associated with self infliction of harm according to Gratz are not limited to: unsteady affection, infancy severance, expressive disregard, sexual exploitation and disassociation gender orientation also affects how men and women react differently to these situations.
One gender may become severely affected by the above causes than the other gender. The fact that men and women react differently in such conditions brings about the issues of gender differences when it comes to the topic of inflicting harm on oneself and for different reasons.
According to Fleige, Lee, Grimm & Klapp (2009) self injurious behavior with no intention of killing oneself is a grave health concern and it is looked upon as a medical spectacle by itself. Bodily self inflicted harm is possible at any age to any person but the rates are higher when it comes to adolescents and adults.
The reasons as to why people turn to inflicting harm on themselves according to Fleige are: environment surroundings, character, childhood sexual abuse, nervousness, misery and assertiveness, low expression of emotions, low sense of worth and dissociation.
The combination of feelings that individuals experience and their surroundings may make self harm go a notch higher as the surroundings are a factor of how individuals feel and handle their emotions.
In reference to Briere and Gil (1998) self mutilation is a behavior used by individuals as a scape goat. This in simpler terms means that individuals turn to self mutilation to escape the reality of disassociation, emotional anguish and post traumatic stress.
Childhood sexual abuse was found to be a major reason leading to self mutilation. This tells us the main reasons of self mutilation according to Briere and Gill (1998) are to flee from ones day to day life and create a world for themselves where the individuals can focus all their attention in their mutilations while at the same time blocking out their surroundings and the simple truth about their lives.
Bessel et al (1991) suggested that grownups who take part in self damaging behavior have in the past undergone trauma and had interrupted care from their parents or care providers.
This study was based on the links between infancy distress, interrupted affection and personal demolition through the use of data collected previously and probable data. This study concludes that causes of self damaging behavior have strong relations to incidents that happened to one as a child (Bessel, Perry & Herman 1991).
Each study had its own hypotheses that were being researched on. The following were the hypotheses of each of the studies. Gratz et al (2002) based their study on the probability of reasons for intentional self infliction of harm among university attending students. The hypotheses were:
H1-what are the factors that make college students delibaretly inflict harm on themselves.
H2- how often do these factors occur?
H3-what can be done to reduce the prevalence of the risk factors that push college student’s to turn to self harm.
Fliege et al (2009) study was based on health issues that are related to and largely concerned with the behavior of self harm. There hypotheses were:
H4-is conscious self harm a disease or a severe medical challenge?
H5- can conscious self harm be classified as and studied on its own as a clinical phenomenon? Briere and Gil (1998) based their study on the reasons as to why individuals inflict harm on themselves consciously. Their hypotheses were:
H6- which gender engages in this type of behavior more?
H7-what makes individuals engage in self mutilation. Bessel et al (1991) based their study on childhood sources of self destructive behavior. They used the following hypotheses:
H8- what is the relationship between childhood incidents and self destructive behavior
H9- is self destructive behavior in adult hood encouraged by traumatizing occurrences that took place in ones early life.
In order for the researches to prove their hypotheses and come up with concrete answers to the questions and suggestions above they put different methods to use so as to have a vast area of knowledge covered and have a strong base for their hypotheses.
Fleige, Lee, Grimm & Klapp (2009) used recorded German psychological literature data to support their study and only aimed at finding relevant information that was concerned with bodily harm with the intention of taking ones life and information that concerned bodily harm without the intention if taking ones life. Their study also made use of researches on suicidal tendencies that only focused on non suicidal self destruction.
Briere and Gil (1998) put to use the general population samples, clinical groups self recognized self mutilators. The general populations were mailed questionnaires that they were to fill concerning the subject matter of self mutilation.
Clinical samples were based on analysis of victimization history and divided in relevance to self-report history of sexual and physical abuse. The self mutilating sample was taken through adverts in popular magazines and publications focusing on child abuse survivors which were the handed out at abuse-survivor conferences.
Bessel et al (1991) sample were seventy four individuals who had personality disorders or bi-polar disorders were put under observation for an average of four years and observed for self destructive behavior not limited to suicide trials, self damage and eating disorders. These characteristics were then connected with independent acquired self reports of childhood trauma interruptions of parental care and dissociative observable facts.
Different individuals were sampled in the studies and each study had their samples as follows: Gratz, Conrad & Roemer (2002) used a voluntary based sample of one hundred fifty nine students who were majoring in psychology in one university that was multiracial and multicultural however twenty six of these chooses participants were not used as their information was lacking.
Therefore only one hundred and thirty three students whose age was in the range of eighteen to forty nine years with a mean of22.73 years were used. Out of this sample 67% were female, 62% were white, 18% were Asian, 10% African American, 5% were Hispanic, 5% were of other races, 83% of the sample were single and 96% were heterosexual.
This shows that the sample contained a variety of people who were of different ages, races, and different sexual orientation. These participants were fully informed of what the study was about and what it entailed afterwards the participants were debriefed and offered contacts that could be of help to people who took part in self harm behavior.
Fliege et al (2009) used written literature from previous years and their samples were based on fifty nine original papers that were written on correlating factors that led to conscious self damaging behavior. Briere and Gill (1998) had different samples for each of the areas they were studying: for the general population sample the sample consisted of: a total 927 subjects and a return rate of 64%.
The mean age of the full sample was 46 years range= 18-90. Most subjects were married 56% followed by separated or divorced 17% and single 18%. Of the total sample, 50% were male, and 75% were white, 11% black, 7% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 2% Native American, and 2% “other.” The two most common income levels were $10,000-$ 19,999 20% and$20,000-$29,999 19%.
The clinical sample consisted of a total of 390 individuals: 203 women and 43 men recruited by ten therapists from their outpatient clinical practices, and 101 females and 43 males from two general psychiatric inpatient units. The mean age of subjects in the combined clinical sample (inpatient and outpatient) was 36 years (range=18-58. Three hundred fifteen 81% were white, 12% Hispanic, 6% black, and five 1% Asian.
The self mutilating sample consisted of: a final sample of 93. Of the 93 subjects, 89 96% were female. The average age was 35 years and the modal race was white 91%. Marital status was well-represented across three groups: single 41%, married 31%, and separated/divorced 27%. Modal education was some college/university 31%, followed by an undergraduate degree 20%.
Bessel et al (1991) sample comprised of young adults between the ages of 18-39 years and was gathered from clinical settings at Cambridge Hospital form adverts in local dailies and the local probation department.
These four articles though extensively research on the topics they are concerned with; they leave out the fact that self mutilation behavior may be caused by other reasons other that those associated with childhood trauma as all four cases indicate. These four cases emphasize on the fact that childhood trauma is the leading major cause of self harm but there may be other underlying reasons that may cause these behaviors.
The good thing about these researches however is the fact that some of the samples taken were normal people who do no t have any history of psychological problems this shows us that not only people with psychological issues can have such characteristics but also normal people can participate in these activities.
These studies give us a wide range of knowledge when it comes to assessing why, how and who engages in such detrimental behaviors and also they give suggestions on how such people can be helped to become better and stop hurting themselves willing.
Reference list
Bessel, V. A., Perry, C. & Herman, L. J. (1991). Childhood Origins of Self-Destructive Behavior. American Psychiatric Association, 148, 1665-1667.
Briere, J. & Gil, E. (1998). Self-Mutilation in Clinical and General Population Samples: Prevalence, Correlates, and Functions. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 609-620.
Fleige, H. Lee, J-R., Grimm, A, Klapp, F. B. (2009). Risk Factors and Correlates of Deliberate self-harm Behavior: A systematic Review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 66, 477-493.
Gratz, L. K., Conrad, D. S. & Roemer, L. (2002). Risk Factors for Deliberate Self-Harm Among College Students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Vol. 72, No. 1,128-140.
According to Hutchison (2003), those individuals above the age of 85 years are among the age bracket within the aging population which grows at a very high rate. This age group is prone to unlimited uncertainties which equally put them at a higher risk of living a shorter life upon attaining that age. Additionally, it is also found that the number of women who survive up to this age is slightly greater than the number of men. Consequently, late adulthood is composed mainly of women than men in the ratio of 5 to 2 when a random sample statistic is taken (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics 2009). Further statistics reveal that those individuals who are quite weak in physical strength tend to die earlier.
Nevertheless, those who live until very late adulthood are often strong in spite of the fact that they are not spared at all from chronic conditions which are often common at old age. This may lead to some of them being disabled owing to chronic attacks like diabetes and heart related failures.
The advance towards late adulthood does not separate these individuals from the psychological need of having acquaintances around them. They will frequently need people to connect with in their day to day lives. The desire and need to belong within a group of people is a psychological need which is part and parcel of late adulthood. Hutchison (2003) further observes that those individuals within the late adulthood bracket are not easily frustrated by the fact that death is a reality. They are found to be more composed and less worried compared to other junior age groups. The four stage models of grief discussed here are not exhaustive owing to the fact that researchers have continued to investigate the many faces grief can take with specific reference to late adulthood. On the same note, other parallel theories and ideologies have also been put forward in an attempt to expound on the models or stages of grief.
The Models of Grief
Grief models can also be referred to as grief cycles and they take different models depending on the age group. A crucial stage model of grief begins with turning a blind eye to reality. Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, those individuals in very late adulthood do not bother so much with gross eventualities like death because they know clearly well that their ages are long due and instances like death is a reality they have learnt to leave with (Wright & Hgan 2008).
As a result, the first stage of grief notably denial, is not a big bother to adults in late age beyond the age of 85 years. They sail very smoothly to the reality of death and bereavement. However, the denial part may also be influenced by the cultural aspect which has been set up by the society. For instance, the United States of America is a multicultural base hosting a variety of cultures from different inhabitants from across the world (Lindemann 2009).
The population is ever on the rise calling for the need of all healthcare experts to mount efforts in addressing the growing need of professionals who are competent and skilful enough to bridge cultural and grief needs during very late age. Additionally, the healthcare experts have a challenging role of giving hope and restoring the devastated state of the mind due to grief (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics 2009).
Very late age is particularly of great interest. Educators who are well versed with the knowledge of relating culture and grief or bereavement towards helping those in very late adulthood are needed. One of the reasons why these individuals may find themselves leaving in denial may be due adverse events like the death of a close one. The very adult people may not want to accept the mistakes they have made in life; they may also not want to adjust to the death of a spouse or loved one, the second stage in the cycle is anger; in this case the elderly person may not feel satisfied by the way he or she has led his or her life, such a person may also get angry due to the death of a loved one. This is a case where the elderly person may get emotional, a situation that may aggravate when past painful things are recollected during the grief period.
The third stage of the cycle is depression where the elderly person becomes low in terms of moods and tends to be the state of aversion of activities, have persistent anxiety and feeling of emptiness. In this case, the elderly tend to be lost in the world of reflections and uncertainties.
The other stage of grief cycle is acceptance where the adult agree to have experienced the situation and deal with it without regret. An adults past experiences may be full of negativities but at this stage, he or she accepts such situations as social facts of his or her life and tries to cope with it.
There are numerous ways through which adults may cope with grief and bereavements. It is important to note that these coping mechanisms vary from one adult to the other and also depending with the type of a social environment one finds himself or herself in.
Being reached out to is one of the ways through which the very old people can manage to deal with such situations even though many individuals are always hesitant to reach out to people who are a grieved; instead, such people normally wait until such aggrieved individuals asks for help from them. Waiting for the aggrieved aged person to ask for assistance may not help them since they are guided by life experiences and may not just share their grievances despite the fact that they be undergoing much already (Rothaupt & Becker 2007).
The other model is that of anger. It basically results from an emotion which has been disappointed (MacDonald, Martin & Margrett 2008). Those individuals at very late adulthood may resort to anger especially when they realize that their needs are not met accordingly.
Alternatively, grief and bereavement has also been found to be a common source of anger among these individuals. The loss of a loved one may not only lead to grief but also anger which if not well controlled, can lead to further disappointment.
The elderly are full of life experiences and many of them would like to share especially with young people close to them. Sharing of their past is one way through which they cope with grief and bereavements. In this case, they need those who can be present around them and just listen to them as they recollect and evaluate their past. These coping mechanisms may be used with grandchildren and young people. Grief can be used to refer to emotions and process that individuals experience when an important relationship is significantly interrupted either though death or any other means that will terminate an important or intimate relationship.
Bereavement is a term that has been used by different individuals. Some populace have regard bereavement as a secondary type of grief that comes about when a loved one passes on while others have also argued that it is a word used to refer to the interlude when grief is felt and losses that are occurring.
Grief begins when something or someone who matters a lot to an individual is lost and the possibility of experience with such is unlikely. It is agreeable that people do not grief for the loss of all relations, but only those have formed important components of the grieving person’s life. Otherwise, here we examine grief and bereavement in the very late adulthood (Worden, 2009). Grief is multi-faced has different effects on different people or individuals
Grief and bereavement can sometimes lead to stress and sometimes depression and may in other cases lead to early death of an adult. Some adults cope with this situation by crying it out (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics 2009). This happens especially with women. Men are never as emotional and women are and this is the reason most of them do not like showing their grievances but keep to themselves.
Women like taking about their grievances and even cry when overcome with emotions. This makes them avoid major effects of depression and stress. By reason of this, they are able to outlive men who may s very old s they are. It is important to note that this could be the reason more women than men survive to very adulthood. This implies that women are able to cope with grief more than men who would rather keep their problems only known to themselves and in any case, just a very few people. This makes them easily suffer from depression and stress related complications.
In cases of death, communicating with surviving relatives or friends is another ways through which adults can cope with grief (Wright & Hgan, 2008).
In fact, it is important to them when relatives pay those frequent visits rather than stay alone. Very old people are relieved when they are visited by friends and relatives and in some cases they are not likely to feel relieved from the pains of due to the loss of their loved ones
After passing through the anger model, an individual at very late adulthood may also face the bargaining stage. This entails a case whereby a person attempts to seek another chance by fighting for a better deal. For instance, if it were only possible for God to extend that lease of life as death knocks the door. A person will plead with God for an additional life which may not be possible.
A case example of such a bargain is in the event death approaches and one has to die. Since this kind of plea is not practical and is only served as a wish, an individual at that edge may be psychologically depressed. Such kind of depression are the ones responsible for the onset of chronic conditions which are common with adults at very late age.
Depression usually come s before the elderly person begins to grieve over something. It paves the way before the real grief to takes over an individual. As they develop, babies break away from dependence on the caregivers and start forming external support connections.
The theory highlights that when people move closer to old age, they lose the ability to take care of themselves and instead they remain to be fended for like children. A research done by gerontologists prove that growing into an aged individual is not a cheerful moment in which people enjoy what they used to while still young and growing. It is this fact that makes some memories be sorrowful resulting into feelings of grief and bereavement.
Cumming and Henry have given a description of disengagement as an unavoidable mutual withdrawal which is most likely to result into reduced interaction between the aged and the significant others who belong to the same social system. Such a person becomes part of the social order and must comply will the demands of the culture and is expected to carry out the social and cultural needs of the society to which he or she belong. The disengagement may be against one’s wish but due to cultural and societal demands, he or she has no other alternative. This forced disengagement can possibly lead to feelings of grief.
The last stage model of grief is acceptance. It is important to note that this stage just like the previous ones may vary from one elderly person to the other. It is equally attached to the emotion of the concerned persons since the ability to give fair judgment that one is accepted is merely a function of the emotions and attitudes.
A good example of the acceptance scenario is when people die. They can decide to get into the situation of acceptance as the last necessary thing to do. Acceptance usually accompanies very late adulthood when individuals succumb to the prevailing situation because any attempt to resist may prove to be futile. Several researches have shown that grief and bereavement affect individuals in different ways and that people have different coping strategies for the situations. It has also been shown that grief manifest differently in different people (Dombeck 2005). It is argued that infants are not able to understand death but are able to sense grief however as they grow into adulthood, through life’s stages, they come to understand and experience grief and be able to react to such a condition.
In elderly people, grief shows itself in different and almost unique ways than in middle aged individuals. At their stage in life, it has been argued, they do not have their focus in the future, but instead spend most of their time reviewing their past. It is stated that with age, the number of deaths in one’s life increases and facing these realities in life within a short period of time.
In many, if not most, cases the elderly may already be dealing with the issues of the loss of their careers, and change in their home environment. Sometimes the elderly may feel so overwhelmed with lots of negative issues that they may not be able to grieve.
Reference List
Dombeck, M. (2005). Grief & Bereavement Issues.
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics (2009). Data sources on Older Americans 2009, Federal Interagency forum on Aging Related statistics.
Hutchison D.E (2003). Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course. London: Sage Publications.
Lindemann E.( 2009). Symptomatology and management of grief. Am J Psychiatry Sesquicentennial Supplement. 151(6).
MacDonald M, Martin P and Margrett J (2008). Aging and mental health. ScolarOne Manuscript Central: 1-34.
Rothaupt W.J and Becker K ( 2007). The Family Journal 15(6).
Wright M.P and Hgan S.N (2008).Grief Theories and Models, Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 10 (6).
The switch to adulthood is a multifaceted progression in which youth who have been reliant on their parents all through their upbringing start taking authoritative decisions to attain measures of economic, accommodation, and emotional freedom, and to engage other responsibilities as residents, spouses, parents, and workers. This changeover period can be a phase of development and achievement, particularly if they have the necessary capital required to find their way through the phase, such as area associations and a secure relatives who can offer leadership and monetary support. This support can also include access to educational facilities and understanding that presents groundwork for learning (Kutash, 2009).
This progression can occur in diverse orders and over a broad variation of ages from the teen years through to late twenties, and the majority of youths are able to successfully pass through these transitions. Nonetheless, various individuals experience hindrances during the starting stages by assuming parental roles almost immediately, giving up on education, being unsuccessful in finding a job, or breaking laws. These actions make the progression to adulthood harder. They can as well contain long-lasting consequences by holding back a youth’s potential to afford for themselves as adults, and by escalating the danger that their own children will encounter similar negative consequences (Randall, 2007)
Personal Experiences
My personal experience during this progression period has been the lack of job opportunities. As said earlier, the early stages of these transitions is covered by setbacks. It was hard for me to get a job as the market is already flooded with people with better qualifications looking for jobs. From that time I decided to go back to school and pursue further studies in order to gain an advantage and to decrease chances of my skills and talents from going to waste.
Indicators
Adolescents stage
Physical development: Physical Development in teenage years is where growth surges; in a period of two to three years, they grow between eight to twelve inches taller. Another physical transformation during this period is the derived sex distinctiveness development.
Cognitive development: during this stage, the prescribed phase of cognitive development starts; though there are some individuals who never arrive at this point. In adolescence, the make-believe spectators and the individual tale also starts. A teen may act as if everyone is scrutinizing them; hence the requirement for solitude. They also believe that they are unshakable.
Social Development: At this stage, teens attempt to achieve their freedom from their parents and grow their own self-identity. Furthermore, at this period they have to know how to articulate their emergent sexuality (Rosenberg, 2008).
Young Adulthood
Physical Development: Improvement is at its paramount through our young adulthood stage. Though, the early 20s is the time we start to lose our flexibility. In our early 20s we contain plenty of strength and energy. We are also physically mature by this stage.
Cognitive Develoment: This is the stage where the teens are at the climax of their cognitive stage during their young adulthood years. At this stage, they start to articulate more knowledge of their environment and commence on the utilization of more plans. They start to apply their knowledge to future aims. They also exhibit replacement of their dualistic thoughts by multiple thinking,
Social Development: They also experience individuation. An individual usually makes a decision on their career path, to marry or not to marry, or have kids.
Social Adaptations in the Transition to Adulthood
The conventional characterization of adulthood is shifting in view to marital status and parental roles.
Reference
Kutash, L. (2009). Violence: perspectives on murder and aggression. New York: CRC Press.
Randall, C. (2007). Violence: a micro-sociological theory. London: Oxford University Press.
Rosenberg, M. (2008). Violence in America: a public health approach. London: Oxford University Press.
Unfortunately, it is no easy matter to be a parent and raise a child in a proper way. Parental negligence is a widespread phenomenon affecting thousands of children all other the world. The root of all evils may be the parents’ natural desire to have free time. They tend to lose their vigilance all the time, letting their children do what they want. Apparently, it can be a good opportunity for a child to learn more about the physical world. Still, if a child is neglected infrequently, it can lead to unpleasant repercussions in future. An adult is expected to be prone to an inferiority complex if they were ignored or mistreated in the past.
The Research Details
This research proved to be amazing in terms of its observational potential. It was more convenient to resort to an unobtrusive observation because, not being a parent, it is hard to foresee what is going to happen and make a checklist accordingly. A natural observation may serve as a great source of material for future evaluation (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, 2008). There were three places under consideration where families with children usually gather: an adventure playground, a cafe, and a zoo. Three situations in different locations are to be thoroughly discussed to illustrate the issue of the research.
The Description and Analysis of the Situations
Indeed, the observation at the chosen playground seemed to be fruitful because of children of different ages. As far as babies are concerned some of them played with preschoolers without any instruction from their parents’ side. It was a pity to see older children dominating the smallest ones. There was a case when a ten-year-old slapped a baby girl in the face. She burst into tears immediately, but her parents just reprimanded the boy, not trying to find his parents. It is generally agreed by psychologists that equals should speak to equals in such a situation. The parents of both kids demonstrated negligence by not watching their kids properly and not trying to connect and discuss the problem. No surprise that “recent studies show that parental negligence impacts the narcissistic personality and aggression among young adults” (Kanishka & Pandey, 2018). These two children are likely to have problems with self-esteem and public behavior public in the future. The main problem is that nobody can predict in what direction it will swing.
Another example of parental negligence was observed in the chosen cafe. Three families were summoned to celebrate one of the children’s birthday. There were also twins who obviously felt that the adults did not pay any attention to them. As everybody forgot about their presence, the girls started surfing the Internet upstairs. Occasionally, they blocked the way by sitting on the staircase. As somebody tried to kindly ask them to leave, the girls started swearing. They obviously took advantage of being unnoticed by their parents. On the one hand, “perceived parental negligence has no direct effect on mobile phone dependency, it has indirect effect via isolation” (Lim & You, 2019). These girls are bound to get addicted to the Internet. Besides, they are already confident enough to insult others.
Last but not least, in the zoo, one boy was noticed eating food for animals that one can buy to feed herbivorous mammals. Although his parents strolled beside him, they did not want to stop him. Meanwhile, “negligent parenting may increase the risk of developing adulthood obesity and should be considered as a potential marker for adult obesity” (Mattoo & Shubayr, 2020). This boy is sure to acquire an inferiority complex indirectly because of his probable obesity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parental negligence may question a child’s future success and self-esteem. The results of the natural observation applied show that parents should better draw more attention to their children in order to illuminate the risk of cultivating a problematic adult. Negligence turned out to affect children indirectly via aggression, obesity, and addictions that one may easily acquire because of the lack of attention and parental advice.
References
Lim, S. A., & You, S. (2019). Effect of parental negligence on mobile phone dependency among vulnerable social groups: Mediating effect of peer attachment. Psychological Reports, 122(6), 2050–2062. Web.
Kanishka, G., & Pandey, N. (2018). Parental negligence on narcissism and aggression among young adults. Journal of Commerce and Trade, 13(1), 111-115. Web.
Mattoo, K. A., & Shubayr, M. (2020). Association between parental negligence in feeding and social activity of obese adults among Jazan population. Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice, 23(13), 56-67. Web.