Unit6Assignment1CaseStudy

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Running head: MARK SPENCER 1 Case Study: Mark Spencer Unit 6 Assignment 1 PSY – 6015 Lifespan Development Dr. Brad May Capella University Fall 2023

Running head: MARK SPENCER 2 Introduction Mark Spencer is a Caucasian, 16-year-old sophomore in public high school. He lives with his family, which is made up of his parents and older brother, in a middle-class community. At school, Mark is on the honor roll due to his good grades. He has always been a good son according to his family. However, lately, his grades have dropped, his behavior has changed for the worse, and he refuses to take responsibility for his actions. There were a series of events which led to this sudden change in Mark. The absence of Mark’s parents due to work made him alone at home and unable to observe his everyday interactions or keep up with what was happening with their son in and out of school. There was a lack of interest due to Mark’s parents believing their son has his own life and they should not interfere in his daily routine. Yet, the lack of presence or interest has horribly backfired. There were several instances which caused Mark to become depressed, angry, and feeling utterly alone. Mark’s friends made fun of him when he showed an interest in becoming a scout and spent more time alone until his parents got him a car at the age of sixteen. Due to the isolation, Mark’s grades slipped, he became angry at the world, lashed out at his teachers, and would not reply to his parents’ concern. When interest was shown in Mark due to his possession of a car from friends once more, he unfortunately turned to the wrong crowd. Now, he was involved in drugs, drinking, and smoking, leading to a further decrease in his grades and trying to push his boundaries. At first, his parents wanted him to enjoy his life and not try to exert control over their son too much because he needed friends. However, the line was finally drawn when he lied about his location when he went to a party and then, his father and mother found an empty bottle of vodka

Running head: MARK SPENCER 3 underneath his bed. Now, Mark’s parents are trying to figure out how to draw the line without forcing Mark into a deeper depression or making him more distant. Analysis There are several challenges that Mark is dealing with in his life. Unfortunately, these changes are negative and have impacted Mark’s overall sense of self during this time of self- discovery in his life. In this stage, Mark is grappling with the identity versus role confusion stage of his life (Henley & Hergenhahn, 2019). Since emotions are very intense during this time of a young adult’s life, it is likely that Mark has felt abandoned since his parents are constantly at work instead of at home. The first problem is the lack of parental influence. With his father working more hours than his mother, his mother has been taking the brunt of parental duties. His older brother has been more involved in sports and extracurricular activities. Thus, Mark is usually at home alone and has little to no involvement with his family due to their hectic routine. This means Mark has a lack of parental guidance which has led to drastic changes in his behavior. Parental emotional neglect of children is related to behavioral problems and defiance (Yang et al., 2021). Due to the emotion imbalance, neglect, and depression, this then impacts Mark’s self-esteem and personality due to the absence of his parents (Upreti & Sharma, 2021). Unfortunately, this has a negative impact upon the mental development of a child because part of shaping their mind is built upon love and affection, as well as support, received from the parental figures (Chatterjee & Banerjee, 2022). Childhood emotional neglect and trauma leads to troubled years as a teenager and adult, with difficulty in social circles regarding acceptance among peers.

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Running head: MARK SPENCER 4 The second and third challenge tie in together, regarding peer acceptance and peer influence. Due to the impact of emotional parental neglect, it is difficult for Mark to form relationships because of the negative impact upon the brain development (Deilma & Vimpani, 2011). This interferes with the identity versus role confusion in the fifth stage of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development which occurs during adolescence during the ages of twelve and eighteen (Henley & Hergenhahn, 2019). During this self-exploration phase of development, the individual is searching for a sense of identity. Therefore, this is a critical time for Mark to be building relationships, making friends, and exploring the world with support and encouragement from his family. Relationships with peers provide the necessary development in the form of a skill with communication, dependability, and accountability (Upreti & Sharma, 2021). However, these friends exert an influence over Mark’s thoughts and actions. Since his friends’ influence Mark’s behavior, he changed his identity and sense of self to fit in with the group. Mark’s cognitive thought process has changed with his way of thinking and learning due to the negative influence upon his being from his friends. Giving into peer pressure, Mark has started drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and beginning bad habits due to the influence of his friends do these same actions as well. His cognitive way of thinking has changed, including the way he perceives, recalls, and learns new information or actions from those around him (Henley & Hergenhahn, 2019). To save face and have a sense of belonging in the group, Mark has resulted to copying their actions. When applying a lifespan theory, Erikson discusses the various stages of development. Due to Mark’s age, Erikson identifies him as in the identity versus confusion stage of his life. This is one of the most dramatic changes from childhood to adulthood, the transition stage of adolescence. This is when a person’s desire to conform to society begins and an emerging

Running head: MARK SPENCER 5 personality and sense of self begins. However, due to the childhood emotional neglect from Mark’s parents, his emotional needs were not met and thus has resulted in immediate and possible long-term problems (Coe et al., 2018). In the long-term aspect, a variety of mental health problems may arise as well as self-esteem issues can be brought on by the lack of emotional availability from his parental figures (Chatterjee & Banerjee, 2022). To know how to form a good relationship and have stability, one parental figure needs to be present to provide the child with the necessary support, encouragement, and most of all, stability (Ghadampour et al., 2020). This goes without saying that not all children have the same experience as Mark and may not react or have problems as he did due to the absence of parents or the influence of friends. Dependent upon the mental state of the individual, depends upon the outcome of the individual in the long-term health standpoint (Ford et al., 2018). Yet, from a cultural standpoint, a Caucasian family may seem fine from the outside, being middle-class and the young sons provided for by their parents. There are no identifiable issues with the current environment other than the lack of a parental presence. However, there is a main key difference between Mark and his older brother. While his elder brother has extracurricular activities, Mark does not. His brother has a support system from his friends and acceptance, while Mark must earn both from his friends. The way he gained this was his availability with a car, which, he is failing to see that his so-called friends are just using him for their own gain. Peer rejection leads to several negative consequences, especially during adolescence years, due to the impact of declining mental health on the individual (Youngblade & Nackashi, 2009). Since his parents are busy, and his brother has his own activities, then this would prove difficult to schedule time for the family to be together to sort out any potential issues. Parental training or discussing issues with a therapist may be beneficial to Mark’s parents to navigate his

Running head: MARK SPENCER 6 behavior and identify potential solutions to the problems their son is experiencing in life if the parents would make time for it (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Multisystemic Therapy (MST) or Structural Family Therapy (SFT) would be good options for a therapy-based plan for Mark’s family. MST is an family approach for teenagers who are at risk for juvenile detention and SFT is a type of counseling and enforces the roles of each family member, as well as interactions (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Unfortunately, it sounds like Mark’s father may have trouble enforcing boundaries due to his own strict upbringing. He may need to identify the issues which prevent him from being a more solid presence in life before forcing on Mark’s issue to help him with it. Conclusion Mark has been experiencing the effects of permissive parenting and peer pressure. These unfortunate experiences have led Mark to engage in risk seeking behaviors and actions for the overall acceptance of his peers and a sense of belonging. He has given up his own interests, such as scouting, to gain the acceptance of his peers. When Mark was rejected by his friends, he became depressed and isolated, which caused his grades to slip. Yet, when he gained a car, his friends were suddenly interested in him once more. This led to more risky behaviors, which concerned Mark’s parents, however, they did not want to enforce strictness because they believed he should find his own way in life. This permissive parenting style has led to Mark’s unsecure attachment and unable to properly regulate his emotional intelligence or personal growth (Wischerth et al., 2016). Family therapy is necessary, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy, for Mark to move forward in his life.

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Running head: MARK SPENCER 7 References Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: human development for helping professionals. (5th ed.). Pearson. Chatterjee, D., & Banerjee, M. (2022). A study on relationship between emotional deprivation and institutionalization. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 17(1), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.32381/jpr.2022.17.01.4 Coe, J. L., Davies, P. T., & Sturge-Apple, M. L. (2017). Family instability and young children's school adjustment: Callousness and negative internal representations as mediators. Child Development, 89(4), 1193–1208. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12793 Delima, J. & Vimpani, G. (2011). The neurobiological effects of childhood maltreatment: An often-overlooked narrative related to the long-term effects of early childhood trauma. Family Matters, 89(1), 42-52. Ford, J. D., Chapman, J., Connor, D. F., & Cruise, K. R. (2012). Complex trauma and aggression in secure juvenile justice settings. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(6), 694–724. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812436957 Ghadampour, E., Khodarahimi, S., Rahmian Bougar, M., & Nahaboo, S. (2020). Single mothers’ attachment styles and personality influences on Child psychopathology. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 48(4), 340–355.

Running head: MARK SPENCER 8 https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2020.1716870 Henley, T. B., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2019). Early Developments in Physiology and the Rise of Experimental Psychology. In Hergenhahn's an introduction to the history of psychology (pp. 232–262). Cengage. Upreti, R., & Sharma, S. (2021). Self-esteem of adolescents residing in orphanages, single parent families and intact families: Gender differentials. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(2), 118–121. Wischerth, G. A., Mulvaney, M. K., Brackett, M. A., & Perkins, D. (2016). The adverse influence of permissive parenting on personal growth and the mediating role of emotional intelligence. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 177(5), 185–189. Yang, B., Xiong, C., & Huang, J. (2021). Parental emotional neglect and left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors: The mediating role of deviant peer affiliation and the moderating role of beliefs about adversity. Children and Youth Services Review, 120. Youngblade, L., Nackashi, J. (2009) Peers. Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. Fourth Edition.

Unit6Assignment1CaseStudy

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