Purpose:
The research paper will provide the opportunity to apply theories of human behavior in understanding the impact of developmental challenges on the biological, social, and/or psychological development of infants and adolescents. The paper will assess a child or adolescent experiencing a developmental challenge (e. g. a child diagnosed with a physical or mental disability, an adolescent living in foster care, a child with cancer, parent separation or divorce, identity crisis etc.). Through a combination of use of literature and observations and interviews with informal caregivers, students will describe the functioning of a child or adolescent (older than 12 years, younger than 20 years old) who is the focus of the interview. This will not only allow for an understanding of experiences with the developmental challenge but also potential information on the impact on childhood outcomes and the strengths and limitations in the child’s functioning.
Information to gather for the assignment
Caregiver –Child data: You should spend time interacting with the child as well as observing the child in their natural environment. Also, do a thorough interview with the caregivers (this could be during one sitting or over the course of a few weeks’ time). To obtain consent, you will need to disclose the purpose of your interview and assure the family that the child’s name will be changed to protect confidentiality. Notify the family that the sole purpose of this paper is for your learning and that the paper will not be shared with anyone outside of the Student-Professor dyad. Caregivers should include a parent or guardian of the child. No direct interview is required with the child however we encourage you to take time to observe the child in an environment where you can see their interactions with family and/or friends.
Research Literature: Review academic literature (peer reviewed journal articles and books) on the
identified developmental challenge in order to understand its impact on an individual’s functioning (physical, psychological, and social). A minimum of 6 academic sources should be used for the paper (i.e. peer reviewed journals, text books). 2 of these sources can come from readings assigned in class. The other 4+ needs to be obtained on your own.
Outline of the Research Paper
A. Introduction (10 points), less than one page in length: Briefly introduce and define for the reader the developmental challenge that is the focus of the paper. The introduction should also provide a basic review of the demographics and social context of the identified child. This includes:
1. Outline the child’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, composition of family and place of residence, sexual identity, culture background, grade level, socio-economic status, and primary family caregiver
2. Reference what brought forth the concern for the caregiver that a developmental challenge existed or was emerging
3. Define the developmental challenge
4. Provide a summary statement at the end of this section to summarize what will be discussed in the remainder of the paper
B. Theoretical Literature: Using literature and human behavior theory as a reference, provide a review of what are the potential human development outcomes that emerged for the child as a result of the specific developmental challenge experienced. Consider the impact of the challenge on the physical, cognitive, psychological/emotional, developmental, and social domains of development. Provide references from literature on the developmental challenge and human behavior to support your discussion across the domains.
1. Physical – Biological Development Domain for the child (20 points), 1-2 pages:
i. Any current or previous physical ailments?
ii. Have they met their expected developmental milestones? How so?
iii. Are they physically healthy?
iv. When was the last physical exam and relevant results? Dental health? Vision?
v. Any unusual physical characteristics that the child presents with?
vi. Any previous physical traumas (head injury, broken bones, surgeries, hospitalizations)?
vii. How has the developmental challenge impacted the child’s physical development if at all? Use literature to cite if this impact is expected or normative for the experience with the identified challenge.
viii. Discuss how the domain or decisions for care of physical needs was impacted by unique experiences based on the families and/or child’s race/ethnicity, culture, religious affiliation, immigration status, SES, and gender identity or sexual orientation.
2. Psychological Development Domain of the child (20 points), 1-2 pages: Select two of the following theorists to describe the child’s cognitive and psychological development (barriers, developmental milestones, etc).
i. Piaget
ii. Freud
iii. Erikson
iv. Vygotsky
v. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Provide an overview of the theory and relevant information
Discuss the milestones met by the child per the selected theories and how the identified developmental challenge impacted that process.
Explore how the application of the theory requires considerations based on the families and/or child’s race/ethnicity, culture, immigration status, religious affiliation, SES, and gender identity or sexual orientation, etc. in order to fully represent the child’s experience (only include discussion of applicable factors).
3. Social Development Domain of the child (20 points)1-2 pages:
i. Provide an overview of Systems Theory and why we use this model. Draw an Ecomap to identify the systems in the child’s life (include in an appendix). Label terms utilized in Systems theory on your Ecomap. Provide a brief narrative in the paper to discuss relationships between different systems.
ii. Using Baumrind’s theory on Parenting, what type of parenting skills do/did the parents demonstrate? How does/did this impact the individual and their experience with the identified developmental challenge?
iii. Using a Person-in-Environment Perspective, apply a systems perspective to examine the impact the family, community, and organizations on the child’s functioning. Discuss the social and services systems the child and/or family interacts with regularly as a result of the experienced identified developmental challenge.
iv. Discuss how the social domain was impacted by unique experiences based on the families and/or child’s race/ethnicity, culture, religious affiliation, immigration status, SES, and gender identity or sexual orientation. Were any services or systems not interacted with due any cultural or personal beliefs? If so, describe which and how.
C. Conclusion (10 points), less than one page: Summary and Integration – End the paper with a paragraph in which you assess the similarities and/or differences between the findings from your review of the literature, the experience of the caregiver you interviewed, and child you observed. Summarize relevant bio-psychosocial factors in this discussion and include spiritual and/or cultural considerations in the understanding the perceived functioning based on what is appropriate for the child’s age and developmental stage.
Writing requirements
In addition to the information requested above, also provide:
A title page
A References section
Formatting (10 points): The following presents formatting guidelines for the paper. Please be sure to adhere to these in order to maximize the presentation of ideas. Note that if formatting guidelines are not adhered to, points will be deducted from your total grade.
The paper should be 10-12 pages in length (including title page and reference section, no more than 8-10 pages of text). Any written text (not including the title or reference section) past the 10 pages limit will not be read or graded.
Use 1” margins
Double spaced
Times New Roman, 12-point font
Use headers and sub-headers throughout to increase flow of writing
Edit to be certain sentences are grammatically correct, and that the paper is free of punctuation errors and typos
The paper should be cohesive, focused, and seamless, including transitions between sections
All sourced information should be cited and referenced per APA standards
If information is unknown (unable to gather in the interview process), please indicate this to be the case in the paper
Avoid quotations from the interviews and literature. All information should be paraphrased as much as possible and cited when included in the paper, including interviews.
6 academic sources should be used at minimum (i.e. peer reviewed journals, text books)
All references must be cited in APA format in text and in reference section
Alternative, non-academic sources may be used, but are not counted in the as academic sources
i.e., newspaper/magazine articles, on-line think tanks/public advocacy sites, film, popular non-fiction/fiction
Olivia’s Interview:
Olivia is a 20 year old young lady. Her mother passed away in 2002 from suicide when Olivia was only two years old. Mother’s sister found Olivia’s mother unresponsive. During the time of Olivia’s mother’s death, her father was deported to Guatemala due to smuggling drugs.
After her mother’s death, Olivia went to live with her maternal aunt Matilda in San Bernardino CA.
After her husband’s car accident and his deportation to Mexico, Olivia’s aunt started using drugs. Olivia was only ten at that time.
Olivia and her aunt moved to Rolling Heights CA., with her aunt’s new boyfriend. Due to domestic violence, they were forced to relocate again.
During all this time, Olivia was not thriving in school. Due to the constant moving from home to home and moving from one school to another, she was not excelling in her studies. Instead Olivia became her aunt’s children’s baby sitter. Her aunt would constantly be on drug binges and be gone for days at a time. Olivia’s aunt was also very abusive towards her children as well as Olivia. Olivia’s aunt became involved with numerous men.
At one point Olivia’s aunt physically attacked Olivia because she believed that Olivia was after her boyfriend. There were times when they had no place to stay and lived in hotels.
There were many occassions when Olivia’s aunt would kick her out of the house, but Olivia had grown to love her cousins and feared for their safety and would not leave the house. Until one day she could not take the abuse any longer and eventually left her aunt’s house.
Olivia’s maternal great-aunt brought Olivia to her aunt Mia’s house.
During that time, Mia was a stay at home mom and had the ability to care for Olivia, and provide her with the stability and love she deserved. Mia became Olivia’s Non-Needy care giver to Olivia.
Aunt Mia, got Olivia back in school and her life back on track. Olivia attended a charter school, which was very challenging at first but eventually became acclimated to her new school. Charter school became a blessing to Olivia. She was able to meet her educational needs, she made friends pretty quickly. She was able to travel to Spain with her Spanish class, as well as to Costa Rica. Her trip to Costa Rica opened her eyes to what the world has to offer her, besides the pain and suffering she had endured while growing up.
She is currently a Freshman at Dominguez Hills college majoring in Arts.
She has her driver’s license and owns her own car. And has a job at Home Depot which she enjoys.
She is dating an amazing young man and has a great group of friends.
Olivia’s aunt Matilda’s six kids were eventually removed and placed in foster care.
Matilda signed over all of Olivia’s rights over to her aunt Mia, she had legal guardianship of Olivia through dependency court.
Olivia for a long time hated and resented her aunt Matilda. She would have nightmares about the abuse she endured, and many times had thoughts of suicide.
When Olivia came to live with her aunt Mia, Olivia was 15 years old. She was infested with lice due to the neglect.
Olivia has met all her milestones in spite of her trauma. She learned to walk at the age of one.
Her last physical exam was in August of 2017, she is a healthy and happy 20 year old. She’s been current with all her dental and vision exams. There are no physical characteristics or physical traumas.
Developmental challenges: Had a hard time with numbers, such as counting money. She was later diagnosed with Dyscalculia which is a common source of math trouble.
Culture: Olivia’s maternal grandmother was the matriarch of the family and felt it was her duty to take Olivia in. They come from a middle class family and being together is their main purpose.
