Adolescent Case Study
Introduction
Often, adolescence is a vital developmental time in human life. It starts with the onset of puberty, increased maturation of feelings, and mixed cognitive skills among teenagers. It also ends with adulthood, with most individuals gaining the ability to function autonomously within the context of their culture and surroundings. Sometimes, the adolescent stage may or might not successfully regulate the shifts in teenagers’ states of self and identity. For instance, while some adolescents may manage to develop capacities for intimate and stable relationships, others might fail in this area. Indeed, the late 19th to 21st era saw increased efforts in identifying the biological, sociological, and psychosomatic aspects of adolescent advance. Earlier and evidence-based data show that adolescents’ behaviors are not contributed by any simple phenomenon, but a higher understanding of one’s biology, sociology, and psychology, in addition to some other respective interfaces. The goal of this essay is to create a case study that focuses on an adolescent. While the paper discusses various theories, concepts, and sociocultural influences, it will also show how a selected teenager demonstrates each of them.
Client Description/Case Study
Sarah, a 17-year-old female, was recently referred to a psychiatric facility for treatment and further by her school therapist because her level of functioning at the school had noticeably decreased. She had earlier been diagnosed with anxiety and moderate depression. In her meeting with the school therapist, Sarah expressed that she had become a lesbian. She felt that she could not tell her parents because they were highly religious, and they could not accept it. As such, she felt caught in a difficult situation. For instance, she felt obliged to follow a life of conformity to her parents’ Christian values, which meant abandoning her real self. Another dilemma she felt was choosing to remain true to herself but hiding her sexual orientation from her parents as well as close friends. In this sense, Sarah’s efforts to establish her identity and suitable age conflicts in her association with parents went beyond bearable levels of distress, leading to her stress and depression. The course therapy is told through the relational account that Sarah says on her interactions during treatment, at the start of the healing and three months later, as presented in the following discussion.
At the beginning of the therapy, Sarah’s relationship and parents are complicated. When her mother calls to check if she was doing well and has done her assignments, Sarah cannot tell her anything because she feels isolated, and nobody understands her situation. Sarah sometimes ignores her mother’s call because she is either in a club for lesbians or does not want to engage in a conversation. At other times, Sarah only gives the answer that her mother needs to hear and avoids any other discussion. Her relationship with the therapist in their first interaction reveals a lot about her conflicts. She opened up and told him everything and anything that was required to get her life fixed as quickly as possible.
Selected Theories
The chosen theories for this exercise include psychodynamic, psychosocial, as well as moral models. Psychodynamic theory is a model and therapy that was designed by Sigmund and reinforced by his students. The foundation of this theory is to comprehend what occurs in the minds of people. In other words, it strives to get into the cognitive aspects of clients and attempt to tell what happens in an individual’s unconscious part of the mind. With this theory, a therapist can give insights into how one views his or her relationships, the world, and experiences in life. Besides, it also provides further ideas on how one’s relationships, skills, and world views affect his or her preferences, actions, motivations, and personality (Hutchison, 2018).
This theory, too, asserts that during one’s childhood, certain things or incidents might happen that generate actions in puberty. For instance, most teenagers, such as Sarah, would often utilize defense mechanisms. Some of these defenses may include suppression, rejection, reaction formation, and fantasy, among many others (Hutchison, 2018). There are several examples and their explanations that can be seen in Sarah’s case using this theory. In her narrative, it is apparent that Sarah was occupied mainly by hiding from her parents what she was doing and thinking. In essence, she believed that her parents were invasive, not understanding, and she made efforts to avoid any conflict with them. In preventing herself from revealing her emotions from her parents, her feelings were not available to her either. The issue of hiding versus showing her thoughts and emotions worked to create a great dilemma. Anyone may wonder the kind of person Sarah had become, including her parents and siblings. However, according to this theory, reality lied in her growth. Sarah’s past experiences, associations, as well as influences all, contributed to her personality in one way or the other (Hutchison, 2018). Sarah’s earlier childhood experiences made her nervous and caused her to develop depression because she could not share her sexual orientation with her parents.
The second model is Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development. According to this theory, one’s emotional development starts to take shape during the childhood years, usually between 3-6 years as initiative vs. guilt (Hutchison, 2018). Kids who manage to pass this stage with success often learn to get satisfaction from accomplishing tasks (Hutchison, 2018). For instance, such children often develop imaginations and fantasies while learning to tackle guilt about their feelings. At the start of this phase, children often focus on family relationships. Here, they learn various roles that are appropriate for different family members. They equally learn to take responsibilities and accept parental limits. Besides, they also develop gender identities by identifying with their parents, frequently parents of the same sex. Hutchison (2018) says that age, as well as sex boundaries, have to be suitably defined at this stage, with parents having the valor of setting limits and resisting children’s greed.
At the end of the stage, children’s focus shifts to friendships outside their families. They start engaging in cooperative plays and take pleasure in sharing and completing some works with their peers. Hutchison (2018) explains that children should also be given a chance to make peer relationships outside their kin. Children that become stuck in this phase suffer from guilt about their goals as well as dreams (Hutchison, 2018). For example, they become more confused about roles and identity issues. Such children also become overly anxious (Hutchison, 2018). When applied to the case of Sara, this theory also discloses many things. According to this theory, it is clear that Sarah has learned the roles she will occupy and has re-examined her identity. She has also tried to find out her sexual identity. Sarah is attempting to gain an integrated sense of self, what Sarah wants to be, and her appropriate sex roles. Even though she is finding it hard to tell her parents, fearing their reactions, she can commit herself to others because she often goes to lesbian and gay clubs to enjoy herself.
The third and last model is the theory of moral development. According to Hutchison (2018), children’s enhanced cognitive skills and mind influence their moral reasoning. She says that children often start to move from a moral to internalized moral senses, with basic moral codes. She claims that children also begin to engage in the process of taking community values and standards as their own. For Hutchison (2018), children even start to integrate these standards and codes into their worldviews and self-concepts. Hutchison (2018) identifies three fundamental moral development elements during early childhood as knowledge, emotions, and actions. With knowledge, she says that children begin to understand society’s moral codes and how to use them to make their moral judgments. For emotions, Hutchison (2018) asserts that children develop feelings to care for themselves and others. She argues that they also build the capacity to feel guilt as well as remorse. Similarly, Hutchison (2018) proposes that children frequently develop actions that prevent negative emotions and learn to act in cooperative manners. Moral development is also related to Freud’s concepts of Id, Ego, and Superego. Hence, concerning Sarah’s case, she does not have a close and affectionate bond with her parents as a foundation of her moral development. Hutchison (2018) believes that caregiving often works to promote a type of mental development that underpins ethical behavior as they grow. At this period of her life, Sarah should have a coherent personality. It is no doubt to maintain that Sarah is afraid and suffers from weak confidence. While she is facing significant developmental tasks, she has not developed sufficient self-management, self-direction, and a sense of agency.
Selected Concepts
The three chosen concepts for this paper include body image, sexuality, as well as risk-taking behaviors. Hutchison (2018) says that it appears that the adolescence time is viewed more positively by boys compared to girls. Hutchison (2018) argues that boys often focus on aspects such as increased muscles and physical strengths. On their part, girls focus on body mass and fat deposits. For Hutchison (2018), teenage girls are mostly dissatisfied with their body shapes than adolescent boys. Hence, Hutchison (2018) explains that there is overwhelming evidence pointing that body image is more favorable among athletic than nonathletic girls. Also, Hutchison (2018) says that both boys and girls usually face pressure to conform to certain appearance ideals as well as rules. Teens who fail to comply with such regulations or models often face negative experiences as they develop and move to adulthood (Hutchison, 2018). Also, cultural ideals regarding body image and perceived attractiveness appear to influence how adolescents view themselves (Hutchison, 2018). From the case above, while body image does not appear to feature as much, Sarah’s society seems to condemn homosexuality. In essence, Sarah’s parents, through their religion, see homosexuality as evil.
The second concepts relate to sexuality. According to Hutchison (2018), sexuality is a phase in which teenagers encounter and explore their sexual feelings. Adolescents’ interests in sexuality increased during puberty. Hutchison (2018) believes that sexuality is a vital aspect of teenagers’ lives, which is often expressed in myriad ways. With the onset of puberty, Hutchison (2018) argues that teens start to experience sexual fantasies, feelings, and attractions. She also says that many of these teenagers would come to comprehend what it means to be a sexual being and embark on exploring their sexual identities. Hutchison (2018) similarly says that some of them would start to make decisions about engaging in various sexual actions. In this exploration time, they can also begin to consider the kind of individuals they find romantically appealing as well as sexually striking. For Sarah’s case, she identifies herself as a lesbian. She has sexual fantasies with other females, and she understands what it means to be homosexual. The third and last concept is risk-taking behaviors. Hutchison (2018) defines these behaviors as actions that can potentially harm someone. Apart from homosexuality, Sarah does not appear to engage in any other risk-taking behaviors.
Selected sociocultural influences
The three chosen sociocultural influences include gender, sexual orientation, and religion. When speaking about gender, Hutchison (2018) is referring to the many biological, social, as well as psychological processes that happen during puberty. She argues that gender contributes to people understanding of being female, male, or transgender. According to Hutchison (2018), gender also involves gender roles and identity. As for Sarah, she had chosen to adopt homosexuality and is, thus, a lesbian. With sexual orientation, Hutchison (2018) holds that it means one’s preference for sexual-intimate partners. Therefore, Sarah’s sexual orientation is homosexuality because she engages in sex with other girls. About religion, Hutchison (2018) says that one’s experiences in life may be influenced by region. She argues that the regulations of religious groups often reflect varied views regarding the purpose of humans and their sexual expressions. In the case of Sarah, her religion does not accept homosexuality as a healthy way of life. It considers same-sex practices as unwanted sexual behaviors that are merely Godly.
References
Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course. Sage Publications.