Ira Hogg

SOWK 341
November 16, 2022
Developmental History
 Ira Hogg
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November 16, 2022
1.Introduction

The combination of a person’s many identities creates a unique and extraordinary

individual. This uniqueness begins in the early stages of an individual’s development. Concepts

such as intersectionality stems from the pigmentation of a person’s skin and gathers other

identities such as gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, class, other attributes along

their developmental timeline. Various theorists have coined biological stages and social levels to

explain the growth of an individual and their cognitive evolution. In this study, we will discuss a

particular individual to learn about their developmental history as it pertains to Erikson’s

Psychosocial Stages, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems, and briefly touch on Family

systems. For the purpose of anonymity, we will use the name Elijah for the duration of this

analysis. Below is a brief description of Elijah, to create a basis in which we will use to identify

relation to the aforementioned theories.

Elijah listed his social and biological identities as: White, middle class, identifies as a

male, considers himself to be gay, and is 31years of age. He is an able-bodied United States Air

Force veteran with minor disabilities from his previous military deployments and later diagnosed

as a diabetic. He is highly aware of being a man, middle class, identifying as gay, and his age.

Elijah is least aware of his race and the fact that it sometimes leads to privileges other races may

not be privy to. During the interview he notated that he was previously blind to the privileges

that come from being a white male, presumably straight and Christian, in today’s society. Elijah

grew up practicing his parents’ Protestant faith. He now considers himself a devout Catholic,

following the teachings of Catholicism. Elijah’s identities define who he is and how he came to

be.
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2. Theories/ Models of Human Behavior and Development

2.a. Erikson’ Psychosocial Stages

Erikson created a chart that listed in detail psychosocial stages an individual will pass

through as they age. The stages are: infancy (0 to 18 months), early childhood (2 to 3 years),

preschool (3 to 5 years), school age (6 to 11 years), adolescence (12 to 18 years), young adult (19

to 40 years), middle adulthood (40 to 65 years), and maturity (65 to death). Each stage consisted

of a basic conflict in which the individual would face: trust v. mistrust, autonomy v. shame and

doubt, initiative v. guilt, industry v. inferiority, identity v. role confusion, intimacy v. isolation,

generativity v. stagnation, and ego identity v. despair. Most important, Erikson came up with

common outcomes that were observed at each stage. The outcomes began with children

developing a sense of trust or mistrust based on caregivers’ reliability and ends with the last

stage stating an importance that older adults look back on life for a sense of accomplishment.

2.a.b Rationale for Frameworks selected

The participant, Elijah, traversed through Erikson’s 5 stages successfully and is now

enduring the 6th stage. His memory is rather cloudy for the first three stages and can only

recount a few things based on stories told by his parents. Starting at stage four, Elijah recalls it

being rather difficult forcing himself to indulge in activities associated with boys. The stage of

industry v. inferiority seemed a bit confusing to Elijah. Although he craved the thought of having

a group of peers that shared the same social lenses as he did, the time when being openly gay

was strictly forbidden. By the time Elijah reached the adolescence stage, he had begun to

develop a sense of identity. He could now place words and descriptions to how he felt. When

asked about young Adulthood, Elijah talked of how at times he felt the need to suppress his

identity; for the sake of employment and other benefits a straight white man would receive. He
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spoke of his time in the military and how he would wear a mental mask to support the Air Force

“image”. This often times led to various accolades, but won through isolation and shame. It

wasn’t until his departure from the military that he began to find his true identity again. This time

it wasn’t found in secret, nor was it expressed covertly. Elijah recalled running into his soulmate

at a high school reunion. His partner happened to be someone from his graduating class who was

afraid to “come out” while they were in school. They both were fond of each other but did not

know the extent of their attraction.

2.b. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system shows that individuals, systems, and the

environment have an interrelated relationship. It analyzes all schemes and levels of influence as

factors contributing to behaviors and functioning. As opposed to rejecting outside ideologies, it

pulls from and includes various methods across levels. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System

draws its roots from Mary Richmond’s Person-In-Environment Perspective. This overarching

theory stated a person’s functioning is heavily influenced by their past and current environment.

Their environment, in turn, is influenced by them. The key principles of the Ecological Systems

Theory are as follows: Multiple levels of influence between and among systems—individual,

micro, meso, exo, and macro. Social and environmental factors are powerful behavioral

determinants, cross-system intersections are complex and highly integrated, an individual’s

perception and adaptation to their environment plays an important position in their overall

functioning. Finally, change is more likely when multi-level interventions are implemented.

Subsystems micro, meso, exo, macro, and chronological are defined as closest proximity persons

and environment that are integral to their everyday interactions. The combinations and

interrelations of two or more microsystems (merging of microsystems), institutions and systems

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that exert influence on an individual’s life, but are outside of their general interaction, socio-

cultural systems, such as norms, culture, laws etc.

2.b.a. Rationale for Frameworks selected

This framework justifies Elijah’s existence and development with a top down view. In

using this model, it is evident that Elijah was raised in a family, attended schools within his

community, and participated in activities closely tied to the government factions controlling his

exosystem. “The exosystem …could be expanded to include social media, video gaming and

other modern-day interactions within the ecological system” (Guy-Evans, 2020). These external

factors could’ve been the leading causes of Elijah’s mental and physical health. These

interrelated systems fall under Elijah’s interaction with the chronosystem that determined the

changes he endured over time.

2.c. Family Systems

Family systems change with the passing of time, societal norms, and generational trends.

Bavelas, Beavin, and Segal all define a family system as “a special set of people with

relationships between them; these relationships are established, maintained, and evidenced by the

members communicating with each other” (Bavelas et. al., 1982). Key principles to the family

systems are boundaries, flexibility, subsystems, enmeshment v. disengagement, executive power

v. task power v. covert power, roles, explicit v. implicit rules, entropy, adaptive capacity, family

communication patters, homeostasis, and reciprocity. These principles can be intertwined,

repeated, and omitted based on the composition of the family.

2.c.a Rationale for Frameworks selected

“Drawing on family systems theories, we show how between-family, within-family, and

within-individual differences emerge from family interactions in adulthood. Specifically, we

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consider how adult behavior might be understood in terms of norms sustained by the larger

family system” (Fingerman KL, Bermann E., 2000). Elijah mentioned the presence of

enmeshment between him and his mother during his childhood. They were inseparable and

always found activities to do together. This was often looked down on by Elijah’s father and

other male members of the family. Elijah’s father worked majority of the day, and rarely was

able to construct a father-son bond with Elijah. It is important to highlight that any assessment of

enmeshment and disengagement in families must take into account the cultural context of the

family system. Some cultures value a high level of emotional involvement among family

members; other cultures award emotional distance and self-containment” (Sowers et al., 2008).

Elijah emphasized the disengagement he experienced with his father. He felt that his father

wanted to be there for him, but not in the emotional way he needed his father. Elijah stated his

father’s display of affection as less stern than usual and normally on a day they would both

watch football.

3. Discrepancies between frameworks and Individual’s Development

Erikson described the intimacy versus isolation stage as a moment in someone’s

developmental timeline where they either succeed because with the presence of an intimate

relationship or they fail because of a deficit in intimacy. In Elijah’s life, this theory poses as a

discrepancy. Elijah acquired success while isolated from many peer groups. It wasn’t until after

he had gained success, he felt the importance of intimacy and a community he can share his

accomplishments with. “When studying older adults and relying on Erikson’s Stages of

Psychosocial Development to understand aging may be at a loss on how to help someone who

has failed to achieve a positive outcome in majority of the stages. An example of this could be a

non-binary older adult who may be struggling with something not even represented in the stages
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of the Erikson’s model. It would be a disservice to any clientele to implement an intervention

that is based on the assumptions of a theory not been evidence-based” (Samsanovich, 2021).

While analyzing the accuracy of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System, there were no

discrepancies found. This also held true for the Family Systems concepts. Elijah’s developmental

history incorporated them both.

4. Description of Individual’s personal strengths and Limitations

Elijah stated his personal strengths were his ability to cope with adverse events in a

productive manner. He recalled a time where he was passed over for promotion because of his

sexual orientation. He chose to request a change in supervision, which led to a swift investigation

and the awarding of his deserved promotion. Elijah also feels he is very determined in things he

set his mind to do. He says that some may call him persistent or even stubborn, but it only pushes

him further toward his end goals. As far as limitations, Elijah explained that being the way he is

often takes small hits at his confidence. Whenever he is assigned a public speaking position

during award ceremonies, he feels as if the audience can see straight through his hardened

façade. Elijah also mentioned his battle with diabetes as another personal impediment.

5. Description of Social Environmental Strengths and Limitations

Within the environment, Elijah draws strength from family and friends. Strengths for him

comes in the form of reliable phone calls, dependable tasks, and advice that gives him an idea of

both sides to the situation he may be facing. Sometimes he feels the weight of environmental

microaggressions whenever he attends Catholic mass or frequents the supermarket with his

husband. Environmental microaggressions are ‘isms that take place through the environment on

institutional, cultural, and systemic levels. During the 2016 elections, Elijah claims he

experienced microinvalidations, or generally unintentional or unconscious comments or actions

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that disregard the experiences and feelings of a person who is part of an oppressed or

underrepresented group. He described his feelings of being unwanted in a masculine world,

where his existence was not valid. Homophobia ran rampant as citizens began to express their

unfiltered hate in public assemblies. This further oppresses LGBTQ+ members outside and

within their population. “Negative attitudes internalized by members of this group often damage

the spirit and stifle the emotional growth” (Adams et. al., 2018).

6. Conclusion

Conducting this study led to an accurate depiction of how multiple theories can be used to

explain our milestones in life. The utilization of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages showed

applicable stages that Elijah went through and other stages that did not seem as an “all size fits

all” model. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems were able to justify Elijah’s interaction within

and amongst environmental factors. Lastly, the selection of concepts familiar to Elijah’s family

structure and system directly related to enmeshment and disengagement between parents. The

compilation of these various approaches assists in the way we are motivated to progress

throughout life. Thus, adding to our developmental history.

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REFERENCES

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Peters, M., Shlasko, D., & Zúñiga, X. (2018). Readings for diversity and social justice,

4rd Ed. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

Samsanovich, A. (2021). “THEORY AND DIVERSITY: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF

ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT STAGES.” Electronic Theses,

Projects, and Dissertations, 1230. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/1230

Fingerman KL, Bermann E. Applications of Family Systems Theory to the Study of Adulthood.
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doi:10.2190/7TF8-WB3F-TMWG-TT3K

Sowers, K. M., Dulmus, C. N., & Thyer, B. A. (2008). Comprehensive Handbook of Social

Work and Social Welfare, Human Behavior in the Social Environment. Wiley.

Guy-Evans, O. (2020, Nov 09). Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Simply Psychology.

www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html

Bavelas, J. B., & Segal, L. (1982). Family systems theory: Background and

implications. Journal of communication, 32(3), 99-107.

Reisman, Uri (2022). Week 10 Powerpoint.

College of Social Work, University of South Carolina.

https://blackboard.sc.edu/ultra/courses/_1192481_1/cl/outline