Application of life Course and Ecological theories in social work

Justin the firstborn in the Askin family has behavioral problems. Justin’s mother, Gill is concerned with the complexities of his behavior. Gill argues that Justin has been a difficult person to handle since infancy. The situation has worsened lately after separation of Justin’s parents. The use of life course theory will offer vital insights in understanding Justin’s developmental experiences. For instance, the way Gill and Fred pass through their adult development stage has a significant impact on Justin. Family breakdown, stress, and financial constraints cause psychological problems such as aggression and anxiety disorders. As the life cycle theory postulates, family unit evolves through various stages and the inability of the family to undergo each subsequent stage successively calls for adjustments to ensure individual needs are met (Francis, 2012).

The social worker will apply this argument to understand what aspects of Askin family to adjust for Justin to fit in. Families are the primary avenues for self -construction, and often, they are the origin of inner turmoil, loss and identity disruption. Further, how a child reacts to groups and institution during their interaction determines how they treat him. According to the theory, children have different temperaments that influence their personality traits, and such character shape how others treat them. This theory explains why Justin is seen as a bully in school and teachers treat him so, and he has internalized this aspect. Teachers do not listen to him when he complains of other kids teases him. Mesosystem is the next stage of Bronfenbrenner’s theory, and in this level different parts of an individual’s microsystem interact asserting influence upon one another, producing an indirect effect on the person.

According to Erickson, a psychological crisis marks each stage and this could have a negative or positive effect on personality development. The Erickson theory offers a reach ground for the social worker to engage Justin’ s case since it advances the argument that the crisis is psychosocial in nature since they encompass a conflict between social and individual needs. An individual is said to have undergone a successful completion of each stage he develops a healthy personality as well as the acquisition of basic virtues. The Erickson theory allows the social worker to figure out whether Justin has successfully completed each stage of life development. Further, since Justin interaction with other family members affect Justin condition and the vice versa, the Erickson theory will help the social worker to understand how successful or unsuccessful completion of life development stages by other family members impact on Justin’s behavior.

The separation of Justin’s parents provides grounds for upsetting of roles, identities, routines and relationship. Marital separation is associated with children problems and this spills over to other family members (Averdijk, Eisner, Malti, & Ribeaud, 2011). Parental separation contributes to aggression problem in children. This explains the notable increase in Justin’s aggressive behavior. New realignments emerge as friends and family members strive to identify with either of the spouses. If a primary caregiver fails to meet a baby’s needs, the child will end up with feelings of fear, anxiety and mistrust (Gilleard & Higgs, 2016). Justin fails to agree to join his mother and siblings in a room an indication of some degree of mistrust. Justin does not perform well in school and teachers complain of his bully behavior.

Justin reveals that he does not like school. He claims that other children tease him and whenever he reports to the teachers, they paint him the bad one, leading him to stop complaining. The assessment part comes in to offer a platform for social diagnosis by interrogating a client system and its environment to establish a plan of action (Derezotes, 2013). Each subsystem in ecology, that is, family, individual and society is subject to access and utilization of sufficient external and internal demands, that facilitates giving and taking from within and without, hence promoting the ability to cope with life stresses and tasks, in a way deemed efficient, effective, and fulfilling; ultimately leading to growth and satisfaction. An individual will function optimally if he can access social resources in nurturing support, the facilities, opportunities and social demands.

A family system functions if all its members competently perform their roles over and above the input of community resources (Siporin, 2014). In the Akins case, Gill indicates the need for a reward system to reinforce Justin’s good behavior as well as punishing him by taking away pocket money and his toys whenever he fails to conform. An Ecological Approach to Study of the Family. Marriage & Family Review, 3(2), 29-49. Ashiabi, G. , & O'Neal, K. Child Social Development in Context. Derezotes, D. Ecological Assessment. Elder, G. The Life Course as Developmental Theory. Child Development, 69(1), 1-12. , Medaline, J. , & Lord, D. Life cycles in transition: a family systems perspective on counselling the college student. Journal of Adolescence, 5(3), 195-217. doi:https://doi. , & Muir, R. Attachment Theory: Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives.