Analysis Of My Development From Childhood To Adulthood

My Development from Childhood to Adulthood
Julie A. Clough
PSY 202
James Woodward
April 9, 2012

Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory proposes that human development is best explained in terms of interaction between individuals and the environments in which they live or have lived (Witt and Mossler, 2010,Adult Development and Life Assessment, Section 2.9, para 1 ). Bronfenbrenner's theory consists of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. The Ecological Theory has been criticized for not recognizing biology enough. I have to agree with the criticism. I feel that genetics has a lot to do with the way a person develops into adulthood. If I had to choose two (2) of the "systems"
that most applied to myself and my development into adulthood I would choose microsystem and exosystem.

In this paper of self reflection I will demonstrate how I feel the above theories applied to me and my development from childhood to adulthood.

I was born on May 19, 1967 in Lebanon, New Hampshire, to a young mother and unprepared father. The marriage dissolved when I was a very young child and my mother and I moved to South Carolina 1972. My father was not present for most of my life until I reached my teenage years.

Due to the fact my mother had to work and her income was very limited I was forced to be a “Latch Key Kid”; I wore a key around a chain on my neck and came home from school alone while my mother was working. I spent a lot of hours unsupervised and this is where peer influence came in.

I started hanging out with kids much older than myself and emulating what they said and did. I began smoking, using marijuana and alcohol at a very early age in order to keep up with my older friends. I became their little mascot or mini me. This is why I feel microsystem applies to me. I have followed examples set by both friends and family at one time or another in my lifetime.

I also chose exosystem because I feel the unavailability of any sort of after school program, my mothers limited income and my fathers refusal to pay child support led to my being what they called back then "a latch key kid'.

I can see where Bronfenbrenner's Theory applies but I also feel as though nature is stronger.
I barely spent anytime with my father or his family during my developmental years but still displayed many of their characteristics. My father’s family was made up of a large number of people who liked to frequent bars, fight, smoke and pretty much just live on the wild side. Although I had spent barely any time with his family as a child I showed many of these same character traits during my developmental years.

As I grew older I started to get into a lot of trouble and my mother just could handle me on her own anymore and I was then sent to live with my father. I felt like I was supposed to be part of his family, he had remarried and had three small children, but he was virtually a stranger to me. I started a new school and made new friend and these new friends were the wild kids just as my friends in my previous environment had been.

Nothing much changed and I continued my ways. At the age of 15 I met an older boy and left home at the age of 16. I lived as a grown up during this time. Cooking meals, working, attending school, cleaning, etc. I had all the responsibilities of a normal adult yet I was still just a teenager. When this relationship ended I was so used to being on my own I remained independent until I was 25 or 26 years
old.

Although I was enjoying my independence and doing as I pleased my life was going virtually nowhere.
I was working and partying. A week to week job and no real plans for my future. Everything changed when I got a phone call from my mother one day and she told me my grandparents had been diagnosed with lung cancer and needed to be cared for in their home. I had to then make the decision to either give up my party ways and go to them and take care of them in their own home or continue my party ways and have my family cared for in a facility I knew they would hate. I made the only decision I felt I could make and decided to change everything I was doing and care for my grandparents. I gave up my apartment and my party days and took care of my family. I feel that it took a very painful situation for me to realize what kind of person I really was and what was important. I started everything at an early age and I grew up completely at a very early age. While the rest of my friends continued to party as young adults I chose to care for my family and give it all up. I realized what was important and what type of morals and values I wanted to have as a
person.

I no longer felt the desire to whoop it up on a daily basis and got great satisfaction out of being a dependable person, being someone my family could count on. I decided that these feelings were much more fulfilling than anything I had ever done.

This is when I began having feelings that I wanted to become a social worker or addictions counselor. I felt that I had pretty much seen and done it all and because of my life experiences I was never judgmental of others and their problems or faults. I always knew this was something I wanted to do but I was just naturally good with numbers. I had worked in accounting since the age of 18. It was easy it was a no brainer for me, so I continued to work in this field although never feeling fulfilled by it.

I am now 44 years old and have continued to work just for a paycheck until I was laid off over a year ago. In my job search, I kept getting beat out for jobs by those with accounting degrees. It became obvious to me I was going to need a degree to secure my future. I then decided if I was going to dedicate the next four years to obtaining a degree I was going to go for one that would have some meaning to myself and my community and signed up for a degree in applied behavioral science. I have a strong desire to make a positive difference in people’s lives. I want to help troubled youths get on the right road; I want to help families in turmoil mend.

I feel that my life experiences led me from a destructive road to a road of just getting by and now to a road of fulfilling my passions and dreams.

The quality of life in a community is directly tied to the capital available to its citizenry. The idea of capital refers to the resources related to the population, the wealth, the open-minded nature of individuals, the potential for jobs and putting skills and talent to use earning a living (Deggs & Miller, 2011, Developing Community Expectations: The Critical Role of Adult Educators, para 1). I want to be a part of this. I want to put my skills and my life experience to work to not only make a living but to make a difference and allow others to do the same.

I want to be an open minded individual who can put my life experience to work make a positive change to others in my community, therefore, making my community a better place. I want to show people that are down and out that they do not have to stay there. I want to help individuals and families mend and become a productive part of our community and build a better life.

In conclusion, I have spent many years taking the road less traveled and doing things the hard way. I had to learn a very important life lesson from a very sad and stressful situation. After finally learning what was important to me as far as morals and values were concerned, I still just spent year’s working day to day, week to week. I was so devastated after being laid off, thought it was the end of the world for me. After over a year of dealing with that situation it led me to the conclusion that it was time to follow my dreams and desires that I had put in the back of my mind and felt were unattainable for so many years.

My goals are set. My mind is made up. My feet are firmly planted. I am now looking forward to my continuing education and obtaining my degree and one day very soon I will be doing the very thing I have always wanted to do.

Witt, G.A. & Mossler, R.A (2010) Adult Development and Life Assessment
Deggs, D. , & Miller, M. (2011) Developing Community Expectations: The Critical Role of Adult Educators. Adult Learning 22(3), 25-30