to ask ourselves when individuals intentionally try to harm others is this behavior due to the individuals environment, or do we blame it on his/her genetic makeup. I personally feel that we as individuals get to choose how we respond to particular events. Throughout chapter eight in our reading, we learned that different parenting practices can have a positive or negative affect on a child’s personality and behavior.
I can reflect on my own childhood experiences and experiences of other children that I have worked with throughout my mental health career. My parents did discipline me, put always showed me love and affection, and never made me feel like I was burden to them. They were positive role models. My parents always provided me with encouragement and support which in turn instilled in me a sense that I could do anything I wanted to do because I knew they would always have my back. This instilled confidence which helped to build my self-esteem which helped to build a healthy personality. Some of the children that I worked with over the years were not able to have a warm and loving home environment and it has affected their views on life. A lot of the children I have worked did not have parents who cared about their well-being and on many occasions have said that they will never amount to anything. They are not able to get the support from their parents, because the parents too are dealing with high levels of stress from being single parent, drug abusers, and victims of abuse themselves. As we have read, troubled parents are more likely to
have troubled kids. (Crandall 2009) In this case, it is not their genetic makeup that may hinder them from growing up to be somebody in life, but their environment (parent to child relationship) that may hinder them. The treatment that they receive from their parents has affected their personality in a way and now they don’t care about anything and have a hard time interacting socially with others. They make it their business from time to time to get in trouble simply so that they can get some attention from their parents. In most cases, the children don’t have positive role models in their lives, therefore, they don’t know how to act which can affect their moral development. The theoretical perspective that most closely represents my view follows Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory on how everything in a child and the child’s environment affects how a child grows and develops. He developed the ecological systems theory which included different levels of the environment that influence a child’s development. For instance, the microsystem is the small, immediate environment the child lives in. According to Brofenbrenner, children's microsystems will include any immediate relationships or organizations they interacts with and how these groups or organizations interact with the child will have an effect on how the child grows.
Crandell, T.L., Crandell, C.H., & Vanderzanden, J. W. (2009). Human Development (9th ed.). NY, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.