Question

Logan is a 7 year old boy who was taken to the hospital for possible overdose. After arriving and treatment it was determined that the boy took his mothers suboxone. She cannot account for her were abouts when he took the drug and does not know how much he took or how he got it. Since, he has been removed from the care of his mother and placed in the care of his grandmother (his dads mother). His father is incarcerated for drug possession and manufacturing drugs and has been for the majority of his life. His mother failed her drug screen for drugs not prescribed from DSS when they arrived to the hospital. His mother is unemployed and cannot seem to hold a job. Logan and his mother live with his mothers grandmother, logans great grandmother. She is 80 years old. His great grandmother is the one who takes on all duties of parenting due to his mothers drug addiction. He sleeps with his great grandmother at night and she takes him to and from school and extracurricular activities. She fails to discipline him because he is stronger than her and she feels guilty because of his parents. Due to the fact that his mother lives in the home he has been placed out of the home with the closest relative.

Logan is suffering academically and acting out emotionally. He is not controlling his emotions and cries every morning after drop off. Logan responds positively to the assistant principal, who is a Male. He is able to calm Logan down and helps him one on one. He is having anger outbursts during class and refuses to participate in certain activities. He does not seem to have much of an appetite at school or at home. He has been bullying other kids at school and is also getting bullied because of his situation at home. His grandmother has set rules that she expects him to follow. She has created a chore chart for him and if he completes the tasks listed he gets rewarded. Logan is not use to this type of structure. He is struggling to complete simple tasks like making his bed in the morning and picking his clothes up out of the floor. This is all new to him because his great grandmother did everything.

Logans grandmother is trying to make a bad situation bearable, but she is struggling. She has been active in working with his caseworker, assistant principal and school counselors to try to find solutions to his behavior. His great grandmother is trying to stay involved and help without involving his mother in the process. She is also allowing supervised visits by the caseworker with his mother in hopes of reunification one day. At this point, nothing is working. Logan still seems emotionally unstable and is acting out. His teachers have reported that on the days of his visits with his mother, his behavior gets more aggressive. He does well when its library day for his class and is making strides reading, but suffering in all other areas.

I have to reply to the post above based off the criteria below. I am struggling quite a bit.

Use 1 theory from Chapter 1 (Freud, Erikson, Piaget, learning theory, bioecological theory, or nature vs. nurture). Demonstrate how the theory can help explain the presenting issue in the case.

From Chapters 2 and 3, identify 1 element of brain development, stress response, or cognitive development that is relevant to the case and explain why.

From Chapter 4, discuss the influence of parenting style or attachment in your classmates’ case.

Conclude by suggesting 1 environmental modification that would be useful as an intervention to this case.

The book required is The Life Span: Human Development for Helping Professionals 4th Edition Patricia C. Broderick

Answer 1

Logan's case can be best analysed using Freud's psychoanalytic theory. It is crucial to understand the presence and absences of primary care giver in Logan's life since his early childhood. Freud's psychosocial stage of development can shed light on his psyche. During the Phallic stage (three to six year old), a child develops attraction towards the same sex parents and fears the punishment from the opposite sex parent. For example, Logan went through Oedipus complex stage where he developed sexual feelings(unconscious ) towards his mother and feareda punishment from his father for the same. Due to the fear of castration, he dissociated from his mother and started to look for a male dominant figure to associate with. Now, it is crucial to understand that Logan's father had not been around and was absent during his developmental stage. Due to a presence of a non-responsive mother and absence of a male dominant figure(fatger) in his life, he started acting out. The most frequent defence mechanism that he used was displacement . His acts of bullying other students and behavioural problems in school is reflection of the fact that he is redirecting his agressive impulse on a substitute harmless object, i.e. his fellow students.

Diane Baumrind (1960) had given four different types of parenting style. To understand the parenting style in Logan's case, it is crucial to understand his relationship with his care givers. His mother was a uninvolved and no disciplined style was used on her part. Communication was absent between him and his mother and her cold and unresponsive behaviour towards Logan was reflective of her neglecting parenting style. For example, her lack of attention and care for Logan led him to consume those pills mistakenly.

Enviroment modification that can be beneficial for Logan would be presence and guidance of a male figure in his life. Considering that he does listen to the male teacher in his school (which can be analysed through Freud's Phallic stage), he would respond in a more appropriate manner and perhaps would stop acting out in school, which is due to his psychic trauma of absence of both primary care givers from his life.