Question

Case Study Paper.   Stan.

Directions:   Read the following case study.   Write at least 500 words outlining Stan’s current development using all four of these theories:

a. Erikson’s Psychosocial
     Theory
b. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory
c. Kohlberg’s Moral
      Development Theory
d. The Five Factor Model

Make sure a specifically name and briefly describe the stages or factors that best fit Stan – along with an explanation of why you feel he is at each stage.   Predict what the next stage of his life might be like – if he continues on the same path.      

Stan is 59-years-old.    His 60th birthday is fast approaching – and he is starting to feel old.    His hair is thinning and grey, his eyes just don’t seem to focus as well as they used to. Stan knows he should exercise more and eat less junk food.    He hasn’t seen his doctor in years – and is afraid of what any medical tests might show.    Stan has been married for almost 40 years.    His three children are grown and out of the house. He and his wife spend little time together.    They have been sleeping in separate bedrooms since their last son left home.    Stan loves to read, stays current on world events, and does a daily cross word puzzle.    Stan works full time as a building inspector.    He loves his job, his co-workers, and meeting new people.    One weekend a month he works with a group called Habitat for Humanity. Stan firmly supports the philosophy of this organization – that everyone deserves a safe, clean home.    His father taught him that happiness comes only with helping others.    Stan has tried to pass this attitude on to his own children – but is not sure the message has ever gotten through.    Two of his sons are still single, work hard, and play hard.   He does not see them giving back to the community in any way.      His daughter is married and lives in England – he has seen her only once in the last 5 years.   He regrets not spending more time with his grandson.   Stan sometimes wonders what he will do after he retires.    He would like to work full time with Habitat – and maybe travel with them to new places.   He doubts his wife would be willing to travel with him – she seems to enjoy the quiet of her garden and home.    Stan is more of a people person – he gets together with friends to golf, play poker, and trade stories.    Stan enjoys thinking about possibilities – he sees life as a giant adventure.   He is an easy going man – although his anger is sometimes triggered when he watches news reports about corporate greed, crooked politicians, or world poverty.    Stan likes to play chess with his brother – plotting the next move, predicting his brother’s reactions, and enjoying an occasional win.   Stan’s parents both died from heart disease in their early 60s.    He wishes they could have lived to see this children grown and settled.

Answer 1

Eric Erickson's Theory of Psychosocial Development emphasizes on individual's relationship with the social environment for healthy development to occur throughout his lifespan. Erickson developed a theory to understand how a person's childhood, adolescence, adulthood, affects his entire life. He proposed Eight Stages which every person goes through in their life. Each stage is defined by a conflict which involves an individual's relationship with the social environment (mother, father, immediate relatives, peers, colleagues), that must be resolved in for healthy development to occur over a period of lifetime. The eight stages are; Trust vs Mistrust(birth-1year), Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt(1-3years), Innitiative vs Guilt(3-6years), Industry vs Inferiority(6-puberty), Identity vs Role Confusion(Adolescences), Intimacy vs Isolation(Adulthood), Generativity vs Stagnation(Middle Adulthood), Ego Integrity vs Despair(Final Stage).

Considering the above case study, Stan is at the final stage in accordance with Erickson's psychosocial stages. He in is despair of the things that he has missed out on, however, he has resolved the conflict by embracing his ego integrity and being satisfied amd content with his life about the things he is doing while being connected with a group called Habitat for Humanity.

Jean Piaget, believed that every individual goes through four stages in life that shapes their cognitive development. The four stages being; sensorimotor stage (0-2 years), preoperational stage(2-7 years), concrete operational stage(7-11 years) and finally the formal operational stage(11-adulthood). An individual at birth, in the first stage of cognitive development only relies on his reflexes. It is during the course of time that he learns to imitate actions. It's during this stage that he assimilates and accommodates new information which reflects in his thinking process. It is in the second stage of development, preoperational stage, that a child learns to use language, symbol and gestures for cognitive development. At concrete operational stage an individual is egocentric, It does not mean that he/she is selfish but they focus only on their feelings and thoughts and feel that everybody else around them feel and think the same way. The final stage of cognitive development is the formal operational stage where an individual is capable of making logical decisions and solving abstract problems in a more systematic and logical way.

According to Piaget's Cognitive development theory, Stan is at the final stage of development which is the formal operational stage. Stan likes to play chess with his brother- plotting the next move, predicting his brother’s reactions, and enjoying an occasional win suggests that he is capable of solving abstract problems in a systematic and logical way.

Lawrence Kohlberg, developed a theory to understand the moral reasoning of individuals. Every individual goes through different stages of moral reasoning. Each stage has a different phase. Kohlberg introduced the theory to understand the rationale behind an individual's reasoning, when put in a moral dilemma. In his experiment, he constructed a hypothetical situation where an individual was asked how would have they made a moral decision if they were in place of the character in the story narrated to them.

One such dilemma posed by Kohlberg was:

A man had a sick wife who was suffering from a rare kind of cancer. However, it was curable, but the drug that would have saved her was extremely expensive. The pharmacist insisted on selling it for $ 2,000 but the man had only $1,000 with him. The man told the pharmacist that he would pay him the money that he has now, and would pay the remaining amount in a few days. The pharmacist refused to budge into the man's plea. The man was so desperate to save his wife that he chose to steal the drug instead.

Individuals who were a part of the experiment were asked what should have the man done and why?

A child at the Preconventional stage of moral development, basis his moral decision or judgment on the repercussions that would follow. At this stage, a child says that the man should have not stolen the drug because it would lead to punishment. The rationale behind concluding the above is, a child l feels that actions that lead to positive reinforcements are good and the ones that lead to punishments are bad. The intention is not considered, it is about bad behaviour being unacceptable.

A child's ability to make judgments increases at the Coventional stage of moral development. At this stage they arrive to an understanding that the society runs according to some set norms, social orders and law. The child rationalised the doings of the man and concludes that 'it's alright for the man to steal because he would not be seen bad in the eyes of people, but if he does not save his wife, then he will never be able to look into anybody's eye again'.

In the last stage of moral development at the Postconventional level, Kohlberg suggested that most individuals enter adolescence and adulthood and it is at this stage an individual's ability to rationalise without any preconceived thoughts attached to society or law, increases. An individual arrives at a judgment that there wasn't anything wrong with the man stealing the drug for his wife as there is nothing above humanity.

According to the moral development theory by Kohlberg, Stan is at the last stage of development, the postconventional level. Stan and his wife spend little time together. They have been sleeping in separate bedrooms since their last son left home. After he retires. He would like to work full time with Habitat and maybe travel with them to new places. He doubts his wife would be willing to travel with him, she seems to enjoy the quiet of her garden and home. Though they spend little time together, he is least bothered about what the society has to say. He chooses to stay with his wife because he believes that there's nothing above humanity and will not stay back with his wife just because they are legally married.