Response: Changing the Course of Psychological Development

Response:

Identify outcomes that were similar to and different from those in your initial post. Apply the principles of equifinality and multifinality from the Schaffer (2011) reading to draw comparisons between the initial changes and outcomes within Mila’s life story that you and your classmate noted.

1st Monaghan

It seems that Mila’s life was very happy until she or her family decided to move back into her father’s house when her mother died of cancer. She had a fulfilling life until that point where her husband quit school to work in that family business and her quitting her job to take care of things at home. That is when Oliver began drinking and she became more depressed. Using Erickson’s stages the stage that represents this scenario is stage 7: Generativity Versus Stagnation (Middle Adulthood). What I would have suggested to change is that after her mother’s death she still continue to work giving that she was about to give birth perhaps take some time off for that; but continue with how the plans for their family continue. Oliver still going to college because once he is finished he would have more opportunities to fulfill his life goals along with taking care of his family, and Mila would still be able to work and take care of the family or even work less if Oliver is able to have a well-paying job.

This would affect her life later in terms of her husband would less likely drink heavily and pass at an early age, though her father could suffer more emotional problems since grieving takes many different stages. Guilt may affect how Mila’s feels towards the outcome of the families decision, however; her priority is too her immediate family which is her husband and children. There is less chance for her to develop depression and her stress level most likely is decreased significantly once her husband receives a career. Using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory a hypothesis is that if Mila’s family continued on their path of Oliver finishing college and receiving a decent job their children will learn by observing how well their parents are and succeed as adults.

I chose to change this aspect because though family death can and will react differently to others, it should not change the lives of the living to cause their lives to severely change such as Oliver having to leave school and Mila leaving work to take care of her father, children and siblings. That change will either make the family closer or cause problems in which this case it did.

References:

Berzonsky, M. D. (2004). Eriksonian developmental stages. The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. Wiley. Retrieved from the Credo Reference database.

Mahn, H. (1999). Vygotsky’s Methodological Contributions to Sociocultural Theory. Remedial & Special Education, 20(6). 341.

Schaffer, H. R. (2011). Key concepts in developmental psychology [electronic resource]. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Ltd

2nd Jackson

Mila’s life went through devastation when she was in her young adult life. She lost her mother to cancer, and then gave birth to her second child. This occurred at a time in her life according to the Eriksonian Developmental Stages, Intimacy versus Isolation (young adulthood) she should have had a sense of her identity, and the ability to unite with another in mutual love (Berzonsky, 2004).

Her mother’s tragic death while Mila was pregnant put a tragic twist in Mila’s life. If I were to retell her story, she would not have gotten married at the young age of 20; a time of prerequisite (Berzonsky, 2004). Instead, she would have not gotten married until after Oliver graduated medical school.

Her mother still would have passed away, but her siblings of school age would be in school, while she worked part time as her father’s secretary, and took care of the home. Oliver finished medical school, (when they were both 28), and then they would get married. She would have still been very young, and at the childbearing age. According to Erikson’s Developmental States, this would have been the time to have children; Generativity Versus Stagnation (Berzonsky, 2004).

Had things happened the way I would rewrite her story, Mila and Oliver would have lived a long, happy and prosperous life. He would have lived his dream of becoming a doctor, and Mila would have been a stay at home mother. By their middle adulthood, Oliver would not have been dead because of liver disease, but they would live on as a happily married couple, celebrating their golden anniversary during their age of maturity. It would have ended in integrity, and not despair.

Berzonsky, M.D. (2004). Eriksonian Developmental Stages. Retrieved February 15, 2017 from: http://search.credoreference.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/content/entry/wileypsych/eriksonian_developmental_stages/0