MSWPG 7107 Social Work With Children, Young People and Families

Running head : CASE STUDY OF JUSTIN
Case study of Justin
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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CASE STUDY OF JUSTIN
Introduction:
The adolescent is the unique periods of development, which shapes every individual as
the person they are parents, have the critical and central influence in the health and psychic of
their young children. A number of sanctuary advances in the ecological study of human growth
and developments suggested that interaction with the immediate surroundings and the
environment of living effetely influence the psychological well-being of a child.
Bronfenbrenner’s theory defined that complex layer of environment has influences on the
physical and psychological well-being. The interaction between factors in childhood maturing
biology, his immediate family and community, social landscape fuels and steers his development
as an adult. Changes or conflict in one of the layer ripples throughout the layer. The case study
represents such behavior of childhood development of a 12yeras old Justin. His Mother, gill
narrated that his behavior was aggressive and getting worse. Gill also narrated that his behavior
difficult to manage but getting worse over the past six months. Gill also suggested that the
separation has an effect on the Austin. Therefore, this paper will illustrate the factors that
negatively impacted the well being of Justin with the assistance of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Systems Theory, strengths, resources and protective factors of the Justin family and Possible
approaches to facilitating greater wellbeing and person in following paragraphs.
Discussion:
Factors that affected the wellbeing of Justin:
As observed in the case study, Gill was asking help to manage the behavior of her 12
years old child Justin. She described that the Justin tend to become aggressive and his behavior is

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getting worse even with his siblings. She also informed that due to his aggressive behavior, he
was suspended from the school. Urie Bronfenbrenner, the Russian-born American developmental
psychologist, developed ecological systems theory of child development, which suggested that in
order to study the childhood; one must not only consider the immediate environment of a child
but also look into the interaction of the larger environment as well (Hope & Spencer, 2017).
According to the theory, the first environment is microenvironment, the closest layer of the child
which encompasses the relationship and interactions of a child with her immediate environment
which includes family school, neighborhood (Bronfenbrenner, 2018). In the context of the case
study, the assumed prime reason for his different psychological is his family. As described in the
case study, Justin was close to his father, he was “daddy’s boy”. Therefore, the separation
reduced the close contact with his father, which in turn affected the parent-child bond. According
to Hertler et al. (2018), the child feels less close to his father, which negatively impacted his
psychological well being and resulted in turn separation anxiety and aggressive behavior (Sallis,
Owen, & Fisher, 2015). Mesosystem represents the connection between the structures of the
child’s Microsystems. Ecosystem represents a larger social system such as work pace of parent
or community-based family resources where child does not interact directly but influences the
development of the childhood (Payir et al., 2017). In the context of the case study, gill narrated
that she had a successful career after the birth of Justin but she repented for placing him in
childcare since Justin might needed his mother in his early years of development. In the early
years of childhood development, infants needed their primary caregiver which is mother of the
child (Eriksson, Ghazinour, & Hammarström, 2018). Despite receiving good care in childcare
and from grandparents, the lack of close contact with immediate family members impacted his
psychological well being of the child (Cohen & Waite-Stupiansky, 2017). The lack of close

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contact installs a feeling of abandonment in the child, which resulted in aggressive behavior, and
feeling of anger in the child (McCartney, 2018). His mother prohibited him to meet his father,
which negatively impacted his psychological wellbeing. It gave rise to the sense of hatred
towards his mother. Kinder said he had a lot of trouble in the first week of separation and settling
now. Moreover, marital conflict, which is accompanied by divorce, places the social behavior of
the child at risk (Follari, 2015). Since Justin was daddy’s boy and he was close to his father
compared to his mother, after separation he was not comfortable with the father being with the
other woman because it hindered him to spend time with his father alone and he hated to see his
father in a weekend. Macrosystem also impacted the well-being of a child since this layer
comprised of cultural values, customs, and laws (Winnick & Porretta, 2016). It says that the
cultural believes impacted the proper raising of a child. Gill suggested they did not have active
involvement with the church but whenever they went to church Justin refuse to go to church
since he lacks the basic cultural values. Since adolescence is the life period between childhoods,
adulthood where the transition between parental dependence to relative anatomy occurs. All of
these incidents negatively impacted his well-being, and he was in emotional turmoil, lacks the
flexibility to adapt in changing socio-cultural demands that resulted in unusual behavior
(Meltzer, 2018). His report card suggested that he was not achieving well and lagging behind
other kids. He bullied other kids and he was reluctant to meet workers when his family members
are present, rather agreed to interact with workers alone (Thomas, 2015). However, he involved
in sports such as football and cricket and Fred actively involved with the administration of
Justin’s football club, where his accounting skills are valued.
Protective factors of Justin’s family:

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Children of divorce families reported more internalizing and externalizing problem
behavior compared to children continuously married parents. Research shows that a possible
cause for this increased problem behavior (Gabriel, 2017). Protective behavior, on the other
hand, predicts a positive outcome. These protective factors mostly observed in the family
environment of the child or immediate surroundings of the child, which predicts the positive
outcome (Woodhead, 2015). Both include the literal surroundings and close relationship with
other family members. From the above analysis of the case, it was observed that the separation of
the parent and losing contact with father greatly affected his psychic and gave rise to the
aggressive behavior (Woodhead, 2015). However, there are certain protective factors of Austin
family described in the case study. Despite the separation of the parent of Justin, he received
superior care in his early childhood which is one of the strengths of the family (Gabriel, 2017).
Grandparents of the Justin play a massive role in well being of the Justin. Gill narrated that her
parents had taken care of Justin and other children while she was working as a teacher. Support
from the extended family members positively associated social functioning and an increased
feeling of belongingness (Winnick & Porretta, 2016). Financials support of Fred in the family is
one of the protective factors that positively influence the immediate environment of Justin. This
reduces the loneliness of Justin because he got chances to meet his father weekly (Follari, 2015).
Moreover, gill lives with the child in the family home, which is comfortable and well to do part
of the town. Social support of friends, family, and community is the strength of the Austin
family. These protective factors have the contribution of shaping the cognitive behavior of a
child and which also represents the baseline behavior of a child (Winnick & Porretta, 2016).
Social support from friends and other family members may buffer children from the negative
outcomes of parental divorce (Follari, 2015). Moreover, Justin is actively involved in sporting

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clubs of cricket and football; he maintained his involvement by involving in playing those sports.
Since Justin is connected with his father compared to other family members, his father Fred is
actively involved with Justin’s football club where his accounting skills are valued. His father
involvement gave him a sense of security and influenced his wellbeing (Follari, 2015).
Suitable environment for Justin:
Divorce and separation have a direct impact on children’s development of cognitive
behavior. Children experience divorce deeply and personally which has huge potential for short-
term negative consequences such as aggression, bully, reluctant to interact with family members
(Follari, 2015). A study by Alfonso et al. (2017), suggested that while parental divorce poses a
significant risk for children that introduce concern, these outcomes are not same for all children
and many parental controlling factors can reduce the risk of unusual behavior of the children and
promote children’s resilience. As observed in this case study, she described that the Justin tend to
become aggressive and his behavior is getting worse even with his siblings. One of the prime
factors behind is that the separation with his father negatively influenced his psychological
behavior, which resulted in aggressive behavior. Parenting through a divorce is difficult for gill
since she is working. There are several valuable types of research, which suggested the roles of
both parents are inevitable in providing an accurate environment for well being of children
(Blair, Zelazo, & Greenberg, 2016). In this context, since Justin did not like the idea of his
father meeting him once, the ideal environment for him is where he would be able to meet his
father. Instead of meeting him once in a week, if he gets the opportunity to meet his father three
or four days a week then he would be able to spend with more time with his father(Blair, Zelazo,
& Greenberg, 2016). Consequently, the sense of aggression will decrease within him and his
bond with his father, which was lost due to parental separation (Follari, 2015). Moreover, gill

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was not able to able to give enough attention in his early childhood, which greatly influenced his
wellbeing (Follari, 2015). Therefore, if she spent some quality time with him rather than leaving
the responsibility to the childcare and her parents then it will improve his mental wellbeing and
reduce the aggressive behavior. Conflicts between both the parents give rise to the emotional
turmoil in children, therefore; prevention of any personal conflict gill and Fred will provide
Justin a safe environment for developing his normal cognitive skills (Winnick & Porretta, 2016).
According to Follari (2015), cooperative parenting is proceeded to be effective for the children
who are coping with the divorce. In this context, despite the separation cooperation from both the
ends of Gill and Fred in managing behavior of Justin will enhance the psychological well being
of Justin by increasing bonding with both the parents (Gabriel, 2017). His parents take an
effective part in providing Justin a safe environment for living and mental wellbeing. According
to Thomas (2015), children with high sibling, support lowers the conflict and reduce the
reluctance of interacting with the family members.
Conclusion:
Thus it can be concluded that Adolescent is the most vulnerable period where the external
environment plays crucial role in cognitive development. The case study describes an aggressive
behavior of a 12 years child whose mother find it difficult to manage him. Bronfenbrenner’s
theory in the ecological study of human growth suggested that the how complex layer of
environment shapes cognitive development of an adolescent. His mother, gill narrated that his
behavior was aggressive and getting worse. As described in the case study, Justin was close to
his father and therefore the separation affected him greatly which resulted in aggressive
behavior. There are certain protective factors of Justin's family that will help him to cope with
the state of mind. In this context, in order to provide ideal environment to just in, The

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cooperative parenting, siblings support and lowering parental conflict enhance the mental well
being of Justin. Since Justin did not like the idea of his father meeting him once, the ideal
environment for him is where he would be able to meet his father. it will give him a sense of
security and will provide him a safe environment.

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REFERENCES :
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Bray, M. A. (2017). Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education.
Blair, C., Zelazo, P. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2016). Measurement of Executive Function in
Early Childhood: A Special Issue of Developmental Neuropsychology. Psychology Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2018). Urie Bronfenbrenner: Learning Context. Learning Theories for Early
Years Practice, 66.
Cohen, L. E., & Waite-Stupiansky, S. (Eds.). (2017). Theories of Early Childhood Education:
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Eriksson, M., Ghazinour, M., & Hammarström, A. (2018). Different uses of Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological theory in public mental health research: what is their value for guiding public
mental health policy and practice?. Social Theory & Health, 16(4), 414-433.
Follari, L. (2015). Foundations and best practices in early childhood education: History,
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Gabriel, N. (2017). Growing Up in Society–A Historical Social Psychology of
Childhood. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 207-226.
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