Lifespan Analysis: Erikson and Bandura on Jonathan White's Case

This case study presents an analysis of Jonathan White, a 35-year-old man grappling with suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, and alcohol disorder. The analysis employs Erikson's psychosocial development theory to examine the conflicts and resolutions at each stage of his life, highlighting how failures to develop psychosocial capabilities have contributed to his current struggles. The study also incorporates Albert Bandura's observational learning theory to understand Jonathan's alcohol consumption patterns, particularly the influence of his father's behavior. The case study traces Jonathan's development through the stages of trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. confusion, and intimacy vs. isolation, linking his experiences to his current mental and emotional state. The analysis explores the impact of his family dynamics, relationships, and environmental factors on his psychosocial development and how these factors have shaped his behavior and challenges.

Running head: LIFESPAN ANALYSIS
LIFESPAN ANALYSIS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Mr. Jonathan White is a 35 year old man who had come to the counseling sessions with a
number of issues with the primary of suicidal ideation and lack of apathy towards life. He was
seen to be suffering from depression as well as anxiety that had made him socially excluded from
friends and relatives. He is yet unmarried and stated that although he had many relationships but
none turned towards marriage. He was seen to suffer from alcohol disorder and consumed more
than 20 pegs a day. He is aware of the fact that his excessive dependency on drinking of alcohol
is one of the most important relationships which had resulted in failed relationships in the past.
His mother has passed few days back and he feels like dying soon as he cannot tolerate his
separation from his mother. His father lives alone in another city and visits them rarely. He was
found to be entirely broken down and he wanted the healthcare professional to help him regain
back his stability in his life. This assignment will mainly use the Erikson’s model of
psychosocial development and Albert Bandura’s theory of observational learning to analyze the
mental and emotional turmoil and the life crisis he is going through.
Analysis of his lifespan of 35 years with the help of different theories:
Erikson had put forward the psychosocial development theory which shows that
personality is developed through a number of stages. He was of the opinion that social
experiences of an individual impacts his lifespan and had shown how social interaction as well as
relationship play an important role in the development and growth of the human beings (Syed et
al.). Studies are of the opinion that ach of the stage is usually built on the different preceding
stages and thereby is seen to pave the way for following the periods of the development. It has
been found that in each of the stages, every individual experiences conflicts and each of them

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needs to overcome such conflicts to develop a psychological quality. Failure to do so might
result in failure in developing the quality (Cherry et al.). During this time, if the people are seen
to deal with the conflict successfully, they can emerge out from the stage with psychological
strengths that would serve them throughout rest of their lives. When the people are seen to fail in
dealing with the conflicts, they fail to develop the essential skill required for a strong sense of
self. This theory can be used to analyze each of the stages in the life of Jonathan to understand
the conflicts he had faced and how he had handled the conflicts. This would help the counselor to
understand the stage where he had failed to develop the psychosocial capabilities required for
living healthier and better quality lives.
The first stage is called the Trust versus mistrust that mainly prevails between the birth
and eighteen months of age. During this time, the infant is seen to become utterly dependent and
their development of trust is entirely found to be based on the dependability as well as quality of
the caregivers (Villar et al.). Children remains highly dependent on their adults caregivers fir
everything that they need like food, love, warmth, safety, and nurturing. It has been found that if
a caregiver fails in providing adequate care and love, the child will come to feel that he or she
cannot trust of depend upon adults in his or her life. Jonathan’s father was very careless about his
family and spent most of his time drinking and gambling with his friends. He spent very little
time with Jonathan during this stage and even during his presence in the house; he used to be
aloof from his son and wife. Studies opine that caregivers who are inconsistent, rejecting or
emotionally unavailable contribute in developing a feeling of mistrust in their children under
care (Dunken et al.). Hence, Jonathan was found to be disorganized in his life where he could not
trust anyone in his lives even his friends and his partners. Failure in developing trust in this phase

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result in development of fear and belief making him feel that the world is inconstant and
unpredictable.
The second stage is called the stage 2 which includes autonomy as well as shame and
doubt. In this stage, the children are seen to start gaining a little independence. In this stage, they
are seen to perform the basic actions by their own and they also make simple decisions about
what they prefer (Zhang). Researchers are of the opinion that caregivers should allow their kids
in making choices as well as gaining control and thereby help children in developing a sense of
autonomy. Children who are seen to complete this stage feel confident and secure while those
who do not succeed are seen to be left with inadequacy and self-doubt (Kinght et al.). Erikson
has been of the opinion that achievement of the balance between that of autonomy and shame-
doubt would lead to will development that the belief that the children can act with intention with
reason and limits. In case of Jonathan, it was seen that his mother used to be fearful and upset
about the impact of his father on Jonathan and therefore she always tried to be overprotective for
him. She used to too much careful about his needs and in order to cover up for his father’s
absence had been too interfering and caring for Jonathan that had affected his sense of
independence. This had left him with a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt making him feel in
secured and lack of confidence in his life (Schachter et al.).
The next stage is called the initiative versus guilt stage and is the stage number 3. The
third stage occurs during the preschool years where children begin in asserting their control and
power through directing play as well as other social interactions. Children who are seen to feel
capable are seen to be able to lead others (Davis et al.). Others who are seen to fail to acquire the
skills are left with sense of guilt, lack on initiative as well as self-doubt. Jonathan had always
suffered from lack of confidence in this stage and had not been able to assert enough control over

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his social interactions. He had not been able o accomplish his tasks at school by himself and had
been always seeking for assistance from others which had resulted in accumulation of feelings of
guilt in his life.
The next stage is called the industry versus inferiority stage where children are seen to
become mature and their self-awareness level develops. They start understanding logical
reasoning as well as scientific facts and others which are taught in school and continue from 5 to
13 years. Children in this stage are seen to become competent and they make effort in doing
tasks that other children can also do. By performing the tasks and succeeding they are seen to
develop self-confidence (Newman et al.). When they fail, they are seen to feel that they are
inferior to others. With the loss of confidence and lack of ability to perform task by oneself in the
previous stage, Jonathan was seen to lag far behind the other children not only in academics and
also in sports which affected his self-esteem and the way he views his own abilities. His teacher
had been highly criticizing him which farther affected his confidence. His mother had been
supportive but his father continually scolded him who made him develop apathy towards school
and academics.
The next stage is called the psychosocial stage 5 or the identity versus confusion. This
stage occurs in the teenage years from 13 to 21 years which plays an important role in
developing a sense of self-identity that influence behavior and development for the rest of a
person's life. During this stage, children are seen to explore their independence and thereby
develop a sense of self (Darling et al). It has been found that those individuals who receive
proper encouragement as well as reinforcement through personal exploration merge from this
stage with strong sense of self and feelings of control as well as independence and control.
Jonathan in this stage was found to be quite unsure of his beliefs and desires and he was also

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seen to lack confidence and self-esteem as well as confused about themselves and the future.
According to Erikson, it was found that ego identity continuously changes because of newer
experiences as well as information that are acquired in the daily interactions with the others
(Green et al.). The personal identity gives people and integrated as well as cohesive sense of self
that endures through their lives. It is this identity that help individuals in guiding their actions,
behaviors as well as beliefs as one age. Jonathan is seen to be remaining aloof during these years
and had become introvert in his approach where he used to feel the lack of confidence to
socialize with others; he used to remain withdrawn in very actions in his university years which
had affected his ego identity. He had rarely taken any challenging in these years that had affected
development of an identity and was always found to be in a confused stage.
Jonathan is presently in the psychosocial stage which is also called intimacy as well as
isolation stage. This stage mainly includes people from age 21 to 39 when people explore
personal relationships. It is important for people during this stage to develop close as well as
committed relationships and those who are successful in this stage are found to form
relationships that are enduing and secure (Darling et al.). The strong sense of self developed in
the previous stage is important for developing intimate relationships. Studies have found that
those who have poor sense of self do tend to experience less committed relationships and suffer
from sense of emotional isolation, depression and loneliness. Jonathan had failed to develop a
sense of self-identity in the previous stage and for this reason he had been found to have failed
relationships also suffering from emotional isolation, depression and loneliness. Studies opine
that successful resolution of this stage results in the virtue of love (Malone). This is mainly
marked by the ability in forming lasting and meaningful relationships with other people. Similar
had been the case with Jonathan which had made him suffer from repeated failed relationships.

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Albert Bandura had put forward the observational learning theory which can help in
understanding the drinking behavior of Jonathan that he had developed in his teenage years.
Observational learning can be described as the form of learning that includes learning by
observing as well as modeling another’s behaviors, attitudes as well as emotional expressions
(Bandura). Albert emphasized that four important components are actually necessary in any form
of observing. Jonathan had always observed his father being engaged in drinking behaviors and
might have copied such behaviors as the teenagers that had impacted his life immensely. Firstly,
individuals need to pay attention to the behaviors tat are exhibited by parents, relatives, societies,
celebrities and others, then remember the behavior that had been witnessed in the retention phase
(Harris et al.). This is then followed by the reproduction phase where the individuals are seen to
copy the behavior that is witnessed. This is then followed by the motivation phase where the
individuals tend to find a reason for imitating the behaviors. It can be stated that the intake of
alcohol contributed a realm of alternate reality for Jonathan where he could release his feeling of
loss as well as feelings of hopelessness he had developed during his teenage years. He had been
always unsure about his abilities and always felt lack of confidence to overcome any challenges
in his life. He started drinking alcohol by observing his father and this drinking of alcohol made
him forget all his pain. These feelings made him get addicted to drinking within a few days
making him develop an addiction for this (Mamykina et al.). This had been yet another cause for
his separation with his partners. Such observational learning also taught him to rely on fast foods
and take-away foods which were a common norm in his household. Both his parents were seen
to rely on fast foods which also made him learn the intake of fast foods in his life. Living
sedentary lives and eating such fast foods made him develop obesity (Borsa). He was often body

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shamed for his huge weight which also contributed to one of his causes of social isolation and
poor quality life with depression.
From the above discussion it can be seen that Erikson’s theory of psychosocial
development as well as Albert Bandura’s theory of observational learning helped in
understanding the various turmoil faced by Jonathan. This had shaped in developing his lifespan
situations that had affected his quality of life.

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