Psychological Development of Michael: A Case Study Analysis

This assignment presents a case study analysis of Michael's psychological development from the ages of six to twelve. The author, closely related to Michael, provides biographical information about his family and describes his behavior, interactions, and adherence to Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. The analysis focuses on Michael's autonomy, obedience, and sense of shame during early childhood, aligning with Erikson's theory. The assignment highlights Michael's increasing independence and awareness of his identity as he approaches his pre-teen years. The conclusion affirms the relevance of Erikson's theory in understanding Michael's growth. References to relevant literature are included to support the analysis.

Running head: DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY
Development Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
This assignment is going to entail a description of the psychological development of my
nephew Michael, from the age of six to twelve years. Michael is close to me, and is someone I
have been interacting with actively ever since he was born. He is dear to me and I have had the
privilege of monitoring him closely during the developmental stages of his childhood. I will in
the section below describe his family background and also the stages of his current development
as seen from six to twelve years. He just turned twelve last month. Every stage of his psycho-
social development will be examined as a part of this analysis.
1. Biographical Information
Michael the son of my sister Dorothy, and her husband Stephen. His father is a doctor while
his mother, my sister is a social worker. Michael has a set of loving parents who give him every
bit of attention that he needs. He is not wanting for love and affection and is by nature quite a
friendly and affectionate child. I have enjoyed a close and intimate relationship with him since
the day that he has been born. He has trusted me with his affections and considers me to be one
of the closest people in his life. Due to my closeness to Michael, in terms of physical proximity
and otherwise, I have had the scope of observing him from close quarters and have a lot to
mention about his psychological development.
2. Psychological Development in the Stage of Early Childhood
In the early stages of his development, that is, in the period of early childhood or when he
was in the age group of six to ten years, Michael was a largely autonomous person. He seemed to

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be capable of taking his own decisions and did not rely on his parents too much to give him
instructions on what to do, whether this involved doing his homework on time, finishing up
household chores like helping his mother to wash dishes every night and or playing a board game
with his father just to enjoy some company with his father before going to bed. He was an
obedient child at this stage of his life and there were no difficulties that his parents experienced
when it came to matters of discipline and attention (Christiansen & Palkovitz, 2018). Michael
was a child who took instructions quite well, who was obedient towards his teachers at school
and his parents at home, and even in his interactions with me, which were of a less formal nature
compared to his interactions with his teachers and parents, he was attentive, cautious, disciplined
and careful for the most part. He was never too demanding as a child and was content with
whatever he was handed down by his parents, leading us to conclude that he was growing up to
be an autonomous and disciplined pre-teen (Greene, 2017). Michael’s development between the
age of six ten years of being an autonomous and disciplined child is something that is in keeping
with Erikson’s theory about psycho-social development in the period of childhood, where the
scholar states that traits of autonomy along with shame and doubt appear to be evident among
children at this stage of their development (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017).
The feeling of shame was also something that could be detected in Michael. He would get
very upset if he was caught doing something that he should not have been doing, and would
often burst into tears even before being reprimanded. His sense of shame which prevailed if he
was unable to eat all of his food for dinner or wake up in time before school started, was quite
overwhelming (Schachter, 2018).
It has been stated by Erikson that a sense of identity is very prominent among children and is
a significant feature of their psychosocial development when they begin to reach their pre-teens.

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This is something that we found to hold true for Michael as well. Michael would be conscious of
the fact that he was gradually coming of age, and that he was independent enough to do a lot of
things on his like boarding the school bus without having his parents see him off, get back from
school on his and spend time with his friends without any adult supervision (Kerpelmann &
Pittman, 2018).
Conclusion
In brief, the stages of psycho-social development of an individual as outlined by Erikson
appear to hold quite true for my nephew Michael who showed all signs or traits of such
development when transgressing from the age of six to the age of twelve.

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References
Christiansen, S. L., & Palkovitz, R. (1998). Exploring Erikson's psychosocial theory of
development: Generativity and its relationship to paternal identity, intimacy, and
involvement in childcare. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 7(1), 133-156.
Dunkel, C. S., & Harbke, C. (2017). A review of measures of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial
development: Evidence for a general factor. Journal of Adult Development, 24(1), 58-76.
Greene, R. R. (2017). Eriksonian theory: A developmental approach to ego mastery. In Human
behavior theory and social work practice (pp. 107-136). Routledge.
Kerpelman, J. L., & Pittman, J. F. (2018). Erikson and the relational context of identity:
Strengthening connections with attachment theory. Identity, 18(4), 306-314
Schachter, E. P. (2018). Intergenerational, unconscious, and embodied: Three underdeveloped
aspects of Erikson’s theory of identity. Identity, 18(4), 315-324