Psychosocial Development: A Case Study of Early Childhood Stages

This essay delves into the realm of psychosocial development, specifically focusing on the crucial early childhood stage, spanning from 2 to 5 years of age. It uses a case study of a child named Julie, who is facing challenges with toilet training, to illustrate key concepts. The essay begins by defining psychosocial development as the evolution of a child's socialization, encompassing cognitive, emotional, and social growth. It then explores Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, particularly the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage relevant to Julie's age. The role of parenting, peer interaction, and childcare socialization is also examined, highlighting the importance of parental support and guidance in fostering a child's emotional and social competencies. Furthermore, the essay identifies factors influencing psychosocial development, such as parent-child interactions and stress, and concludes by emphasizing the relevance of understanding childhood development for nursing and midwifery practices, highlighting its impact on identifying potential developmental disorders and improving healthcare quality. The essay references peer-reviewed journal articles to support its arguments.

Running head: PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 1
Psychosocial Development
Name:
Institution Affiliation:

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Introduction
Early childhood is regarded as a rapid period of the development in the human existence. It is the
fundamental key to productive life for a child and the development of a society. Early childhood
is a critical phase of the development which forms the foundation for the children’s future well
being and learning. The early stages are the magical when it comes to the development of the
children. Children moves from being completely dependent upon their parent, to becoming
somewhat independent beings on the globe. In every facet of development, their knowledge base
and skills are exploding, not the least of which are their sociable and emotional competencies
(Berk, 2017). The age group of this stage is between 2 to 5 years which commence the tail end of
the Erik Erikson’s second phase of the psychosocial development. In the case scenario it is about
Julie, who is two years and two months old, the issue affecting the child is that she is not yet
toilet trained during the day or the night. The other children in the day care they have mastered
on the skills, apart from Julie, which is part of her developmental milestone. Thus, this essay will
highlight some important aspects of pychosocial development which occur in the children
between 2 to 5 years, and what influences this kind of development.
What psychosocial development entails
Psychosocial development is the development on the child’s socialization? Psychosocial
development is precisely how one develops their mind, maturity level together with the feelings,
throughout their life (Barac, Bialystok, Castro & Sanchez, 2014). The rate of the development
generally depends upon the numerous factors for instance biological processes together with the
environmental aspects, ‘Erik Erikson’ was a psychoanalyst who considered that early childhood
achievements and failures were impacted later in the developmental phases that were created

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within this theory (Woodward et al 2013). Erikson’s theory of the psychosocial development has
been centered on the theory that social experience has an influence over the whole lifespan.
There are 8 phases of the developmental stage of the development in psychosocial theory
(Huang, Peters, Vaughn & Witko, 2014). In Erik Erikson philosophy of the psychosocial
development in his perception that every person created their very own personality through a
compilation of stages and these stages developed as a result of the social experiences that you
experienced via their life.
Psychosocial development process is determined by the interaction of the mind, body and the
cultural influences (Shapiro & Margolin, 2014). The physical and the cognitive aspects could
limit one’s ability to perceive as well as judge the risk effectively and could result in the children
views that are incongruous with the parents. The parent could assist the children to transition
this crucial development period providing guidance and support.
Aspects of psychosocial development of children and examples
Childhood development focuses on explaining how the children change and grow in the course
of their childhood. The psychosocial development of children includes; social, emotional and the
cognitive growth (Day et al 2014). The infants who at the age of two they are begin to learn to
speak, walk and they become more independent and this assists help to build on the self
confidence. The creation of this personal identity means exploring various fundamental aspects
of themselves such as gender, race and personality. At the age of Julie, the child still believes
they could grow up and transform genders (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). When they reach six years
they are more or perhaps less a fixed aspect to their identity. At the age of Julie the children

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begin to have some sense of stable characteristics which makes them the unique person that they
are (Woodward et al 2013).
Role of parenting, peer and childcare socialization
The parents or the caretakers should be aimed at supporting the children developmental drives,
and also fostering development. For example, parents could assist curb aggression by teaching
children about emotions. Additionally, they can help them to learn their names for the feeling,
and giving them outlet for their expression (Woodward et al 2013). It is important to help
children Julie’s age experience and also express emotion through play (Young, Gore, Gorman &
Watson, 2013). This offers them to provide opportunities for the children to develop social skills,
express, relieve stress and exercise control over their surroundings. Julie needs help on the
strategies to toilet train and this needs to be addressed by first understanding who they are and
beginning to understand what their personal identity means and explore on the fundamental
aspects which have been highlighted.
Work of the theorist Erikson Stage of social development
In this case study it can be addressed in regards to the Erikson theory of the psychosocial
development. Julie is in stage two which is 2 years. This is the autonomy vs. shame and doubt
stage. The focus is on the children developing greater sense to the personal control. The child is
gaining independence such as knowing how to toilet (Schultz, Levitt & Selman, 2017). The child
is expected to begin to perform basic actions on their own and making simple decisions such as
going to the toilet. The child should make choice and gain control, and the care giver and the
parents help them through developing sense of autonomy. This stage helps the child to be self
sufficient in ways such as toileting, feeding or dressing. The child will be able to learn to

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imagine, and become more independent through broadening their skills through exploration,
engaging, participation and cooperation with others including peers (Woodward et al 2013).
Examples of factors that influence psychosocial development
The factors which influence psychosocial development are, parent interaction and care such as
telling stories, parental social skills and stress (Meeus, 2016). The first is on the parent
interaction, it is important that the child interact with the mother to know the issue or what they
might want. In the case of Julie, she is at the day care where her mother works. Victoria wants to
always know the progress of her child development. On the second aspect, is a parental social
skill (Schultz, Levitt & Selman, 2017). Each parent helps their children to become accustomed to
new skills and decrease on likelihood to struggling social anxiety. Stress could also affect the
children social development (Day et al 2014). Parental conflict, stressful as well as impoverished
neighborhoods could predispose children to difficult social development.
Relevance to understand childhood life stage to nursing and midwifery practice
Understanding childhood life helps them to identify the policy, education and training that would
assist them to improve on the quality and relevance of health improvement. Additionally,
Midwifery and nurses would be able to know if the children are in the right track and identify
any disorder which they are suffering from. Early identification would assist the young children
in learning to deal with the condition.
Conclusion
In this essay, it is a case study about Julie who is not toilet trained and the other children her age
have mastered the skills. The essay is about the psychosocial development which entails a series

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of stages of childhood development. The essay has talked about what psychosocial development
entails and has regarded it as development on the child’s socialization. Additionally, there are
aspects of psychosocial development highlighted such as race, gender and personality. Parent
roles such as support the children developmental drives, and curbing aggression through teaching
the children emotion has also been discussed. The essay has also discussed the work done by
theorist such as Erikson on the social development particularly in the second stage, where the
children are gaining control and making simple decisions. Within the essay it was important to
discuss the factors of social development and the relevance of understanding childhood life
stages especially to nursing and midwifery practice.

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