I observed and interviewed Raphael, 15 years male of Latin-American descent. Raphael is in his second year in high school. The main objective of the interview was to examine his developmental milestones, as evidenced by physical, cognitive, and social and emotional developments. The question and answer session took place at Raphael’s home. I chose it as the observation and interviewing environment to give him the confidence to respond to questions. The privacy of the interview space was paramount, and Raphael wanted to be sure that no one was eavesdropping our conversation. The home setting also allowed him to choose his preferred spot in their compound. The place had four chairs and an umbrella that covered the table in the middle of the chairs near a swimming pool. We sat facing the sky-blue pool water. Behind us were a lawn and well-trimmed flower beds. The setting was ideal for making him relax and feel homely.
Physical Development
Raphael had undergone several pubertal changes. He had a deep voice that indicated he had broken his voice, which is familiar to adolescent boys. The interviewee was tall and had a massive body with a broad chest. He had hair and traces of acne on his face. His muscles were also noticeably more prominent than those of ordinary 15-year-old boys. At the age of 15 years, adolescents are at the peak of development, but Raphael’s physical development was above average. The interviewee had the right height of a young adult, slightly taller than his age mates. The feature could be attributed to his Latin-American descent, as they tend to mature faster than their White counterparts. Latin American males are also generally tall. Comparing him with his age mates, he would look slightly older due to his already defined body. Teenage boys are also shy due to the changes taking place in their bodies; thus may be reluctant to talk about themselves, Muuss, (2018), but Raphael was willing to talk it out.
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Cognitive Development
Adolescence also includes cognitive development, as people in this age bracket are expected to show mental development associated with the stage. In the interview, I found out that Raphael was interested in understanding global politics and the sovereignty of states internationally. He was also attentive in understanding human behavior. Raphael was determined to excel in academics and become a scholar in the field of humanities and social sciences. More often, Raphael compared his achievements with those of his mates. He also felt that he was full-grown and could make rational decisions individually. Raphael also had long-term thoughts of how academic excellence would make him a scholar in the field of social sciences, a practice that is typical of adolescents in high school. He also made a comparison between his achievements against those of his peers and had grasped philosophical, social, moral, and political concepts. Raphael also had the aptitude for thinking abstractly and could handle several concepts concurrently and imagined the repercussions of his present doings to the future. Raphael’s cognitive development was above average since he had set goals that he was determined to achieve.
Analyzing his cognitive development using Erik Erikson’s theory of development, the teenager had identified his role in society. According to Erikson, teenagers between the ages of 12 are in the identity versus role confusion stage. This psychological process occurs during the adolescence stage of between twelve and eighteen years. Adolescents want to identify with something but cannot pick out what is right or wrong to be associated with ( Taubenheim, 2014) . Parental guidance is thus essential since their parents foresee the outcomes. Adolescents actively want to be independent, thus end up making the wrong choices in life since they have to try out many roles and ideas. The struggle between being a child and being an adult brings confusion and often rebellion since they consider their parents over-controlling. Parents to teenagers must understand their children differently since peer pressure greatly influences their thinking and fundamentally their decision ( Anderson, 2015) . How well a teenager overcomes the peer pressure and gets to understand themselves determines their ability to manage themselves and make the right choices in adulthood.
Raphael has identified his role in society, as depicted by his desire to study and understand human behavior. An individual who has not recognized his role is likely to be influenced by parents and friends and has no clear definition of what they want about the future. He is also not struggling with identification on whether he is a child or an adult, as he has defined himself as an adult.
Social/Emotional Development
Social and emotional changes are signals to a child’s desire for independent identity and the transformation into adulthood. I noticed that Raphael was figuring out his place in society and what he was supposed to become in the future. His father, as a professor of psychology, informed Raphael's desire to become a social scientist. The school had also offered him a wide range of ideas, and he felt he supported a different political leader from his parent. The interviewee had developed a new hobby of surfing, which they spent their leisure time practising with his friends in the absence of their trainer and had formed a great attachment to it.
Additionally, Raphael was in a romantic relationship with his classmate, and the two often had coffee dates. However, there were not intimate in the relationship, and he believed that was meant to occur later in life when the two were mature adults. He also had a cell phone that he used to reach his friends through different social media platforms and to research the most adventurous places around the globe. Raphael was worried about the acne on his face and was determined to apply any measure to clear the acne from his face because most of his friends did not have acne on their faces. The pressure was so immense because acne seemed to temper with his self-esteem. He loved spending more time with his friends than his family and often stayed in his room chatting and video calling his friends, especially when meeting face-to-face was not possible. During the interview, I noticed that his moods varied with the questions that I asked. Raphael’s social/emotional development was also above average. The justification is the urge to search for identity, and he wanted to identify with the father by becoming a social scientist, he was independent in making his political decisions and differed with the family. However, peer pressure was evident in his life, as his friends influenced him into surfing, and the fact that his friends did not have acne on their faces was bothered him. It was evident that he valued the feedback he got from friends and age mates than family, as he wanted to fit in. Raphael had also started to explore the world outside school and family as he used different communication methods to reach his friends, and most importantly, he had begun to develop and explore his sexual identity and was in a romantic relationship with his classmate.
Lev Vygotsky's theory can be used to describe Raphael’s social development. It is a social development theory which suggests that there is a fundamental role played by social interaction during the development of cognition in children (Willis, 2015). According to Youniss, (2016), t he theory states that “ Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). The theory applies equally to voluntary attention, logical memory, and the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals ’ theory. It also has the idea that potential cognitive development depends on the zone of proximal development which is attained when children engage in social behaviors, that what can be accomplished with the guidance of an adult or peer collaboration of more than what can be achieved while alone (Arnett et al., 2020). This theory explains consciousness as the end product of social interaction during a child’s development.
Raphael fits into Vygotsky’s expectation of a teenage boy, as those around him inform his decisions. He has developed a social life that is independent but influenced by friends and family. He is similar to his father by choosing to pursue a career in psychology but excises independence by having a different political opinion. However, peer pressure is evident, with him considering friends more important than that of family, a thought that is common among people his age.
Conclusion
The development theories created various psychologists have helped understand the human life cycle. Attitudes are instilled in a child by their external environment and determine how well they cope with adolescence and adulthood. It is also during these stages that an individual builds success or failure since each stage of development must pass, whether the individual is ready or not. The various stages of development illustrate the sequential development of human beings and how one stage affects the other. Although it does not always happen so, the framework applies to a significant percentage of the population. Although they do not apply typically to all people and cultures, the theories are fundamental in understanding the structure of human life.
References
Anderson, M. (2015). Intelligence and development: A cognitive theory . Blackwell Publishing.
Arnett, J., Maynard, A. E., Brownlow, C., Chapin, L., & Machin, T. (2020). Child development, a cultural approach . Pearson Australia.
Muuss, R. E. (2018). Theories of adolescence . Crown Publishing Group/Random House.
Taubenheim, B. W. (2014). Erikson's psychosocial theory applied to adolescent fiction: A means for adolescent self-clarification. Journal of Reading , 22 (6), 517-522
Willis, K. (2015). Theories and practices of development . Taylor & Francis.
Youniss, J. (1016). Parents and peers in social development: A Sullivan-Piaget perspective . University of Chicago Press.
