J. R Early Childhood

J.R was born in Tijuana, Mexico. She is currently living a few miles from the Mexico-United States border in San Ysidro, California. She recently turned 15 years old and is in her sophomore year of high school. J. R. is fully bilingual in both English and Spanish. She has olive skin, hazel eyes, and has naturally curly brown hair. J. R. is an overall healthy adolescent; she has an average build, 5 feet 7 inches in height, but she is considered slightly overweight. The whereabouts of her family of origin are unknown; her biological mother gave her up for adoption immediately at birth. J. R. has never met any member of her birth family and her adoptive parents indicate that her birth mother lives somewhere in Mexico City. J. R. was adopted at …show more content…
Her culture has been heavily influenced by the Catholic Church; the majority of her family continue to identify as Catholic. Several members of the family, including J.R. and her mother have made the conversion from Roman Catholicism to Christianity in the last several years. Nonetheless, she was raised Catholic for most of her life, yet rarely participated in church activities or weekly mass. Soon after her parent’s separation, both she and her mother became very much committed to the Christian church; currently attending three times a week. They created a support system and a new circle of friends at their new place of worship. J.R. is now involved in the care and teaching of the younger children in the “Banderos” program in her free …show more content…
R. is also in the Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion stage and has yet to resolve her crisis at this stage in her Psychosocial Development to develop a strong ego identity. According to Erikson’s developmental theory, J. R. continues to work towards formulating her own concrete identity; to develop her set of beliefs, personal attributes, and values (Kaplan & Flum, 2010). During her interview, J.R. had a general quick response rate to the questions asked. She welcomed all inquiries, appeared confident, and offered full disclosure in all her replies. In figuring out her true purpose and ruling out any doubt, she is in the process of defining her ideal career path. She is currently debating between a career in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, or working in another law enforcement field. She participates in the “Administration of Justice” program at her school; which is helping her decide which career path she would like to follow. She continues this self-discovery in her school setting and surrounding community; creating social relationships which assist her generate meaning through her active participation. Her peers as a support system, encourage her through the process of self-identifying to establish her own set of life and career objectives. This experience is expected to provide a link between her identity and her defined role in her communal setting (Kaplan & Flum,