Child Development Theory

When taking note of some of the news stories this week, I saw a variety of news items in regards to sociocultural issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement and illegal immigrants. It seems to me that the most frequently expressed concerns are that people want to be heard and accepted and assured they are being afforded their unalienable rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights. They do not want to be discriminated against and want to be able to live freely in the U.S. in the manner that they choose. There are so many “hot-button” topics in the news on any given day and it seems that with each story, whether it is a shooting or a story about illegal immigrants wanting to become legalized so they can vote in the upcoming election, these basic concerns are the same throughout. These issues, and the way in which they are addressed and solved, are important in …show more content…
The information in our Child Development book (Santrock, 2014) offers several theories of child development that contribute to helping us understand how we develop. Psychoanalytic theories are based on the belief that development is mostly unconscious. Erikson’s theory describes eight stages of development, that during each stage a crisis will need to be resolved, and that the greater the success in resolving the crisis, the healthier the person’s development will be. I feel this helps me understand the Black Lives Matter Movement by opening my eyes to the fact that just because a person may have had a rough childhood, or had gone through a stage of life with an unresolved crisis, does not mean it is acceptable to take it out on others and/or exhibit discriminatory or violent behaviors. If people make an attempt to examine themselves, take responsibility for their actions, ponder if there is a stage in their life that needs revisiting and