Lifecycle Development and Child Well-being

Introduction

Lifecycle development is the process, where the child development is possible including, where the needs and preferences of the children can be fulfilled by the care professionals and parents and also the family members (De Onis, 2017). The aim of the study is to analyse the case of Jessica Sohail, in order to analyse her needs and preferences in the society as well as develop effective recommendations according to the lifecycle development plan. It is necessary for the child to get suitable environment for brought up, and in this regard the study provides an opportunity to evaluate the lifecycle development and ensure the development of the child with proper recommendations, so that the needs and preferences of the child can be fulfilled. In this regard, Jessica lives with her mother and three siblings. Jessica and her siblings are suffering from bad parenting and unhealthy home environment with abuse and harm, where Shula is her mother and Melving is her father and their father was addicted towards drugs and alcohol, which leads the situation towards abuse and harm.

Shula lived alone with her children, as her husband left them alone. Shula was suffering from depression and she consulted with the health and social care worker for assistance so that she can improve her parenting in educating the children and give them proper environment to live. Jessica and her family consulted with child development and wellbeing worker for getting proper advice so that the parenting of Shula can be improved and she can manage her children properly. The social worker coordinated and provided proper advice to Shula or improving her parenting, but it rose issues, when Shula was committed to Andy, as Shula start neglecting Jessica which is shocking for Jessica to get proper childhood. The children were neglected and the neighbours complained the social worker that the children are found in gardens and they slept hungry at 5 Pm, with only biscuits, crisps and sweets. The social worker decided to visit the home and consulted with Andy and Shula, but they pretend that they are efficient to take care of Jessica and other children. Here, it is necessary for the social worker to intervene in the family and develop effective strategy to take care of the children, as Shula and Andy denied the fact that the children are neglected.

Discussing different stage of lifecycle

There are different stages of lifecycle and it is the responsibility of the parents to provide suitable environment, so that the child can get proper environment to explore their thoughts and live with fulfilling their needs and aspirations (Dempsey and Miletin, 2019). As per the life cycle, the stages are such as baby, child, teenagers, adult, old age and death, where there are different needs and preferences of the individuals according to the different stages of life. In this regard, as per the case study of Sohail family, when Jessica was at the age of two, she was taken care by the social workers and she was admitted to school for the primary education. She did not get proper environment for living and it is the necessity of the child to get proper support from the parents at their childhood where they feel safe and secured under the supervision of the parents. Hereby, parenting plays a crucial role in managing the children and brought them up with suitable assistance (Lo et al., 2017). In this case, Jessica fails to get suitable environment, though she lived with her mother and siblings, there was lack of attachments with other members at home and Jessica became quiet and got depressed due to having no cooperation from the parents. It is problematic for Jessica to get proper assistance from her parents, as the parents themselves were not happy with their relationship and her father was abusive and harmful due to high addiction towards drug and alcohol. Hereby, there was lack of attachment with her father and also with her mother which lead Jessica towards depression in the family.

As per the lifecycle of the human being, it is necessary for the child, to feel secured and be happy under the love and care of the parents. In the stage of childhood, the children are also expecting to get proper cooperation from their parents during education, playing at home and other fun loving activities, where the child need proper coordination and participation of the parents at the home (Noe et al., 2017). However, in the present case, Jessica fails to get suitable environment, due to disturbed atmosphere at home, as her mother and father were not happy and they were engaged in conflicts due to high consumption of alcohol and drug. Her father misbehaved with Jessica and with her mother also which also affect the childhood of Jessica. As a child, she did not expect to get such behaviour from her parents and it was very disappointing for Jessica to live normally with peaceful mind at home, as there were many incidents related to harm and abuse as her father was addicted towards alcohol and drugs. In addition to this, in the nine years old lifecycle, there is social need in the child, where the child need proper social inclusion, get-together with family members and grandparents, opportunities to ply with others in the society, attention and quality time together. These are the major needs and preferences of Jessica at the age of nine years, however she failed to access these preferences and she felt excluded in the society due to negligence of her parents.

As per the cognitive needs the child, there are necessity reading and writing, proper education, playing activities, language skills development, proper cooperation, enhancing communication and development of brain with proper understanding. Under the psychological needs of the children, the children seek love, proper attention ad care from the parents as well as they require developing positive self esteem and learning who he or she is in the society (Jeong, Kim and Subramanian, 2018). These are the major psychological needs and cognitive requirements of the chid, which are important for child development stage as per the lifecycle development theories. In this regard, Jessica did not have the opportunity to fulfil hr psychological and cognitive needs as she was excluded in the family and the parents did not support her with proper communication and cooperation. She did not even get proper assistance from her parents and the parents failed to provide time to the chid so that Jessica can feel valued and important at the home. These are the major issues in the child development of Jessica for which she become quiet and depressed due to unfavourable circumstances at home here the parents were not communicative and cooperative for which Jessica also fail to fulfil her needs and preferences in the family.

Analysing the needs of the child

Basic human needs are the state o having an accurate and sufficient amount of food, income and housing which are necessary for living in the society. In this regard, as per child development process, there are different needs of the children in the society, where they require for healthy life style and being a good child in the society. The children are also sensible like adults and they seek different needs to fulfil their aspirations or child development. It is necessary for the child to get suitable environment, here they can fulfil their needs and preferences and get proper assistance from the society for successful development of the child. In this context, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the effective theories to analyse the needs and preferences of the child in the society (van Heerden et al., 2017). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in the psychological comprising a five tier model of human needs and preferences in the society. There are different needs of the human being which are psychological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self actualisation. As per the psychological needs, the requirements are basic for the human being to live in the society, which are air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing and reproducing.

Considering child development, the children require to fulfil the psychological needs where they need proper food intake, water, air, shelter, sleep and clothing so that the child can feel valued in fulfilling these needs. However, as per the Jessica’s case study, her mother and father failed to provide the basic needs of the child, where the child got neglected and she failed to have proper food timely, water, shelter and clothing. Her mother and father were disturbed with their own problems, and her father was addicted to alcohol and drug which needs the situation towards abuse and harm. In this situation, Jessica was neglected with having proper food timely and she failed to fulfil the needs of clothing, food, shelter, this further deteriorate the health condition of the child in future and the brain is also not developed well due to lack of food and water (Sudfeld et al., 2015). After the psychological needs, it is necessary to have safety and security, where the child can feel valued and secured in the house. Personal security and healthy property and employment are necessary as per the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In this regard, for child development, the child needs proper assistance and cooperation from her parents where they and feel valued and safe under the supervision of the parents. The needs of love and belonging are also necessary for the children, where friendship, intimacy, connection and family matter for the child in the society. In case of Jessica, she was under the supervision of care givers, where there is lack of engagement with her parents and she feel insecure and undervalued at the home, as her parents fail to develop bonding and attachment with her.

In addition to this, the self esteem is necessary, where, as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there needs proper self esteem, respected, status, recognition, strength and freedom. In this context, Jessica failed to have proper environment, where she could not get proper respect and recognition at the home, the parenting of the child was not goo and the parents did not care about the child development of Jessica, rather her father was busy in consumption of alcohol and drug and abusing the children and Shula. Self actualisation needs are also mandatory, under which realising personal potential, self fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peaking experiences are necessary. Jessica in this case, failed to get proper environment from successful education , rather she was disturbed with the home atmosphere and she did not get any assistance from her parents during playing and learning. In this stage, language development and gaining personal experience matters as well as the brain was developed, but Jessica experienced unfavourable circumstances at home, which failed to meet the needs and preferences of the child.

The culture of white requires proper cooperation and communication with the society, where social inclusion matters in the society where proper engagement with the neighbours, love and respecting each other are mandatory for successful child development. For Jessica, it is necessary to have proper environment for social inclusion, so that she can play and learn with proper cooperation with the friends and neighbours. As per identity, Jessica also needs to have proper respect and integrity in the family which she lacks to have during her childhood, for miscommunication and non-cooperation in the family. She did not get proper assistance from the family members as well as she got depressed and socially excluded which deteriorates the mental condition of the child. In addition to this, such situation in the family deteriorates the quality life and hamper the educational system of Jessica, in the stage of child development, it is necessary to have proper brain development where the care govern and the parents are playing crucial role in supporting the child with proper emotional support, mental support, communication, attachment and love and respect (Arnett, Chapin and Brownlow, 2018). However, Jessica fails to have the assistance from the parents which raise further consequences in the lifestyle of Jessica. She did not proper food timely and she field to fulfil her psychological and basic needs and this hampers the brain development and educational development. Moreover, Jessica was depressed which raise further consequences in her future live, where she could suffer from physical and mental health condition.

Applying the theories of life cycle development

Bowlby attachment theory is important where Bowlby suggested that the child would initially from only one primary attachment and that attachment figure acted as a secured base for exploring the world. The attachment theory helps to provide suitable understanding to develop in depth relationship where the chid feel protected under the supervision of the parents or care givers or the family members (Raikes, 2017). As per the first step of the Bowlby attachment theory, if the care givers are responsive to the chid and thy take care of the child properly, the children become happy when they return to home and they seek comfort front he care giver hen scared or sad at home, but, when the care givers react quickly, the child get depressed and distressed in the home. Hereby, there is crucial role of the care givers in the society, where the child tries to develop string bonding with the care givers if the care givers are also cooperative and take care of the child with warm love (Levine and Munsch, 2018). In the second stage, the insecure avoidant, the child get insecure due to avoidant the care givers where the child feel depressed of the care givers are not responsible to fulfil the psychological and basic needs of the child. In this regard, the care givers play an important role in child development, where attachment with the child is necessary at home.

In this present case study, the child Jessica felt depressed as she failed to develop proper attachment with her parents, as her parents was busy in quarrelling and her father was abusive and harmful due to addiction of alcohol and drug. The atmosphere of the home was not good and Jessica become quiet and keeps for such situation as she was afraid at home. Moreover, Jessica feel depressed at home, as she could not get proper assistance and help from her parents and any other family members, the care giver was there to support Jessica and improve the parenting of her mother, but her mother was not cooperative and this deteriorates situation of the home. Jessica also failed to get proper support from the society as her mother was not social included and there was no such healthy relationship with the neighbours. This deteriorates the mental condition of Jessica were she fails to fulfil her cognitive and psychological needs in living in the society. During the child development, there needs proper trust and company from the parents where Jessica did not get proper support from her parents and she fails to get support during her education at the childhood. The experience of Jessica was bad and she feels undervalued at home at her childhood. She felt depressed and alone which lead her towards anxiety, behavioural disorders and mistrust, as she start not to believe anyone at home, as the parents are not cooperative and they fail to contribute positively in Jessica’s life to fulfil her basic needs.

The theory is good to understand that, the attachment between the child and the care givers are important, but there lacks proper explanation about the necessities of the child during the attachment. As per the theory, Jessica needs proper attachment with the car givers, rather she become keep and calm and she fails to share her feelings towards her parents as well as she also fail to discuss her needs and preferences with the care givers at home. The situation that she faces was not favourable for a child development and this further raise depression and anxiety in Jessica. The theory is good for the health and social care workers to develop effective planning to support Jessica so that she can get healthy life with proper operation and communication, but the theory fails to explain all the stages of child development in Jessica’s life due to lack of explanation of the ways of building good bonding with family members.

Conclusion and recommendations

It can be concluded that, child development is one of the important context where the god parenting, environmental situation, home atmosphere and the intervention of the care givers are necessary so that the child can get proper assistance from the parents and the care givers as well. As per the above discussion, Jessica did not get proper environment for the development and fulfilling her needs to live happily with her family members, rather she felt depressed in staying home, where there is lack of proper communication and cooperation from her parents. The strategic recommendation for child development is such as,

Good parenting is necessary for Jessica where she needs proper care and support from the parents. Parents are the only one who can understand their children and it is necessary or Jessica to get love and respect from her parents. In this regard, Shula, Jessica’s mother needs to take initiative to meet the social workers and care giver properly and tell the truth about the home atmosphere. Proper cooperation and communication and getting advice from the care givers about god parenting are necessary for Jessica’s mother, so that she can treat her child properly.

In this regard, her mother also take the initiative to fulfil the needs and preferences of Jessica, by meeting the psychological and cognitive needs, social and basic needs and the needs of self esteem and actualisation and love. In this context, her mother needs to give quality time to Jessica and participate positively during learning and playing.

It is the responsibility of Shula, to raise communication and build strong relationship between Andy and Jessica, so that Jessica and feel free to coordinate with Andy and share her emotion with Andy. Andy and Shula in this regard are responsible to support the child with proper communication and cooperation and ensure love respect and fulfilment of basic psychological needs of Jessica.

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