SOCW 6210 Week 2 Assignment

SOCW 6210 Week 2 Assignment

Assignment: Middle Adulthood Health, Demography, and Social Work Practice

A health crisis can occur at any phase in an individual’s life span. General health concerns, however, tend to increase with age. As a social worker, your awareness of the biological aspects of middle adulthood will inform your work with clients in this life-span phase.

In this Assignment, you address the health concerns that clients may face as they reach middle adulthood. You also address the potential impact of the environment on the health of individuals in this life-span phase.

By Day 7

Submit a 2- to 4-page paper that includes the following:

•        A description of the health concerns that clients may face as they reach middle adulthood
•        An analysis that explains how factors such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other demographic characteristics might impact at least three of the health concerns you identified
•        An explanation of how you, as a social worker, should take these potential health concerns and the environmental factors that influence them into account as you complete your assessments

Discussion: Classifications of Life-Span Development

When did you become an adult? Was it the day you graduated from high school? Or, was it the day you moved out of your parents’ or caregivers’ home? Your description of what it means to be an adult and how and when an adolescent transitions into adulthood may differ from that of your colleagues.

The authors of your course text, Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, use the term young and middle adulthood to identify the life-span time period between age 18 and 65. This classification distinguishes this time in the life of an individual from childhood and adolescence and from the later years of adulthood.

Is the authors’ young and middle adulthood classification a useful one? What is especially useful and not useful about the classification? What changes would you make to the authors’ classification to make it more applicable to your role as a social worker?

For this Discussion, you analyze the author’s life-span classification and suggest ways to improve it.

Post:

•        A new classification (or possibly multiple classifications) to replace the authors’ young and middle adulthood classification
•        A definition of your new classification(s)
•        Support for your new classification(s). for example, this support may include references to theory and empirical research findings and should reflect the current understanding of biological, psychological, and social development
•        An implication your new classification might have regarding social work practice

Assignment: Middle Adulthood Health, Demography, and Social Work Practice

Support your Assignment with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Learning Resources

SAMPLE ANSWER

Classifications of Life-Span Development

Introduction

Developmental psychologists study the changes that occur in people as they age. They are interested in physical, cognitive, and social development across the lifespan. Developmental psychologists often use a life-span approach, which means they consider all of the phases of life from conception to death. The field of developmental psychology is vast, and there are many different ways to classify and study lifespan development. In this blog post, we will explore some of the different classifications of lifespan development and what they entail.

Physical Development

There are four main classifications of life-span development:

Physical Development: This is the stage where an individual’s physical appearance changes and matures. It includes changes in height, weight, hair color, and other physical characteristics. This stage usually begins during puberty and continues into adulthood.

Cognitive Development: This stage is characterized by changes in an individual’s ability to think, reason, and remember. It includes the acquisition of knowledge and the development of problem-solving skills. This stage usually begins in infancy and continues into adulthood.

Social Development: This stage is characterized by changes in an individual’s relationships with others. It includes the development of communication skills, empathy, and a sense of self-identity. This stage usually begins in childhood and continues into adulthood.

Emotional Development: This stage is characterized by changes in an individual’s emotions and emotional reactions to events. It includes the development of self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-regulation. This stage usually begins in childhood and continues into adulthood

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development refers to the way in which children think, learn, and remember. It is a process that begins in infancy and continues into adulthood.

There are three main theories of cognitive development: Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s theory, and information-processing theory.

Piaget’s theory: Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development. He suggested that children go through four distinct stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Vygotsky’s theory: Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky disagreed with Piaget’s ideas about cognitive development. He argued that culture plays a more important role than biology in cognitive development. He also believed that children learn best through social interaction with more knowledgeable others, such as adults or older children. This is known as the zone of proximal development.

Information-processing theory: Information-processing theory focuses on how the brain processes information. This theory has its roots in computer science and artificial intelligence. According to this theory, cognition occurs in three stages: encoding (getting information into memory), storage (holding information in memory), and retrieval (getting information out of memory).

Emotional and Social Development

During the earliest stage of life-span development, babies are developing their emotional and social skills. They learn how to express emotions, interact with others, and develop a sense of self. As they grow older, they continue to build on these skills and learn more about themselves and the world around them.

It is important for parents and caregivers to provide support and encouragement during this time. Helping children feel loved and secure can help them develop healthy emotional and social skills. providing opportunities for them to explore, play, and learn new things can also be beneficial.

Moral Development

Moral development is the process that people go through to learn how to make decisions about right and wrong. It is a lifelong process that starts in childhood and continues into adulthood.

Most experts agree that there are four main stages of moral development:

1) The Pre-Conventional Stage: In this stage, children learn to obey rules and follow authority figures out of fear of punishment. They have not yet developed a sense of right and wrong, and their morality is based on self-interest.

2) The Conventional Stage: In this stage, people conform to society’s rules and norms. They want to be seen as good, upstanding citizens. Their morality is based on what they think is best for society as a whole.

3) The Post-Conventional Stage: In this stage, people start to question societal rules and norms. They develop their own set of moral principles based on personal values and beliefs. People in this stage are often considered rebels or non-conformists.

4) The Transcendent Stage: In this final stage, people go beyond conventional morality altogether. They live according to their own spiritual or philosophical beliefs, regardless of what society says.

Conclusion

In conclusion, life-span development can be classified in a number of ways. The most common way to classify life-span development is by physical, cognitive, and social development. However, there are other ways to classify life-span development, such as by Psychosocial Morality, which includes the stages of Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional morality; or Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development, which includes the stages of Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority Complex , Identity vs . Role Confusion , Intimacy vs . Isolation , Generativity vs . Stagnation , and Ego Integrity vs . despair