Human Behavior and Victimology

FIRST WEEK TARGET DISCUSSIONS

Concepts , Theories and Principles of Human Development

Human Development

Is a process in which a progressive series of changes occurs as a result of maturation and experience.
According to Newman, human development emphasizes the patterns of constancy and change across
the life span and identifies the processes that account for such patterns.

Development Changes

The goal of developmental changes is to enable people to adapt to the environment in which they
live, through a process called self realization or self actualization. It plays an important role in
ensuring one’s mental well-being, individuals who make good personal and social adjustments must
seek opportunities to express their interest and desires in ways that yield personal satisfaction while
conforming to accepted standards at the same time. The absence of these opportunities can lead to
frustrations and generally negative attitudes toward people and even life in general.

Significant facts about development

Early foundations are critical - essentially attitudes , habits, and patterns of behavior that have been
established in the early years of one’s life largely determine the success of individuals in adjusting to
life as the grow older.

Roles of maturation and learning in development maturation refers to the process by which an
individuals inherent traits are developed. learning is the product of the exercise and effort spent by an
individual to achieve development. In relation to this , maturation provides the raw material for
learning and determines the general patterns and sequences of one’s behavior.

Three important facts emerge from our present knowledge of the interrelationship of maturation and
learning as the cause of development
1. Because human beings are capable of learning, variation is possible
2. Maturation sets limit beyond which progress even with the favorable learning methods and the
strongest motivation.
3. There is a definite time table for learning.

-Maturation. Refers to the growth following the birth that is determined primarily by genetic factors
and occurs more or less independently of learning
-Learning. Development that comes from exercise and effort on the individual’s part.

Development follows a definite and predictable pattern - there are patterns of physical motor ,
speech and intellectual development and such development follows a pattern similar for everyone,
unless there are extenuating factors that hamper this process.

All individuals are different - no two individuals can be 100 percent biologically and genetically similar
even in the case of identical twins. Such difference increase as children develop from childhood, move
on to adolescence and eventually to old age

Each phase of development has a characteristic behavior - this means that every stage of
development includes a set of behaviors that can only be observed in a particular stage.

Phases of Development.
Equilibrium -when individuals adopt easily to environmental demands
Disequilibrium -when individuals experience difficulties in adaptation makes poor personal social
adjustments

Each phase of development has hazards - each stage in the life span of an individual can be
associated with specific developmental hazards - be they psychological, physical, or environmental,
such hazards may involve adjustment problems

Development is aided by stimulation - A large part of human development occurs as a product of

maturation and environmental experiences, and in relation to this, much can be done to aid
development so that it will reach it’s full potential. This can be achieved by stimulating development
by directly encouraging an individual to utilize an ability which is in the process of development.

Development is affected by cultural changes - An individuals development often conforms to cultural

standards, hence changes in these standards can also affect one’s developmental pattern

There are social expectations for every stage of development - All cultural groups expect their
members to familiarize themselves with essential skills and acquire certain approved behavioral
patterns at various ages during one’s lifetime.

There are common traditional beliefs about people of all ages - Beliefs concerning physical and
psychological characteristics do affect the judgement of others and their subsequent self evaluations.

Characteristics of Development
1. Dependence to Self
2. Pleasure to Reality
3. Ignorance to Knowledge
4. Incompetence to Competence
5. Diffuse to Articulated Self - Identity

Stages in Human Life Span

1. Prenatal Period Conception to birth (0-9months)
2. Infancy Birth to the end of the second week
3. Babyhood End of the second week to the end of the second year
4. Early Childhood Two to Six Years
5. Late Childhood Six to Ten or Twelve Years Old
6. Puberty or Pre-Adolescence Ten or Twelve to 13 or 14 years Old
7. Adolescence 13 or 14 to 18 Years Old
8. Early Adulthood 18-40 years old
9. Middle Age 40-60 years old
10. Old Age or Senescence 60 to Death

Developmental Task During Life Span

Developmental Task - A task which arises at or about a certain period in the life of the individual
successful achievement of which leads to happiness and to success with later tasks , while failure
leads to unhappiness and difficulty with later tasks

a. Babyhood and Early Childhood

a) Learning to take solid food
b) Learning to walk
c) Learning to talk
d) learning to control the elimination of body wastes
e) Learning sex differences and sexual modesty
f) Getting ready to read
g) Learning to distinguish right and wrong and beginning to develop a conscience

b. Late Childhood
a) Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games
b) Building wholesome attitude toward oneself as a growing organism
c) Learning to get along with age mate
d) Beginning to develop appropriate masculine or feminine social roles
e) Developing fundamental skills in reading , writing and calculating
f) Developing concepts necessary for everyday living
g) Developing conscience , sense of morality and scale of values
h) Attitudes toward social groups and institutions
i) Achieving personal independence

c. Puberty and Adolescence

a) Achieving new and more mature relations with age mates of both sexes
b) Achieving a masculine and feminine social role
c) Accepting one’s physique and using one’s body effectively
d) Desiring accepting and achieving socially responsible behavior
e) Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults
f) Preparing for an economic career
g) Preparing for marriage and family life
h) Acquiring a set of vales and and ethical system as a guide to behavior

d. Early Adulthood
a) Getting started in an occupation
b) Selecting a mate
c) Learning to live with a marriage partner
d) Starting a family
e) Rearing children
f) Managing a home
g) Taking on civic responsibility
h) Finding a congenial social group

e. Middle Age
a) Achieving adult civil and social responsibility
b) Assisting teenage children to become responsible and happy adults
c) Developing adult leisure time activities
d) Relating oneself to one’s spouse person
e) Accepting and adjusting to the physiological changes of middle age
f) Reaching and maintaining satisfactory performance in one’s occupational career
g) Adjusting to aging parents

f. Old Age
a) Adjusting to decreasing , physical health
b) Adjusting to retirement and reduce income
c) Adjusting to death of spouse
 d) Establishing an explicit affiliation with members of one’s age group
e) Establishing satisfactory physical living arrangements
f) Adapting to social roles in a flexible way

Psychological Theories on Human Development

Psychoanalytic Theory

As one of the most popular theories of development , Psychoanalytic theory theory originated with
the work of Sigmund Freud who argued that childhood experiences and unconscious desires
ultimately influence our behaviors as adults.

Fun Fact : Sigmund Freud he wasn’t a psychologist , he was a physician more specifically a neurologist
and in 1885 he went to Paris to study hypnosis with a fellow neurologist but this experience is what
turned him towards medical psychopathology.

Add : Our personalities have memories , beliefs, urges, drives and instincts that we are not always
aware of and that make up this “unconscious”

The major driving force behind’s Freud’s instinctual theory is the concept of Libido

In relation to this theory “ Libido” is a natural energy source that fuels the mechanisms of the mind.
and when this libido or energy is stuck in various stages of psychosexual development stages ,
conflicts can occur that have lifelong effects.

ID -It’s the unconscious part of the mind and makes up most of it , it develops right after birth and
demands immediate gratification. It wants gratification and only gratification
examples are ( hunger , thirst , going to the bathroom , sex , etc. ) Pleasure principle

EGO - Involve in our perceptions thoughts and judgement, and it seeks long term gratification as
opposed to the IDS immediate gratification . compromises between the Id and the super ego to
determine behavior

SUPER EGO - Develops at the age of 4 , It is our moral compass or our conscience. To do what society
says it should be done on a given situation.

Freud came up with the idea of defense mechanism which is when reality principle or ego is distorted
in order to protect itself from anxiety or negative feelings from ID impulses. Defense mechanisms can
be positive or negative ways to deal with negative feelings

Defense Mechanism: Denial

True Feeling: Have a crush on the person
Need to Avoid: Anxiety for the possibility of being rejected
Result: I don’t have a crush on that person

Defense Mechanism: Reaction Formation

True Feelings: Crush on the person
Need to avoid: Anxiety for the possibility of being rejected
Result: The person is disgusting

Defense Mechanism: Projection

True Feelings : Crush on the person
Need to avoid: Anxiety for the possibility of being rejected
Result: My friend has a crush on that person
Or when a person who is cheating is under the impression that their partner is cheating on them.

Defense Mechanism: Displacement

True Feelings: Crush on the other person
Need to avoid: Anxiety for the possibility of being rejected
Result: Go with another person even tho you like the other

Let’s say due to your defense mechanism your crush asked someone else out instead of you
And during class you cursed on your teacher because of this anger

Defense Mechanism: Acting out

True Feelings: Anger for being stuck with another person instead of your crush
Need to avoid: Expressing anger for because you’re with another person instead of your crush.
Result:Being reprimanded by the teacher

Defense Mechanism: Acceptance

True Feelings : Anger for being stuck with another person instead of your crush
Need to avoid: expressing anger for being stuck with another person instead of your crush
Result: I’m going to accept that i am going to with the other person instead of my crush and try to
have a good time

Defense Mechanism: Repression - Being unable to recall memories of traumatic events(Sexual

assaults, witnessing a death , because they are emotionally painful

Defense Mechanism: Dissociation - Feeling separated from one’s own body or identity because
certain identities or events trigger painful thoughts or memories

Regression - Going back to a previous stage in development to avoid painful memories (such as an
adult acting like a child)

Defense Mechanism: Rationalization

Stealing from a corporate chainstore and justifying the action because the store makes millions of
money everyday

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Sigmund Freud believes that all human beings pass through a series of psychosexual stages , each
stages dominated by the development and sensitivity in a particular erogenous or measure - giving
spot in the body. If individuals are unsuccessful in resolving the conflict, their solving frustration
becomes chronic and remains a central feature of their psychological make up.

As a result of their frustration or over indulgence , individuals experience fixation at a particular stge
of their development.
Fixation: Is the tendency to stay at a particular stage. The individuals troubled by the conflict
that characterizes the stage and seeing to reduce it by means of the behavior characteristics of that
stage.

The Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months ) - during this stage , an infants main source of interaction occurs
through the mouth and as such rooting and sucking are especially important in this stage. It is said
that the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation by performing gratifying activities such as
sucking. The infant may also develop a sense of trust and comfort with an adult who is providing this
kind of oral stimulation (eg. feeding the child)

Conflict occurs during the weaning process and at this point the child must become less dependent
upon his/her caretakers , otherwise fixation may occur.
If this fixation is not resolved:

Oral Aggressive: Chewing on objects such as pens or t-shirt collars

Oral Passive: Taking up oral activities such as smoking , eating, drinking or kissing too
much

Freud believed that individuals with an oral fixation may have passive or manipulative personality

The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years) - during this stage , a child becomes aware of correct bowel
control and experiences pleasure in eliminating or retaining feces. Some parents praise and reward
children who show correct behavior in this sense. These children eventually grow up to become
productive and confident.

Fixation occurs when :

Parents who over emphasize toilet training and cleanliness will get an anal retentive who is obsessed
with perfection, order, cleanliness and control as an adult. The opposite would be anal expulsive
who are extremely disorganized and chaotic

The well known anal traits also include stinginess, stubbornness , meticulousness and an unhealthy
obsession with punctuality, precision and perfection.

Phallic Stage (3 to 7 years old) - is mainly characterized by a child’s focus on sexual interests,
simulations , and excitement in relation to the genital area. This is an important part of the
development process as it lays the foundation of one’s gender identity. According to Freud the
patterns of identification arsing from the phallic stage primarily determine the development of human
character.

Freud believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections The Oedipus
complex describes these feelings of wanting to posses the mother and the desire to replace the
father. If not treated this would usually lead the child to believe that to commit Incest is ok. And
Freud believes them to be aggressive or jealous as adults.

However the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings a fear freud
termed as Castration anxiety

The term Electra complex has been used to describe a similar set of feelings experience by young
girls. Freud however believed that girls instead experience “Penis Envy” , girls who are stuck in the
Penis envy stage tend to have the desire to dominate men or being passive towards men

Latency Stage (5-6 years to Puberty ) this development stage begins around the same time when
children enter school and become more focused on their peer relationships , personal interests, and
hobbies ,along with greater social exposure. Hence this is a period of exploration and plays and
important role in the development of confidence as well as social and communication skills.

No conflicts on this stage

-libido lies dormant in the latency period only to be awakened in puberty years

Genital Stage - psychological detachments and independence from parents. Attempts to resolve
issues that were caused during earlier stages of development. The main objective of this phase is the
eventual separation from one’s attachment to his/her parents and the achievement of mature
relationships as well as adult roles and duties.

Erickson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

One of the best known theories of personality in the field of psychology, Erickson’s theory of
psychosocial development across the whole human lifespan. A major element of this theory is the ego
identity which is the conscious sense of self that we develope through social interaction. According to
erikson this ego identity constantly changes due to new information and experience we accumulate
through our daily interaction with others. As we face each new stage of development, we confront a
new challenge that can help further develop or hinder the development of our identity.

8 Stages:

Basic Trust VS Mistrust (infancy 1-2 years)

As infants we ask ourselves if we can trust the world and wonder if it’s safe .

We learn that if we trust someone now we can also trust others in the future.

If we experience fear, this would develop to doubt and mistrust.

Key factor: Mother

Autonomy VS Shame and Doubt (early childhood 2-4 years)

We experience and discover our bodies, we ask is it ok to be me?

if allowed to discover ourselves , we develop self confidence

If not , we can develop shame and self doubt

Key factor : Both Parents

Initiative VS Guilt (4-5 years old )

Is it ok for me to do what i do?

If encouraged we can follow our interest

If held back or when people tell you it’s silly we can develop guilt

Key factor: The entire family

Industry VS Inferiority (5 - 12 years old)

Receiving recognition from our peers and teachers , we become industrious/hardworking.

Too much negative feedback , we’ll start to feel inferior and lose motivation

Key factor: Neighbors and schools

Identity VS Role confusion (13-19 years old)

Many experience an identity crisis in this stage as we are friends, students, citizens etc2.

If allowed to go out and explore : We can find our identity

If pushed to conform to their views: We can face rile confusion and feel lost
Key factor to learning : peers and role models

Intimacy VS Isolation (20-40 years old)

As young adults we slowly understand who we are and start to let go of the relationships we had built
earlier to fit in.

We ask ourselves if we can love ? If we can make a long term commitment we are confident and
happy

If not we might end up feeling isolated and lonely

Key factor in development : Friends and partner

Generativity VS Stagnation (40-65 years old)

If we think that we are able to lead the next generation of this world, we become happy
If we did not resolve some conflicts earlier we can become pessimistic and stagnation

Key factor: People at home and work

Integrity VS Despair (65-death)

We reminisce the life we spent if we think we did well we develop feelings of contentment and
integrity if not we can experience despair and become grumpy and bitter.

Factors Influencing the Mastery of Developmental Task

Handicaps to Mastery

- A retarded developmental level

- Lack of opportunities to learn the developmental task or lack of guidance in their mastery
- Lack of motivation
- Poor health condition
- Physical defects
- Low intellectual level

Aids to Mastery

- A normal or accelerated developmental level

- Opportunities to learn the developmental tasks and receiving guidance in mastering them
- Strong motivation to learn and improve
- Good health and the absence of sickness
- A high level of intelligence
- A sense of creativity