Life Span Interview-Part 2: Narrative Analysis
Throughout the HSBE I and II courses, you have explored the biological, psychological, and sociological aspects of different phases of the human life span. You have explored life-span development theories that help to explain human behavior. You also have considered how the social environment influences individuals and their behavior.
This week, you apply your learning of the person and the environment to an analysis of an individual's life span. Last week, you conducted a Life Span Interview with one of your colleagues. This week, you complete a narrative analysis based on your interview notes.
A narrative is a story. As you interviewed your colleague last week, several of the experiences your colleague shared may have struck you as being especially pertinent to his or her life story.
For this assignment, you transform your interview notes into a narrative-that is, a life story-of the colleague you interviewed. You interweave within this narrative an analysis of the life story by applying person and the environment concepts to your understanding and interpretation of that story. For example, you may identify a life-span development theory that, when applied to your colleague's narrative, helps you to understand his or her development and behavior at that point in the life span.
Submit a 3- to 5-page narrative analysis of the Life Span Interview
Support your Assignment with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Life Span InterviewNotes
Stage 1: Basic Trust Versus Basic Mistrust
• When you were an adolescent, did you trust your mother? Client trusted her mother. She lived with her single mother from birth to the age of 14-years-old, which is when she moved with her father and Grandmother. Though her and her mother had a rocky relationship, she knew her as a provider.
• When you were an adolescent, did you trust your father? Client trusted father. She had a false idea of who her father was, because she didn't see him often. Would often say she was running away to live with him when she got upset. Client stated that her paternal Grandmother took many of her father's responsibilities and was very active in her life. She associated her father with her Grandmother.
• When you were an adolescent, did you trust your female friends? Client trusted female friends. She had mostly female friends.
• When you were an adolescent, did you trust your male friends? Client trusted male friends. She didn't have many male friends until her teenage years.
• Did you trust your own abilities? Client trusted her own abilities. She always felt smarter than her peers.
• How do you describe what your identity was as an adolescent? Client stated that her identity was a shy bookworm. She liked to read books all the time, and didn't speak much. She was very shy around people and avoided being the center of attention.
• If you requested something from your mother, what were your expectations? What type of response did you expect? Client stated that she expected for her mother to say no if she asked for things, so she didn't ask for much.
• Can you remember during adolescence any examples of "giving" in the altruistic sense to someone else? Client stated that she would help her disabled grandmother with things such as dressing, hygiene and getting into and out of bed. She began helping very young, because she knew that her grandmother couldn't do it herself.
• How do you describe your relationship with peers during adolescence? Did you trust them? Was there mutual recognition (versus isolation)? As an adolescent, did you have trouble going to sleep at night? Client stated that she had a good relationship with peers. She felt uncomfortable in her skin, and sometimes felt like her friends didn't really like her because she didn't fit in. Most of the time, those thoughts didn't consume her and she felt that there was mutual recognition. Client did not have trouble sleeping at night.
Stage 2: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt
• As an adolescent, describe how you felt about affection, time, and money. Client stated that her mother was inconsistent with affection. She was very loving, but was harder on her daughters than her sons. Because of this, client grew up very nonchalant and inconsistent with showing affection. Client sometimes didn't know how to react to affection, and felt uncomfortable. Client stated that she knew that her mother didn't have much money, but her Grandmother did. She knew that if she wanted something that required money, she should ask her Grandmother. She associated her Grandmother with money.
• Did you tend to hoard things or discard them? Did you throw stuff out of car windows? Client stated that she hoarded things. She didn't like to throw things away because she always felt that she could use it for something. Client didn't throw things out of car windows.
• When you did projects or other work as an adolescent, did you prefer to do it by yourself or get help from friends or peers? Client didn't like to work in groups because she liked to be in control, and didn't like having to trust others to do a good job. She would rather do a project by herself.
• Did you get the most respect through cooperation or insistence? Client got the most respect through cooperation.
• In high school, did you tend to answer questions freely or wait until you were called on? Client stated that she would wait until she was called on.
• Were you proud of your accomplishments? Client stated that she was proud of her accomplishments. She always received praise from parents and family members.
• When you made personal decisions, were you certain you were doing the right thing? Client stated that she wasn't always certain that she was making the right decision, when making personal decisions. Client still has a hard time trusting own decisions, and asks other for advice.
• Were there times during adolescence when you were ashamed? Client was ashamed of her body as an adolescent. She gained weight and her skin marked easily.
• Were you ever afraid of being in an exposed or vulnerable situation? Client stated that she was afraid of being exposed or vulnerable. She was very ashamed of her body, and dreaded gym class because she was expected to change in front of peers. Always used the bathroom or didn't change at all, because of fear of someone seeing her body.
• Did you ever try to get away with things if you could not get caught? Client stated that she would trick her dad into thinking that her friends mother was home so that she could spend the weekend at her house.
• With regard to your progress through adolescence, did you feel you were behind time? Needed more time? Client doesn't feel like she was behind time.
Stage 3: Initiative Versus Guilt
• Did you enjoy and look forward to new initiatives? Client stated that she did look forward to new initiatives.
• As an adolescent, were you curious? Were you ambitious? Client stated that she was always curious and always asking questions.
Stage 4: Industry Versus Inferiority
• As an adolescent did you seek and get recognition for work well done? Client stated that she liked to behave and do well because it made her parents and family members happy. She always received praise for her accomplishments, so she strived to do well to get praise.
• Did you have feelings of inadequacy or inferiority? Client stated that she always felt different than her peers. She felt that everyone was moving at a faster pace, and that she was boring because she was the opposite. Client stated that she didn't date, didn't feel attractive, didn't drink until college, didn't like attention. This was different compared to other girls in her age group. She wished that she could be like other girls. Feeling boring made her feel inferior.
Stage 5: Identity Versus Role Confusion
• When you were an adolescent, did you remember assessing your strengths and weaknesses? Client does not remember assessing strengths and weaknesses, but she did understand what she was good at and what she wasn't good at.
• What did you want to be when you grew up? Client stated that she wanted to be a Pediatrician.
• Did you have a lot of peer group involvement? Client had a lot of peer group involvement because she was very active in extracurricular activities, and because her father was the director of the boys and girls club when she was in middle school. Client met friends because many knew her father.
• In adolescence, what were your goals for adulthood? Client stated that she wanted to be a Pediatrician and work with children. Client wanted to be a single mother, because she thought that it would be easier to raise a child alone (client now recognizes that this was because her mother was a single mother, and she witnessed her mother and father fight constantly in adolescence). As client got older, her goals changed to wanting to be married by the age of 25-years-old and have two children.
• Did you have a love relationship as a teenager? Client did not have her first relationship until she was 21-years-old.
• When you were an adolescent, what was so important in your life that you are willing to commit to it? Client stated that her family was always very important in her life, and she always felt a duty to them.
• When you were an adolescent if I asked you to consider the question "Who am I?" what would you have said? Client stated that she would've said "I don't know".
• When you were an adolescent if I asked you to consider the question "Where am I going?" what would you have said? Client stated that she would have said "somewhere far away".
• As an adolescent, were you preoccupied with the opinion of others? Client was preoccupied with the opinions of others. When peers made fun of her for being tall, she hated her height. She always felt that people thought she was unattractive. Client was validated by the praise she received when she did well.