DEFINING EVENTS OF CHILDHOOD
Learning about psychological, biological, and social development across the lifespan is essential to competent, ethical social work practice. With this information, social workers can make connections among the environment, developmental factors, and the unique client. Over the past 4 weeks, you have seen Ray evolve through developmental stages in the animated videos, watching as the social environment impacts his opportunities, decisions, and life circumstances. You have seen him transition to adolescence. You have even begun to apply concepts of HBSE to social work cases such as the Hernandez family.
There is no one you know better than yourself, however. How might the material you have explored so far in this course apply to you? In this Discussion, you engage in self-reflection and consider a childhood experience that has continued to influence you as an adolescent and adult.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
TO PREPARE:
- Reflect on events that occurred in your childhood that have affected who you are today. Select one to analyze for this Discussion. Ensure that the selected event is appropriate to share publicly with colleagues and your Instructor.
BY DAY 3
Record a 4- to 5-minute video in which you:
- Identify an event that occurred in your childhood that influenced you as an adolescent and that continues to influence you today as an adult.
- Note:Please be mindful of appropriate self-disclosure and do not discuss an event that may be traumatic or triggering to you or to others in the class. Do not share intimate details.
- Identify your developmental stage when the event occurred and describe the important psychological, biological, and social factors that typically occur during this stage.
- Explain how the social environment impacted your experience.
- Identify your strengths during that time and explain whether these strengths have changed as you have developed.
Note: For guidance on posting a video into the Discussion Forum, please refer to the Kaltura button from the Classroom Support Center (accessed via the Help button).
Include a transcript and/or edit closed captioning on your video to ensure that your presentation is accessible to colleagues of differing abilities.
BY DAY 6
Respond to two colleagues by comparing/contrasting your social environment during the developmental stage identified in your colleague’s post. Explain how your social environment influenced your experiences during the same developmental stage.
References
- Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., &Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment(11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
- Chapter 6, “Biological Development in Adolescence” (pp. 282–319)
- Marengo, D., Longobardi, C., Fabris, M. A., &Settanni, M. (2018). Highly-visual social media and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: The mediating role of body image concernsLinks to an external site.. Computers in Human Behavior, 82, 63–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.003
- Salomon, I., & Brown, C. S. (2019). The selfie generation: Examining the relationship between social media use and early adolescent body imageLinks to an external site.. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 39(4), 539–560. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431618770809
- National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). (n.d.). Body shamingLinks to an external site.. https://anad.org/get-informed/body-image/body-image-articles/body-shaming/
Media
Allure. (2018, May 31). Girls ages 6–18 talk about body imageLinks to an external site. | Allure [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mP5RveA_tk
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 6 minutes.