Adolescent Development Essay

in that location are mutual baffles among an single(a) and their sociable environment. There are similarly at-risk factors manifold in the bearing- period history of a developing girlish that interconnects with a serial prevalentation of reciprocal dodges. I can revoke as a developing adolescent durationr energeticly maturing into adulthood, the some cordial, economic, external and internal influences that contributed to certain at-risk behaviors. These type of influences impacted me remove and indirectly. I was influenced by the several(prenominal) environments I was in, and I too contributed to influencing the environment nearly me.Attempting to exert control over mutinous circumstances however lead to do-or-die(a) situations and weighty consequences. However, learning to accept my posit circumstances, and how to appropriately respond to the hardship and temptations in deportment verificatory peremptory life changes. Individual human growth occurs at heart interconnected and embedded bionomic systems (McWhirter et al, 2013). The ecological systems include the individual, the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and macrosystem (McWhirter et al, 2013).The individual consists of genetic and biologic factors, and temperament characteristics (McWhirter et al, 2013). The microsystem consists of the people that the individual comes into direct contact with and who the individual interacts with (McWhirter et al, 2013). The mesosystem is the embedded interconnectednesss between divergent microsystems and the impact of the interactions that take mail service (McWhirter et al, 2013). The exosystem consists of the interconnections between one or more settings that indirectly involve the individual (McWhirter et al, 2013).The macrosystem represents the cordial blueprint of cultural values, societal structure, gender-role socializations, endure relations, belief systems, and national and international resources (McWhirter et al, 2013). The chronosystem is the interconnection and interaction of the individual within different environments, and is the transitions that occur during the course of the individuals lifetime (McWhirter et al, 2013). These interconnecting systems are mentionred to as the ecological model, and assumes that the individual is continually interacting with his or her environment hat produces constant change protrude-of-pocket to mutual influences (McWhirter et al, 2013). procedure A The ecological Model The core of who I unfeignedly am involves the combinations of my genetic predispositions, evolutionary and biological components, personality characteristics, and the ongoing process of behavioral, cognitive, and affectional experiences (McWhirter et al, 2013). Who I am has a draw play to do with my experiences in life, my responses to life events, and the social and environmental influences and interactions involved.The ecological model provides a gr ejecter sympathizein g of how I influence my environment and my environment influences me. This is important because it is by means of the interactions of the ecological systems that help me better understand myself and others. The Individual. I entered the world with an umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, struggling to subsist due to insufficient oxygen intake. As a infant I was actually(prenominal) susceptible to illness. As an adult I discovered that I was living with an autoimmune dis suppose. I have very shining fragmented memories as a tyke of several doctor office visits.At the personal level, I was a very fearful, neural, angry, socially withdrawn churl who go through an unstable, insecure, neglectful, abusive, and nonadaptive theme environment. The structure of personality develops in childhood and continues to develop in adulthood (Caspi, Roberts & Shiner, 2005). I developed a combination of extraversion and introversion traits. These traits institute themselves depending on how safe I plant the environment around me to be. As a child I experienced positive and negative emotionality.I at time struggle with viewing the world as a safe place and once in a while viewed it as threatening. I experienced anxious distress with a tendency toward anxiety, sadness, in security system, and guilt. As a teen shape upr I experienced darker emotions such as anger, frustration, and irritation. I developed agreeable personality characteristics as a child. In adulthood I sometimes struggle with the fear of rejection, self-acceptance, people sweet tendencies, self-awareness, and feeling comfortable in my touch environment and stimulate skin.I also developed a real pauperism to achieve pedantically, and have a strong sense of independence. As a child and through my teen period geezerhood I was non al haplessed to have an opinion or express individuality, which resulted in the inability or challenge to think on my own, oppugn who I am through life stages, fearful o f making decisions on my own and especially decisions I need to strain on behalf of others, and codependency issues. The Microsystem. I grew up in a traditional family household for a time universe that consisted of my start, beget, and sis.Although, it was considered a traditional two rise up household, my father was rarely home, and when he was home he was unavailable. My go was emotionally unavailable and suffered from manic depression. My mother stayed at home and my father was any out working or move one of his addictions. My family was homeless until I was the age of 5. We had lived and slept in my fathers suburban, randomly stayed with st endurers, and at times lived in a recreational vehicle. I assumed certificate of indebtedness and care of my younger blood relation, my mother, myself, and household chores.I entered the stages of maturity alone and without parental support. The neglect of positive parenting during my adolescent age make me vulnerable to at-ri sk risk behaviors such as premarital sex, tobacco use, nub abuse, cabal involvement and mental and social disorders (Clinton & Clark, 2010). At the age of ten I was removed from my parents custody and primed(p) in foster care where my sibling and I were separated and placed in different homes. In the foster system I was only allowed to socialize at school, and attended church depending on whether or not my foster parents at the time deemed it necessary.My infant and I went through several foster home placements which resulted in the button of security, the loss of our personal possessions, and sense of belonging. be bounced from home to home, it was difficult maintaining a button up friendships with others. I developed an internal tool of being friendly with everyone, but not allowing myself to develop a close friendship with others. As I gained independence and granting immunity in my later teen years and early adulthood, I became more involved in church. The Mesosystem. I grew up in a rural community with a lack of parental involvement.There were no real established mesosystem relationships. The environment was inconsistently positive and very negative at times. Since school was my outlet, I strived for academic excellence and successfully achieved it. School seemed to be the only sense of stability. The Exosystem. Outside agencies that developed policies and created public resources were an indirect benefit to me as an adolescent and young adult. During childhood, I was able to eat lunch at school, and enjoy two-timing(a) activities such as Campfire Girls, cheerleading, and Key Club.I was given accessibility to the basic call for that my parents could not afford such as cloths, food, and shelter. As an adult, several community resources helped my girlfriend and escape and terminate a domestically violent relationship. The Macrosystem. During adolescence I was unfastened to abuse, neglect, and military unit first hand and via the television. My father grew up in the south and was very antiblack toward certain nationalities and races of people. The cultural context consisted of low socioeconomic status (SES), poverty, and experiencing our Native American ethnic background and being exposed to several conflicting belief systems.I grew up on a shade where corporate punishment was an acceptable practice. The farming valued individuality, independence, and self-reliance. I grew up in poverty with a prevailing shame rate not as perceptible as it is today. Social norms included the overutilisation of antibiotics (McDonnell Norms Group, 2008), and the use of drugs and alcohol were socially acceptable. Chronosystem. A pattern of environmental events, transitions, and sociohistorical circumstances contributed to my development over my lifespan. Both of my parents lived disloyal and extramarital life styles.Overtime, there un rubicund and dysfunctional patterns of relating to each other resulted in a separation. My father died when I was 17 years old. My parents marriage practice of lawfully dissolved at the time of my fathers death. My mother remarried multiple times. My sis and I were exposed to their dysfunctional lifestyle, which hugely impacted our lives. I personally, transitioned through many of life events by experiencing two divorces, being a single-mother of four children for quit sometime, remarrying and adjusting to a blended family, the loss of my oldest daughter, and facing the social political arena at work.Part B At-Risk Tree Metaphor The At-risk channelize is an analogy that allows people to understand the range of issues involving at-risk adolescence (McWhirter et al, 2013). The land of the tree represents the individuals societal environment (McWhirter et al, 2013). The roots refer to family, school, and peer meetings that connect the tree to the soil (McWhirter et al, 2013). The t give outk represents the developing attitudes and behaviors of each child (McWhirter et al, 20 13). The branches of the tree represent the attitudes and behaviors that lead to specialized risk categories (McWhirter et al, 2013).The soil of my family growing up consisted of poverty, low socioeconomic status (SES), judgmental and racist attitudes, abusive and neglectful home environment, and conflicting belief systems. The three uncreated roots are family, school, and peer roots (McWhirter et al, 2013). My parents inability to raise my sister and me in a loving, secure, stable, and nurturing environment, and expose us to family conflict, abuse, neglect, lack of parenting, being emotionally unavailable, and an uncrystallised home environment contributed to my dysfunction and the at-risk behaviors in my life.The school system was unaware of our life circumstances and did not any support. My sister ended up dropping out and getting involved with drugs. I became sexually involved with my boyfriend at the age of 15 and became gravid at the age of 16. My daughter gave me the dri ve to continue my education and succeed academically in order to provide her with a better life. I was withdrawn during my adolescence and teenage years. Although, I make intent to get along with everyone, I did not associate with everyone. The peer group I involved myself in strived for academic excellence and engaged in positive extracurricular activities.The trunk of the at-risk tree representing my life consisted of low self-esteem, and depression. The branches of at-risk categories in my life were high-school dropout, substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, and suicide. I was at risk for teen pregnancy and became pregnant at the age of sixteen. I succumbed to sexual activity with one partner in high school that resulted in teen pregnancy. I was very fortunate that at risk behaviors did not escalate. My tree was downhearted and bruised and produced damaged fruit. Instead of running to quick gratification I learned to run to deity. I found my value and security in Christ.My br anches although bruised eventually healed and produced good, healthy fruit. It took a lot of effort, drive, motivation, will, and trusting God in the midst of temptation and hardship. I was fortunate to have a flesh of Gardeners in my life from Christian counselors, law enforcement, human service workers, youth group leaders, Sunday school teachers, and church mentors who helped me redirect my lifestyle. I learned how to be academically successful, a loving, supportive, caring mother to my children, a hard worker of integrity, and to do the right wing thing when the wrong thing seems easier at the time being.