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Unit 9 Project CaSondra Lanigan PS355-01 Developmental Psychology April 03, 2012 Deborah Eastwood

Unit 9 Project My name is CaSondra Terry- Lanigan and I am married with two children a boy aged 17 and a girl aged 11. I live in a upper middle class community in Garland Texas. I have a degree in early childhood education and I am pursuing another degree in Human Services. I have spent the last five years being a stay at home mom and just recently decided to go back to work and to school. Because of the way that I was raised I am a very driven person and with every goal that I set for myself and reach I am teaching my children that they can do the same. Adolescence is the period of development from puberty to adulthood. During this period a child moves from dependency to autonomy (Vail, 2007, 2010). This is a period of significant adjustment to the social and physical changes that distinguish childhood behavior from adult behavior. As a teen I didnt really have any interest in anything, I wasnt sure about my future and what I wanted to be. I had certain values and into adulthood they have stayed the same. As an adult I know who I am as a person and what I want out of life. Possible self is representations of what we could become, what we would like to become, and what we are afraid of becoming (Vail, 2007, 2010). Possible selves remain stable for some period of time; but can change in response to efforts directed toward personal growth (Vail, 2007, 2010). The possible selves offer a way to bridge the experience of the current self and the imagined future self (Vail, 2007, 2010). Self-concept refers to how someone thinks about themselves or perceives themselves. Self -concept can change because as a person grows they begin to see and understand things differently based on beliefs, feelings and attitudes. Those feelings beliefs, feelings, and attitudes affect self-concept. Self concept is also ones understanding of characteristics such as social, physical and psychological. In adolescents a person view themselves as shy, pessimistic, short

or fat. When a person reaches adulthood a person my view themselves as confident, attractive or optimistic. In my adolescents my possible self was a lot different than it is now. I always thought I knew what I wanted out of life. Although what I wanted changed from day to day and week to week. I lacked self-confidence and really think highly of myself. I knew that I had no choice but to attend college but I was afraid and I didnt think that I had what it took to graduate from college. As an adult I had self confidence and I realized that I could accomplish everything that I set out to do in my life. I was no longer worried about what other people thought about me or my appearance. I was raised in a very authoritative household. My parents had very strict rules and I was expected to follow them. My family was very religious and I learned at an early age that if I broke rules that my parents set, that I also sinned against god. Religion was a very big part of my family life. Having religion as the backbone of the family gave me a conscious. There were certain things that I would not do because of I did not want to disappoint god. According to the text African American parents provide a cohesive, loving environment that often exists within a context of strong religious beliefs (Vail, 2007, 2010). My parents parenting style affected my developmental path because my parents did not give me a choice when it came to my life and the path that it was going. Getting bad grades and not going to college was not an option. I always had to do what my parents said with no questions asked. In my household children were seen and not heard. Authoritative parenting is an approach in most middle class families and according to parenting class.com it is linked with the most successful child outcomes (Delmar PH.D., 2010).

Kids that are raised by authoritative parents are more likely to become independent, selfreliant, socially accepted, and well-behaved (Delmar PH.D., 2010). I do agree that children of authoritative parents are independent and well- behaved but I also know from experience that children are well behaved out of fear of being punished. Research suggests that having at least one authoritative parent can make a big difference (Fletcher et al 1999). I do not totally agree with the research on authoritative parenting. In a lot of cases having an authoritative parent can make a big difference in a childs life. In other ways having an authoritative parent cause the child to rebel. There are times that I wanted to rebel and my siblings did rebel. Even when I became an adult I was often afraid to make my own decisions because although I was an adult I was in fear of getting in trouble with my parents.

Reference Delmar PH.D., G. (2010, March). The authoritative parenting style: Warmth, rationality, and high standards. Retrieved from http://www.parentingscience.com/authoritative-parentingstyle.html Fletcher A, Steinberg L, and Sellers E. (1999). Adolescents well-being as a function of perceived inter-parent inconsistency. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61: 300-310.