Human Development and the Key Factors Influencing It

Case Study 1: Susan Miller
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Case Study 1: Susan Miller
Introduction
Human development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes humans undergo throughout life. Physical development encompasses growth and changes in the body, brain, motor skills, the senses, and health and wellness (Shute and Slee, 2015. p. 4). Cognitive development encompasses attention, learning, memory, reasoning, thinking, language, and creativity. Psychosocial development encompasses personality, emotions, and social relationships. The three domains are interlinked and develop simultaneously. For example, the physical development of the brain enables higher cognitive functions. Various factors influence the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of children. They can broadly be classified as environmental, family, or within-child (Pem, D., 2015, p.2573). Case Study 1: Susan Miller was selected for this paper. The paper analyzes Susan's situation concerning her physical, emotional, and psychosocial development and recommends safeguarding actions.
Key Factors Affecting Development
Fundamental development theories concentrate on explaining the changes children go through as they grow, and they centre on aspects including physical, cognitive, and emotional growth. Erickson’s psychosocial developmental theory focuses on social interaction and conflicts that arise in different stages of development to describe growth and change throughout life (Shute and Slee, 2015. p. 142). Piaget’s cognitive development theory focuses on the development of a person’s thought processes. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory suggests that parents, caregivers, peers, and culture influence the development of higher-order functions.
Factors that influence children's emotional and social development include environmental risk factors, such as receiving care in a low-quality child care setting, malnutrition, living in an unsafe community, lack of policies supporting children and families, or lack of resources available in the community. It also includes family risk factors such as mental illness in the family, maternal depression, family violence, poverty, or parental substance abuse, and within-child risk factors (such as developmental delay, serious health issues, and fussy temperament) (Pem, D., 2015, p.2573).
Analysis of Evidence
Susan’s emotional and cognitive development is affected factors from all three categories. Environmental: receiving care in a home with a low child-care setting, characterized by malnutrition and lack of freedom to play. The family lives in an impoverished housing estate and has financial struggles. The mother unemployed, and the father was having no regular employment. The family has a small network of tight-knit group and not the wider community. The mother's network decreased after the father moved in, limiting Susan's playmates. It is suggested by how she likes her brother, who plays his play station in her room, often lets her play, and enjoys Saturday nights when they get a babysitter who sometimes lets them play and do anything they want. Also, the nights are unbearable for Susan, who has trouble sleeping due to loud music pl...