Human Development Theories

Understanding human development theories is essential for clinical social work practice. These theories provide frameworks for assessing clients, understanding behavior, and selecting appropriate interventions. The ASWB exam tests your ability to apply these theories to clinical scenarios, not simply recall definitions.

Erikson's Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson proposed eight stages of psychosocial development spanning the entire lifespan. Each stage presents a central conflict or crisis that the individual must resolve. Successful resolution leads to the development of a specific virtue or strength, while failure to resolve the conflict can lead to psychological difficulties later in life.

Clinical Application: When working with an adolescent struggling with identity issues, Erikson's framework helps the social worker understand that this is a normative developmental challenge (Identity vs. Role Confusion) and guides interventions that support identity exploration rather than pathologizing the behavior.

Piaget's Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development that describe how children construct mental schemas (models) of the world:

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years): Infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions. A key milestone is object permanence — understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight.

2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years): Children develop symbolic thinking and language but struggle with logic. They exhibit egocentrism (difficulty seeing perspectives other than their own) and centration (focusing on one aspect of a situation).

3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years): Children develop logical thinking about concrete objects. They master conservation (understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance) and can classify and order objects.

4. Formal Operational Stage (11+ years): Adolescents develop abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking. They can consider possibilities, think systematically, and engage in metacognition (thinking about thinking).

Kohlberg's Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg built on Piaget's work to describe three levels of moral reasoning, each with two stages:

• Preconventional Level (Stages 1-2): Morality based on self-interest. Stage 1 focuses on avoiding punishment; Stage 2 on gaining rewards ("What's in it for me?").
• Conventional Level (Stages 3-4): Morality based on social norms and rules. Stage 3 focuses on gaining approval ("good boy/good girl"); Stage 4 on maintaining social order and following laws.
• Postconventional Level (Stages 5-6): Morality based on abstract principles. Stage 5 recognizes the social contract; Stage 6 involves universal ethical principles that may supersede laws.

Attachment Theory (Bowlby & Ainsworth)

John Bowlby developed attachment theory, proposing that infants are biologically programmed to form attachments with caregivers for survival. A secure base provided by a consistent, responsive caregiver allows the child to explore the world with confidence. Bowlby identified key concepts:

• Attachment behavioral system: Activated when the child perceives a threat, prompting proximity-seeking behavior
• Internal working model: Mental representations of self and others formed through early attachment experiences that influence relationships throughout life
• Separation anxiety: Distress when separated from the attachment figure, typically peaking at 8-18 months
• Secure base: The caregiver provides a safe haven from which the child can explore

Mary Ainsworth expanded Bowlby's work through the Strange Situation experiment, identifying attachment styles:

Clinical Application: Understanding a client's attachment style can inform treatment. For example, a client with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style may exhibit intense fear of abandonment in the therapeutic relationship. The social worker can use this understanding to provide a consistent, reliable therapeutic relationship that serves as a corrective emotional experience.

Bowen's Family Systems Theory

Murray Bowen viewed the family as an emotional unit in which members are interconnected and mutually influential. Bowen identified eight interlocking concepts that describe family dynamics:

1. Differentiation of Self: The ability to separate one's own intellectual and emotional functioning from the family. Higher differentiation leads to healthier functioning.
2. Triangles: The smallest stable relationship system. When anxiety increases between two people, they bring in a third person to stabilize the relationship.
3. Nuclear Family Emotional System: Four relationship patterns that manage anxiety: marital conflict, dysfunction in one spouse, impairment of one or more children, and emotional distance.
4. Family Projection Process: Parents transmit their emotional problems to a child, who becomes the "identified patient."
5. Multigenerational Transmission Process: Patterns of differentiation are passed down through generations.
6. Emotional Cutoff: Reducing contact with family members to manage unresolved emotional issues (a sign of low differentiation).
7. Sibling Position: Birth order influences personality and relationship patterns.
8. Societal Emotional Process: Emotional processes in society parallel those in families.