This paper will focus on the various human development theories and then try to connect them with public health issues. The public health concern that we have chosen for this paper is cigarette smoking. It is a big social problem and there is an urgent need of finding the root cause of the same. There is a growing need to find out ways in which one can connect this problem with the human development theory so that one can remove the root cause of the same.
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We have to see the behavioral trait of the person and find the common traits so that we can link them with a human development theory. In the first half of the paper we will focus on human development theories by Erikson, Bowlby, Bronfenbrenner, Piaget, and Freud. Then apply the theoretical elements of human behavior and development to a specific public health concern such as cigarette smoking, and how behavioral theories affect program delivery or health education efforts.
Erickson View on Theory
Erickson gave the world of psychology famously known as Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. These are the stages through which any developing human should pass from his early stage of infancy to the late stages of adulthood. In each of the stages, human confront new challenges and then his or her experience helps them to master the stage and move on to the next stage.
If the challenges of one particular stage are not completed in the stage itself, then it will appear as a problem later in life. However, it was also mentioned that one need not master the stage or become super-efficient in one of the stages to move on to the next. This is not a preset condition in the model (Sigelman, Shaffer, 2013). The process of passing through each of those stages is a summation of social and biological changes that the person goes through. Each of these stages has some kind of virtues, psychosocial crisis, some kind of significant relationship and the questions which challenge the human during that period.
John Bowlby- Contribution Attachment Theory
Bowlby: John Bowlby is famous British psychologist who is known all over the world for his interest in child development and his amazing conceptual work in attachment theory. In case of infants when they are fighting for survival then they seek proximity to the figure with which they have attachments. This is what was his best study ever and was famously known as attachment theory.
This general attachment was most visible in case of perceived alarm or some kind of visible distress (Bowlby, 1995). As the baby grows the foundation stones of his or her growth is laid on the attachment figure and the perceived behavior from the same. This whole process is not gender specific and will be shown towards any general person who shows care and is sensitive. The attachment theory is considered to be a great work in understanding the early part of social development of human.
Urie Bronfenbrenner-Ecological System Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner is a famous Russian psychologist who is known for his work in the field of ecological systems theory. He was the prime person who was involved in development of this theory. He was considered to be a prime example in linking policy and social development of the child while understanding the psychology behind child development (Kail, Cavanaugh, 2010).
His focus was on research and development of the policy. This is a prime example where a behavioral study was used in shaping up the policy matter. This would ideally create a society which learn from behaviors and then implement them across the policy. His statement was that basic science needs public policy more than public policy needing basic science. Under his ecological system theory, there are basically four kinds of systems in the world. These four systems are micro, meso, exo and finally macrosystem. The fifth system which was further added to the system was called chronosystem.
John Piaget-Cognitive Theory
Jean Piaget is known for his development of cognitive theory and it focusses on nature and development of human intelligence. It is a theory which will always remain on developmental stage. Under his thought process cognitive development is always a reorganization of various mental processes which is all total as a result of biological maturation and the environmental experience around (Santrock, 2007). Children in the world construct and understanding of the world around them and it is the mix of what they have already learnt and what they are learning which ultimately helps in cognitive thinking.
Sigmun Freud
Sigmund Freud believes that the basic behavior of the person and his or her personality trait takes place majorly till the age of 5. It is the early behavior and experiences which play a major part in developing personality of the person. It is one of the most controversial theories and is always in front of critical theory.
In a simple example of the theory a person who is in some kind of early pressure then he or she will become over dependent and there are high chances of him and her inclined to smoking, over eating and drinking (Cherry, 2013).
Linkage with Public Health concern
Till now we have seen theories from various psychologists who have focused their work on human development. In this part of the paper we will explore some problem which is a genuine public health concern and will seek for ways in the human development theory of reaching the root cause of the same. The public health concern that we have chosen for this paper is cigarette smoking.
It is a big social problem and there is an urgent need of finding the root cause of the same. There is a growing need to find out ways in one can connect this problem with the human development theory so one can remove the root cause of the same. We have to see the behavioral trait of the person and find the common traits so that we can link them with human development theory.
Traits of a smoker
Smoking is like an addiction to them. There is a belief process in the mind that I can’t live without it. It is like utter dependency on something.
The person tends to get disturbed if not able to smoke. It is a perceived notion that smoking is relaxing the whole mindset of the person (Terracciano, Costa, 2013).
There has been research which has shown that smokers are mostly impulsive and insecure personality types. It is this behavior of the person which has been mostly visible.
We have tried figuring out few personality traits among smokers. Some of the common symptoms that exist are dependency, perceived notion, requirement, self-defeating behavior, impulsive and insecure personality. These are some of the very common traits which were observed in the people who smoke regularly.
Linkage with Human development Theory
In this part of the paper we will focus on the various aspects of different human development theories and how can they be linked to habit of smoking. Some of the key aspects in human development theory are:
These are the stages through which any developing human should pass from his early stage of infancy to the late stages of adulthood. In each of the stages human confront new challenges and then his or her experience helps them to master the stage and move on to next stage. If a smoking habit is controlled in the stage in which it originates then there is very less chances that problem will go too far. There is a need of linkage and policies which does not encourage smoking at early stage (Vander Zanden, 2007).
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General attachment was most visible in case of perceived alarm or some kind of visible distress. As the baby grows the foundation stones of his or her growth is laid on the attachment figure and the perceived behavior from the same. It is the responsibility of the person who is attached with the child that right methods and beliefs are passed. If right habits are self-observed by the person attached then child will not take up wrong habits.
There is prime example where a behavioral study was used in shaping up the policy matter. This would ideally create a society which learn from behaviors and then implement them across the policy. If one has to create a society which is free from smoking then policies of the region should promote this habit. As per the method human development theory it is very important that right state and national policies are created to support the ongoing movement.
Under his thought process cognitive development is always a reorganization of various mental processes which is all total as a result of biological maturation and the environmental experience around. Children in the world construct and understanding of the world around them and it is the mix of what they have already learnt and what they are learning which ultimately helps in cognitive thinking. Hence it is imperative that children’s growth period is full of right understanding keyed in early stage of life.
It is the early behavior and experiences which play a major part in developing personality of the person. It is one of the most controversial theories and is always in front of critical theory. In a simple example of the theory a person who is in some kind of early pressure then he or she will become over dependent and there are high chances of him and her inclined to smoking, over eating and drinking.
Conclusion
In this paper we have explored the problem of smoking and its linkages with human development theory. We have seen how behavior attributes are generated and how do they flow in the linkages. In an ideal world scenario the learning from the human development theory should be used in policy making. Urie Bronfenbrenner was considered to be a prime example in linking policy and social development of the child while understanding the psychology behind child development.
His focus was on research and development of the policy. This is a prime example where a behavioral study was used in shaping up the policy matter. This would ideally create a society which learn from behaviors and then implement them across the policy. This paper concludes that right methods and policies in the states should be the fall out of the learnings from the various human development theories. This actually helps in root cause analysis of the problems.
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