Case Study Using Freud And Bandura

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Introduction The debate of nature v’s nurture has been a long standing argument amongst developmental theorists, debating the question of how biological forces and the environment act and interact to make us the people we are. Studies on development suggest nature consists of the biology and maturation throughout the life-span and nurture consists of the environment and learning. The two developmental theorists chosen for this essay are Sigmund Freud, a revolutionary thinker who challenged the notion of human development and human nature by suggesting humans are driven largely by emotions and motives of the unconscious and Albert Bandura, a social cognitive theorist who believed humans learnt from observation of other people rather than from a pre-disposed notion of biological (nature) influences. Both Bandura and Freud have very different views on human development which will be highlighted throughout this essay. From a psychoanalytical perspective, Freud devoted his research to the nature side of development, learning about the human unconscious mind and presenting a notion of stage development. Bandura on the other hand came from a nurturing perspective, believing people don’t go through stages of development but rather they learn from the environment and people within it. This essay will demonstrate both Freud and Bandura’s theory in-light of a case study produced from a twenty-question interview questionnaire, relating to a developmental issue or problem in a stage of a person’s development. The subject for this case study will be referred to as ‘client’ to protect her confidentiality. The developmental issue of my client will be discussed in relation to her age group of sixteen to nineteen where she encountered her parent’s divorce, first relationship and taking up the addiction of smoking and drinking. Her responses will be analysed in accordance
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