1. Developing Applying Case Study Relationships Individual Development 1
Developing and Applying a Case Study to Social Relationships and Individual Development
Breanne Rubison
Kaplan University
PS420-01; Social Relationships in Childhood
April 8, 2015

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Developing and Applying a Case Study to Social Relationships and Individual Development
Amelia Robison is a fourteen-year-old female and is close to finishing the 8th grade. At
the beginning of the school year you were informed by one of her teachers that her mother died
in a car accident. Her father left her at a very early age which means that she was forced to move
in with her elderly widowed grandmother. The principal alerted you to the fact that Amelia’s
grades have begun to steadily decline despite the fact that she has been placed in the resource
room for tutoring during one class period each day. Both Amelia’s teacher and principal said that
they tried to contact her grandmother to discuss Amelia’s poor academic achievement but to no
avail. After reading Amelia’s file and speaking with her teachers and other school staff you
determined that there were never any academic issues in Amelia’s past. In fact, Amelia was one
of the best students in her class, was always prompt about completing her coursework and
homework, very friendly to her classmates and often helpful to others. She got straight A’s,
excelled in mathematics and language arts and was reading at an above average level for her age.
Amelia was very popular among the other students with a large group of friends. Her teachers
became very worried about her after she started to become very quiet, withdrawn, isolated and
antisocial. Amelia also lacks focus, has a short attention span and doesn’t complete most of her
coursework or homework. The other students that used to get along with Amelia so well now
avoid her because they aren’t sure how to approach her or what to say to her. For the first few
weeks after Amelia’s loss her classmates were warm and supportive but now they just find
interaction with her to be awkward. When her teachers tried to speak with her and get her to
open up about her feelings and behaviors she simply remained silent. You realized that none of
the school staff attempted to visit Amelia’s grandmother so you take the opportunity to do so.

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After visiting with Amelia’s grandmother you realize that her behavior is a mirror to that of her
new legal guardian who is mourning the loss of her only daughter. Amelia’s grandmother simply
said that we should “let her grieve in her own time and her own way.” In the present paper I am
going to use case study, Amelia to discuss an individual’s development of self as well as the
influences on the self during childhood. I will also provide a discussion of peer acceptance and
rejection in terms of which Amelia has experienced. A discussion of the research conducted on
gender differences in communication, conflict resolution and the development of social
relationships that my client typifies will be provided as well. Next, I will discuss the influence of
family systems, how social isolation and bullying may lead to mass violence in our school
systems and communities, social pressures surrounding drugs and alcohol and cultural influences
on Amelia’s social relationships. Finally, I will offer a discussion of Amelia’s identity formation
that relies on Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.
According to Berns (2013) throughout development, peer relationships contribute to the
self-concept including one’s perception of his or her personal identity and self-esteem. Charles
Horton Cooley observed that through the experiences of interacting with others, children
distinguish themselves from others. As they begin to act independently, they gradually become
aware that others are evaluating them, meaning that their behavior is being judged according to
certain rules and standards. Berns (2013) also states that: these rules and standards must be
learned and understood before each individual is capable of self-evaluation. As children
gradually learn these rule, each develops a self-concept, reflecting the attitudes of others and is
termed the looking-glass self (Berns, 2013). Further, a self-concept develops when the attitudes
and expectations of others with whom one regularly interacts with are incorporated into one’s

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own personality which makes it possible to regulate one’s behavior accordingly (Berns, 2013).
Erik Erikson, on the other hand, believes that the development of self is the outcome of their
interactions in their social environment (Berns, 2013). According to Berns (2013) the peer group
is attractive as it provides opportunities for greater independence than does the family, thereby
enhancing the sense of self. In addition to clarifying and supporting one’s identity, the peer
group also provides role models for one to incorporate into one’s self-image. In order to achieve
a sense of self the individual must balance group identification with personal autonomy while
simultaneously forging an individual role within the group by weighing loyalty to group norms
against individual and parental norms. Finally, the individual needs to develop their roles in the
group structure and cope with feelings of being either accepted, rejected, popular or unpopular
(Berns, 2013). Although Amelia’s peer group is now very unsure of her and tends to avoid her,
her peer group was very influential on her development of self during earlier childhood. Now,
however, Amelia is regressing back to her earlier issues with self-concept as her mother is gone
and her friends are no longer interacting with her.
According to Berns (2013) the experiences that children have with their peers enable
them to acquire a wide range of skills, attitudes and roles that has the potential to influence their
adaptation throughout the rest of their lives. When a child is accepted by their peers the peer
group acts as a significant socializer, contributing beyond the influence of their family and
school as they: are preferred to other socializing agents, satisfy certain belonging needs and
highly influence social, cognitive and psychological development (Berns, 2013). However, if a
child is rejected by their peers there are a number of issues that could potentially occur such as:
antisocial or aggressive behavior, emotional and behavioral problems, difficulty developing

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identity, low self-esteem, crime and delinquency or membership in delinquent gangs and eating
disorders (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). A lack of peer acceptance early on is also linked to
maladjustment later on in life as their psychological, social, cognitive and emotional
development is hindered (Berns, 2013). Before the death of her mother, Amelia never
experienced peer rejection as she was very well liked and was always included in group activities
both during and after school hours. However, due to Amelia’s antisocial behavior after the death
of her mother she is experiencing peer rejection for the first time in her life. This peer rejection is
likely to end once Amelia goes thorough the grieving process and returns back to her normal
self, if she ever does that is.
Studies show that biological, cognitive and social factors interactively contribute to sex-
typed behavior which explains the differences that exist in gender role behavior and the
variations within the sexes in typical male and female behavior (Berns, 2013). According to
Berns (2013) studies have concluded that girls have greater verbal communication ability than
boys and boys have a greater visual-spatial ability than girls. In terms of conflict resolution, boys
are more aggressive than girls, a difference that becomes apparent in infancy. Studies have also
indicated that girls tend to enjoy mutual play and use conflict mitigation strategies, where boys
tend to play rougher and use physical assertion to resolve conflicts (Berns, 2013). Boys’ play is
generally characterized by larger groups with less proximity to adults, is more public, involves
more fighting and physical contact, more dominance attempts and the establishment of a
hierarchical order while girls’ play is generally characterized by smaller, more intimate groups,
closer proximity to adults, a strong convention of taking turns and more mutuality in
conversation and play (Berns, 2013). This is very telling in the differences between the types of

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social relationships that girls and boys develop with their peers. According to Berns (2013) boys’
play tends to reinforce the ability to deal with diverse actions simultaneously, engage in
competition, cope with impersonal rules, engage in strategic thinking, coordinate actions in order
to foster group cohesiveness and work for collective goals. Girls’ play, on the other hand, tends
to reinforce flexibility, empathy, spontaneity, cooperation and imagination (Berns, 2013).
Amelia definitely typifies the research conducted on gender differences in communication,
conflict resolution and the development of social relationships. She had a lot of friends before the
death of her mother all of which were broken down into smaller groups or cliques. Each of these
groups had different activities that they enjoyed doing together and was usually done typical to
the description of how girls play together.
Berns (2013) states that in order for an individual to develop successful social
relationships they must possess the ability to take on the point of view of another individual as
well as the ability to communicate and empathize. Also, the ability to understand other
individuals and the social world around them is very closely related to the activities and
relationships they share with their parents and siblings (Berns, 2013). Strong social relationships
allow children to develop a self-regard which is essentially a sense of self- worth based on the
perceived attention and esteem received from others (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Because
children’s lives are initially centered within their families, the family environment is the primary
agent of socialization (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Thus, the family provides the child’s
first experiences in social interaction that is intimate, nurturing and enduring, providing
emotional security for the child (Berns, 2013). Basically, the family system sets the stage for
how children will develop social relationships with others. Based on the fact that Amelia had a

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large number of friends before the death of her mother, it is likely that her mother provided her
with adequate social interactions as a child. Peers, on the other hand, are also very influential on
an individual’s social relationships. Peers are thought to supply an individual with the attitudes,
motivations and rationalizations to support antisocial behavior e.g. bullying as well as providing
opportunities to engage in specific delinquent acts. This explains the increase in violence and
hate crimes that occur in schools and communities. However, whether or not individuals
succumb to group pressure depends on their personalities, the situation and the number of
reference groups to which they belong. Violence in school systems and communities occur so
often by individuals that have been bullied or socially isolated when they get tired of playing the
role of victim, going unnoticed or being excluded (withdrawn, shy, insecure and have difficulty
asserting themselves in a group) and end up taking on the role of bully to feel more powerful or
equal to others (dominant, aggressive, impulsive, angry and have a low frustration tolerance)
(Berns, 2013). Peer pressure to conform and to be accepted, whether it’s dressing a certain way
or taking drugs and alcohol, is constantly operating (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Baruth
(2013) states that the cause of certain behavior exhibited by children or adolescences stem from
their quest for independence and peer pressure to experiment with alcohol and drugs. Much like
that of bullying, there are a number of variables that will determine if the individual will
succumb to the peer pressure or not. Both isolation and bullying as well as social pressure
surrounding drugs and alcohol all stem from social peer relationships. Children and adolescents
have a very strong herd drive to be accepted by their peers thus their peers are an important
influence on their behaviors, development and socialization (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
Group pressure is a sociocultural method of socialization because it involves conforming to

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certain norms (Berns, 2013). Because humans have a need to affiliate with other humans and
social approval determines whether or not one is accepted by the group, humans tend to conform
to the group’s expectations (Berns, 2013). Either way, the peer group is affecting the individual’s
social relationships by either accepting them for who they are and promoting a high self-esteem
and clear self-concept or making them feel as if they have to change to fit in with certain groups.
Based on Amelia’s past and present behavior, it is very unlikely that bullying and peer pressure
have ever had an effect on her social relationships. However, since she no longer has any friends
it is likely in the future that she will have to conform to the behaviors and attitudes of her peer
group in order to be accepted again. Finally, culture is another influential factor in an
individual’s social relationships. According to Berns (2013) babies are born into culture and
through this they learn appropriate social roles. These social roles in turn influence the ability to
construct social relationships in the future. Culture involves learned behavior including
knowledge, beliefs, morals, law, art, customs and tradition that is characteristic of the social
environment in which an individual grows up (Berns, 2013). Thus, the ideals passed on from
parent to child, depending on their culture, will determine the social relationships an individual
will have as they grow older. Based on the number of successful social relationships Amelia had
before the death of her mother it is likely that her culture had no adverse influences on her social
relationships. However, Amelia’s culture taught her to be kind, fair, friendly and helpful to
others which means that her culture likely had a very positive influence on her social
relationships. Overall, the family system, peer rejection, peer pressure and culture all influence
the manner in which an individual builds social relationships and through this their overall
behavior.

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According to Friedman and Schustack (2013) Erik Erikson believes that identity
formation is a lifelong process but mainly occurs during his fifth stage of psychosocial
development: identity versus role confusion. During this stage the adolescent experiments with
different roles while still trying to integrate identities from previous stages (Friedman &
Schustack, 2013). Aside from simply trying out roles, adolescents are using the reactions of
others to judge how well the roles fit their self-concept (Berns, 2013). Berns (2013) states that:
children beginning the identity versus role confusion stage tend to “temporarily overidentify to
the point of apparent complete loss of identity, with heroes of cliques and crowds.” Also, during
this stage some individuals are unable to integrate their many roles into their lives and have
difficulty coping with conflicting roles, meaning that they suffer from role confusion (Zastrow &
Kirst-Ashman, 2010). According to Berns (2013) Erik Erikson further explains that children
defend against a sense of identity confusion by excluding those who are different from them or
their group. Upon entering into the identity versus role confusion stage, children look to their
peer group for their identity by using the group to tell them what is acceptable or unacceptable or
good or bad, thus contributing to the development of their identity. By identifying themselves
with a group and excluding those who are not like the other members of their group, children are
able to identity who they are by affirming exactly who they are not (Berns, 2013). Being fourteen
Amelia is just starting to deal with the issue of identity development in the identity versus role
confusion stage and going through puberty. Amelia is struggling with the process of identity
formation, more so than her peers due to the death of her mother. She is reevaluating who she
thought she was based on the loss of the role as a daughter and the loss of the role as a friend to
so many. The biggest influences on Amelia’s identity formation prior to this point in her life

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were her mother, grandmother, teachers and friends since she was never active in church or in
the community.
As you can see, the development of self, the development of identity and an individual’s
social relationships in childhood and throughout life are very complex concepts with a plethora
of influences and factors. Through the use of case study, Amelia I was able to further explore
these concepts in the present paper. I achieved this by discussing the development of self as well
as the influences on the self during childhood. I provided a discussion of peer acceptance and
rejection in terms of which Amelia has experienced. A discussion of the research conducted on
gender differences in communication, conflict resolution and the development of social
relationships that my client typifies was provided as well. I also discussed the influence of family
systems, how social isolation and bullying may lead to mass violence in our school systems and
communities, social pressures surrounding drugs and alcohol and cultural influences on Amelia’s
social relationships. I then offered a discussion of Amelia’s identity formation that relies on Erik
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

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References
Baruth, L.G. & Manning M.L., (2013). Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents (5th
ed.). Pearson Learning Solutions VitalBook.
Berns, R. M. (2013). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (9th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Friedman, H. S., Schustack, M. W., (2013). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research
(5th ed.). Pearson Learning Solutions VitalBook.
Zastrow, C.H. & Kirst-Ashman, K.K., (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social
Environment, (8 e.d.). Cengage Learning Digital Book.