Emma Washington

Emma is a 13-year-old girl from a large family. She has one younger sister, one older sister, and one older brother. Her brother Tyler is married and has two children of his own. She and her two sisters live with their parents and their great-grandmother. Their grandfather lives across the street.

Emma gets along well with her father but often argues with her mother and grandfather. She alternates between being close to her sisters and wanting nothing to do with them. Recently, she and Ava, her younger sister, have been fighting a great deal.

More and more often, Emma takes every comment made personally—believing the speaker means it negatively about her. Her arguments with everyone in the family have left her isolated at home. She spends most of her time on the phone or Internet with friends.

She spends an hour and a half getting ready every morning and is never satisfied with her appearance. She has taken up three extreme diets in the past year, giving up on them after a few weeks. When she has done well on a diet, she’s received positive comments from boys her age, but otherwise they ignore her.

When considering what classes to take at school, her parents told her which ones would be most useful for getting into college for a degree to teach elementary school children. But in the end, she chose classes taught by the teachers her friends told her were the best.

Though she wants to be a teacher, her parents have repeatedly told her they cannot afford to send her to college. They will support her decision if she can figure out how to pay for it. Lately, she’s been saying that she is not sure she will be a teacher. She has stopped making plans for her future and instead spends her time texting with her friends and watching YouTube videos.

Emma describes herself:

“I’m always social with my friends, but I try to avoid talking to my family.”
“I’m overweight and likely to get fat.”
“Only my friends like me. Everyone else thinks I’m stupid.”

Here Is the assignment instruction.

Now that you have navigated through the Riverbend City: Meet the Washingtons interactive media piece, for the assignment, you will write a 2–3-page paper based on one of the children or teens.

After choosing a character, you will apply a theory and its concepts to the person you selected based on his or her age group. You will then consider the physical development of the brain for the character as well as how brain development affects attitudes and behaviors at that age. Last, you will note ethical considerations a psychological professional would need to consider in working with this individual.

Below are the steps that will help to make sure you have the pieces to complete the assignment. It may be helpful to review the assignment instructions for context.

Choose Your Theory

In the assignment, you will apply at least one cognitive or psychosocial theory to your chosen family member. Possible theory choices include, but are not limited to, the following. Review your textbook for information on these theories.

Emma Washington (Age 13)
Marcia’s identity status theory.
Erickson’s psychosocial stages.

Choose Your Theoretical Concept

You will also need to find one scholarly article in the Capella library studying the effect of a theoretical concept for the age group of your chosen family member. Below is a list of theoretical concepts you could choose that may be easier to research.

Refer to the Bachelor’s in Psychology Library Research Guide: Finding Articles page for further assistance with searching the library for this assignment.

Emma Washington (Age 13)
Identity.
Personal fable.
Decision making.
Self-esteem.

review Brain Development

Along with theory and concepts, you will also consider how the brain is physically developing at the age of your chosen character. Review the appropriate chapters in your textbook.

Review the APA Code of Ethics

You will also consider the appropriate ethics a psychological professional would need to apply to working with your chosen character. Review the APA code of ethics.