There are different factors that can influence an individual’s development. When an individual is developing there are different biological and environmental factors that can determine the way they are, the way they act and the way they develop. It all depends on a combination of both environmental and biological influences. In this assignment I will talk about the five life factors that affect the development of an individual. The five life factors are genetic, biological, environmental, socioeconomic and lifestyle are all the life factors which affect the development of an individual.
Historically different philosophers and theorists have disagreed that we are born to be the way we are. Other theorists have argued that it is the way we have been raised and the environment we have lived in that influences and makes us who we are. This argument is known as the nature-nurture debate.
Nature is what we think and it is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. In the nature versus nature debate nature refers to an individual’s innate qualities. An example of nature is that nature is your genes. The physical and personal traits determined by your genes stay the same no matter where an individual was born or raised. Factors of nature are biological and family factors. In nature physical traits may be a result of environmental factors for example how tall you are may have more to do with your environment than it might have to do with your genetic code. Certain environmental factors can have an influence on a person’s height even if an individual’s grandfather was super tall and the individual’s dad was tall. If during the development stages in a person’s childhood like the person not eating the right type of food such as vitamins and minerals. The person might not become as tall as their dad or grandfather.
Nurture is the influenced by social, economic and environmental factors. In the nature versus nurture debate nurture refers to personal experiences. An example of nurture is that that nurture refers to a person’s childhood or how they were brought up. Someone could be born with genes to give them a normal height but the individual was malnourished in childhood resulting in stunted growth and a failure to develop as expected. Factors of nurture include social and environmental factors. In nurture individuals may be influenced by a person in the past for example they may have had a bad temper so this explains why that certain individual has a bad temper or some people may raise their voice and yell at someone when they are angry because family members used to do so in the past. So this basically means that an individual’s personality may be a result of nurture or environmental factors
Determinism is the belief that your future is fixed or determined, either by what you have genetically inherited or by social environment or experience. On the other hand the alternative to determinism is choice and interaction which is the belief that people can take control of their own lives through the choices they make. This is sometimes labelled as free will which means that people can choice how they want to live their lives. Interactions are the decisions people make.
Biological programming is an argument that our genes can programme and provide the instructions for structuring amino acids which influence our body cells. An individual’s body shape and size as well as behaviour depend on environmental factors.
The nature versus nurture debate relates to James’s case study because when he was six his younger sister was born with a heart defect but no one else caught the disease. James also made bad decisions as a teenager which lead to poor development.
Genetic
Each living cell in the body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. One chromosome in each pair is inherited by the mother and one is inherited by the father. The chromosomes contain the genes individuals inherit from parents. There might be different forms in the same gene which are known as alleles. Genes contain the instructions for making each new individual. For example a gene that determines the eye colour. An individual may inherit a brown allele from their mother and a brown allele from the father but they end up with brown eyes because the brown eyes gene was dominant. All genes are made up of DNA which contains the instructions for producing proteins and these proteins regulate the development of an individual. Genes can cause medical conditions as well because sometimes people inherit the faulty version of a gene that causes health problems and a normal version of a gene that does not cause a health condition.
There are different types of genetic factors. I will be looking at Down’s syndrome, diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
Down’s syndrome
Down’s syndrome is a genetic condition that typically causes some level of learning disability. People with Down’s syndrome may have a variety of birth defects. About half all affected children are born with a heart defect. Digestive abnormalities are less common. Individuals with Down’s syndrome have an increased risk of developing several medical conditions. About 15 percent of people with Down’s syndrome have an underactive thyroid. Individuals with Down’s syndrome also have an increased risk of hearing and vision problems. Delayed development and behaviour problems are often reported in children with Down’s syndrome. Affected individuals speech and language develop later and more slowly than children without Down’s syndrome and affected individuals speech may be more difficult to understand. Behaviour problems can include attention problems, obsessive/compulsive behaviour, and stubbornness or tantrums. A small percentage of people with Down syndrome are also diagnosed with developmental conditions called autism spectrum disorders, which affect communication and social interaction.People with Down syndrome often experience a gradual decline in thinking ability (cognition) as they age, usually starting around age 50. Down syndrome is also associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer disease, a brain disorder that results in a gradual loss of memory, judgment, and ability to function. Approximately half of adults with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer disease. Although Alzheimer disease is usually a disorder that occurs in older adults, people with Down syndrome usually develop this condition in their fifties or sixties.
Down’s syndrome is caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21 in a baby's cells. In the vast majority of cases this isn’t inherited and is simply the result of a genetic mistake in the sperm or egg.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a common lifelong health condition. Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in a person’s blood is too high because the body can’t use it properly. This is because the pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin or not enough insulin to help glucose enter the body cells or the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Diabetes develops when glucose can’t enter the body’s cells to be used as fuel. There are two main types of diabetes type one and type two.
In type one diabetes the body does not produce enough insulin and some people may refer to this type of diabetes as early onset diabetes. People usually develop type one diabetes before they are 40 years old or in early adulthood or teenage years. Patients with type one diabetes will need to take insulin injections for the rest of their life.
In type two diabetes is caused by being overweight, not following a healthy diet and getting very little exercise. However diabetes can be avoided by following a healthy diet, monitoring blood sugar levels, getting lots of exercise and not being overweight. Type two diabetes can get worse if the patient doesn’t take extra care. The patient will have to take insulin in a tablet form. The risk of a person getting diabetes increases as they get older.
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that changes how your body makes mucus and sweat. It affects how well your lungs your lungs function and can cause them to produce thick sticky mucus. People with cystic fibrosis will have trouble digesting and absorbing nourishment from food. People with cystic fibrosis may suffer from respiratory problems.
Cystic fibrosis is caused by a defective gene and is usually caused by recessive a gene which means that the person will not develop cystic fibrosis unless both parents are carriers of a recessive cystic fibrosis gene. When both parents have a defective cystic fibrosis gene the child being born will have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the cystic fibrosis disease.
PIES
Physically an individual’s development is affected by an illness because of their appearance. Intellectually they will be affected because they will think slower than normal people without an illness. Emotionally they would be affected because they will feel unwanted by society. Socially a person will find it difficult to interact with others around them.
Relate to James
Physically James was healthy and didn’t have any health issues. Intellectually James was smart as he had no health problems. Emotionally James was left out and upset because of his sister’s heart defect. Socially James was shy because he felt ignored by his family due to the fact that all the attention was towards his younger sister
Biological influences before birth
The environment inside a mother’s womb can have a massive influence on the development of a child. If a mother smokes or drinks during pregnancy this can affect the development of the foetus because it could cause the child to be born with a birth defect or other issues. Children born with a smoking mother tend to weigh less and are more prone to getting diseases and infections. If a mother smokes then her child may become slower as they may have learning difficulties in school. Drugs can damage a child inside the womb.
Foetal alcohol syndrome
Alcohol can have a negative effect on a child’s development before birth. Mothers who drink a lot of alcohol may find that they give birth to children with foetal alcohol syndrome. Children with this syndrome tend to have smaller heads than usual or may look smaller than they should be. These children also have heart defects and learning difficulties.
Infections during pregnancy
Infections such as rubella can attack a mother’s womb if the mother gets infected. Rubella can be very dangerous and is particularlydangerous on the first month of pregnancy. If a mother is infected it could cause the baby to be born with hearing impairments or impaired eyesight or even a damaged heart. Most women especially when they are pregnant are vaccinated to prevent getting the disease.
Biological influences before birth plays a huge influence on the quality of a person’s life and it will depend on the way in which these deaf and blind people are treated
Effect of diet
Biological life starts at conception which is nine months before the baby is born. A baby in the womb will be affected by what the mother eats during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Resent research on animals suggests that if a mother increases her sugar, fat and cholesterol intake this will increase the chances of the baby being born with a heart defect or other heart related problems. Malnutrition or lack of healthy food could cause poor health to the child. Women should eat healthy foods which mean plenty of fruits and vegetables. They should avoid taking any drugs, or taking too much caffeine as this can result in low birth weight for the child or they might be born with serious health problems or could develop them later on in life.
PIES
Physically it affects a person because the mother’s actions during pregnancy affect how the child is born. Intellectually if a mother is drinking during pregnancy the child in the womb tends to develop learning difficulties. Emotionally it affects people because if a mother is having drugs it can make the new born child emotionally unstable. Socially a person is affected because if the mother has drugs during pregnancy it can cause the child to become less interactive with others and may find it hard to make friends.
Delayed or arrested development
Delayed development happens when a baby or young child has not shown development within the expected time range. This term is usually restricted to a child’s development within the first five years of life. Delayed development may be caused by issues such as, brain development, poor social interaction with others, disease, visual disability, hearing disability and poor nutrition. Developmental process can be checked by health professionals such as GPs. Arrested development is development which has stopped. People with mental disabilities are sometimes regarded as arrested.
PIES
Physically it may be linked to delayed development because the individual may not at the average rate that their meant to be. It could be linked to arrested development. Intellectually arrested development can link to intellectual as the person has mental issues that could be delayed meaning their development of their brain is slow. Emotional it will link them because emotionally they feel low self-esteem and segregated. Socially they will isolate themselves from friends and family. They will find it hard to make friends as they will feel that no one will accept them.
Relate to James
Physically it relates to James because he was smaller than his average size so he wasn’t able to play football. Intellectually his education was affected because he hung around with the wrong group of people. Emotionally he was affected by the fact that his sister got more attention because of his sister had a heart defect. Socially James was find it harder to speak to people because of lack of support at home.
Environmental and Socioeconomic
Environment influences are the affects of conditions or surroundings such as where people work or live that influences the development of an individual. Socioeconomic factors are the social experiences and realities that help to build an individual’s personality and lifestyle.
Pollution
Air and water pollution can influence development and is a major cause of ill health. In the past the lack of sanitation and sewerage in cities related to threatening diseases such as cholera. Lead pollution used to be an issue until it was removed from paint and petrol. Lead pollution had concerns on the fact that it might affect brain development in children.
Housing
Poor quality housing is associated with poor health. Dampness in homes can cause people to develop allergies to dust and respiratory diseases such as asthma. Poor housing also includes poor lightning non-safety glass in windows and loose rugs can cause people to have accidents. Overcrowding homes can cause stress due to lack of privacy, noise and difficulty in sleeping in some cases it can result in lack of food.
Access to health and social services
Areas of low income may have poorer facilities than wealthier areas. A low income makes it more difficult to get health care facilities and sometimes their are not even enough health care facilities to get around
PIES
Physically environment can affect the development of a person because of poor housing which could make them ill. Intellectually a person in an overcrowded home can cause stress which can affect a person’s school life. Emotionally a person may be affected by the environment and things like an overcrowding home can cause conflict and people can become upset with one another because of lack of resources. Socially an overcrowded home can cause a person to become shy and less confident.
Relate to James
Physically James was a healthy because his father could afford a nice clean house. Intellectually James was smart because of the fact that he got a lot of books and toys. Emotionally
Social factors
Social factors are the actions, reactions and thoughts of an individual that are influenced by other people or groups.
Family dysfunctional
A dysfunctional family is a family that is not working well and not providing all the support and benefits associated with being a family. There are four common types of family there are extended, nuclear, reconstituted and lone parent. There are many reasons as to why a family is dysfunctional. Family members may be stressed about a health issue in the family or poor housing or low income. Some parents have poor parenting skills and may control family members in an aggressive manner. Other parents have too many children so they make neglect some of them.
Bullying
Discrimination can result in bullying. Bullying can lower one’s self esteem and can create stress and anxiety which can affects things like school life such as causing an effect on persons academic achievement.
Culture and beliefs
Culture is a collection of values, beliefs and customs. Different cultures and beliefs can cause people to create conflict amongst each other due to disagreement. We all live in a multicultural society so children are taught to respect everyone’s cultures and beliefs in order to maintain peace amongst each other.
Discrimination
People often discriminate each other because of their race, gender, belief, religion, sexuality or age etc. Discrimination is treating people less favourably than others because of differences. Discrimination affects development in a negative way because people feel down and upset because of it.