Community Development and Youth Work

Question: Discuss the issues in the child, relevant theoretical concepts and organizational support? Answer: A child needs complete care and guidance from the environment. The care and support that a child gets in the early stage helps the individual to become a successful youth. Once a child does not get the required amount of resources in the childhood, it will affect the person in the future. The report will throw light on a case study where a fifteen-year-old boy is deprived of the love and care of the parents. The report will analyze the case and determine the practices that could have helped in the development of the child. Issues in the child The main problem that Jamie could face in the future is developing a good career. During the childhood, he is not getting the exact amount of care and support that he should get from the parents. His father is not with them and his mother is mentally ill. Hence, there is a lack of a person in the family, who could have helped Jamie in deciding the future. However, Jamie attends the youth club, takes part in the school sports and has a group of friends. Due to the social engagement, Jamie is able to get out of the depressing conditions at home. The guidance of the parents is required for the development of the career of a person. Jamie is a young boy who is in his adolescence. Adolescence is the sensitive period for a person as it is the time when a person goes through various mental and physical changes (Heywood 2013). In addition to this, the process of cognitive learning develops in this phase. Thus, it was important for Jamie to get a good guidance from school as well as from fami ly. The family must have taught him the importance of love and care as it helps the child to develop. The love and care that a person gets from the family helps in cognitive development in a child. The child learns the meaning of family, which later helps the person to develop his own family in the future (David and Weinstein 2013). As Jamie has seen that his father has left the family, he might also repeat the same actions when he will grow up and start a family. In this manner, the act of ignorance will prevail in the society and the future of a child will always be under the clouds of doubt. Relevant theoretical concepts The situation of Jamie can be related to the cognitive development theory as presented by Jean Piaget (Piaget 1976). Jean Piaget has explained that a child can be described as a little scientist who learn everything that he or she is seeing in the environment. Just like a scientist deduce the inference by carrying out the experiment and after a series of observation, a child also observes what is going on around the person and then develops an idea about the environment where the person lives. The issues that have been discussed in the case of Jamie shows are the lack of guidance from his parents. His father has left them and his mother is not well. In a age when the parents should have taken care of the child, it is the child who talking care of the ailing mother. It might happen that through the experience, Jamie builds an idea of looking after the parents, loving them and caring for them, however, it might happen that things turn out otherwise (Sun and Shek 2012). While learning t o care for people Jamie might learn to be ignorant like his father (Sun and Shek 2012). As his father has left them, he might develop the feeling of ignorance and leave his wife and children while he starts the families thus, it is important for a child to get a proper learning when he is growing up. A strong family background and proper and support from the family will help a child to learn about the bigger responsibilities and the child will be prepared for any adverse circumstances in life (Christens and Peterson 2012). Organizational support Many organizations as well as professionals provide help to the children as well as the parents of the children to help them develop a healthy childhood. The Council for Professional Recognition imparts training to the teachers who could help in development of the child ("Early Childhood Organizations - Council for Professional Recognition" 2016). The organization teaches the teachers that other than teaching, a teacher needs to make the student learn about the environment and society where the children develop as a whole. Council for Professional Recognition aims at developing a childs rather than just teaching the child from the curriculum. ASPIRA Association Inc. is another non-profit organization, which is serving for the development of the child since 1961 ("Organizations Serving Children and Youth | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)" 2016). ASPIRA mainly aims at providing resources to the youth who cannot afford them. ASPIRA helps the youth to take proper training which could help them is developing their career. However, an organization can help the youth by making them learn soft skills, which the individual can use for future purposes. The training will be a way of getting out of the hardship of life, simultaneously develop new skills. The organization will give the guidance that the youth lack in their homes and eventually help them to establish themselves in the professional world. Conclusion The report concludes that the cognitive learning process is important in the development of a child. A child who is not getting the guidance of the parents might not be able to develop a career, as the person is not getting the correct advice and support. There are certain organizations, which help in the development of a child. However, it is recommended that an organization should impart soft skills to a person who is having a disturbed family background. In addition the resources, the person should get the training and guidance which will be helpful for the indicial to develop a career and decide which field will be best suited for the person. References Christens, B.D. and Peterson, N.A., 2012. The role of empowerment in youth development: A study of sociopolitical control as mediator of ecological systems influence on developmental outcomes.Journal of youth and adolescence,41(5), pp.623-635. David, T.G. and Weinstein, C.S. eds., 2013.Spaces for children: The built environment and child development. Springer Science Business Media. 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