Reference no: EM133303344
Assignment:
Clinical Case Study
John Hernandez is a 14-year old boy who lives with his parents, Amelia and Jose, in suburban Houston, Texas. The Hernandez family is of Mexican and Honduran decent. Amelia's parents emigrated from Mexico when her father came to teach at a University in Houston. Amelia was born and raised in Houston. Jose's family fled from violence Honduras when he was 3 years old. His parents are undocumented and live outside of Dallas, Texas. Both Amelia and Jose have strong positive relationships with their parents/siblings/extended family. Amelia is currently a Nurse Practitioner and Jose works in project management for a housing development company.
John is in 8th grade at Johnson Middle School, which is a racially/ethnically diverse STEM Magnet school. He is an introvert and has difficulties fitting in with many of his peers in class. He has a few close friends, but prefers spending time at home playing video games. He is a straight-A student, friendly, and eager to please others. There have been no behavioral issues at school or home and he is compliant with his parents' requests. John enjoys reading, writing poetry, and excels in art. He is often teased by classmates for always "having his nose in a book." John sees social media as a way to "become cool" and hopes to join the "cool kids" clique who are active on Snapchat and Instagram.
Recently John was been given permission by his parents to have his own phone and establish social media accounts. Unfortunately, John began participating in inappropriate activities with the group, such as sexting and sharing inappropriate videos and photos. His parents were alerted to his online activities by another peer's parents. Amelia and Jose are concerned about this recent change in his behavior and the content of the sexting. John was caught sharing pictures and talking sexually with both boys and girls. They have decided to strongly limit John's access to the internet and his mobile phone. John has become angry and agitated about his parent's newfound strict oversight. Since restricting his online activity the parents have noticed an increase in John's moody behaviors and distant attitude toward them. Initially the parents thought it was just teenage normalcy and didn't pay it much attention. However, over the past few months John has grown more distant and moody. He often refuses to leave his room to eat dinner with the family or to extend extended family gatherings. Amelia and Jose have decided to seek counseling to address John's change of mood, behavior and defiance.
1. According to Erikson's Psychosocial Theory, where is John in his development?
2. What physical (brain and body) and cognitive changes are happening to John? How might these changes impact John's behavior?
3. What questions do you have about the emergence of John's sexuality and sexual preference? Why does this matter for this case?
4. Discuss the identity development process that John is experiencing. How might his racial/ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and SES to impact this process?
5. How important are John's peer relationships at this age? What concerns do you have as his therapist?
6. Discuss the recent change between John and his parents in terms of parenting and conflict. What role do you think parental monitoring and racial/ethnic or gender/sex play in the parenting processes of John?