African american case study Essay

David Brown is a 35-year-old African American residing in Brooklyn, New York. He is tall, lean, and professional-looking. He has short curly hair and neatly shaved face. He has been a successful bank manager for five years and his colleagues look up to him with much respect and admiration. But whatever he has now are the fruits of his hardwork and perseverance. David was born on the 25th of February 1972. During this time, racial discrimination was still prolific and their family experienced hard times. They live in the â€Å"ghetto† where drugs, gang wars, and poverty were rampant. Growing up in such an environment was never easy for David and he found it hard to trust his peers because he did not want to get involved in their vices. His mother had to stay at home to attend to his other siblings while his father had two jobs to support their family’s needs. Considering their situation, David was inspired to study hard and he wanted to give his family a better life. After graduating from highschool, he was determined to pursue college and was fortunate enough to be accepted in a known university to study Banking and Finance. College was the biggest challenge for him because first of all, his father had to support him and he had to work as a grocery clerk in a convenient store at night to make ends meet. Due to the color of his skin, David faced discrimination issues. His classmates regarded him as inferior and some even ridiculed him and his peers who were also African Americans. Whenever he felt down and mocked, he would play basketball because this was his outlet in releasing tension and built-up emotions. However, he did not lose his focus and he graduated with flying colors. It took him a while to land on a job since some of the employers were discriminating. After several months, he got a job offer from a banking company as a clerk. He was very happy because he was starting to fulfill his dreams of helping his family. He worked hard and loved this noble profession and eventually, his efforts were seen by his superiors. His determination and dedication made him climb the corporate ladder. Many got insecure and envious when he was promoted to his present managerial position. Some even doubted his leadership skills and capabilities in performing his duties but, David proved them wrong. In time, he was able to win their support and respect.   David is currently at the prime of his life – he is successful and has given his family a better life. He does not have any intimate relationships because he prioritizes his family and work. Considering Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development, David has gone through young adulthood and it appears that his lack of initiative to form intimate relationships lead to isolation. However, he could only be delayed in establishing intimate relationships with the opposite sex because of prioritization of other more important things. As of now, he is in his middle adulthood and it is most likely that he is experiencing psychological stagnation since he is not showing productivity in helping the next generation achieve their goals. Taking Freud’s theory of psychosexual development into consideration, David appears to be fixated in the latency stage because of his self-fulfilling goals and the direction of his energy towards productive activities like work. Though he knows how to socialize, most of his friends are males and he exhibits lack of interest in engaging in close relationships with women (Santrock, 2002). At this point, he should have been married like most people of his age and rearing a family of his own; but as mentioned earlier, David may only be delayed in fulfilling such human functions. References: Santrock, J.W. (2002). Life-Span Development (8th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill