Development Case Study

Jean Sweetland never expected that she would one day have so many different hats to wear. But now, in her early 40s, when Jean comes home from her full time job as a nurse and takes off her nurse's cap, it seems as though her day has barely started. With two teenage children living at home, Jean next must put on her mother's hat and enforce household rules, dispense advice, help with homework, or just provide a shoulder to cry on. Before her husband comes home from his own job, Jean has to pop on her chef's hat and get dinner started; the maid's cap will come out later, when Jean does the family's laundry and cleans the bathrooms.

As if all this weren't enough, the responsibility has fallen to Jean for looking after her aging mother as well. Two or three evenings a week Jean slips on her daughter's hat and makes the trip across town to her mother's house, where she spends an hour or so paying bills, restocking the cupboards, and helping with other household chores.

Jean loves her family and she tries very hard to be the mother, wife, and daughter that they all need her to be-but the conflicting demands on her time are stressful and often tiresome. In recent months Jean has increasingly found herself wondering what became of her own wants and needs , and she has begun asking herself hard questions about the direction her life is headed.

How typical is the Sweetland family structure? In what ways is Jean's situation typical of women her age?

What would be your best guess as to Jean Sweetland's parenting style, and why do you think so?

Describe the stage of social development that Jean Sweetland's adolescent children are most likely experiencing. In what ways might their own development be influencing Jean's?

If you were Jean's physician, how would you explain to her the changes that might be occurring in her aging mother?

Describe how Jean might react if her mother were to die? What stages of grief might she pass through?