The Role of Environment on Individual Values and Behaviour
What was the environment in which you were raised essay examples. My name is Kristin Tubb and I was born on the 5th of March, 1968 in Raton, New Mexico. I am Caucasian, but grew up in New Mexico where there is a very culturally diverse population.
I never had to think about ethnicity until I was twelve or thirteen when I heard my father call an African American man a very derogatory name that I choose not to use this word in my paper. My mom is Carol O’Keefe and my father was Billy Tubb. My father died from a long battle with cancer. I am the second child of two children of my mother and father, but I do have two younger siblings from my step-father. My early childhood was riddled with addiction because both my mother and father used substances in addition both sets of grandparents were active alcoholics. The family business was the hospitality industry, both my parents worked in bars and restaurants. This is a good time to talk about Person-in-Environment theory as I am a product of my childhood environment.
Person-in-environment theory is a principle that highlights the importance of understanding an individual and an individual’s behavior in light of the environmental contexts in which that person lives and acts. PIE states that a person's behavior can largely be understood by looking at their environment, including their past environment. My grandparents were wealthy but we were poor. My mom and dad divorced when I was four years old and both remarried. My dad remained married to my stepmom Laura until his death. My mom is still married to my step-father. My stepdad Ken did not know what he was getting himself into with two preteen children. There was much turmoil in the home because My step-father and I did not get along. He and my mother had two children, one when I was 12 and the other when I was 14. Both my mom and stepdad worked so I was left with the responsibility of caring and raising my siblings. Growing up with split parents was not especially difficult since my father was basically out of the picture. He called on birthdays and Christmas and that’s as much contact as we had. I did however get to spend my summers in Colorado with my paternal grandparents. This was my safe place. They were wealthy and I had a very different life in the summer. I was able to be a kid. That all changed the summer of my twelfth year. I was molested by my grandfather. This changed my whole life. I started smoking pot and I really just checked out of life. My schooling suffered and so did my relationships with everybody in my family. I did not disclose this abuse. By the time I was 18 I was a full-blown addict. In developmental theory it states that “wrong turns and choices made at critical junctures or exposure to particularly unnourishing environments can cause children's development to get off track”.
Person-in-environment theory is a concept that a person's problems are heavily influenced by their environment. In my life this rings very true. I am a product of my childhood environment. I grew up in a family of addicts and in a family of complete disfunction. Not only did my environment influence my development so did my genetics which ties into the developmental stages. “Not all people grow and change at the same degree. Even within a given person, growth can be irregular. A person may grow intellectually into a scholar, but become developmentally delayed with regard to emotional maturity and fail to develop the 'emotional intelligence' characteristic of their peers. This sort of developmental delay might occur for any number of reasons, including abuse, drug or alcohol addiction, or even the child's overwhelmed reaction to parental conflicts or divorce”.
In conclusion I have expressed the influence that my background, present life, education, work history, career inventories, and career goals have had on my life. Children and adults often have numerous problems that negatively affect their life. It is our responsibility to help ourselves and others to overcome these negative life affects. Assessments can assist individuals in identifying strengths and weaknesses in order to advance their career goals and understanding. They help people identify values, interests and aptitude for any given profession.
