Running head: ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 1

Me and My Environment

Isabel Contreras

Kutztown University
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 2

Abstract

This paper will be focusing on my life development from when I was born to this very

moment. I will be discussing how the environment surrounding me has affected me

psychological, biological, and socially. The information that I will be presenting will give a brief

history of my life. I will also be including the term biopsychosocial and the relation to my

depression that I currently have. This will mainly be concentrating on the biopsychosocial

environmental factors that lead to my mental disorder. However, I will also be discussing the

psychosocial theories and the various systems concepts that are in relation to my life

development.

By the end of this paper I will hope to achieve informing you on the biopsychosocial

development of my life and how the environment around an individual does have an impact on

their life. How a person interacts with their family, friends, community, etc. determines the

perspective the individual will develop. Hopefully, this paper of my life and surrounding

environment will be used as an example of this fact.

Keywords: biopsychosocial, environment, depression

ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 3

Me and My Environment

On September 3rd, 1996 in a town called New Brunswick in New Jersey, a girl was born

by the name of Isabel Sabrina Contreras. As of right now, I am 20 years old and I am of

Latino/Hispanic race. My ethnicity consists of Guatemalan and Spaniard; I was born and raised

as a Roman Catholic by my parents as well. I speak two languages, English and Spanish which

makes me bilingual. Jorge Contreras is my father, 72 years old, who is of Guatemalan ethnicity.

Meanwhile, Gladys Garcia is my mother who is 56 years old; her ethnicity consists of Spaniard

ancestry. The town in which I grew up in was Plainfield in the state of New Jersey. I have a large

group of friends, but there are only a handful which I consider like my family. When an

individual first meets me, I may seem nervous and hesitant but once they get to know me I am

the complete opposite. I currently have depression due to some events that happened throughout

my life. I believe that some of these events happened because the result of my surrounding

environment. My mental disorder is psychological, however it has affected me in a biological

and social manner. Although, I may have this mental disability it is the support I receive from my

family, friends and my community that helps me go forward. The environment around me has

positively and negatively affected the way my life is now. In order to understand my point, we

would have to start from the very beginning of my life development.

My story begins in my hometown, Plainfield NJ. As I stated before this is the town that I

grew up in and started my development. Environment is defined as an area where people or

other organisms live and function (Lindberg, 2007, p.460). This is where people interact with

other individuals neighboring them and sometimes they learn from each others lifestyles. This

was seen very often in my hometown. People from differently cultures and lifestyles would blend
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 4

with other people in the same environment. This would be considered a good thing, if it werent

for the negative lifestyles people would learn from others. Erik Erikson, theorist, observed that a

persons personality was mainly based on the individuals interactions with their social

environment that surrounded them (Zastrow, 2013). He created eight stages that were spread out

throughout an individuals lifetime. Within each stage, there are certain tasks that a person must

complete in order to progress in life. The stages of life explained how a person should be

developing from infancy to adulthood (Zastrow, 2013).

However, within a lifespan there are four main phases that are essential to life

development. They are infancy and childhood, adolescence, young and middle adulthood and

later adulthood (Zastrow, 2013). In these four phases, there are biological, psychological and

social development factors that are focused in a lifespan (Zastrow, 2013). Biological

development is about the physical characteristics of a persons life (Zastrow, 2013). A popular

example of a biological development in an adolescent is puberty. While psychological

development is more about a persons thought process and functioning (Zastrow, 2013). This

particular development is how people perceive themselves, other people and the environment

surrounding them (Zastrow, 2013). Psychological development is constantly seen throughout an

individuals lifespan such as, developing morality (Zastrow, 2013). Unfortunately, there are some

downsides to this development. We can form mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, eating

disorder, etc. Lastly, there is the social development that is quite important in order to progress in

life (Zastrow, 2013). This is about people being interactive with others in a social environment

(Zastrow, 2013). This development is seen since childhood, when kids starts to play with other

children. It later seen again when people interact with their friends and their work groups. As we

keep going through these four main phases, we reach to a socially developed point where we
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 5

create our own families and so on. When you combine these three characteristics of development

you get, bio-psycho-social development (Zastrow, 2013). These three aspects affect each other

one way or another, in the end they are what influences a persons growth and maturity.

Since I was a child, I grew up around drugs, gangs, and violence. I remember being in

Kindergarten and memorizing the lockdown drill because of multiple drive-by shootings that

would happen around my school. According to the Eriksons Theory, at this point of my life I

would be in Stage Three: Initiative vs Guilt (Zastrow, 2013). The ages within this stage would

be from three to five years old (Zastrow, 2013). In this stage, I would begin planning activities

and start games with other children. Initiating games with others would show that I am

developing the ability to make decisions and lead others too. Erikson would have viewed this as

a step towards being initiative, which is very important during this developmental part of the

stage (Zastrow, 2013). As a five-year-old, this was the time where I want to learn more about

everything around me. This would cause me to ask many questions, which leads to the second

portion of this stage; guilt (Zastrow, 2013). It is an adults responsibility to control how much

guilt a child is feeling when they are asking many questions. Too much guilt can lead the child to

not interact with the other kids but little to no guild can cause children to not know self-control.

During this stage of my life, I think my parents did a good job on balancing the amount of guilt

that I felt. Whenever, I would ask questions about the shootings I remember feeling satisfied with

the answer and not feeling too guilty for asking at this point of my life.

However, as I started to grow more I was no longer satisfied with bad people doing

mean things. My knowledge about the environment around me grew more and more as time

went on. Some of the peers in my class were slowly getting influenced by negative aspects of our

community. By the time I was in fifth grade it clear how the environment had affected the kids I
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 6

knew. It was also noticeable that we had adapted to the incidents that would happen in our town.

An example would be how my classmates and I had developed instinct reactions whenever we

would hear gunshots. Some of us drop to floor immediately, while others would run as fast as

they could. As a ten-year-old I had become satisfied with the questions I would always ask

because I had experienced them personally. I was in Stage Four of Eriksons Theory,

Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority (Zastrow, 2013). While, I was developing life skills I was

also learning how to do things on my own as well. During this time, teachers become role

models to a child because they are someone who are teaching them a certain set of skills that

children will later on use in life (Zastrow, 2013). My fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. England, was a big

part of my life during this time. I remember this was the period where I was struggling in school

because I couldnt concentrate with everything happening around me. Feeling as if your teachers

have given up on you is not a feeling that I would recommend someone experiencing. But, Mr.

England was not like the other teachers; she always kept pushing me to go forward. Whenever, I

would start to think I couldnt do something she was there encouraging me. I am most certain

that without her encouragement and reassurance I would probably still think that I cannot do

anything correctly. Not only did she teach me schoolwork but she also taught me that no matter

what happens I should never give up because I didnt know what amazing things were waiting

for me in the future. Without her, I would not think that I could achieve the goals I have set in

mind.

During this stage I was also experiencing the significance of my peer group. When I

reached age of twelve, all I cared about was gaining my peers approval. The things that children

will do so their friends will like them is unlimited. As I look back now, I wish I could change

some of the things I did in order to seem cool to my peers. My self-esteem was connected to
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 7

the approval of my friends. If they did not like the way I did things I would feel inferior to them,

which caused my self-esteem lower. Erikson thought that the development of a childs self-

esteem was very crucial during this point of time (Zastrow, 2013). This was the moment where

being smart was not considered as a good thing, in fact it was considered as a horrible thing. I

recall failing my tests on purpose and misbehave in school, so I could get my friends

approval. The less intelligent I made myself the more popular I became with my classmates,

which in my eyes was amazing. During Stage Four of Eriksons Theory, all the child cares about

is receiving the stamp of approval from their peers and that is exactly what I did (Zastrow, 2013).

Every failed assignment I would receive, the more I would feel accomplished with myself. I

started to become friends with the children who were considered as the bad students. I had

convinced myself that living like this was a good idea because not only did I get more friends but

I also felt good about myself.

As time went on, I maintained the same mind set until it became part of my personality. It

wasnt until I was sixteen-years-old where I was starting to find myself and which society I fitted

into. Adolescents are constantly trying on different values, identities, and roles in order to find

themselves (Zastrow, 2013). This was the time where I had entered Stage Five of Eriksons

Theory (Zastrow, 2013). This stage consists of Identity vs. Role Confusion, which is exactly

what I was going through during this period (Zastrow, 2013). At this point of time, I was losing

interest in failing just to get an approval from a couple of friends. I started to become more

independent as time continued on. However, it wasnt until I revisited a Church near my house

when I was realizing that I was becoming my own self.

There is a small Catholic Church near my house, where many individuals from my

community attended. My mother would always drag me to Sunday Mass even when I begged not
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 8

to go. I never payed attention whenever we went, instead I would count the minutes until we left

the building. A few phrases here and there would slip into my mind and it wasnt years later I

realized that those phrases are what got me through my adolescent years. However, one

particular Sunday morning changed my views on how I was living my life. That morning they

were talking about the importance of family and becoming your own individual self. There was a

part in the Mass where the Priest talked about how we write our stories and everyone has a

different ending. That no story was alike because every one of us was different and where would

the fun be in life if we were all the same. Hearing this struck a something inside of me because

after that day, I continued going to the Sunday Masses. Every time I went I learned something

new about myself and little did I know that I was discovering who I was. Although, I am not very

religious that Church has helped me in various ways. They taught me the importance of

relationships, families, and even social factors. The one thing I loved so much about going is that

no one judged in the building. There would be gang members attending Masses and no one

would blink an eye. Going that Sunday morning taught me many of my morals that I have

presently. Church made me develop a virtue of fidelity, it also helped me get through my role

confusion in society and in life.

However, I think the best part of the decision of going was meeting my best friend. She

was the reason why I discovered the road to finding my identity in life. She always said that our

environment gives us certain life skills but it is up to us to decide how to use them.

Unfortunately, she passed away but she left an impact on my life that still affects me to this day.

Before the incident I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do with my life but the situation

had given me a push towards my future. Although, this failure was establishing an identity within

society it was because of her that I got a glimpse of what it is. From that moment on I had
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 9

decided that I wanted to help people in life in any way I could. However, she had also impacted

me in a different way too. There was a long period of time where I could not overcome this

incident and I had lost myself. Eriksons term identity crisis perfectly described what I was

going through then (Zastrow, 2013). This period of my life was a very difficult time, there were

so many emotions that I was processing throughout stage 5. I was dealing with identity crisis,

role confusion, unhappiness, and death. This was most certainty the time where discovering

yourself is important.

As we continue to grow up into adults, we start to explore different aspects of ourselves

and of other peoples. During our young adulthood, we begin to feel confident enough to share

ourselves intimately with other individuals (Zastrow, 2013). This is the time where we, as

humans, discover relationships that might lead to a long-term commitment with someone

(Zastrow, 2013). Those people who have found stable relationships usually have a sense of

safety, and care with their partners. As young adults, we look for reassurance and love so we can

ultimately defeat the small fear within us, which is being alone. If we were take the opposite

route, which would be avoiding intimacy, we would be isolating ourselves instead. Avoiding

relationships with another person can simply be because of a fear of being in a long-term

commitment (Zastrow, 2013). It is in our nature to seek human interaction, but if we deny this

part of ourselves we can end up causing damage to our mental state. It can lead us to isolate

ourselves from everyone, which that would steer to loneliness and finally cause us to develop

depression. However, if we find ourselves giving relationships a chance in the end we will find

the virtue of love. Erikson described those of ages between eighteen to forty to be in this stage of

life called Stage Six: Intimacy vs. Isolation in his theory (Zastrow, 2013).
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 10

As a twenty-year-old female I fall under Stage Six of life development (Zastrow, 2013).

However, just entering this stage of my life gives me challenge to progress further. Despite the

fact, I have not isolated myself from human interactions and relationships, it is not my main

priority as of right now. In the past, I have been in relationships that did not last very long due to

the fact that they werent very stable. But, there was one relationship that gave me an insight of

what a stable and intimate relationship would be like. This specific relationship with my ex-

boyfriend gave me a chance to experience how some individual feels when they give a

relationship a chance and experiences love.

I have yet to complete all eight stages of Eriksons Theory. The ones that I have gone

through have been filled with good and bad experiences. Nonetheless, every experience I had

taught me something new about myself and the social environment surrounding me. I am not

done searching for my identity and I will continue on this life journey until I make a self-

discovery. One of the many things that stuck with me was no matter where I go or how old I am,

my social environment will always be involved throughout my life.

When people interact with families, friends, communities, groups and organizations they

are essentially getting involved with multiple systems in the social environment. Within the

multiple systems there are three basic types that are constantly involved in a persons life: micro,

mezzo, and macro systems (Zastrow, 2013). The smallest system out of the three is the micro

system which its main focus is on an individual (Zastrow, 2013). This is referring to the attention

on a persons needs, problems, and strengths (Zastrow, 2013). The main goal of the micro system

is to ensure that the individuals functioning is improved. My experience with the micro system

was when I was grieving over a friends death. My high school guidance counselor personally
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 11

made sure that I was staying on the right track and taking care of myself. She made sure that my

needs were getting met outside of school such as food, water, and love (human interaction).

The second basic system is called the mezzo system (Zastrow, 2013). This system applies

to any small group such as family, friends, work group, and other social groupings (Zastrow,

2013). An individual socializing with a small group of people is considered mezzo. The reason is

because they are getting involved with people who are close to them such as, family members. In

one point of my childhood, I was in Stage Four of Eriksons Theory where I was beginning to

learn how to do things on my own (Zastrow, 2013). During this time, I was interacting (playing)

with my peers and participating in school. Little did I know, I was intermingling with small

groups of people around my social environment. Small interactions like these, were what

influenced my personality traits and behavior in the future.

The third and final basic type of system is the macro system (Zastrow, 2013). This is the

largest system of the three because it involves a larger quantity people whom you are socializing

with (Zastrow, 2013). In this system, it involves the attention on the social, political, and finical

conditions. In addition, it influences the availability of high-quality resources they are receiving

and the quality of their life (Zastrow, 2013). The practice of this system focuses on trying to

improve the finical and social situation of an individual (Zastrow, 2013). An example of being

part of the macro system is being part of promoting social and economic justice. Discrimination

against immigrations and refugees is part of the macro system in the United States. Simply by

avoiding racism and racial discrimination against an individual who is a different race, religion,

sexual orientation or gender, you are being part of the macro system.

These systems affect each other as well. The micro system is endlessly affected by the

macro system and they both affect the social environment (Zastrow, 2013). There are two main
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 12

types of macro system that usually get involved with the micro system and they are: organization

and community (Zastrow, 2013). Because of community and organization, micro and macro

intermingle with each other and affect the social environment. Kirst-Ashman and Zastrow (2013)

describe organization as group members who have a common goal and help one another to

accomplish their goal. They perform activities that help to their shared objective. Organizations

part take in peoples lives in various ways. One way is when an individual has reached adulthood

they will most likely look to get employed. It is presumably that they will get hired by an

organization in the future. Within that organization it will determine how you will interact with

your co-workers or clients. Community is described by Kirst-Ashman and Zastrow (2013) as

people who share something in common and makes them different from the rest of the people,

example: neighborhood. Community affects the social environment because these are a group of

people who interact with each other daily, so their behavior will be affected. Soon, they will

affect others with their behavior and so on. As humans, we will naturally interact with each other

and sometimes they make a greater impact than we know.

From the moment we are born we are interacting with people and so the cycle begins. My

first interaction was with my family. My parents have been present for as long as I can

remember. From my infancy to my adolescence and to my young adulthood my family has been

interacting with me. Along the way, my family and I have gotten into arguments and fights but

we have also shared amazing moments together. By interacting with my family from a very

young age I was able to generate social skills that I use in life. The commonly used functions

within my family members have taught, nurtured, protected me. They have also provided me

with socializing skills, emotional support, shelter and shared resources. With the assistance of my

family I was properly prepared to progress further in life. I interact with the social environment
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 13

simply by using some of the skills I learned with my family when I was little. It has also helped

me psychologically and biologically in my life. I learned how to deal with my depression with

the set of skills that I learned from my family, the people who have been there since the

beginning.

However, my family were not the only people who have provided with aid in my life.

When you are interacting with people you sometimes tend to connect with some and sooner or

later those strangers become loved ones. Making friends is one of the first socializing actions you

do in your childhood. In fact, it is considered to be a very crucial part of an individuals life

development. All throughout my life my friends have each individually taught me a new skill I

have used or will use in the future. It was my friend who taught me that it didnt where I came

from, it didnt represent me. That I could achieve anything in life because I was the one in

control of it. I have repeatedly used this advice on certain situations that have been presented in

my life. Sometimes, I pass on this messages to others in order to give them some encouragement.

The interaction that took between my friend and I, has now created a domino effect. The reason I

say this is because she left a great impact on the way I live my life and whenever I pass on her

message I hope I make an impact on another persons life. I would like to think that this message

will get passed on to more people who need some reassurance in their life. These small

exchanges can create an affect in the social environment merely by passing on a saying.

When people live in the same place or have similar characteristics it is called a

community. A lot can be achieved just by being in a group of people who have similar aspects. In

my neighborhood, the sidewalks and the road used to be so terrible. There would injuries of

pedestrians and car accidents would happen very often. It wasnt until my community gathered

together as one and demanded to improve the walking and driving conditions in the area to the
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 14

City Hall. This was a great representation of what society can achieve if we use our effect of

interaction.

Group of people who have a purpose and work together are called an organization. These

people make an impact on the environment daily. There are even specific associations that are

dedicated to making changes in the environment. This system is important to the social

environment due to the fact that they are the ones who, somewhat, influence the choice people

make. Not only that, but they sometimes determine the aid people get. Organizations can be the

locations where an individual works. When I use to work over the summer I learned how my

organizations had affected me, my co-workers, the clients and even in life development. The

culture of my organization had taught me to be more responsible, punctual and I also developed a

positive attitude after I had experienced a failure. I learned through collaborations and by sharing

we are able to accomplish more in the workplace. Finally, on of the main lessons I came know in

the workplace was, be respectful to one another. When I put all of these together I was able to

work in a better environment and do better in my job. I decided to take some of these lessons that

I learned into my personal life to see if there was any impact. Just like I thought, there was!

Whenever I would interact with another person because I would be more respectful and I would

always get positive reactions. Taking what I learned when I was working into my life was a

decision I do not regret because now I will be able to share it to my surrounding environment.

I was born a Roman Catholic but I can honestly say that I was never very religious. I

always thought to myself that Church was not going to impact the way I live my life or my future

so, why bother? It wasnt until I went to a Sunday Mass was when I realized all these years that I

was wrong. In Mass, they would preach about a different topic every weekend and each one

helped me in my life. One time, the priest had decided to talk about how some children did
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 15

terrible things in order to impress their friends. During this time, I was still trying to maintain the

stamp of approval my friends gave me whenever I would do poorly in school. The more I

listened to the priest talk about how we all have a different story and we shouldnt waste our

unique one to copy anothers, the more I became intrigued. I had become so intrigued that I

decided to try, metaphorically, to write my own story. So, I stopped failing purposely in school

and began to try my hardest. My interaction with religion had impacted my life in a manner that I

didnt see it coming. In addition, the Church has also impacted my education.

School was never easy for me, I always struggled in my academics. It would seem as if it

didnt matter how many times I tried I would still fail. So, when I reached Stage Four of

Eriksons Theory it was easy for me to fail my exams for the praise of my peers. However, the

day that I decided to try to prosper in school I remembered what my fifth-grade teacher taught

me. I couldnt just simply give up because I had gotten accustomed to failing, I had to really give

it my all. That is exactly what I did from that moment on. A little encouragement from a fifth-

grade teacher was what gave me the final push towards my road to college. Just like my teacher I

want to help others when they are stuck. Although, I might not be an education major studying to

be a teacher; I am studying to help people. A few words of reassurance and inspiration was what

affected my education in a long run.

For as long as I can remember my parents always wanted the best for me. They want me

to succeed in life and to be finically stable. My mom constantly told me that she wanted to give

me opportunities that she never got like graduating college. She never got the chance to complete

her education because of her family economic situation. Unfortunately, my parents and I are in a

similar situation just like my mothers family except we have social welfare. Social welfare is a

system where they assist the people in need. I grew up knowing about food stamps and
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 16

temporary assistance as child. I understood that we couldnt afford the new things like everyone

else in my class. The older I grew the more I understood what mother did in order to push me

forward. I remember my mom pretending as if she wasnt tried from working long hours so I

wouldnt feel worried about her. This impacted me in a way that words cannot describe it. Seeing

my parents work as hard as they do, encourages me to pursue my career to take the opportunities

that are presented in front of me. Growing up in a situation like this taught me to appreciate

every little thing in life and to not take things for granted.

Who am I? I am Isabel Sabrina Contreras and I am twenty years old. My physical

characteristics are brown eyes with dyed red hair. I have tan skin and I am about 56 in height.

When individual first meets me, their first impression might be that I am shy and hesitant.

However, once people get to know me I am outgoing and can be sarcastic at times. If I follow

Eriksons Theory I would currently be in Stage Five: Identity vs. Role Confusion (Zastrow,

2013). At this moment, I am trying to figure my life out while avoiding isolation. My marital

status is presently single, but this does not mean that I am not interested in relationships, a

family, or children. My biological development has been normal except for the fact that I have

asthma. This was a result of being around my uncle, who was a chain smoker, when I was a

child. My psychological mental state has developed depression within the past few years. My

surrounding environment played a great part of the events that occurred. If my town pressured

more people to not drink and drive, I would have not been grieving a death of a friend. The town

I got sexually assaulted is known to have high rates of rape and sexual assault. To say the least,

my surrounding environment was a major key to me developing depression. Nonetheless, this

will not stop me from achieving my goals in the future. Since I was a child I was always wanted

to help people when they were feeling upset. I would be the person who people go to whenever
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 17

they needed someone to talk to. This sparked an idea what I wanted to do with my future. I

researched ways I could help people and my results involved psychology and social work. My

experience in college is assisting what I need to accomplish my goal. With the help of my family,

encouragement from my community Church and the socializing with people I will be able to

fulfill my aspiration in life. With this being said, Ill continue to work hard and direct myself to

the right path in life. That path will hopefully lead me to effectively complete all the stages in my

life. Along the way, I hopefully find my true identity and accomplish my goal.

CITATIONS
ME AND MY ENVIROMENT 18

Lindberg, C. A. (Managing Editor). (2007). The Oxford college dictionary. New York: Oxford

Zastrow, Charles, and Karen Kay. Kirst-Ashman. Practice Behaviors Workbook: Understanding
Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Ninth Edition. Ninth ed. Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print