Michele Dembrosky
HN 377-01 Studies in Child and Adolescent Development
Unit 9 Project Anna and Jojo
September 2, 2013
Kaplan University

Anna is 19 years old and has a 2 year old daughter named Jojo. Jojo’s school has been concerned with her weight loss. Anna worries that her daughter is overweight. Jojo was placed in foster care and began to gain weight again. While Anna went through treatment with a psychiatrist it was discovered that Anna has low self-esteem. At a very impressionable age Anna was criticized by her mother about her weight. Her mother would tell her that she was “fat and lazy.” In which she was only in elementary school at that time and her mother only allowed her to eat yogurt and diet food. Her mother also made her exercise in which this made her constantly worry about her weight. She seemed to strive to do her best in classes and run for president in every club. In this it seems that she was desperately trying to please her mother. Once she got into high school another obstacle came her way. She began to date Jojo’s father while in high school. He had made her think that she was not good enough for him to date. In order for her to keep dating she had to become sexually involved with him and then got pregnant with Jojo. Although she was pregnant she still did not eat well causing the doctors to worry about Jojo so during her last trimester she was hospitalized to make sure that Jojo would be healthy. In order for Anna to be able to be with her daughter she had to seek help through a psychiatrist. She seems to be going through what is called a dualistic thinking because of the things she has gone through (Berk, 2008). At a young age her mother made her believe that she was never good enough. Her mother did this by telling her that she was too fat and making her diet and work out constantly. Her high school boyfriend did not help her by adding that the only way she could be with him is if they were sexually active. He also put her down by telling her that she was ugly. She believed every word because shortly after she had Jojo she was dieting again because of the things she has been told so many times. By Anna’s mother telling her negative things and not giving her any type o positive feedback this will definitely send her into depression a lack of self-esteem. She needs nurturing from her mother and to be told that she looks great and is doing a good job. It almost seems that her mother has some issues as well. It is on some levels disturbing that a mother would discourage her daughter on her self-esteem by telling her that she is basically a lazy slob. Her so called boyfriend did not help her self-worth either by telling her she was ugly. He was not supportive of her and it seems that he used her because he knew she had a very low self-esteem. Anna is very lucky that she did get pregnant because Jojo may have been the one to save her. If Anna had not gotten pregnant she may have been so malnourished that worse could have happened to her. When a child is around the ages of 8 and 11 they are learning about themselves (Berk, 2008). If they have someone constantly telling them negative things about themselves they will begin to believe it. Especially if the criticism is coming from someone close to them. In Anna’s early years she is criticized by her mother by her telling her she was fat and lazy. Then her boyfriend telling her she was too ugly for him, but basically as long as she slept with him he was okay with it and nobody else would ever want to be with her. Anna is displaying dualistic thinking because she believes what her mother and boyfriend say to her. For this reason is she does not really challenge what they say, but believes the words because they tell her the truth in her eyes (Berk, 2008). Due to the fact that she has been sexually active in which this happens to younger persons that do not have both parents involved with them (Berk, 2008). Teens that have low self-esteem