Abstract The paper focuses on the life of a boy whose father passes away when he is a baby, and who is now raised by less promising mother. It particularly focuses on the relevance of the theories put forward to explain the influence of various factors on the social and psychological development of a child in the early stages of development. Theories relating to the overall context development, self and identity development, social development as well as moral development are presented in relation to Davy’s case. It further explores the possible strategies that can be adopted to overcome similar challenges. Introduction The approach to be used to study the influence of various related and unrelated factors in the development of an individual is a differential approach. Generally, this empirical approach uses research methods to study the variations on behaviors of individuals among a group of people. The age of 5-12 years is a very significant stage in the development of a person. At this stage, the child learns ‘the fundamental skills that are valued in their culture, whether these are reading, writing and arithmetic or hunting, fishing and weaving’ (Newman & Newman 2008, p276). The experiences that a child acquires at this tender age will generally affect the overall development of the child into a whole being. Life story: A case study Davy was born on September 20, 1988, his mother nearly dying after having an operation. This operation was suggested by the doctor who, on earlier examination of the mother, advised that the foetus had been wrongly positioned and normal birth would be dangerous. The same year, an attempt to overthrow the government was witnessed throwing the whole country into a condition of jeopardy that had to last for months. It was followed by the declaration of a state of emergency, which later give rise intertribal clashes. The condition took longer than bearable as people could go hungry for days following a restriction on the movements of the civilian. The whole nation was under the military control. Davy’s father who was a casual laborer in some sugar cane industry found it hard to support the family now that the majority of the locals of that area were from a different tribe and these were the conflicting tribes. Just towards the end of the state of emergency, the father of three sons and a daughter sneaked out in the evening to go and buy flour from a shopkeeper who was from the rival tribe but had been a long time friend. The businessperson had been secretly carrying on with his activities despite the harsh prevailing atmosphere and had occasionally escaped gunshots. However, this day they were both unfortunate. Four consecutive gunshots confirmed to the family that their breadwinner was in danger. Three people were killed in the incidence including the father and the shopkeeper. The state of emergency was later called of and the field supervisor offered to have Davy’s mother replace his father. The task was challenging for the weak mother whose first borne daughter was barely eight years old. Supporting the family became a nightmare and in several instances, the mother would be heard quarrelling her children over very