Stuff
2/1/12
Child Psych and Development
Sam Manzie, an isolated and socially inept teenager, became a murderer at fifteen years old. His case has been looked over by psychologists again and again trying to figure out what went wrong in this young boy’s mind for him to commit such a heinous crime. Sam did not have any friends when he committed the horrible crime and as a child he showed an abnormal amount of violence towards the children he did play with. After being constantly punished for violence, Sam stopped trying altogether and just became obsessed with the computer. It was on the computer that Sam met a 43 year old pedophile with whom he later had sexual relations. After dealing with his very own parents trying to commit him, Sam Manzie finally lost it. Many would say that he brought his fate upon himself, but who is really to blame?
Erikson would say that it is entirely his parents fault. Sam’s parents failed to find the right balances to the eight conflicts and challenges during his childhood. At the age of initiative versus guilt, his parents scolded him a lot for being a violent kid instead of encouraging. As he grew up, his parents failed to help him feel a sense of industriousness and let him slip into a feeling of inferiority. He became obsessed with the computer during this time and let his grades fall dramatically. Erikson believed that it is necessary for one to modify their personality in order to successfully adjust to their social environment. Sam Manzie failed to do that because he was allowed to stay on the computer all the time. Looking only at Sam Manzie’s case, one can see that Erikson’s eight challenges and conflict clearly apply.
Freud would have also had some opinion on what was wrong with Sam Manzie’s upbringing. Freud believed that attractions to the opposite sex can be a source of anxiety at the genital stage come from the person not having successfully resolved the Oedipal conflict at the phallic stage. Sam definitely felt some
Child Psych and Development
Sam Manzie, an isolated and socially inept teenager, became a murderer at fifteen years old. His case has been looked over by psychologists again and again trying to figure out what went wrong in this young boy’s mind for him to commit such a heinous crime. Sam did not have any friends when he committed the horrible crime and as a child he showed an abnormal amount of violence towards the children he did play with. After being constantly punished for violence, Sam stopped trying altogether and just became obsessed with the computer. It was on the computer that Sam met a 43 year old pedophile with whom he later had sexual relations. After dealing with his very own parents trying to commit him, Sam Manzie finally lost it. Many would say that he brought his fate upon himself, but who is really to blame?
Erikson would say that it is entirely his parents fault. Sam’s parents failed to find the right balances to the eight conflicts and challenges during his childhood. At the age of initiative versus guilt, his parents scolded him a lot for being a violent kid instead of encouraging. As he grew up, his parents failed to help him feel a sense of industriousness and let him slip into a feeling of inferiority. He became obsessed with the computer during this time and let his grades fall dramatically. Erikson believed that it is necessary for one to modify their personality in order to successfully adjust to their social environment. Sam Manzie failed to do that because he was allowed to stay on the computer all the time. Looking only at Sam Manzie’s case, one can see that Erikson’s eight challenges and conflict clearly apply.
Freud would have also had some opinion on what was wrong with Sam Manzie’s upbringing. Freud believed that attractions to the opposite sex can be a source of anxiety at the genital stage come from the person not having successfully resolved the Oedipal conflict at the phallic stage. Sam definitely felt some