Application to Article:
As stated by Kurt in the article I have supplied, it is mentioned on a number of occasions that many of the “demons” or problems that Kurt faced throughout his childhood and on into his adult life, stemmed from his disrupted and unsettled childhood. When Kurt was seven years old, his parents divorced and he never fully recovered from this “I never really felt loved or secure again”. He became very withdrawn and angry and as stated in the article, Kurt was very anti-social and would vandalise the neighbouring areas of town by spray painting malicious comments such as “God Is Gay” on the walls of bank’s, cars and other property of the town, hoping to really hurt the community. I feel Kurt felt rejected on a number of issue’s and both his situation at home and his setting, in a very narrow minded community all added to his problems. In relation to Bowlby’s theory I feel that Kurt’s delinquent behaviour and drug abuse stemmed primarily from the divorce of his parent’s. I somewhat believe that this comes back to the “Nature vs. Nurture” argument and had Kurt’s parents not divorced, there is nothing to say that Kurt wouldn’t of taken drugs and vandalised the town, given his own natural scripting. But I do feel that divorce played a major role in this individuals problems and I feel that Bowlby’s theory compliments this well.
Second Approach (Sigmund Freud)
Description:
Freud worked on many theories and the one I wish to apply to the article I have supplied is his psychosexual theory on development. Freud believed that there was five stages one must go through to fully mature into an adult role. These five stages were “oral, anal, phallic, latency and finally genital / adolescence”. Freud believed that if for whatever reason, the child was to become fixated in any one of these stages, the child would not fully develop into full adulthood and many problems would stem from this. The stage I wish to apply to my article is the “phallic state”. This is where the child becomes somewhat in love with its mother and wishes to have sex with its mother.
Application to Article:
As I have just mentioned above, when fixated in the phallic state, the child will become in love with its mother and wish to have sex with her. In a typical nuclear family situation, that is given there is a mother; father and at least one child, in this case a male (Kurt). This stage in development given the typical family situation I have said, will usually be overcome as the presence of the father figure scares the child and the child will then follow its father around and learn from him in order to one day follow in his footsteps in finding a partner. However in Kurt’s case the father figure left at the crucial stage in his development and so I feel he became fixated in the phallic state and this was a prime factor in his sexual and gender non-conformity throughout his life. With the loss of his father figure at such a crucial stage it is apparent why he would be described, and describe himself as “a sickly feminine person” and be unsure of what drove him sexually. I also feel that this theory bares resemblance to Kurt’s choice of partner later on in his life. In choosing a woman impersonating a man impersonating a woman, I feel Kurt was filling the gap of a male role in his life on both a conscious and sub-conscious level.
Third Approach (Sullivan)
Description:
Sullivan worked on quite similar issues to those of Freud and the one I wish to apply to my article is his “interpersonal theory of psychiatry”. This theory looks at interpersonal issues arising in childhood and adolescence and possibly on into early adulthood. This theory looks at the pressure’s of society on a person and how from the primary socialisation of the mother and father, the importance of secondary socialisation sets in and what problems this change may cause. His theory also looks at friendship and the effects of bonding with the same sex-members.
Application to Article:
I feel this compliments my article well as this theory talks about the stages of development at the time Kurt’s problems stemmed from. Kurt was insecure and a lot of this came from the divorce of his parents. And as mentioned in the prior two approaches, the loss of his father figure was extremely detrimental to his sexual orientation. Sullivan emphasises the importance of peers and friendship with members of the same sex during the preadolescent stage of development, and this preadolescent stage is at around the age that Kurt’s confusion began, both sexually and of his own pre-determined gender role in society. Being a “sickly feminine” boy to begin with, from primary socialisation with a female (mother) and not that of a male role such as the father, it is apparent as to why Kurt would choose homosexual males as friends, that is assuming they are too “sickly feminine” people. Sullivan also comments in his article of the role of relationships with the same sex and of the choosing of friends. Of the people Kurt chose as friends, it is apparent that he’s conception of gender roles in this manner were confused, that is, the role of the same sex being on a much deeper and sexual level and the role of the opposite sex being that of a typical male to male “best friend” bond. I feel this theory compliments the article and my view on Kurt as a person and of his development through childhood and adolescence and explains the effects of both primary and secondary socialisation within this time period, as well as the effects of divorce at such a crucial period of development.
Discussion
I feel that all three approaches are well suited to the article I have supplied for this assignment but that of Freud best fits the major problems Kurt dealt with throughout childhood. Sullivan’s theory shows the importance of both primary and secondary socialisation within the time period of childhood to adolescence and of the problems one can face if the relationships made within this time period. I feel that this explains the reasons for Kurt’s behaviour and of his choices of relationships throughout his life. Bowlby’s theories of development and of the effects of divorce on a child also bare resemblance to this article and I feel it explains a lot of the anguish Kurt had to deal with. Freud’s theories on psychosexual development best fit this article and I feel it explains a great deal of Kurt’s actions, decisions and choices. Given the word restriction for this article I feel I have put within the three approaches as much of my views and information as I could, but I wish to look at this in more depth and shall be concentrating on many of Freud’s theories for this as this approach made the most sense in my opinion.
Conclusion
I have found answers for many questions I had from reading the article I have supplied for this assignment and I feel that the three approaches I have looked at show important factors in the early stages of development that Kurt’s problems stemmed from. I feel they explain the serious impact of his parent’s separation and of the importance of a male child’s need for a dominant male role in his upbringing.
Bibliography
The article I have supplied was from an unknown source on the Internet.
Freud’s theory of Psychosexual Development was supplied by Blackburn college on the course I am currently studying, as was Bowlby’s theories on Development and Divorce.
Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry was supplied by the book “Personality the forth edition” by Lawrence A. Pervin.
