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Diagnosing Lionel Tate Using Different Psychological Theories

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Diagnosing Lionel Tate Using Different Psychological Theories

On January 26, 2001, 13-year-old Lionel Tate was convicted in the first-degree murder of Tiffany Eunick. The incident occurred in July of 1999 in Pembroke Park, Florida. Tate, then twelve, claimed he was imitating pro wrestlers when he killed six-year-old Eunick. He claimed to have picked the girl up and accidentally thrown her into a stair handrail and wall while trying to throw her onto a sofa. Experts all agreed that Eunick was beaten for a period of time. The autopsy report showed that the girl suffered a fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken rib, internal hemorrhaging, and cuts and bruises. One expert said her injuries were comparable to falling from a …show more content…

He most likely wrestled with his friends, and due to his size, would usually be able to overtake them. This would be considered a positive attribute to twelve-year-old boys. Tate could possibly have “beaten up” other children before where his friends would have cheered him on. But in these instances, he was most likely fighting with boys much closer to his own age and size. When it came to Tiffany Eunick, who was just a little girl, he outweighed her by 120 pounds and was much stronger. Sigmund Freud would have taken a much different approach when diagnosing why Lionel Tate killed Tiffany Eunick. Freud believed that behavior is governed by unconscious forces. According to Freud unconscious sexual conflicts rooted in childhood experiences cause most personality disturbances. His theory about the Oedipal complex said that children experience erotically tinged desires for their opposite-sex parent, conveyed by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent. Freud said that in order for this dilemma to be resolved the child must eradicate the sexual longings for the opposite-sex parent and overcome the hostility felt toward the same-sex parent. He would most likely argue that the absence of a father in Tate’s life was to blame for his actions. He would say that Tate never resolved the Oedipal dilemma. Carl Rogers was one of the founders of the humanist movement. Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans,

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