The Psychological Reasoning to Sam's Behavior in the Movie 'Life as a House'

“Mary laughed, watching him squirm.” “Well, at least now you know how bad it feels and you will stay away from drinking.” What kind of mother just says that? If that was my son I would have grounded him. Put different rules or something so he will learn not just the “not you know how it feels.” Mary would have at least explained to him from the beginning how drugs were bad for him but she was doing them too so in a child’s mind is like if my mother does it then it’s okay for me to do it

Feldman’s description of development conforms to Hawkins’ (n.d.) design of the different systems symbolized by his concentric circles regarding the development of a person’s personality. According to Hart (1999), Wilson (2001), and Backus and Chapian (2000) to change the way one thinks it is necessary to effect change in one’s live because thoughts influence how events and other people are perceived. Everyone has different influences in their lives, from families to beliefs to economic situations; therefore, each person is a distinct and unique individual.

Nature versus Nurture is a common topic when discussing one’s personal development while growing up. Children are often affected by how their families treat them and teach them their values and judgements. This sometimes changes the children’s personalities and manners. Because of that the way they’re brought up can also often impact the choices they make in their future lives. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how children are influenced by their families using the Finch and the Ewell families. Personally, my family has also greatly impacted my life and personality growing up.

The nature vs nurture issue has been a controversial argument among psychologist for decades. This argument exposes two different views. One of them emphasizes that our personality depends solely on genetics (nature). On the other hand, the second view suggests that humans “develop through experience” (Myers 2013, SG 6) (nurture).

Growing up with substance abuse parents can potentially put the children at risk for developmental deficiencies. Parents who are substance dependent are oftentimes focus on themselves over their children, and this leads to neglecting the children. Without the attachment with the parents, children are lack of security and trust to explore the outside world. According to Erik Erikson, children develop at different stage. Infants are totally dependent on their parents. If parents provide the good care and support to the children, they will develop the basic trust to their parents and the world, otherwise, they will feel insecure and develop mistrust instead. This mistrust may cause problems later in life. As children begin to grow and navigate the challenges of adolescence, parental substance abuse has a direct impact on their well-being, as well as their behavior. Teenagers are eager to seek their identities. Yet, growing up with mistrust, inferiority, and shame

Children of substance abusers are also less likely to bond with their parents, in our case this is from both of them feeling abandoned by me. This can potentially lead them to have trouble trusting other people, learning from others, understanding others' emotions, feeling empathy or remorse; they have trouble maintaining relationships and also show a lack of self confidence. I see all of these characteristics in both of my boys, some more than others. I have been in recovery for several years now

However, the environment he grew up in had a more profound effect on his life because he is surrounded by negativity and wrong doing, and having no real role model around can really set a teenager spiraling

The majority of children living in a dysfunctional family with a drug addicted parent will not develop a secure attachment with another individual, where the relationship revolves around intimacy and mutual understanding. Parents who are codependent on each other have learned to regard the dysfunction as normal, and their children could be susceptible to numerous scenarios. They could become the target of their parent’s abuse, either sexual or physical. The children of codependent parents could easily gain access to drugs or alcohol since no one is paying attention to the child. The codependent parents are preoccupied with the alcoholic or drug addicted parent, and they might never bother to realize their child is in grave danger. The codependent parent’s children might never recover fully from the trauma, abuse, or neglect inflicted on them. In addition, the children learn to become adults who repeat the vicious cycle of domestic violence or abuse themselves. Children of codependent parent might grow resilient despite

While looking on the Internet for yet another social role study, I came upon an old friend that also happened to be online. I decided to discuss his situation rather than one of which does not effect me as personally as this. My friend was and I guess still is a victim of alcoholism. My friend Matt is now out of the house and on his own and his parents are now divorced. Matt and I grew up together, so many of his pains I felt as well. While he was growing up his father was quite a heavy drinker and at many times became violent as well as abusive towards Matt, his two younger siblings and his mother. I can remember at times Matt telling me how his father the night before would hit him. Matt would tell me "better it be me then my mother or

There has been extensive debate between scholars in the field of psychology surrounding the Nature vs. Nurture issue. Both nature and nurture determine who we are and neither is solely independent of the other. “As the area of a rectangle is determined by its length and its width, so do biology and experience together create us.”(Myers, 2008, p. 8) Carl Gustav Jung, and leading thinker and creator of analytical psychology, believes: “Human behavior is influenced both by individual experience and also by an innate “collective unconscious” that vests all of us with certain proclivities and tendencies.”(Hayes, 2000, p. 7) From my personal life experience

Once a child is born and their development continues, then starts the controversy and wonder as to whether how the child is raised effects their outcome in adult hood, or whether they are just born to be a certain way. Child psychology looks into the many different factors that affect the pregnancy and raising a child. Such as, parenting styles, and how the environment (nurture) and the genetics (nature) play an important role in the child’s development.

The substance abuse of a parent has a lasting and apparent effect on all young children. There are a number of substances that can become a problem in people’s lives, including but not limited to; marijuana, alcohol, stimulants, depressants, narcotics, hallucinogens and inhalants. Drugs critically affect the individual taking them, but also affect the members of the household, especially children. Not only does the person’s addiction emotionally, mentally, and physically affect the individual lives of other members of the family, but it tears apart relationships between the families. Arguments, disagreements, violence, and stress can derive from the abuse of drugs because of the tension it puts on one’s other members of the family.

Parental substance abuse impacts a child’s psychological development. According to Livestrong.com “When a child is raised in an environment with substance abuse his or her risk for developing a mental health disorder increases.” (Butler). A serious element of psychological disorders that develop from a parent who abuses drug is severe anxiety disorders or depression. These afflictions in itself are enough to deter even the strongest adult from living a normal life. Depression and anxiety cause a child to withdraw from their friends or siblings, making them feel alone and suffer from suicidal thoughts. Anxiety disorders stemming from parental substance abuse also lead to learning disabilities, causing children to work below their potential. This creates a potentially negative environment for a child, causing them to behave inappropriately which leads to disciplinary actions by the school. One other psychological disorder that stems from parental substance abuse is eating disorders. This comes from the low self-esteem a child suffers and in an attempt to be perfect; a child is willing to bring physical harm to themselves or their bodies. I have seen this to be the greatest side effect of my ex-husband’s drug abuse upon our children. My two boys suffer from depression and anxiety at varying levels. My oldest son has been diagnosed with ulcers from constantly worrying about his father’s sobriety.

The Third concept is Developmental Psychology. Developmental Psychology is the study of how organisms change over time as a result of biological and environmental influences. Monk’s behavior has changed dramatically as he started to have events happen in his life. He has had many things happen in his life that have changed him. The thought process of Monk is very different than it was before his wife’s death. His environment of being on the force is a big influence to the way his personality has developed.

Mr. Y’s mother was a prostitute and a drug addict, and he never knew his father. He had a history of very serious conduct problems from a young age. He began getting into fights with other children almost from the day he began school and was caught torturing animals on a number of occasions when he was in elementary school. When he was 9 years old, Mr. Y threw his baby brother out of the window of their first floor apartment, causing multiple fractures. During his childhood, Mr. Y spent several years in a group home and stayed many in many foster homes, but these placements were never successful. He would occasionally stay with his maternal grandmother, who was taking care of up to eight other grandchildren at the same time. Mr. Y began using drugs at age 10. In early adolescence, Mr. Y joined a gang where he became involved in selling drugs and running numbers. He fathered his first child at the age of 13. Before he was 17, he was arrested on a variety of charges that included theft, possession of illegal drugs, and assault, but, because of his age, he received a series of suspended sentences. He was constantly truant from school and dropped out permanently at age 15. At the time, he began living on the street with other friends from his gang who