Childhood abuse, it literally hurts over 680,000 children a year and the numbers aren’t going to be on the decline anytime soon. (Friedersdorf). It is alarming that many of those abused children also involved with the foster care system. That number is so unsettling, that just the thought of that many children getting abused by foster care children sounds crazy. The embodiment of a poor transition from childhood to adulthood would be Will Hunting, who shares a common experience with many abused children. Portrayed by Matt Damon, it shows the effects of childhood abuse on a person who was a victim of childhood abuse by his foster father. With many of the abuse victims originating from the foster care system, it is critical to pay more attention …show more content…
Due to the abuse, the victims will rarely end up without a proper role model and support, which all children need to become successful; it is as if they are facing the cruel world alone with nobody to turn to during the dark times. This will morph anyone who was once young and innocent that dreamt that they would take the world by storm into a pessimist with no sense of motivation and eventually blend into the background, unable to leave a legacy. With a combination of these symptoms, it creates an individual that will most likely manifest themselves as the character Will Hunting, from Good Will Hunting. As a product of the foster care system, Will has lacked the support he needed and instead got abuse from his foster father and now as an adult, he is a troublemaker who is unable to form new relationships and has problems with his …show more content…
Will Hunting is the result of an abusive father that would often let him choose the weapon of torture: a wrench, a stick, or a belt. While not all foster fathers may be quite as terrible as Will’s, but the problem of abuse cannot be ignored. What was left of Will as an adult was an emotionally damaged and scarred from his past and has issues with trust, and no role model to learn from. Unfortunately, this is common with most adults that were victims of childhood abuse. Worst of all, a third of all victims will become abusive father they’ve always cursed and abuse their own children, thus restarting on the vicious cycle of abuse (Foster Care Facts). In addition, victims are more likely to express anger much more quickly towards situations where it is not necessary. It is important to note that since anger is the first emotion to be shown, this will increase the chance of abuse towards not only the kids, but to the other family members as well (Pollak & Tolley-Schell). In the case of Will Hunting, his personality and behavior traits are a result of the environment he grew up in. With many traits of abuse victims being troublemakers, drug abusers and criminals, paying more attention and providing more support from external sources will benefit the country
“About two-thirds of children admitted to public care have experienced abuse and neglect, and many have potentially been exposed to domestic violence, parental mental illness and substance abuse” (Dregan and Gulliford). These children are being placed into foster care so that they can get away from home abuse, not so they can move closer towards it. The foster children’s varied outcomes of what their adult lives are is because of the different experiences they grew up with in their foster homes. The one-third of those other foster children usually has a better outcome in adult life than the other two-thirds, which is a big problem considering the high percentage of children being abused in their foster homes. Although, the foster care
The movie Good Will Hunting exploits many points of psychology in the character Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT who has a knack for math. Some of the points of psychology include how a character develops after a lot of child abuse during his childhood. It exploits the idea that a child who becomes secluded may never allow an attachment, or when an attachment finally starts to occur, pushes them away. It also exploits the idea that Will Hunting has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because of the post-traumatic stress disorder it seems that Will is unable to function normally in society, and because of this, carefully plans out his future as to not have to worry about encountering many people.
Firstly, Will’s biggest role model is his father, but his father Greg does not demonstrate the right traits his son Will can model himself after, to become a better person as he grows up. After Will is chased out of his home by his drug-addicted brother Eric, Will states “I can’t wait until I'm bigger. I’d like to smear him against the wall. I’d smear him so bad.”(Robinson, 9). This negative thought is a result of Will’s father Greg being too violent around Will and creating an environment in which violence has become a normal thing. Often times Eric will do something like throw a party and this will aggravate Greg. Greg will often times resort to loud shouting and violent behaviors. Will has slowly adopted this violent behavior from the poor environment his father had created.
Children who have been abused are left with more than just physical scars. They have many psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems as well. Their social lives are affected dramatically, and they suffer lifelong effects. (Lambert) Children tend to
According to research, these young people who have entered the foster care system have experienced at least one caregiver-related trauma (abuse or neglect). “Unaddressed childhood trauma causes a broad range of severe behavioral, emotional, and financial consequences”(Beyerlein, B. A., & Bloch, E. 2014). A recent increase in awareness for children and young people in the child welfare systems shows a need for trauma-informed care that will produce prevention and intervention for these young victims of abuse and
As you can imagine, Will was always finding himself in trouble with the law while growing up. In the movie, a judge reads off charges, some of which included, grand theft auto, assault, and others. At one point, the judge addresses Will in the court room and delves into his past and about the abuse he suffered. You can see Will’s cocky smirk fade to almost a fearful teary eyed expression as the judge talks about the abusive foster fathers Will lived with in the past. You can tell, that Will still had many unresolved feelings about his past and it struck a deep emotional wound when brought up (Sant, G. V.).
America has a staggering problem among its youths and is in desperate need of help. Every day, young, innocent children are being abused. Unfortunately, this rate only seems to be growing as the foster care system is becoming flooded with children who need help. According to the website, Foster Club, a child is entered into the foster care system every two minutes. The reasoning for a child being placed in foster care can range, but mostly it is because of abuse. These traumatizing experiences and memories can hinder a person for the rest of their life. These kids find themselves in a terrible situation and learn ways to cope with the pain. It can be easy to judge their behaviors but for somebody with a normal life we can never understand the trials that they have had to live through. Fortunately, the psychological damage that is done can be reversed but in order to understand this fully we first need to know the negative psychological affects abuse can have on a person.
Good Will Hunting explains story of a young man who goes by the name of Will Hunting. He is a very intelligent man who has had a troubled life and lets it control him day to day. He doesn’t want anybody to know about his talents because he thinks they’ll think differently about him and he doesn’t want to get hurt. Like Will, almost all of us in college and even in life go through blocks of trouble, big or small, in our life and can relate to him. I myself can relate to Will in many aspects of his life.
Other health problems arise when the trauma from past experiences such as abuse or violence in the home cause long term effects in the children. The needs of children in foster care are multifaceted and the problems are exacerbated when the resources in the community are scarce and when the service system is fragmented (Halfon, Berkowitz, & Klee, 1993). Due to the complexity of their problems and the degree of vulnerability, a well-trained and
Good Will Hunting is a good example of how someone with psychological disorders can overcome their issues through therapy. This is a classic film that was released in 1997. It was directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The key actors of this movie include Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver and Stellan Skarsgård, with Damon being the main character, Will. In the movie Good Will Hunting, director Gus Van Sant shows that Will suffers from psychological disorders through the use of the characters of Will and Sean, as well as the film’s color selections, and angles and shots.
"Maybe that's how they'll find me. I believe that once upon a time, long ago, they heard the music and followed it.” In the movie August Rush, a young boy shows the terrible effects of foster and how it affected him alone. Many children every day will be exposed to the abusive foster care system. Many children in foster care are abused, gain mental illness and some later in life are still affected by it all. The foster care system hurts the structure of the family unit which has existed for centuries.
According to one national survey “approximately 5 children die everyday because of child abuse”. Throughout the years reports of childhood sexual abuse have risen, but there is still a substantial amount of unknown facts surrounding the topic. Most sources provide information on how to identify a victim of childhood sexual abuse, other known as CSA, but very little research has been done on effectively treating these victims. This broken system is depicted by Salinger through the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden. Salinger used information he knew to give Holden the qualities of someone who has experience CSA, and uses the characters in Holden’s life to represent the many broken parts of government agencies established to help victims. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist Holden struggles with the mental health issues associated with prolonged childhood sexual abuse, likely having been implemented by his own father, jeopardizing the mental stability of Holden, yrt like the many broken systems in the US and world governments, Holden’s family fails to help him and any chance of being saved is left alone to holden.
Abstract: The movie “Good Will Hunting” (1997) by Gus Van Sant depicted an intelligent man, Will Hunting, with issues fitting in society and maintaining relationship connections and the therapists who successfully changed Will’s outlook at the world . However, it wasn’t without certain technical flaws and possible crossing of certain code of ethics. This paper raises the issue of the potential erroneous counseling depiction in movies and certain ethical principles that may have been violated in such depiction, discusses connection problems of the main character, Will Hunting, and possible reasons why one particular therapist was able to assist him with his problems whereas other counselors have failed, as well as a reflection based on the author’s own opinion.
Will has Traumatic and Stress Disorder. Rightfully so, he was in foster care all throughout his child hood and was beaten, stabbed, and burnt with cigarettes. He learned how to fight and be defensive with the abusiveness. No family gave him the time of day since he was so defensive and got into trouble often. Will throughout his life struggled with trust issues, anger issues, and not being confident in himself. Will was book smart and full of aggression, he allowed his past to overshadow his future. He used reading as a coping mechanism from his reality. He would get lost in the books and was starving for knowledge. Will used being smart as another defense mechanism. He talked his way out of court several times and talking back to therapist by reading their books, also to people that thought he was stupid. He would show them that he was actually a genius and made them feel stupid. However, as Will soon figures out that the therapist knows exactly what he is doing and that he can read all the books he
Though the film fails to delve into the specifics of his childhood, it does become evident that Will bounced between foster homes and was often a victim to physical and emotional abuse. These childhood factors play a huge role in behavior as an adult. A recent study concluded that, “Toxic childhood stress alters neural responses to stress, boosting the emotional and physical arousal to threat, and making it more difficult for that reaction to be shut off” (LaBier). An inability to rationalize and control emotions and responses after abuse would indeed be seen as true in this film. This can be seen in the numerous fistfights Will found himself in. Despite the fact that Will could typically weasel his way out of convictions, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer. His conviction would turn out to be life altering. When Professor Gerald Lambeau saw potential in Will, he was offered a life that could include more than beers with friends and janitorial work. The arrangement Lambeau worked out