Wed
09
Dec
2009
One College, One Book Blog 2
As you are reading The Glass Castle, consider the theroists we are discussing, in class, for the following clinical discussion question.
Using Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development, with what stages do you think Jeannette Walls and her siblings may have issues?
Choose another theorist you have learned about and discuss how this theorist, through your eyes, might view the family or children.
48 Comments (Discussion closed)
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#1
I believe that Jeanette Walls and her siblings, despite the poor quality of parenting styles, Have successfully emerged out of every stage of Eric Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development. The only one stage that I have noticed was a problem for Maureen, the youngest, was stage 4 When the entire family migrated to New York, Jeanette, Brian and Lori were doing very well with their lives. Their parents however, had their problems. For a while, their parents lived with them, but it did not work out so the became squarters. Maureen started to attend college but dropped out. She also developed her own problems of alcohol abuse and sexual promiscuity. It looked like she was going to become like her parents. With the help of her siblings, Maureen was able to stand on her own two feet again.
My reasoning for tying her to stage four is that she did not know what she wanted to do with her life. She tried college and it did not prove to be her path at the time. Confused and delirious as to what she should do, I believe that she decided to emulate her parents to try on an identity.
Mr. Walls is someone who intrigues me and would probably intrigue Freud. According to Freud, Rex would be displaying a strong sense of denial. He always talked about making the glass castle and he actually did write out blue prints for it, but he never did anything else for it. After a while, his children realized that he would never build the glass castle, but they choose to still feed into this fallacy, probably so that their father would not get upset and realize that he is a waste-bag. I personally think that the whole glass castle was his way of trying to make up to them for the times that he was uninvolved with their lives, due to the alcohol and his own selfish pursuits. it's sort of like, "Hey, I know I drink and yell at you, but it will all be better when we live in the glass castle." this spark of hope probably helped the whole Walls family survive through their rather terrible lives without falling prey to complete despair and suicide. -
#2
According To Erikson's Theory I'd say that Jeanette her her siblings are stuck in the School-Age Child stage. They are trying to develop a feeling of self worth. They are trying to feel worthy of there family and live the life they are being led to have. There father is creating some scene that they are required to play there part. Also they seem to be floating in the Identity vs Role Confusion. The other kids are forced to pick up the parent role of taking care of one another and their new-born siblings.
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#3
At what stage in Erikson's theories would these kids not have issues? Just the fact that these kids were not having their basic needs met such as food is enough to cause distrust in the world and the people around them.I think from the time these kids were born their development suffered. Yes, the father made a game of the life they led and I think that Jeanette's recollection is probably one of the ways that she copes with her past. Jeanette and her siblings still had to carry a lot of shame and that is a tough one to shake. I would be curious to know how Jeanette and her sibling's intimate relationships are with their partners and friends.
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#4
After reading some of the book, the stage in which I think the children will have issues in due to their up brining, would be autonomy vs. guilt, Intimacy and vs. Isolation, as well as Identity vs. Role Confusion. These children lack a stable life, due to their parents always moving around as well as the way they act in front of their children. In the stage of autonomy vs. guilt, these children are learning by watching what their own parents due. Through out this book, the parents are always yelling at one another, using harsh words, and also showing them how to use guns at such a young age. When is comes to Role Confusion, I believe that this children will have a hard time interacting with other people due to the fact they hardly are ever in school, and hardly ever interacting with other children their age. I think that these children will have a problem with Intimacy vs. Isolation due to the way their parents treat one another. One second they are cursing and yelling at each other, and the next second they are fine. Having to watch this will eventually catch up with them, and cause them to have trouble being close to anyone and become isolated. Another theorist, such as Kohlberg, would look at this situation as though the children's moral development will be hindered. That the children's judgement and perception of following the rules will be ruined due to the way they were thought.
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#5
I Believe that jeanette and her siblings are stuck in the school age child stage. I believe that her and her siblings are stuck in this stage because they didnt get prise and encouragement from their parents. she would always have to see her father drunk. jeanette and get to have much of a childhood they didnt have toys like the other kids did so they didnt get to realy explore with those. they had to deal with being made fun of because they wernt always clean and had dirty riped clothes. i think poepple would view her family as disfuctional but as she gets older and her and her sister move to new york she beings to mature alot and under stand the real world. she got her slef a job and a place to rent and is likeing life so much better then before. jeanette doesnt even realy feel bad when her parents move to new york and live on the st she still does not offer them a place to live because she does not want to put up with that again.
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#6
I believe that Jeanette and her siblings are stuck in many of Erikson's stages. The first is Autonomy vs. shame and doubt. They learned by what their parents did, and they are ashamed of who their parents are. The second is Industry vs. Inferiority. They didn't get the encouragement from their parents, they didn't get to explore with all of the different toys because they didn't have many, and the other kids made fun of them because they were always dirty and wore ripped clothes. The third is Identity vs. Role Confusion. They were forced to pick up the role of parenting for their other siblings. They will also have trouble interacting with other people because of the way they see their parents talking.
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#7
I believe that Jeanette and her siblings are stuck in many of Erikson's stages. The first stage is autonmy vs. shame and doubt. They learned by what their parents did and how to fit in on a day to day basis and they were ashamed of how their parents acted. The second is Industry vs. Inferiority. The children didn't get any support and love from their parents every day, they didn't get any toys to play with because they didn't a lot to play with, and the otehr kids made fun of them because fun of them because they have dirty clothes and wore ripped and messy. The third is Identity vs. Role Confusion. They were forced to be a children, siblings and parents as growing up. The children have trouble interacting with other people and other children.
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#8
I believe that Jeanette is stuck in a few of Erikson's stages. The stage I believe that she is the most stuck in is the Industry vs Inferiority. According to this stage one tries to develop a sense of self by refining skills learned. It could also be said that she never acquired those skills to actually refine. Jeanette as a child seems unsure of many things. One of the major things she is going through is Trust vs Mistrust. She has learned not to trust her parents to get things she needs, and begins to not trust them even with important information about her life. Which is a major 360*, because she use to tell her father everything. The people she actually trusts are her siblings. I believe that this is because they are all going through similar things (obviously because they have the same parents) in their lives and try to relate to each other because they cant relate to other children their ages.
It is my opinion that Jeanette's older sister, Lori is stuck in the Identity vs Role confusion stage. She is unsure of who she is supposed to be in her sibling's lives. At times she acts like a teacher to them and other's she acts like a mother. The confusion that she is not able to just be the sister to them causes major interaction problems with the people she meets, mainly because the lines had become so foggy to her. I personally think that the parents are to blame for these issues with the kids. -
#9
I feel that Jeanette and her sibilings are stuck in the school age child stage because at this time they are trying to figure out who they are and what is right and wrong. With the guideance her parents are giving them, their lives are way off track. the way these people are raising these kids is absurd and they should NOT be allowed to have children. Not dealing with the fact that some creep from the streets was IN their hosue in the middle of thie night is unheard of. what parent wouldnt put 14 locks on each door and window after that?
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#10
I think that considering the upbringing of the Walls children, they have and continue to struggle with several of Erikson's psychosocial stages of development. I absolutely believe that the time at which these children entered each stage was significantly delayed. Since Jeanette was cooking her own hot dogs at three years old, it's safe to assume that she already figured out that if she didn't feed herself, she might not eat. Also her family lacked stability by constantly being on the move, contributing to Jeanette's development in this stage. This indicates that Jeanette may have established a pattern of mistrust. The second stage, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, is really tough to analyze in this situation. It seems that the Wall's children may have been on the extreme end of autonomy, since they were forced to raise themselves. However they have struggled with self-esteem their whole lives. It is difficult to arrive at a definitive answer for this stage. I don't believe there is sufficient evidence to draw a viable conclusion for the third stage, Initiative vs. guilt. However, the fourth stage may have been one of the longest, most difficult stages for the Walls children. They were both encouraged and verbally rewarded by their parents for their accomplishments. However, given their living conditions and the behavior of their parents as seen by the community, the Walls children struggled with self worth. No matter where they went, they were being made to feel inferior. I think that the fifth stage, Identity vs. Role Confusion, is the other more difficult stage for these individuals. I believe it's something they struggle with until this day. As children, they had so many different roles to take on (Child, parenting a parent, sibling, daughter/son of an alcoholic, student, and so on). Now, as adults, I believe they struggle with these same role issues. Often times they've taken their parents in and given them the needs and basics that their parents didn't provide for them. I think they may currently have trouble with the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage as well. Considering that the likelihood of having severe trust issues is high, that would make it difficult to display some type of reciprocity. I am aware that most of these events do not coincide with the ages of the Walls children in comparison to the age range of the stages in the theories. This is because, as said before, I firmly believe that these children did not begin the stages at the appropriate time. Nor do I believe they worked through them at the same pace as a normal child may.
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#11
I believe that with how horrible Jeanette and her sibilings have gone though several of Erikson's stages. But the one the sticks out to me the most is the School-Aged Child Stage. Their parents are not being the responsible adults, who are suppose the by guiding Jeanette and her sibilings through life. The children are not able to see the difference between right and wrong in the world. All the children are able to see and understand is what their prents deminstraight and tell them. The children are really confused and are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in in life, for they are brain washed. The parenst are having to make the children grow up too fast and take over the roles of their parents for the parents are unstable.
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#12
I believe that Jeanette Walls and her siblings struggled with a couple of Erik Erikson's Stage theorys. One stage that they struggled with was Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. I think that these children struggled with self esteem and were sometimes ashamed of their parents and wished that they could have done something to help them. I also think that another stage would be the Indentity vs.Role confusion. Ever since Jeanette was young she took care of herself as well as her siblings and her father. She was a daughter,sibling, student and caretaker at a young age. Jeanette kind of took care of her dad and was favored by her dad more than the other children . Another stage would be Industry vs Inferiority. The pareents are suppossed to be good roles models for children but nothing in their life is stable, they move around alot, are not able to have the essentials in life all the time such as food and have had to learn to take care of themselves at a young age which also fits into the identity vs Role confusion stage
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#13
I think that all things considered, the Walls children are doing really well. If nothing else, their parents have been supportive & provided education. Jeanette succeeded in satge 3 (initiative vs. guilt) because she was cooking on her own, dresing & taken care of herself, etc . . . She may not have master things such as fire safety when cooking, but the point is that she still took the initiative to do things on her own, even after being severely burned. I think as the Walls children grow and mature, they might haave issues in the adolescent and young adult stages. With identity vs. role confusion, Jeanette might have trouble because she has to take care of her family a lot, and put on different roles when in school, outside of home, and inside the home. With Intimacy Vs. isolation, the Walls children might all have trouble because their mom and dad are not the best examples of a healthy relationship. So, how are they supposed to learn what a healthy relationship consists of, and furthermore, how are they themselves supposed to commit to someone.
Frued would probably have a field day with these children. Frued was very sexual, and would probably focus on the children sharing the same bed, and also on Jeanette b/c she's learning that anything sexual is bad. Ex: that horrible boy that forced her to see his dad's penis, and forceabllly kisses her, etc . . . -
#14
After reading some of the book I believe that Jeannette Walls and her siblings will have issues in every stage in the Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development. In the first stage Trust vs. Mistrust (the infant stage), Jeannette and her siblings hardly ever had food and shelter and clothes. They were always moving and they were lucky if they got money for food, the only time they had money was when the children’s father was working but his working never lasted a significant amount of time. Even though their dad made a game out of the whole moving around thing they went without food a lot and as babies/toddlers they would sleep in cardboard boxes, with dirty, ripped clothing. In the second stage Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (the toddler stage), throughout the children’s life (the book) they have seen and heard pretty rough stuff that children at that age shouldn’t see. They saw the parents arguing, using bad language, they were taught how to use a gun, they saw their dad constantly drinking and hitting their mother. In the third stage Initiative vs. Guilt (the preschooler stage), the children will have issues because they move around too much, with different schools and different people. They won’t know how to interact with other people. So later in life they will have bad relationship problems with their significant others. Which ties in with the next stage, Industry vs. Inferiority ( the school-age child). They didn’t get the encouragement from their parents as youngsters so they are having trouble of feeling worthy. I don’t think the dad got encouragement from his mom when he was young either because he can’t hold a job, he’s always running away, he doesn’t feel worthy of society. In the next stage, Identity vs. role confusion, (the adolescent stage). This is a big one. The older children had to take care of the younger ones and even their dad when he got drunk and was hurting their mom. The next stage is Intimacy vs. Isolation, (the young adult stage). Due to not having a high self esteem, being intimate with others and having a relationship with them will be very difficult for the children. And for the last two I don’t think the children will be affected by it but I do believe that Jeannette and her siblings have been delayed with these stages and didn’t do them at a time a child maybe should.
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#15
I think that, half way through the book, Jeannette is stuck in the Initiative v. Guilt stage. She needs to learn some boundaries, and is even feeling some guilt towards her fathers actions. She's been taking care of herself from such a young age; cooking and dressing herself, etc. I don't think she would have issues with the industry v. inferiority stage seeing as she took the initiatve to start taking care of herself when she was younger, even after she was burnt from cooking. She has already learned the basics of becoming an adult and taking care of yourself and others. Though in the next stage, Identity v. role confusion, I feel like Jeannette is more the adult than a child. Even though she's young at this point, she's trying to figure out her identity and playing the role of parent in her life. Her father isn't there to help her and her mother let's her be independent, making her take of herself.
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#16
After starting the book, I think that Jeannette and her siblings are stuck in the Industry vs. Inferiority and Identity vs. Role Confusion stages. They should be trying to refine skills, but it seems as if they were never properly taught these skills to refine. This makes them feel worthless. They are also trying to be their own parents while still trying to be children. This causes a distorted self-image.
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#17
After reading the book I'm positive that Jeannette and her siblings will have many issues in Erikson's stages. I think the stages that they will be most affected in are Trust vs Mistrust, Identity vs Role Confusion, as well as Autonomy vs Shame and doubt. They were always moving around and never had a stable place to call home this was hard on there social interactions with others. Trust vs Mistrust because they never had their general needs constantly met they struggled with food, shelter, clothing and their parents never gave them these things when they needed them, they always had to wait for them. Lori is going to have issues in the Identity vs Role confusion because she was constantly acting like her sibling's mother, friend, sister, teacher. She was not sure where she fit into things because she had to take on roles she wasn't meant for yet. autonomy vs shame and doubt because the children were never praised or comforted about their problems in life everything was simply brushed as side as no big deal for them. I think the parents play a huge role in why their children are messed up in certain stages in life.
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#18
I think according to Erikson’s Theory she might have had problems in the 5th stage- the adolescent stage (Identity vs. Role Confusion), as she had to take care of her siblings for weeks when her mother was gone for that art workshop. She had all the responsibility for the grocery shopping, cleaning of the house, and of course taking care of the family. That was at a stage where this was probably overwhelming in consideration of her abilities at that age. Further, all of the kids had to take care of the mom as she was working as a school teacher. She describes situations where they had to get her out of bed on time, so that she does not quit this job. I also think her brother might have had a problem in the 3rd stage (Initiative vs. Guilt), since the father took him to the local brothel which is age-inappropriate and probably disturbing.
From a behavioral standpoint you can say that the children acquired many various behavior patterns which they use successfully depending on the situation. As she describes in the book, she and her siblings learned early to collect bottles when they wanted to buy some candy. They learned that in a situation of need, and from there on they repeated this behavior again after they have been rewarded successfully the first time, as they could buy candy for the deposit.
Also the parents repeat their behavior of running away or moving during the night, as they have learned that this is the best method to run away from companies and landlords they owed money.
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#19
In the Glass Castle, Jeanette and her siblings had to learn at an early age to take care of themselves. Jeanette burning herself as she boiled hot dogs is an example of her attempting to accomplish Autonomy at an early age. As she gets older she dreams of her future and further refines her writing skills, becoming an editor at her high school newspaper. However, it does seem that she lacks in the Intimacy versus Isolation stage. Although she attempts a healthy relationship with her first husband, she later realizes that she was not letting him completely in, nor could she. Although he was a "safe" husband, he was not someone she would allow completely in her life. However, through her second marriage, she finally becomes comfortable and content with her relationship.
I believe that by the end of the book, Jeanette learns how to let not only her second husband into her life completely, but allows her mother into her life again. -
#20
After reading The Glass Casle and learning of the Walls children's life it is surprising to me they don't struggle more with Erikson's stages. In trust verus mistrust, the children learned from an early age to take care of themselves. For example, Jenneatte cooking herself hotdogs at the age of three shows that she probably had to wait to be fed quite a bit as a baby, so she quickly learned how to feed herself. Also with all the moving around, and very little consistancy in their lives they learned not to depend on much and started to never trust enough to get comfortable in one place. I find in autonomy versus shame and doubt they do get encouagement from their parents, the Walls children didn't seem to doubt their abilities. They may have problems in the thrid stage, inicitive verus guilt, because of the constant moving around. The children were never in a school long enough to develope realtionships with the other children, so they tended to step back instead of lead, anticipating leaving soon anyways. However, they did learn to plan ahead in life, how they were going to get food and even how to concour their enemies in the neighorhood. Industry verus inferiority is a tough one. On one hand their parents constantly praised them on their academics and told them how gifted they were. They encouraged reading and writing, painting, adn exploring. The communities however didn't always encourage the Walls kids and they all suffered from low self-esteem because of always being poor. So to a point they felt less then and werent the same as the other kids. Identity versus role confusion is the stage i feel the Walls were most effected. The children took care of eachother and their parents at differnet times. As the kids got older their mother stopped mothering, she slowly got more depressed and more self-centered. The kids were on their own with very little guidence. The fact that Jeannette was put in charge of the "finances" when her mother went away for a summer shows how she had to step up and be an adult way too early. I think this effects the children and their relationships as they get older. All together I believe the Walls kids turned out ok considering. With the exception of Maureen none of them seem to have addiciton problems. They do seem to suffer from some codependentcy, which is normal for children of alcaholics. I think the fact that they always knew their parents loved them and that they had eachother saved them from having serious issues in adulthood.
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#21
i think that as children, they struggled with self-worth but as the grew up, it becomes more and more clear that they did in fact develop properly. The had to deal with a lot of things that other kids don't have to, they had to deal with the basics.They all grew up healthy (for the most part) and they learned from their struggles. I think the developed as normally as possible for being in the situation they were in.
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#22
While I was reading the book, I noticed that the family had many kinds of behaviors that easily could be scrutinized by Erik Erikson’s theory. One example was when Jeannette, at age three, was cooking hot dogs for herself, then suddenly, she was enveloped in flames and had to be rushed to the hospital. Shockingly, while her mother was too busy painting, deprived little Jeannette had to account for herself. Most likely, if Mr. Erikson had witnessed that, he would have affirmed that Jeanette had problems within the first stage of growth because of her high level of autonomy. Clearly there were many indications throughout the story that showed barriers with the issue of trust. Adding to the first stage, Jeannette, along with her siblings, more than likely had difficulty with other stages as well, stages like Identity vs. Role Confusion, Initiative vs. Guilt and Autonomy vs. Shame. Undoubtedly, if anybody had developed with the levels of complexity that the Walls children had, they would be abnormal too.
In addition to that, I also think That Jeanette may have a problem with a stage in Kohlberg's theory. Although I do not agree that moral judgments are universal, I do agree that Jeanette has problems within his theory at stage four. There are many instances when her father was doing illegal activity, and yet Jeanette still obviously thinks his ethical ideals must be largely reasonable.
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#23
Jeanette and her siblings suffered in all of Erikson's stage theories. I can only imagine as infants their trust was affected by possible lack of nurturing, affection, and basic necessities of normal feeding times and what types of food they were receiving. Like a domino effect this carries on through toddler(affecting self-esteem), preschooler(affects on initiation of activities and their conscience), and into the school-age child where we begin to see jeanette and her brother trying to establish roles to help provide for the family since their mother seemed indifferent and their father was letting them down on a daily basis. Also I wonder with her uncle's subtle sexual advances in Welch if there wasn't more to the story that she did not want to share in the book. And I am also curious if any of her siblings were sexually abused as well? During adolescence we see her lack of self-esteem on her appearance and uses that as a reason for her problems with her lack of interest in boys and intimacy. I'm sure it didn't help that her father was pimping her out in the bars so he can distract the men he was playing pool against to win some drinking money. Not until the end of the book does she say anything about her personal relationships. It was interesting to see Jeanette take on a parental role and responsiblility to save her siblings and herself from her parents. By saving money with her sister and encouraging her to move to NYC was the start they all needed...hope...something they never had. In the past if there was any hope, their father and mother would quickly take it away by either being indifferent about the times, or when they were saving a bunch of money to leave Welch and her father steals it and lies about stealing it. The repetitive let downs finally pushed her to take over and hope to save her brother and sisters, not only from her parents but possibly from themselves. I'm curious how their relationships are with their loved ones and if there is healthy intimacy, trust, and still hope in their eyes of shaking the feeling of constantly having to take a shower to wash away such a troubled and disturbing past.
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#24
I think that Jeanette and her siblings are going to have problems in different areas concerning Erik Erikson's Stage Theory. Both Jeanette and her little brother i think are definetly going to have some issues in the industry versus inferiority stage. This is because this is the age where a lot of bad things had happened in there life. Such as, getting beaten up at school for being different, having there father always drunk while the mother just stands by and allows this to happen. Also when they were living with the fathers parents and they had such different views on life that it could really confuse kids at their age. The older sister on the other hand i think might have some issues in the intimacy versus isolation stage because she's the oldest and although she's not always taking care of them or watching over them i think she does feel a sense of security over them. For example when she defended both Jeanette and her brother against the grandmother and she hit her. I think she does feel she should protect them when needed. Maureen the youngest sibling i think will definetly have some problems in trust versus mistrust stage. Jeanette's parents were never there really to take care of her and give her the attention a infant needs. I mean they put her in a back of a truck with only Jeanette to hold i think that is so irresponsible. It was crazy for the parents to put all of them back there anyways but an infant?! Maureen probably will get the worst of it considering she babsically raised herself.
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#25
Considering Erikson's Stage Theory, I'd state that the children are stuck at a number of different stages. Firstly, Trust v. Mistrust because the parents are constantly transplanting the children at the whim of the father, which causes lots of uncertainty and doesn't allow for the kids to trust in the parents or their environment. They also experience Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt in that their physical environment is often confusing, constantly changing, and altogether unfit for proper care. The kids will not be able to develop self esteem because their environment lacks the necessary things for them to build on. Initiative v Guilt is also present in that as the children develop consciences, especially Jeanette, she begins to form an unhealthy sexual identity because of the abuse.
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#26
I think that all of the Wall children had issues with the 5th stage in Ericson's theory which is identity vs role confusion. A lot of the time the children had to act as the parents. When their mom got a job as a teacher, the kids had to make sure she was out of bed, dressed and ready to go to work. Another thing they had to do was basically do her job. They had to help grade paper and test, and that is the mothers job, not theirs. At one point when they were in the u-haul the mother gave the newborn baby to jeannette for her to watch her. That is the mothers job not the child's job to be the parent. So in conclusion they would have issues in that stage because they feel as if they are parenting their parents, they aren't acting as kids should.
Another stage I think all of the kids had a hard time in was the first stage, which is trust vs mistrust. In that stage they need comfort, food, clothing, and shelter. Sure this stage is only supposed to go through birth- 1 1/2 years old, but they go through this problem their whole life with their parents. Nine times out of ten they did not have much food if any and they had no where to live. A baby at that stage needs those things or they will not go through the stage properly. -
#27
The stage that i thought would have given Jeanette and her siblings the most problems would be the Trust vs Mistrust stage. If a person is being constantly abused, mistreated, or ignored by the people that are suppose to take care of her, i would expect them to become something like a hermit. They would act only for themself and they would always be tense around other people. Honestly the fact that Jeanette is out in the open instead of somewhere in the woods fending for herself is astounding. Her ability to keep trust in other people is, to say the least, inspiring.
The abuse that Jeanette experienced would also have given her problems with another theorist. If i compared her situation to Maslows hierarchy of needs i would say theat Jeanette was stuck on the second level with safety. Being mistreated in your own home ,where ever it may be, does not allow you to develop a sense of security which is necessary in order to advance mentally. -
#28
Throughout The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I find the Walls children to be at conflict with quite a few of Erikson’s stages of development. Each of the children displays problems at the trust vs. mistrust level. The two parents—in my opinion—were not equipped to handle the needs and wants of a new baby. Right after Jeannette’s mother had Maureen, they left the hospital and Jeannette was handed the new baby right away. Brian seems to have issues with the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage. Brian always appears to know what he wants to do, and knows what he should do; however, he also shows doubt in himself no matter what the issue is. When the two girls attacked Jeannette at one point in the book, Brian had come out and tried to save her. Before he helped Jeannette to stand up to the two girls, he was hiding behind some bushes and seemed to almost contemplate if he should go through with his decision or not, again displaying signs of shame and doubt. Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen all show signs of having a problem at Erikson’s industry vs. inferiority stage. Once they are all in school, they are trying their hardest to keep up with assignments, making friends, and Jeannette’s newspaper writing. They all have good heads on their shoulders, but when they go home at the end of the day, there is no praise for all of their accomplishments. Due to this, a sense of inferiority washes over them. The children continue their hard work for the most part, but solely on their own will. The parents show no recognition and no signs of being proud of their children. Lori and Jeannette also have problems in the identity vs. role confusion stage. At different times, they are forced to act as the head of household because their parents are not doing so at all. They are both teenagers when this occurs, and they are both in high school at the time. The two are children as well as siblings. Lori is an aspiring artist with high hopes. Jeannette is interested in the school newspaper and writing for leisure. With all of this going on, they are expected to keep an eye on money, food, and how their family is doing as a whole. This is what leads to role confusion.
Kohlberg would find Rex Walls to be stuck at preconventional level stage two. This states that Rex Walls defines right and wrong by his standards, that their definitions are created based on satisfying his needs and wants, and that what is best for him is what is done. Rex Walls creates a chaotic and unstable life for his family—he drinks and spends money like there is no tomorrow. There are constant promises of the glass castle, and yet it is never built. Rex is not the man who was meant to have children, and although he shows compassion for his children, he should have dealt with his problems first. -
#29
There are two stages in Erik Erikson's stage theory that i think would apply to Jeanette Walls and her siblings, Industry vs. inferiority and Identity vs. Role Confusion. Jeanette Walls and her siblings have no hope in figuring out who they are and what is right and wrong. How can someone know who they are and where they are supposed to be in the world if they were brought up in such a dysfunctional family? They were never taught right from wrong, they were never taught the way to be a good person because their parents were bad people. they also had to learn at a very young age how to take care of themselves. Their parents should have been taking care of them and showing them the right direction; they were not parents! Jeanette Walls and her siblings had to be their own parents and learn responsibilities that no children that young should have had to deal with yet.
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#30
After readign the book, I would conclude that the Walls' chidren may have issues at many of Erikson's stages.They may have suffered in the first stage of Erikson's theory, as they all seem to have trust issues. As for as the second Erikson stage of autonomy vs. Shame and doubt, I would say they did not suffer here. The parents were certainly fostering in making sure that their children were proud of themselves. They also seemed to benefit from this, as it allowed them to do as they pleased while their children figured out how to raise themselves.Jeanette burning herself as she boiled hot dogs is an example of her attempting to accomplish Autonomy at an early age. As far as the other stages, I would say that the siblings all seemed to show some stagnation in a couple of them. Most evident seems to be their issues with teh industry vs. inferiority stage. When the children are finally re-enrolled in school ther parent's lack of praise for all of their endeavors seem to affect them all negatively.I also htink that they all had to have suffered with the identity vs. role confusion as over time the parents seem to drift away from teh playful parents they were and becoem more distant and self-serving. This seems to force the children to have to take on roles they should not have had to. Overall, I think that although they may have been affected by multiple factors in their lives, that they are pretty well-adjusted overall.
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#31
I think that they emerged fine from trust vs. mistrust, because at least they were able to trust each other, if not their parents. I think they all did fine, for the most part, which is surprising when it comes to their situation. One is identity vs. role confusion stage, where they all seem to be having trouble. The other is industry vs. inferiority stage. Jeanette never got recognition for school or for her ideas as to how to get out of poverty.
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#32
While reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls I found that the Walls children have struggled or may have had some confusion in some of Erik Erikson’s theory of development. In the Trust vs. Mistrust stage I feel Jeanette didn't fully develop a sense of trust with her parents. In the beginning she had fallen out of the car and was left behind on the road. She truly didn't believe that her parents were going to come back for her at some point. Throughout the book she seems to be very independent and not so truth worthy of anyone. I don’t seem to me she really lets anyone in. I can also sense that Brian doesn’t have much of a self esteem which is the stage of Autonomy vs. Shame. As for Lori, I can see her struggling in the Industry vs. Inferiority level. Once she graduated high school she was having trouble getting into college. Though she was smart had good grades and knew what she liked, art. It took her a little bit to get started. I could also see Jeanette having issues in Identity vs. Role of confusion. As for Maureen, well I think she may have got it the hardest. Throughout the book, she isn’t talked about much just that she isn’t home. At the end of the book it’s clear that she has a lot of issues and isn’t going anywhere. There is a possibility that she had issues in each of the stages. Most definitely Industry vs. Inferiotity, Autonomy vs. doubt and shame, and identity vs. role of confusion. Its almost a little hard to tell for me, I can see all children falling under all stages and having some issue with them, just more so with certain ones. All except Maureen made it through without addictions or drug abuse but that doesnt mean that they are perfectly good. They may have other issues such us coping or relationship problems.
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#33
I believe that the Walls children would have had issues with several of Eriksons theories. They seem to have issues with Trust vs. Mistrust, the patern throughout the book was a lack of trust in the parents, teachers, and authority. However, I also believe that the lack of trust in authority figures is due to the way Rex Walls viewed and expressed his feelings of authority openly around the children. Is is surprising to me that Jeannette believes in Rex for so long.
I also think the children would have issues with Identity vs. Role Confusion. Throughout the book the children were dependent on each other to make sure their needs were met, forcing them into an adult roll which they were not equiped for.
Although the book doesn't get to detailed about the adult lives of the children, I feel that they would have an issue with Intimacy vs. Isolation. They felt they needed to hide who they are or were and who their parents were.
I feel that the older three children surprisingly have been able to adapt and come out with the basic virtues to function in life. However, I think that the alcoholism had degraded the family too much, by the time Maureen had been born and she did not achieve healthy ratio to pass through the stages.
I like to look to Maslows higher archie of needs to suggest that the children some how fulfilled their own basic needs to achieve what they have. However I would like to know more about how Maureen failed.
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#34
The theory's that I feel that Jeannette Walls and her siblings may have issues with are Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame, Initiative vs. Guilt, and Identity vs. Role confusion. How they may have issues with Trust vs. Mistrust is that the children could never really trust there parents, they only felt that they had each other to trust. How they may have issues with Autonomy vs. Shame is that the children were ignored a lot when they were younger so they had to teach themselves how to take care of themselves. How they may have issues with Initiative vs. Guilt is because they didn't really have any good role models, the mother would ignore the children a lot along with the father, and also the father would drag his children and wife along with him while he cheated the system. Lastly the children may have issues with Identity vs. Role confusion because of the many times that they were neglected. With this they would take time to learn things on there own so that they could take care of themselves. These are some of Erik Erickson's stages that i feel that Jeanette Walls and her siblings may have issues with.
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#35
Question 2
2.1 I think that naturally she is just a happy person and just looks at the brighter side of things. Because in her book she seemed like a happy kid and it seemed her sibling were more or less happy to and made out okay. However I think they stumbled through Trust vs. Mistrust, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion and Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation. Well in the first stage of trust seemed to be more amongst the sibling then with the child to parent like it should be. But it did not children disliked their parents but the kids had to look out for themselves and each other more than the parents even seemed to care too. In Industry vs. Inferiority they moved around a lot and did not really have the chance to be vary social with other and I believe that all 3 kid made it well enough through this stage only because they had each other. And finely Identity vs. Role Confusion and Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation tie into each other when they get older and due to their parents relationship with each other and the other stages of their growth, how do they feel as adults? And how do they feel about making long lasting relationships outside of the family.
2.2
I think that a lot of social works and people in the field of child care and child development could argue with the mothers ideas of letting her children go off and learn from their own mistakes. That is all well and good sometimes but I think she over did and should have supervised them more than she did.
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#36
Part 2.
How a differnet theorist such as Piaget might see the development of Jeanette Walls and her siblings through different eyes is that they learned alot of the stages way to fast. At the same time that this may be frowned upon it is also good that they have learned how to take care of themsleves and eachother because they really had no one else to help them out. -
#37
It is clear in The Glass Castle that the children struggle with all of Erikson's first five stages. Trust vs. Mistrust with the constant moving around from home to home. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt due to the fact that the children were ignored when they needed something, even food. It is hard to develop self-esteem when you have nothing to be proud of and live in a very unstable environment. Initiative vs. Guilt and Industry vs. Inferiority when the children become very aware of how different they are from surrounding individuals.
I believe the most prominent stage to be Identity vs. Role Confusion. Jeannette is a student, sibling and caregiver. She essentially takes on the role as parent.
The children learn early on in life that they need to fend for themselves in order to survive. This makes it very difficult for them to establish friendships and they are constantly tormented and segregated.
I find it amazing they are able to function in society as well as they have been. -
#38
I believe Jeanette Walls and her siblings have issues with every one of Erikson's stages. Stage 11 - there were probably trust issues as their parents did not meet their basic needs as babies, something as simple as a diaper change or food. Stage 2 - Their personalities were being created by role modeling. Their parents were poor role models, the father was an alcoholic, mother depressed. I feel the parents manipulated their circumstances and explanations to their children to suit their needs. (parents) By school age, it was probably difficult for the children to develop their self worth due to their poverty and the parents as role models. Jeanette Walls took what she was given in life and made the most of it. She is a survivor.
As we learned from Erikson, if bad things happen during the first 2 1/2 years, it stunts everything. How growth was stunted and the amount, is left up to everyone's own interpretation. -
#39
For part 2 of the question, I believe all of the children had difficulty with moral issues as presented by Kohlberg's moral reasoning. How couldn't they have trouble with their father as a role model. I feel the parents distorted issues to meet their needs selfishly, if not, due to lack of mental clarity.
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#40
I would probably put Jeanette and her siblings in Erikson's Industry Vs. Inferiority Stage. They were forced to support themselves at a very young age. When they were first thrown into it, I am sure that they would have felt inferior, seeing as they did not have to skills that other adults probably had. They were forced to grow up very quickly and I'm sure that was scary for them at first. They knew that their parents had made mistakes in life, and they made sure that they did not make the same mistakes themselves. By the end of the book, I think that the children matured and graduated from all of Erikson's stages.
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#41
I would say that the children would be in the trust versus mistrust stage. They had to learn that they cannot trust anyone and they cannot always rely on everyone, even your parents. They had to learn to be self-dependent and learn how to trust themselves and find the people that they could trust; in their case it seemed that the only people they could trust were their siblings. They had to learn how to go through life with a keen eye and mind, and to be very skeptical. They used everything they went through to mature into adults at an extremely young age.
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#42
That stages that Jeanette is stuck in a few of Erickson’s stages. One of the sages would be Industry vs. Inferiority. This stages by Erickson explains that there are developments are trying to develop in one’s mind of a self sense by refining skills learned or adapted from one surroundings. I believe Walls is stuck in this stage because Jeanette was never around a healthy environment which would lead her to have acquired any of those skills. Throughout the book Jeanette seems to know understand herself, feeling lost and unsure about many things. This would suggest to the reader that she has not had a stable childhood therefore she was never able to acquire her sense of herself because her environment from her mother and father did not allow that. By the actions of her parents Jeanette doesn’t even have a sense of what a true childhood should be like, all she can compare and relate to his the amount of moving and screwed events to relate to. Jeanette and her siblings from my point of view are stuck in this stage. The second stage that I believe Jeanette is stunk in is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. I feel this way because throughout her childhood all of her memories are based on her parents acting completely “out of line” as parents. As the reader I gathered that she was very ashamed of her childhood, but at the time she was unable to support herself and change her life. In the first few pages, which is a comment from Jeanette that was in the back of my head throughout reading the entire book. Was her comment that she made while she passed her mother on the side of the road while she was digging through the trash. From Jeanette’s standpoint she was completely embarrassed that she witnessed her mother doing this, so embarrassed and so afraid that her mother would see her and shout out her name. Jeanette was afraid that this may ruin her reputation and wasn’t ready to have her life be taken out from underneath her. As a child I do not think that it is healthy to be afraid to be seen or spoken to you by your own mother. Jeanette is stunk in the stage because of her shame of her parent’s lifestyle. The last stage that I believe Jeanette is stunk in Trust vs. Mistrust. Throughout her childhood she was never able to relay on her parents to help in her anyway. Throughout the book there were times where the reader could get the vibe that she did not trust her own parents with anything, not even information about her own life. The only people that she can trust are her siblings, and this is only because she knows that they have been through the same exact lifestyle as she has, and knows that they will understand her. Jeanette has a hard time with trust also because she was afraid to tell anyone about her childhood, and that if she did it would ruin her entire life and career, she faced her fear and that is how The Glass Castle was born.
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#43
After half way through the book I would have to say that Jeanette, and all of her siblings are stuck in the school age, of Erickson’s stages of development. While reading the book I was not able to see any praise, or any type of encouragement from their parent figures. This is a huge part of growing up in families, without the proper encouragement, and praise at home they will not succeed. These kids did not have the same things as other kids in their school; they had dirty clothes, clothes with tears, and not proper nutrition. But as the family grows older they began to except what was done as the way of life, and when her parents move to New York they begin their new journey of life.
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#44
After reading half the book and watching the video's...the stages that i feel the the author are in are:
Trust vs. mistrust...Why?
Well while reading, it seems to me that jeanette walls could never really talk to anyone about her secerts and thoughts except her siblings. Whichs tells me that dueing the begin of her life she wasnt very much pay attention to or care for the way a baby should be so they gain trust and comfort with others
Autonomy vs. Shame:.....Why?
While watching the video's jeanette kept repeating her self saying, that she thought once she had wrote the book and her childhood memories and secerts where out that she'd loose her job, friends, everything. but she was very wrong about that.
identity vs. role confusion.....why?
Becasue jeanette and her siblings had to grow up much faster than regular families and children, they had to take the rold of takin care of each other and sometimes even their parents. which is very confusing for a child.
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#45
This book just amazes me. I think the stage of erikson jeanette is at would be Industry vs. Inferiority because with the way these parents are raising her kids is unbelieveable. They basically have to just learn the basics from each other and then watching their parents struggling with their own issuses allowing them to not follow in their footsteps. Also I dont remember if it said that they were in school at all because they kept moving all the time so how would they even get a good eduaction. Most likly having street smart tackics would be an easy key out of problems. I also think the Identity Vs Role Confusion plays a huge part, they are pretty much caring for their parents and showing them the ropes while fending for themselves.
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#46
In my opinion I would have to say that after reading this book jeanette and her sibling would have to be stuck in the trust vs mistrust stage in Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development. I believe this becasue they are unable to know who to trust to take proper care of them as they developed throughout their lives. It seems as though they can only trust each other and no one else even there parents. Trust is a difficult thing to capture and never being able to trust anyone while growing up will play a big toll on them in the future.
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#47
I think Jeanette and her siblings may have issues with several of Erikson's stages. In the third stage, initiation vs. guilt, Jeanette and her siblings will have problems with because they do not get much praise or symphathy from their family. The parents are trying to raise their kids to be "tough" but do not put enough emphasis on praising their children. The children will definately struggle with the fifth stage, identity vs. role confusion, because they have a corrupt image of what an adult should act like, having an alcoholic father and an unsupportive mother. Since they would have problems in the fifth stage, they would also have problems in the sixth stage, intimacy vs. isolation, because without a strong sense of identity, they will struggle to be able to develop intimate relationships.
Another theorist, Vygotsky, would view the children as not being able to reach their Zone of Proximal Development, because they do not have adults to help them as they are learning new things. According to Vygotsky, a child can do much more with the help of an adult, than they can do themselves. In the book, the children have to do many tasks on their own, which may have taken them longer to conquer. -
#48
I believe that the wall's children have issues in many of Erikson's stage theories. The first would trust vs. mistrust. The parent's of these children were neglectful. they did not pay as much attention to their children as they should have. One example of this is when Jeanette is making hot dogs by herself at an extremely young age and ends up getting severely burned.
Another stage would be industry vs. inferiority. These children were never given the chance to define thier skills. thier parents would drag them around to different places. Thay never got the chance to go to public schools at a young age and didn't have the chance to socialize.
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