Introduction The unique childhood of David in A Called Child “It” by Dave Pelzer is ripe for psychological analysis. This essay will examine the how the boy’s environment affected him, his cognitive development and his moral reasoning skills using the theories of Bronfenbrenner, Piaget, and Kohlberg respectively. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model The school district initially fails Dave when they fail to call his mother after he started stealing food from the classroom across the hall because his nutritional needs were still not being met. When they do call his mother again it is because of a teacher’s report of his torn clothes, many bruises and being tiredness in the classroom. His mother’s interaction with the school is positive …show more content…
David finds protection in his Father’s shadow but his father’s job as a firefighter keeps him at the station sometimes even overnight on call. Initially the mother would hurt David behind closed doors and when his Father was gone. His father’s job is one part of his exosystem that fails him. His grandmother is part of his exosystem because she lives outside of his home and immediate day-to-day family. She tries to influence the Mother to no avail and instead of continuing to try and change her daughters mind or taking in other avenue she removes herself from the boys exosystem just as the father leaves the boy’s microsystem in the end. These close family members are the worst offenders in the boys environment because they have an idea of the severity of abuse going on at home and do …show more content…
“In order to survive, I could never give into her” (p 43) In this quote, David realized that his survival is more important than explicitly following his mother’s rules. Being able to think as he does about the greater good of a situation instead of just the rules indicates he is in the post conventional stage of moral reasoning. Dave Pelzer is in the Post-conventional stage throughout his memoir. Early on in the book he explains his reasoning, followed by numerous examples of him breaking rules and laws for the greater good. His obedience to his mother to avoid punishment might suggest a pre-conventional ideals of morality but because he does this purely for his survival and proceeds to break the laws and other rules because he is not allowed food suggests post-conventional morality. “Not only was I able to snitch food from my classmates again, but I also sprinted to the grocery store about once a week” (p 62). David breaks the rules by stealing food from his classmates, leaving the classroom, and stealing food from the grocery store. His survival has become more important than the rules. This quote exemplifies his post-conventional morality throughout the
In the book “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz, the author followed the lives of two young brothers (Lafayette and Pharoah) while they grew up in the harsh streets of Chicago in the late 1980’s. The author uses the story of the two boys’ lives to discuss the social divide in our very own society and to persuade readers that there is a major problem in “the projects” of the United States.
Dave Pelzer’s book “A Child Called ‘It’” told his story of growing up in an abusive household. Pelzer’s family at first was just like any other, his parents loved each other and their children and they would do many fun activities together. As time progressed a change happened and his mother began to always punish Pelzer rather than any of the other children. The small punishments soon began to grow and become more and more serious. Soon, Dave’s father and siblings could not help him out of fear that their mother and wife would turn on them. Dave was banished to the garage where he would have to sit at the bottom of the stairs waiting until his mother called him to do his chores. Usually Pelzer would be starved for very long periods of time
First, David’s mother gave him enough courage to keep hope his father would be all right after the Nazis arrested him. Because their own house was no longer safe from Nazi invasion, David’s family was staying with friends. However, Nazis burst into the house they were staying in on...
A Child Called “It” is a story based on a real life little boy’s tribulations with his mothers shocking abuse. The first part of Dave's life was idyllic in his memory--he says his family was "the Brady Bunch"--a loving mother and father with whom he enjoyed wonderful holidays and a happy trip to the Russian River. Everyone on the outside thought that David’s family was perfect. No one in their neighborhood would have suspected anything was wrong. All that changed when Dave was in first grade. For no known reason, his mother singled him out from his siblings and began abusing him. The abuse began relatively mildly. When he and his brothers did something wrong, Dave was the one to receive punishment--at first simply banishment to the corner of a bedroom. Then, his mother began spending her days watching TV and drinking beer. Easily irritated, she yelled at Dave for the slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all. Soon, instead of making him go down to the basement, Mrs. Pelzer smashed Dave's face against the mirror, then made him repeat, over and over, "I'm a bad boy! I'm a bad boy!" He was forced to stand for hours staring into that mirror. Dave's father soon joined The Mother, as David called her, in her drinking. He, too, knew David was a "good boy." He did not join in the abuse, but he did not to stop it, either. David was treated like a slave in his own home. His mother treated him as if he wasn’t even a member of the family like a nobody or an “It”. She first referred to him as, “The Boy, then it quickly changed to It”. Nobody at his school liked him, they called him "Pelzer Smelzer" because his mom never washed his clothes and made him wear the same thing every day. After school, o...
Maturity changes the way people think act and behave towards other people, David the main character displays this clearly as his view on his Father and Uncle Frank develop and change. At the beginning when we are first introduce to all the characters , we see that David admires Uncle Franks as being a hero and just a all round qualities. But this is all changes when David later on discovers that Uncle Frank molesters and take advantage of Indian woman with his power as a doctor. “After what just happened with Marie I don’t want to be left alone with Uncle Frank”. Davis father is a sheriff, a very unique one as he does not wear a badge or carry any gun. David’s attitude towards his father also changes, David did not believe his father played the role of sheriff as he should have but this all changes when the incident with Uncle Frank and Maire is taken place. As Wesley doses t...
"Children of the Forest" is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply too dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter.
Centuries of Childhood is a social history of family life (1960) that is a history of childhood written by Philippe Aries’s. It is about controversial claim that childhood, as a concept ,was not “discovered” until well after the middle ages. While Child Act 2011( Act 611) is an example that is repealed the Juvenile Courts Act 1947( Act 90) the Women and Girls Protection Act 1973(Act 106) and the Child Protection Act 1991(Act 468). Act 611 preamble provides that every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumtances without regard to distinction of any kind , such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or physical mental or emotional disabilities. Aries is an archivist for the Institute of Applied Research
Inside Toyland, written by Christine L. Williams, is a look into toy stores and the race, class, and gender issues. Williams worked about six weeks at two toy stores, Diamond Toys and Toy Warehouse, long enough to be able to detect patterns in store operations and the interactions between the workers and the costumers. She wanted to attempt to describe and analyze the rules that govern giant toy stores. Her main goal was to understand how shopping was socially organized and how it might be transformed to enhance the lives of workers. During the twentieth century, toy stores became bigger and helped suburbanization and deregulation. Specialty toy stores existed but sold mainly to adults, not to children. Men used to be the workers at toy stores until it changed and became feminized, racially mixed, part time, and temporary. As box stores came and conquered the land, toy stores started catering to children and offering larger selections at low prices. The box stores became powerful in the flip-flop of the power going from manufacturers to the retailers. Now, the retail giants determine what they will sell and at what price they will sell it.
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
Dave’s mother claims that she saw Dave playing on the grass which is forbidden. However, Dave never played on the grass at school. It didn’t matter whether he did or did not, because his mother already had a plan. She told him that she read an article that a mother had her son lie on top of a hot stove and she wanted to test it out. She gripped his arm and put it the flames burning his skin. The reward of playing on the grass was a burned arm. It Another incident happened the summer of 1971, by now Dave knew what to do and what not to do to receive his mother’s punishments. The punishments would vary from no food, a slap in the face if he looked at anyone without permission, and if caught stealing food he would be forced to vomit it and eat or something worse. One episode of abuse that stood out for me was the stabbing. The day for Dave was one of the worst punishments ever. As he sat on his hands on the bottom of stairs towards the basement waiting for ‘the family’ eat and wait until he was called to clear the table. This was a normal occurrence and also praying to receive anything to clinch his hunger. He
Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), discussed unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is a captivating, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, David (Dave) Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his mother who was unstable and addicted to alcohol. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.
There are many policy issues that affect families in today’s society. Hunger is a hidden epidemic and one major issue that American’s still face. It is hard to believe that in this vast, ever growing country, families are still starving. As stated in the book Growing Up Empty, hunger is running wild through urban, rural, and even suburban communities. This paper will explore the differing perspectives of the concerned camp, sanguine camp, and impatient camp. In addition, each camps view, policy agenda, and values that underlie their argument on hunger will be discussed.
Video games bring a sense of the reality to most people, especially if you are a hardcore gamer. They bring reality by essentially creating a virtual world that feels as if you are living in the real world. Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss is transmitting a certain message to a certain audience. The novel is intended to enthrall an audience consisted of video game enthusiasts around their late twenties and thirties. Lucky Wander Boy is sending a message to the audience, the message is experiencing living the real life through a video game; just like they may have experienced before. The book is fundamentally illustrating the thoughts and experiences this group of people might have gone through during the golden age of video game. The book does this by showing us the narrative of Adam Pennyman, the protagonist of the book coping with his struggles through a video game. Video games revive Adams actual life to some extent; without the game he would not find any point in his life because of all the struggles and negativity he has been through. The book Lucky Wander Boy by W.B. Weiss is about a man named Adam Pennyman during the golden age of video games trying to find the perfect game. Throughout the book Adam Pennyman is creating an encyclopedia of every game he has created. The encyclopedia is called Catalogue of Obsolete Entertainments and in it he has referenced video games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and many others. The encyclopedia ends up becoming more personal instead of reviewing the games. Later in the novel Adam begins to lose interest in the encyclopedia because he wants to find out how the game, Lucky Wander Boy, that he played for hours on end as a kid ended. Adam eventually ends up getting a job as a copywrite...
Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on the moral development of children. He wanted to understand how they develop a sense of right or wrong and how justice is served. Kohlberg used surveys in which he included moral dilemmas where he asked the subjects to evaluate a moral conflict. Through his studies, Kohlberg observed that moral growth and development precedes through stages such as those of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. He theorized that moral growth begins at the beginning of life and continues until the day one dies. He believed that people proceed through each stage of moral development consecutively without skipping or going back to a previous stage. The stages of thought processing, implying qualitatively different modes of thinking and of problem solving are included in the three levels of pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional development. (2)