Boy Meets World was a 90s sitcom that ran an impressive seven seasons and eventually gained syndication. The television show follows lead Cory Matthews and his close friends, Shawn Hunter and Topanga Lawrence, as they go through middle school, high school, and even college. All three character reprise their roles in the sequel series, Girl Meet World, a Disney Channel production that follows the life adolescence of Cory and Topanga’s daughter, Riley. Shawn Hunter, the deuteragonist of the series, struggled through several personal and familial issues that made him one of the most complex characters on the show. He wasn’t a cookie-cutter picture of a young man; he got in trouble, he changed, he had a wavering sense of morality. Throughout the …show more content…
series, Shawn serves a rebellious role, and may even be considered a foil for Cory, showing the audience two young boys who came from completely opposite sides of the town. Cory lived with both parents and two siblings in a well-off home while Shawn lived in a trailer park, original with his parent, but both of them eventually abandoned Shawn, leaving him with a rotating pool of houses and caretakers. Shawn’s character was constantly walking the line between his upbringing/social expectations and his potential/influence of Corey. Thus, this essay will examine the character of Shawn Hunter through the following theories of personality: Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, and Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Attachment Theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is essentially a theory of motivation, stating an individual must fulfill needs at each level of the hierarchy starting from the bottom at physiological needs, proceeding to safety and security, belonging and social activity, and status and esteem, before reaching the ultimate level of self-actualization. The hallmark of this theory remains that an individual can’t focus on the needs of higher levels if the needs of lower levels have not been met, thus, one could remain in a limbo for any amount of time until certain needs are met. This theory has interesting applications to Shawn Hunter because views of Boy Meets World (and even Girl Meets World) have witnessed Shawn booth climb up the hierarchy, but also fall back down. It appears Shawn’s physiological needs— food, water, air, shelter— are consistently filled. Even after being abandoned by both parents at some point or another in the series, there are always other characters, the Matthews, Shawn’s teacher Jonathan Turner, or even his half-brother, Jack, who take Shawn in and help him meet his physiological needs. However, Shawn clearly struggles with the next to levels. At the beginning of the series, it is apparent that Shawn’s family lies on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. This information is supported by the fact that they live a trailer park and the fact that Shawn could not pay five dollars for a class gift to Mr. Feeny in the first season. During season five, Shawn is reunited with his half-brother Jack. After some resistance, Shawn, a senior in high school, moves into an apartment with Jack and Eric Matthews. This appears to be the most stable living situation Shawn has experienced, fulfilling his physiological and safety needs. If applying Maslow’s Theory, this would open Shawn up to pursue needs for belonging and social activity, which he does. One aspect of this level of the hierarchy is romantic relationships. In season five, Shawn meets Angela, who becomes his main love interest for the rest of the series. Unique from Shawn’s past experience with girls, which was largely superficial and physical, Shawn is surprised that he also wants an intellectual relationship with Angela. Throughout the rest of season six and season seven, Shawn pursues needs belonging to this level of the hierarchy. When his character returns in Girl Meets World, he is still struggling to meet some of these needs in his adult life. Next, I will discuss Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, a theory of development comprised of eight stages from infancy to adulthood that has their own psychosocial conflicts. Throughout Boy Meets World and Girl Meets world, views witness Shawn from age 12 to his 30s or 40s, which— according to the age ranges assigned to each stage, would indicate that Shawn experienced stage 4 to stage 7 within the timeline of the show. Stage 4 manifests around the conflict of Industry vs. Inferiority and requires individuals to develop skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in the real world. Individuals seek approval from their peer group by displaying these needs. While other characters, such as Topanga or Stuart Minkus, were shown to thrive in this stage, Shawn clearly struggles. In my analysis, Shawn develops a sense of inferiority because he fears he has not developed specific skills, such as intelligence and even emotional intelligence. The strongest support for the application of Erikson’s theory would occur in Stage 5, Identity vs Role Confusion, in which individuals choose values and goals that are stable and meaningful to who they are. Shawn’s struggles in this stage are clear throughout the series. In season two, Shawn struggles with his role as Cory’s friends and what society would suspect form someone like him. He claims, “I don't know anything! I don't even know who I am... I need to know what's going to happen to me and you can't tell me that.” This quotes exemplifies one of Shawns persistent struggles— his fear that no matter Cory’s good influence, he might always just me “trailer trash”. It is clear that Shawn values Cory, but he feels he may never be equal to Cory because of their different background. As a result of confusion during this stage, I believe Shawn continues throughout his life to struggle with an identity crisis, in which he experiments with different lifestyles. He seeks out many different experiences and even career opportunities, trying to find a niche for himself. Finally, I will discuss the applications of Attachment Theory to the character of Shawn Hunter.
Attachment theory, which is based on the psychoanalytic idea of transference, suggest that patterns of attachment, relationships with important figures, will persist throughout life in a similar manner. An important attachment figure to examine, one who has a great influence on an individual's future outlook, is the caregiver. Throughout the series, Shawn has relationships with several caregiver figures, the patterns of these relationships influence the attachment style Shawn develops later in life. Shawn’s experience with caregivers is largely a disappointment. His mother, Virma, left when Shawn was in middle school, leaving him alone with his inconsistent father. Later in the series, Shawn finds out Virma isn’t even his birth mother. In addition to this conflict regarding a maternal caregiver, Shawn experiences several paternal caregivers, all of whom at some point will disappoint Shawn. Shawn’s father, Chet, is often absent and roams in and out of Shawn’s life, leaving him in the care of the Matthews family, Jonathan, Turner, and at another point, forcing Shawn to move in with Jack and Eric. When Chet had a heart attack and was in the hospital, Shawn confides to him, “I've really screwed up, Dad. It's like I'm watching myself do these things that I hate, and I can't stop them. Why couldn't you just stick around? Wasn't I good enough for you?” This quote, in particular, emphasizes, the strain Shawn relationship with his father put on the rest of his
life. I believe that these patterns of experience lead Shawn to develop a fear of being abandoned by those he loved. Through the lens of Mary Ainsworth’s theories of attachment, I would describe Shawn to have an avoidant attachment style, evidenced by his several of Shawn’s behaviors and characteristics. Shawn is often defiant and school, sometimes evoking and angry self-reliance— such as when he ran away after blowing up a mailbox with a cherrybomb— and even a cold attitude— such as when he cuts ties with Cory after finding out Cory applied to colleges Shawn couldn’t get in to. This attachment style carries over to other relationships in Shawn’s life. In his relationship with Angela, Shawn experiences fear of commitment and often withdraws defensively. Even in the gap between Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World, Shawn leaves for thirteen years after Riley Matthews was born. I understood this as further evidence of Shawn’s fear of abandonment, and his tendency to defensively withdraw before he could be left again. In essence, the character of Shawn Hunter is deep and complex. He is continuously struggling to meet needs that are often fleeting. His sense of family and security was undermined by constantly being moved from caregiver to caregiver and sometimes running away to exercise his fierce desire for independence and freedom. Perhaps due to some of this early life stress, Shawn struggled to identify himself. He had a strong expectation of what his life should be like given his parents and his childhood, but this image of himself strongly contradicted the hopes and optimism of those closest to him, Cory, the Matthews, Jonathan Turner, and even Jack and Mr. Feeny. Thus, Shawn struggles to overcome the internalized sense of inferiority to seek out his own place in the world, unique from others perceptions and expectations. Lastly, Shawn’s early experiences with his caregivers created a persistent pattern of attachment style that extended even into Shawn’s adulthood. Overall, Shawn’s experiences and perceptions of himself enrich his character with multiple layers of realistic struggles and desires.
Relationships are the building block for personality and are significant in children’s ability to grow into substantial individuals who can thrive in an often harsh world. Constructing lasting and fulfilling relationships is an integral part to development as the interpersonal bonds forged are not only highly sought after but also set the ground work for all upcoming expressive interactions. Relationships and attachment go hand in hand as attachment is the strong and lasting linkage established between a child and his or her caregiver. Moreover, attachment significantly influences a large capacity of ones make up as it these first relationships that teaches morals, builds self-esteem, and develops a support system. The pioneers of Attachment Theory realized early on that human beings are not solely influenced by drives but that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers greatly impact their ability to forge lasting relationships later in life. John Bowlby was first to introduce this theory to the masses in the 1950’s, and later Mary Ainsworth conducted further research to expand on Bowlby’s theory which proclaims that attachment is a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194). The attachment bond theory by both Bowlby and Ainsworth focuses on the significance of the relationship between babies and their caretakers which research has suggested is accountable for influencing impending interactions, firming or injuring our capabilities to concentrate, being aware of our emotional states, self-soothing capabilities, and the capacity to be resilient in the face of hardship. Additionally, this research has provided a framework for assisting in describing these att...
Attachment theory could be considered one of the most important aspects of how we develop starting out as an infant. In the article “Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships” By: Bethany Saltman, she explains to us her personal experience and struggles raising her daughter, and her experience as a child and her own attachment. There are three types of attachment types, secure, avoidant, and resistant and the trouble with today is that only 60% of people are considered “secure”. There also subgroups that are called disorganization. Attachment will often pass generation to generation, so it is likely that if someone has an insecure attachment because of the way they were raised they will struggle to create a secure attachment for their own children. Although it can be reversed and changed with the
David Berkowitz, otherwise known as the “Son of Sam”, was notorious for his crimes committed between 1976 and 1977 that ended the lives of six innocent victims and wounded several others in New York (“David Berkowitz Biography”, n.d.). At first, police did not make a connection between the murders because there was nothing unusual about them; all the victims were shot with a 40 caliber gun, not fairly unusual during this time or place especially since the killings were over an extended period of time. Police finally made the connection when Berkowitz began to live behind notes that were meant to tantalize authorities since they had yet to catch him (“David Berkowitz| Son of Sam Killer,” 2015). Often times, the psychological structure of a human
Criticisms of attachment theory have come mainly from the feminist schools of thought since the theory has been used to argue that no woman with a young child should work outside the home or spend time away from her baby (Goodsell and Meldrum, 2010). Children’s experience and development also depend on what happens after early years, whether bad or good later in life may change a child’s emotional development, e.g. lack of basic needs, diet, education, stimulation such as play might affect a child’s development (Rutter, 1981) Difference in cultures have to be taken into consideration as well. A study by Schaffer and Emmerson (1964) provided contradictory evidence from Bowlby’s attachment theory. They noted attachment was more prominent at eight months, and afterwards children became attached to more than one person. By one year six months only 13%of infants had one attachment. This study by Schafer and Emmerson (1964) concluded care giver can be male or female and mothering can be a shared responsibility. Social workers should therefore understand that parents are not totally responsible for the way the children develop. They did give them their genes and therefore do have some influence. Attachment theory also fails to consider the fact that the father and siblings, and other close relatives can also
The first topic that came up in the interview relates to idea of attachment theory. Attachment theory explains the human’s way of relating to a caregiver and receives an attachment figures relating to the parent, and children. In addition, the concept explains the confidence and ability for a child to free explore their environment with a place to seek support, protection, and comfort in times of distress (Levy, Ellison, Scott, and Bernecker, 2010, p. 193). Within attachment theory explains different types of attachment styles that children experience during early childhood. These attachment styles affect the relationships they continue to build in adulthood. The best attachment style happens when the parent is attuned to the child during his or her early childhood called secure attachment (Reyes, 2010, p. 174). In order for complete secure attachment, the child needs to feel safe, seen, and soothed. Any relationship that deviates from this model represents the anxious or insecure attachment. This means that parents or caregivers are inconsistently responsive to the children. Children who have these parents are usually confused and insecure. Some children experience a dismissive attachment where they
Attachments are formed with parents; this contributes to give a sense of who we are and who we will become in later life. However where these attachments are broken the child needs to have a secure attachment established with an alternative adult care giver,...
This essay will firstly explain the different stage that is associated with development of young people socially in the early years of their life, with examples of Schaffer and Emerson’s theory of stages of attachment. Next the essay will evaluate the theories of attachment between a child and their parents/guardians, evaluating Bowlby’s theory of attachment, and using examples from Freud’s ‘cupboard love theories’ and behavioural and psychoanalytic perspectives in comparison to Bowlby. Next it will look at any contributing factors that make a difference to individuals during attachment and looking at way fear and anxiety play a part during separation for children from their primary carer. After which the essay will respond to Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation, and look into any long term consequences that occur due to a result of this.
The therapeutic process is an opportunity for both healing and restoration as well as discovering new ways of being. Although exposed to a variety of psychological theories, I narrowed my theoretical orientation to a relational psychodynamic approach, drawing on attachment theory and Intersubjective Systems Theory (IST). IST describes how the subjective experiences, both embodied and affective, of an individual becomes the manner of organization, or way of being, in which the person operates in the world relationally. It is through this process of transference and countertransference, the unconscious ways of being can become explicit and through the collaborative effort of therapist and client, new ways of organizing the relational world can
No matter what, people form thousands of relationships to get through the ups and downs in life. To be frank, life would be pretty dull and empty without relationships. One of the most important relationships is the one that people form with their parents (Perry). Early family relationships are the foundation for adult relationships and a child’s personality (Perry; Greenberg). Alicia Lieberman, a psychology professor, said “The foundation for how a child feels about himself and the world is how he feels in his relationship with the primary caregiver” (Greenberg). According to Erik Erikson and the attachment theory, the bond between a caregiver and child has a huge impact on a child’s development because of social and emotional effects.
During this week’s readings in the Handbook of Attachment, chapter 10 discussed the similarities and differences between attachment theory and temperament theory. The distinguishing difference is attachment is a basic human need for a close and intimate relationships between infants and their caregivers and how these relationships play a key role in overall development. Whereas, temperament theory addresses the individual differences in action styles, reactivity and regulation. These temperament dimensions are the core aspects of personality and are the results of dealings with the social environment not interactions and relationships developed with others. Knowing the differences between the two, I wanted to know how does culture effect temperament and attachment.
John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure, insecure/resistant, insecure/avoidant and disorganized/disoriented, later leading to research studies done to observe this behavior and how it affects a child in their adolescence and adulthood.
Attachment is described as the close emotional bond between two people and Attachment Theory (AT) generally concentrates on the early bonds in a person’s development as well as the effects that these bonds have on later socio-emotional development. While emphasis on attachment as an antecedent for future behavior and personality has decreased somewhat in recent years, it is interesting to note that the DSM IV-TR includes a “reactive attachment disorder” which it states is caused when extreme circumstances prevent proper attachment development.
Attachment is an emotional bond that is from one person to another. The attachment theory is a psychological, an evolutionary and an ethological theory that is concerned with relationships between humans, specifically between mother and infant. A young infant has to develop a relationship with at least one of their primary caregivers for them to develop socially and emotionally. Social competence is the condition that possesses the social, emotional and intellectual skills and behaviours, the infant needs these to success as a member of society. Many studies have been focused on the Western society, but there are many arguments to whether or not this can be applicable to other cultures, such as the poorer countries.
Justin, a boy who was raised in a dog cage until the age of five, suffered similar neglect as those mentioned earlier. Justin was kept in a dog cage and rarely interacted with his caregiver, who lacked the attachment bond needed for later development; his only attachment came from dogs (). In regards to the four factors that help strengthen the attachment between a child and caregiver, contemporary factors played a role in this situation. Contemporary factors are influenced by the abilities of an adult needed to provide a strong and stable attachment (). Justin was left in the care of his grandmother, but when his grandmother passed away, he was left in the care of Arthur, the grandmother’s boyfriend Arthur. Arthur was an elderly man who never had children and was limited on how to raise a child. Other contemporary factors such as the confidence and self-control needing to raise a child carry over into the child’s attachment development (). Within Connor’s case, he suffered neglect from birth to 18 months (). Connor had been neglected throughout all stages of development, which in result limited his ability to form a secure attachment and be able to rely on others for support and comfort. Connor was left alone throughout the day, creating an inconsistent and unstable perspective on how
One of the major pieces of research used to explain the deviant behaviour of people who have been in the care system is attachment theory. Attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby in 1951 for the World Health Organisation and originally titled “Maternal Deprivation” (Bretherton, 1992). Bowlby defines attachment as, “A deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across tim...