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  • Essay / The Movie Good Will Hunting: Psychological Analysis

    The award-winning movie Good Will Hunting tells the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon) who has a genius IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult, graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal for leniency. if he receives treatment from therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). This film opened my eyes to how to recognize the behavioral disorders that Will faces. Will focuses on the emotions of anger, violence and post-traumatic stress disorder known as PTSD that many people deal with on a daily basis. Not only does it show its personality disorders, but it also shows other developmental problems from childhood onwards. to the present day. Say No to Plagiarism Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned” EssayA psychosocial development I noticed throughout the film was Erikson's theory on? human development. This theory covered 8 periods of human life based on the stages of life. At each stage of life a human being has to complete a task which he may face socially and emotionally. Kalat said, “According to Erikson, failure to master the task of any one step leaves unfortunate consequences that ripple through later steps.” Throughout the film, you can see how Will fails to master some of these tasks that will concern him later in life. Will's excessive and defensive personality is a result of the abuse he suffered while in foster care as a child. Will grew up never being loved or appreciated, which affects his preteen stage of industry versus inferiority (am I successful or worthless?). Due to much of his life being abused and not feeling worthy, it became acceptable to be abused or violent. Another psychosocial development that determines Will's damaged personality is nature and nurture. Nature and Nurture “How are differences in behavior related to differences in heredity and environment?” » Will really had no known hereditary or genetic predisposition, but his environment influenced his upbringing. Throughout this film, Will has shown helpfulness by always using violence as a way to cope. Will may have shown this because he felt there was no way to control his life. The scene where Will got out of the car to beat up his kindergarten bully showed that he had no problem becoming violent because of something that happened in his past. This behavior shows that his abusive childhood taught him that violence is acceptable, which contributes to education. According to Reidy, "Results indicated that maltreated children displayed significantly more aggression than non-maltreated, neglected, and normal children in TAT stories and in a free play environment." "Not only does Will show aggression, but he also shows a defense mechanism in many scenes in the film. Because of Will's abuse and jumping from house to house, he has built up a mechanism of defense The scene where Will and his girlfriend showed a great example of this when he took offense to her wanting to help him, and he took offense to the presence of...