Preview

Antwone Fisher - Essay

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4048 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Antwone Fisher - Essay
Over the years, many social scientists have offered a number of theories to explain personality trait and development. But while this debate continues, one aspect of personality development continues to engender a great deal of controversy: personality pathology. This area of concentration seems to have garnered more attention in recent years, as experts scramble to offer explanations and analysis for what appears to be a general decline in the moral fabric of American society, fueled by what appears to be a general coarsening of civility among certain segments of our population. Are more people simply being born with personality disorders that ultimately lead them down this path? Not so according to the basic principles of the psychodynamic theory.

The psychodynamic theory offers three basic constructs to understanding personality pathology: ego strength, defense style and mental representation of self and others. In this paper, the primary elements of the psychodynamic theory will be used to analyze the main character in the film Antwone Fisher. The psychopathology of the character will be identified, and an analysis through structure, process, growth and development and change will be explored. The role of the id, ego and super ego will be used to outline personality development and reasons for the evolution of psychopathology, along with the necessary adjustment needed to effectuate change when a flawed or less than desirable personality is allowed to emerge.

|Psychodynamic Theory |STRUCTURE |PROCESS |GROWTH & DEVELPOMENT |PSYCHOPATHOLOGY |CHANGE |
| |The lack of positive|The process of |Antwon’s, growth and |The actual nature of |Antwone was able to |
| |emotional and |Antwon’s anger and |development was |Antwone’s disordered or |address and adjust his |
| |motivational forces

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Fisher King Essay Example

    • 1941 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Fisher King is a great movie and it is full of psychological disorders. Jeff Bridges plays the role of Jack Lucas and Robin Williams plays the role of Perry. Jack Lucas is a radio talk host who is self-centered and cocky. While he was working and on-air he ended up talking to a man who called which had later on committed several murders. A few years later, Jack had been drinking a great deal and was very much depressed, so he attempts to go through with suicide. Jack’s attempt was not successful. A bunch of local people that lived nearby thought Jack was a homeless man and they decided to beat him. Then along come Perry. Perry is a homeless man who is has many psychological disorders. During the whole movie Perry was on a task trying to find the “Holy Grail.” After Perry saves Jack, he entices Jack to come along and help him on his search for the Holy Grail. Jack leaves from Perry and goes his own way. But then later he tries to help Perry out and give him money because he felt bad for him after his wife died. Later Jack feels responsible for Perry when he finds out Perry saw his wife die and her death happened and also because he found out that the man that killed Perry’s wife was the same person who called him on his radio show who later killed several people. Jack takes Perry in and gave him money and helps set him up with a girl named Lydia that he had fallen in love with. Perry and Jack become really good friends and they both learned a lot from each other.…

    • 1941 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The movie The Antwone Fisher Story deals with the life of a young African-American man who suffered a troubled upbringing and his struggle as an adult to cope with what he went through. Since he was a victim of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse in his childhood by foster caretakers, it is safe to say he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, seen through his recurring flashbacks of the abuse; his violent outbursts as a way to cope with his tragic life, and low self-esteem due to not ever received words of encouragement from his caretakers. These behaviors are clearly abnormal because they are not what a typical young adult would show. Because Antwone Fisher did not meet his parents, grew up with violent foster caretakers, and never received support from anyone who cared for him, he was not able to develop coping skills necessary to confront life’s struggles. He definitely acted impulsively when he felt attacked by others who belittled him, through his anger outbursts. Despite the many attacks he suffered he only acted on them, when he felt he could not take it anymore; after having bottled them up inside.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Disaster in Franklin Co.

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In contrast, Starr Kang explains what proponents on the other side of this debate believe. “Children raised in healthy, positive environments are more likely to grow into productive successful adults than children raised in negative, threatening environments. Thus, people 's behavior is a reflection of how they were raised and the situations they experienced in life, not the result of inherited traits.” (Kang, n.d.)…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This essay is based on the fictitious character Bart Simpson from the series the Simpsons. Bart is the 10 year old son of Homer and Marge Simpson. He is the eldest of three children; he has two younger sisters Lisa and Maggie. Bart possesses many personality traits; however, this paper will analyse the trait of aggressiveness. This paper will firstly provide two behavioural examples that support Bart’s trait and then analyse this from Jung’s Neo-Freudian, Eysenck’s Biological, and Bandura’s Social-Cognitive theoretical perspectives. Finally, an overall analysis will be provided in regards to Bart’s trait of aggressiveness, this will be achieved by drawing on all of the information from each of the different perspectives.…

    • 2310 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    antwone fisher

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Antwone Fisher is a young man who has anger and temperament issues steaming from his childhood associated with emotional and physical abuse caused to him by authoritarian figures within his family. Antwone Fisher has since then suffered from self-image as well as trying to find and identify who his true self really is. Some of the events that Antwone has encountered within his Navy career has triggered the memories that he has tried to hide deep within himself. Denzel Washington plays a psychiatrist that accepts the challenge to aid and assist Antwone with human development techniques. The intervention techniques are going to help Antowne shed some of the layers of negative emotion from his past.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Personality influences how people think, feel, respond, judge, and their well-being and life decisions. Therefore, personality develops the character traits of individuals. As written by Twenge and Zhang (309) based on two meta-analyses carried out on young Americans, a majority of them believe that their lives are subject to forces outside their efforts. The subjects of this study, who were mostly college students and young children between the ages of nine and 14, showed that for most people, personality predetermines how they interact with others around them. The role of personality in shaping individuals' lives has been considered by several scholars, who believe that people are driven by their personality, which, in turn, shapes their…

    • 1939 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of such theories is the psychoanalysis. It lies in the researches of the human minds and the principles of its working. Main theorists, S. Freud and J. Breuer, emphasized the role of the childhood memories in explaining of different fears and psychological problems of the clients. In fact, S. Freud singled out three components of a human mind. They are id, ego, and superego. The Id is that part of the personality, on which the instinctual drives and needs have a great impact. This aspect is very unstable and dynamic. In other words, it is unmanageable as it is ready to satisfy all demands and avoid pain and problems in any way. Therefore, there is the other element called ego. It deals with the realistic purposes and tries to slow down the impulsiveness of the id. Ego balances between the instinctive drives and realistic principles trying to achieve as many benefits as possible. However, there is a third element superego. It deals with the morality principles. In fact, superego makes instinctive needs and drives reflect in the socially accepted ways. Morality principles and social laws limit the individual 's desires to satisfy basic needs (Masling, 1990).…

    • 1036 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Known as the founder of analytic psychology, Carl Jung revolutionized the way the world looked at the human mind through the creation of “the archetype, the collective unconscious”, and the personality (introverted and extroverted) (Wikipedia.org). Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts such the archetypes of the conscious and unconscious mind. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Chester Himes’ A Rage in Harlem (1989) are two works of literature that explore these archetypes. In order to thrive in society, as presented in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels, characters (such as Lou and Imabelle) are forced to adapt and change in order to achieve their goals. Thus, I argue that archetypal theory is a useful tool to analyze the evolution of both Lou and Jackson’s psyche in The Killer Inside Me (1952) and A Rage in Harlem (1989).In particular I look at the ego, persona, and shadow in Thompson’s and Himes’ novels.…

    • 2073 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The result of this discussion shows that the author portrays the personality development of the main character in the novel. It proves that ego defense mechanisms help the main character a lot in dealing with conflicts. Furthermore, altruistic surrender, the most influencing ego defense mechanisms in Richard’s case, really makes Richard’s personality develop and change. Therefore, it leads to an understanding that the greater influence of the past experiences one possesses with reference to the ego defense mechanism cases, the greater influence it affects to his or her…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personality is characterized by a struggle between different elements within an individual’s personality. Behavior, thoughts, and emotions are the result of this inner struggle. Psychodynamic Theory…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Labeling Theory Of Crime

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Lemert, E. M. (1951). Social pathology: A systematic approach to the theory of sociopathic behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Dsm-Iv Research Paper

    • 3716 Words
    • 15 Pages

    M., Regier, D. A. (1994). The International Personality Disorder Examination: The World Health Organization and Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration international pilot study of personality disorders. Journal of General Psychology. 551, 215-224.…

    • 3716 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Erikson

    • 5673 Words
    • 23 Pages

    This paper explores Erik Erikson’s theory of personality. Erikson believes that personality develops within eight stages that spans an individual’s lifetime. He calls his theory the psychosocial stages of development which places emphasis on gaining virtues that strengthen the ego. Three articles are used to give more insight to Erikson’s theory of development. Each article agrees that Erikson makes many great contributions to psychology as well as other fields. This paper uses mainly Hergenhahn and Olson (2007) findings to help relate Erikson’s theory to the life of Marie Lockhart. All names within this paper have been changed to protect the individual’s privacy. Marie was interviewed to gain information about her life. Also, since Marie is a close friend, much information came from personal knowledge and observation. For the most part Marie’s life follows Erikson’s stages of development. There are a few events that occur before Erikson’s theory plans for them, but Erikson allows for this in the overview of his theory.…

    • 5673 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay on psychopathy

    • 2477 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by antisocial behavior and a lack of empathy. Psychopaths are thus insensitive to the feelings of others, which is often accompanied by fearlessness and impulsiveness. Some become violent offenders, and some don’t. The latter are those who learned to control the impulses and create a mask of charm. These ‘functional psychopaths’ often attain desirable positions such as CEO, lawyer and surgeon thanks to their ability to remain calm under pressure. Experts are debating if, as a whole, psychopathy is a curse or a blessing. Research shows it’s both. Psychopathy can be beneficial, as well as a problem, and by paying attention to environmental factors and intervening, the number of psychopaths who go on to become violent offenders can be reduced.…

    • 2477 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    relationships. A personality disorder is the basis of many circumstances of maladaptive behavior including substance abuse, self-harm, suicide, and criminality. My three points for this paper are the three different types of personality disorder, what the causes are, and how to get help.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays