Good Will Hunting Analysis

Will Hunting is a 20 year old man who works as a janitor at MIT. He was a Caucasian man who lived in a poor economic neighborhood in south Boston, Massachusetts. He is also an Irish catholic man. His foster father was an alcoholic and he always came home drunk looking to abuse someone. Will provoked his foster father so he wouldn't hurt his mother or brothers. Will's foster father used to abuse Will when he was a child with a wrench. Will is currently separated from his parents and family. The only family he has are his best friends which he claims to be his brothers. He lives on his own and spends his time with his best friends. Will's friends describe him as a genius. Some of Will's psychologists might describe him as a crazy lunatic. Will
Hunting plays the role of a smart, genius-level intellect who chooses to work in construction instead of a higher paying job he could get in to. I think Will's prenatal life was normal and healthy, because he is a genius and intellectual man. Information about his mother would be helpful to understand Will's prenatal life. If the mother was healthy or not during pregnancy would help me understand Will. His temperament was high reactive because he was alarmed of new experiences and he would also draw back from certain situations. When his girlfriend asked him to move to California with him, he was alarmed by this situation and started talking about how his job and home was in south Boston and couldn't just leave. He wasn't comfortable with this idea and immediately withdrew from this situation. He had an insecure attachment with his mother and father. He was not provided with a sense of security and therefore had problems in his future with exploring the environment he lives in. He had many psychological problems in his life and had to see many psychologists about it. He did not have a stable mother or father as a child and was taken to many foster homes without the proper parenting style used. His caregivers were inconsistent and did not meet his needs. The parenting style used in his foster homes was most likely authoritarian, because he showed a frightened, remote, and disobedient personality. Whenever he was comfortable in a position, he would hesitate or avoid new experiences. Caregivers were high in control and showed low responsiveness and warmth for him. He was comfortable in many situations but was then disliked experiencing new situations. Information about how he behaved more in his foster homes would be helpful to better understand him. When Will provoked his foster father, he would get abused by him. Will was an only a child but he understood well enough to protect his mother and brother. His foster father would come home drunk and he would look for someone to hurt. He didn't want him going after his mother and brother, so he would provoke him and get him mad at himself instead. Will's role in his id is his choice to get into neighborhood fights when problems he had in the past with others. His hate, and anger from the past with another bully made him want to assault the man without even thinking of the consequences of his actions. He did it for his immediate satisfaction for his anger. He has the brain of a genius and he decides to get into fights with people he doesn't like. As a result, he is sent to a court trial and they decide to put him in jail. Will's ego allows him to see a psychologist and listen to what he has to say. He chooses to go through with this even though he doesn't want to and feels he doesn't need it because if it part of his deal to keep out of jail. If he doesn't go through with this, then he knows he will be sent back to jail. His superego makes him stand up to his father. He chose to provoke his father and believed it was the right thing to do to protect his mother and brother. He had to provoke his father, when his father came home drunk in order to keep his father away from his mother, and brother. He believed this was the right thing to do in his conscience. His superego has a great influence on his behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. It shows that he is brave, protective of his family, and kind. He protects his family by being brave and standing up to his foster father. He is kind, and brave enough to take on these physical abuses to protect his mom, and brother. Will calls his friends when his girlfriend Skylar tells him she won't have sex unless she meets his friends and brothers. This is an example of his pleasure principle. An example of Will's reality principle is when he sees his girlfriend. If he does not satisfy her or make her happy, he knows she would not have sex with him or spend time with him. Will's fixation in his adolescence age is genital. As he reaches the point where sex is the primary focus of his pleasurable sensations, he seeks to satisfy the relationship between him and his girlfriend so he could spend more time with her. The experience he had with his foster father influenced his personality. When he was abused by his father, he turned into an aggressive child. Because he was abused by his foster father at such a young age, he grew up thinking violence was okay for him to do. Whenever his father was mad, he would hurt his family. So whenever Will did not like someone, he would get into fights with them if they were people he really hated. He also blames himself for being unhappy and from suffering through these horrible experiences even though it is not his fault.
Analysis of Defense Mechanisms Will Hunting uses projection for one of the defense mechanisms. He pushes people away because he is afraid of being hurt if they abandon him first. He decides to break up with his girlfriend because he is afraid she will not like him at some point in the future. He is afraid of her abandoning him in the future, so he leaves her first. He also uses rationalization. After working in construction knowing he is a genius, he tells his friend that it is okay for him to be working in construction. He believes he will be happy working in construction for the rest of his life instead of a higher paying job using his genius intellect. Displacement is also used when Will is angry with his father years ago when he was abused as a young child. Because of this experience, he tends to push people away. He left his girlfriend because he was afraid of being hurt and abandoned by her in the future. He tells her he does not love her and leaves, hurting her emotional feelings. He is also denial of his experience with his foster father. He believes it is his fault for being abused by his father instead of loved. However, it is not his fault because he was just a young child who didn't know much yet. His use of defense mechanisms hinders his problems he attempts to deal with. By avoiding other people and pushing them away, he does not give others a chance to develop a close-friendly relationship. Will Hunting could have used sublimation and avoided his sexual urges to be more productive in society such as working in the mathematical field or becoming a doctor to help save lives.
Analysis of Personality - Humanistic Will's self-concept shows conditional positive regard by his parent. He believed it was his fault for being abused and therefore, he shows aggression towards others. His foster father abused him when he was a child and therefore believes he is only loved when his behavior is acceptable. He provides unconditional positive regard toward others. His girlfriend still loves him and accepts him for who he is even though he left her. She knows he is going through a hard time and Will knows he is confused on what he should do and how he should deal with his situation.
Analysis of Personality - Social Cognitive Will has weak self-efficacy when it comes to relationships. He doubts himself and tends to avoid getting into close relationships because he is not confident about his actions. He believes his girlfriend would reject him at one point in the future. He is afraid of being abandoned and hurt by her leaving him. He then leaves her because of this and tells her he doesn't love her. He was able to strengthen this area of weak self-efficacy when he sees his psychologist and heard about his story. His psychologist, Sean missed a baseball game to go see a girl he ended up marrying. He did not regret his decision and he was happy with his life. This motivated Will to see Skylar again and have a second chance with her. Will has strong self-efficacy when it comes to mathematics, science, reading, and history. Will lived in a poor run-down apartment in a bad neighborhood. This influenced his thoughts and actions. He got into lots of neighborhood fights with people he didn't like from school. He also believes he can do whatever he feels like doing such as going to bars and picking fights instead of being in an educated school or high paying workplace.
Analysis of Stress & Coping Some daily hassles that create stress for Will are getting into neighborhood fights with people he didn't like from school.
He had to go to court, and he was sent to jail. He then had to see a couple psychologist and listen to professor Lambeau if he wanted to stay out of jail. A personal event that created a lot of stress for Will was his experience with his foster father. He was abused by his father at such a young age and this greatly affected his thoughts, and behaviors in life. He believes it is his fault for being abused as a young child. He then has trouble socializing with others at times. He fears abandonment from his girlfriend. He is stressed psychologically from his child abuse and lives a troubled life because he does not get the proper care and treatment. He does not get any social support for his problems. Will uses escape-avoidance because he does not want to be associated in close personal relationships with other people. He avoids Skylar and leaves her when he thinks their relationship is about to get too close. He tends to escape and push them away from him. He is distancing himself from others. Will appears to self-medicate to deal with his psychological stress. He smokes cigarettes when he is stressed out or depressed to help cope with his
problems.