Life span development involves the study of how an individual develops from infancy to old age or throughout their life span within society. This study seeks to identify the pattern of developmental changes that occur in an individual’s life course. It looks at how the different development periods interrelate. For example, it looks at childhood achievement motivation and later adulthood motivation. The changes in the environment and society are also looked into because they have an impact on the development of an individual. Life span development assumes that major developmental changes take place in the course of life (Brim and Kagan, 1980). A person is influenced by what surrounds them and how they take the positive and negative influences. This paper will look at Michael’s background and the forces that have impacted his life from the viewpoint of developmental psychology. Look at the hereditary and environmental influences on his psychological development, the family or social support systems that may have influenced his developmental growth and adjustment. Apply two personality theories and explain how each elucidates his unique patterns or traits and finally the theory that best explains Michael’s behaviors and achievements.
Michael Jackson was born in 1958 in Gary Indiana as the seventh child among nine siblings. His father Joe Jackson was a still mill worker and also a member of a musical band called the falcons. It was not strange when his children followed in his footstep and got into the music business. He started his musical career very early in his life at the age of five together with his four brothers in a group called the Jackson 5 where he was the lead singer together with his brother Jermaine.
Michael is said to have had a very difficult childhood. The relationship between him and his father was anything but smooth. He said that his father had abused him both emotionally and physically (Michael, 1989). He stated that the father would beat him during rehearsals and name-calling. In a speech at the Oxford University in 2001, he admitted that the father had difficulty expressing his affection and that he never told him he loved him or got a compliment from him (Michael, 2001). He went on to say that he was speaking as a person who lacked a childhood. On the contrary, he gave credit for his professional success. The pain of the abuse stayed with him and during an interview on February 3, 2003, he covered his face and began crying as he talked about the abuse he encountered in his childhood.
Heredity plays a role in one’s personality though it does not control one’s behavior. The genes one acquires from their parents do not necessarily make certain behavior obvious (Boyd, 2003). For example, a child may be born by a criminal father and it may grow up to be a straight individual in society. This means that the environment which includes family, experiences, parenting often does not determine the kind of person ones turns out to be. In Michael’s case due to the kind of upbringing he had and his childhood experiences, he turned out to be a very lonely person who failed to overcome the demons of his childhood. On the other hand, his brothers who were also child stars turned out alright or rather they coped better. His psychological development was affected by a lack of a father’s love and approval and this could explain his love for children which obviously brought him a lot of problems later when he was accused of child molestation. He must have been trying to fill the void he felt in his life by loving those children by playing the role of a loving father that he never had.
Freud’s personality theory deals with the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious involves things that an individual is aware of while the unconscious involves everything a person is not easily aware of for example memories that are traumatic (Boere, 2006). Freud stated that all human motivations stem from the unconscious. He also introduces stages that a child goes through that is the oral stage where a bay loves suckling, the anal stage pleasure derived from the anus, phallic stage the child derives pleasure from the genitalia, the latent stage where there is sexual suppression and the genital stage that kicks in at puberty and sex drive in adolescents is resurged. Each stage has activities associated with it and if the child fails to go through them he or she is affected later in life (Boere, 2006).
In Michael’s case, he lacked love from his father in his childhood and missed doing all the things that children do at this stage. For example, he could not go out to play with kids his age and this affected him very much. It is said that experiences in the course of one’s life influence their personality in their adulthood. Traumatic experiences have the strongest effects on the personality. Michaels normally had nightmares about being kidnapped due to an experience when his father put on a scary mask and went into their room at night which he explained alter was to teach them a lesson about locking doors and windows. He also becomes fixated on his childhood and people who associated with him say he was a boy-man. When he bought a ranch in California that he called Neverland he put things that children enjoy like trains swings and so on. This shows that he was trying to experience a childhood that he never had. He also focused attention on his music and he become so good at it. Perhaps he was trying to prove to his father that he was good and wanted him to recognize that.
The behaviorist theory put forward by BF Skinner explains how an individual’s personality is influenced by external influences on one behavior. He believed that children behave badly as this kind of behavior attracts attention for instance when a child cries it is given attention (O’Donohue & Ferguson, 2001). The model on stimulus-response and consequence analyses behavior. This means that when one does something and they get a positive response they will do it over and over and the reverse is true. Michael Jackson did things that ensured that he remained in the spotlight. He took to plastic surgery and did a nose job more than once as it kept people talking. At one time he bought an ape from a zoo and again people were talking through some took it as a drift from reality. There were stories about him sleeping in a chamber to delay the aging process, trying to buy the bone of the elephant man, and many other stunts.
The Freudian psychological theory best explains Michael Jackson’s behavior and achievements. It captures his behavior changes and explains why he behaved the way he did. He was trying to compensate for the lack of childhood. In fact, he lost his childhood at the age of five which is considered a very critical stage in a child’s development. Using this theory we can explain he become a super achieve and today he is the most successful artist of all time. When he failed to relate well with his father he totally became immersed in his music. In addition, the theory can help us explain why he seemed to change his personality and appearance that he ended up looking like a woman. There is the joke that only in America, can a person be born as a Blackman and grow up to become a white woman.
Michael Jackson’s life was ironic he achieved fame all over the world; people loved him as they would flock to his concerts in millions yet he never seemed to have peace in his life. His life can be used to evaluate how children are brought up and especially those who are deprived of the love of one or both parents. No child should be denied the chance to experience their childhood to the fullest and unconditional love.
References
- Boere, G.C. (2006). Sigmund Freud. Web.
- Boyd, S.R. (2003). Genes strongly influence behavior but do not control it.
- Brim, O. G., Jr., and Kagan, J. (Eds.). Constancy and Change in Human Development. Cam-bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980.
- Michael Jackson (2001). Heal the Kids oxford Speech.
- Michael, J. (1989). Moon walk, London: William Heinemann.
- O’Donohue, T.W. & Ferguson, E.K. (2001). The Psychology of B. F. skinner, SAGE