Psychological Anthropology - Research Proposal Example

Lecturer: Psychological Anthropology Research Proposal Section A The Blue Valentine is a romantic movie, which was directed by Dereck Cianfrance; thus the film narrates about the married couples who shift between their courtship and the dissolution in their marriage. The film begins with a presentation and in clips that provide the flashbacks on the way the couples, Dean and Cindy, come to stay together. Dean is a high school dropout teenager working in a moving company in the New York City and Cindy is a pre-med student staying with her unhappy parents (Cianfrance et-al 2011). The couples met by chance and they decide to rush into marriage after finding out that Cindy was pregnant. Although both knew that the pregnancy was for her former boyfriend, Bobby, they decided to rush into marriage, which later breaks. However, Bobby who was unaware of Cindy’s pregnancy discovered the truth; thus, he moves into the working place where Dean is working and starts to assault him. The narrative about their courtship is intercut and the author directs the viewer into dissolution in their marriage life after five years in marriage life. The couples lived in Pennsylvania and this is where Cindy works as a nurse while Dean paints houses (Cianfrance et-al 2011). Dean is comfortable with her life but Cindy thinks that her husband drinks too much; hence, lacks aspiration. Dean attempts to restore their troubled relationship; thus he decides to take Cindy into the motel, and this is where Cindy sees Bobby and then stops to talk with him for a moment. While the couples were in the car, Cindy starts telling her husband that she saw Bobby in the motel, and this upsets Dean who eventually starts to fight with Cindy while drinking alcohol at the motel. However, Cindy is called very earlier in the morning to go and work in the clinic but she enters into the clinic while drunk. This contributes to an intense argument and violent cases with the doctor who later fires her over the incident. Dean attempts to persuade Cindy to give their relationship another chance but Cindy refuses and moves away with their daughter claiming that their daughter cannot stay in a broken home. The film ends where Dean walks away from the house and tells the daughter who runs after him to stay with her mother. Section B The reason for choosing the Blue Valentine film is to explore the social life or cultural phenomena of people in the society. The research investigates or aims to determine social aspects of people in a given society. In anthropology, the study of social aspects are classified under social anthropology, which is the branch of anthropology that attempts to reveal the way human beings behaves in the social groups or in the society (Casey and Robert 37). The researchers of social anthropology often carries a long-term and intensive field studies including participant observations, customs, conflict resolution, family structure, childbearing and gender relations. Therefore, the film of the Blue Valentine attempts to focus on social life of two young couples, the underlying logic of Dean and Cindy, their social behaviors and contradictions of their social life. Therefore, using the narrative or the storyline from the film can enable one to explore the ambiguities, contradictions of social life in the contemporary society or the underlying aspects of social behaviors in a social group. This will enable the researcher to develop a clear picture on the way human beings in a society groups behaves in the contemporary society. Therefore, the researcher will focus on the issue by extending social phenomena beyond art, culture and cognition. Section C Social theory is an effective approach that the researcher can use in the significant data analysis. Social theory is analytical approach or paradigm employed by researchers in examining the social phenomena. This theory takes into considerations the way societies lives, develops or behaves; thus it is an approach attempts to explain the social behaviors of human beings in the society (Feinberg and Joseph 183). Social theory can enable the researcher to analyze effective data since this framework is an empirical evidence employed in studying and interpreting social phenomena. Social theory can be descriptive in nature; thus anthropologists have attempted to offer an analysis of human nature in order to understand humankind (LeVine 71). Philosophers also employ social theory in order to determine the general and fundamental problems affecting humankind in the society. This is through relying on rational arguments towards personal attitudes and beliefs of human beings. Therefore, employing social theory will enable the researcher to offer critical analysis of data collected; thus providing clear analysis on the social phenomena. Section D The social theory that has been chosen could apply to the media example of the Blue Valentine. This is because the director of the film attempts to reveal social behaviors and social life of a certain social group in the film. Therefore, it is hypothesized that social behaviors and social life of a certain group in the society can be well explained by social theory; thus the film of the Blue Valentine can be a good example, which can be applicable in the social theory. The social theory could apply to the media example chosen since it focuses on social phenomena. The film attempts to reveal social conflicts in marriage and other social behaviors such as maternal responsiveness. Richman, Patrice and Robert (182) argue that the ethnographic and social linguistic evidence leaves little doubt that the varying normative conversation contexts and the mother-infant relationship can influence the observable interaction of the family. For instance, Cindy decides to leave her husband due to the fear that their daughter cannot stay in a broken home where there are constant arguments. Thomas and Florian (18) argues that in case the social theory is to become the basis of social system and to unravel the social problems in the society, it is apparent that it should include kinds of data concerned. This may include the cultural elements of social life and the subjective characteristics of the members of the social group in order to understand the social values, as well as, social attitudes of human beings. In the film of Blue Valentine, the writer presents varied social behaviors of the main characters whose images or behaviors evoke certain social aspects; thus social theory can explain better about this film. Work Cited Cianfrance, Derek, Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky, Joey Curtis, Cami DeLavigne, Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling, and John Doman. Blue Valentine. New York, NY: Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2011. Casey, Conerly C, and Robert B. Edgerton. A Companion to Psychological Anthropology: Modernity and Psychocultural Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2005. Print. LeVine, Robert A. Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print. Feinberg, Richard, and Joseph Genz. "Limitations of Language for Conveying Navigational Knowledge: Way-finding in the Southeastern Solomon Islands." American Anthropologist. 114.2 (2012): 336-350. Print. Richman, Amy L, Patrice M. Miller, and Robert A. LeVine. "Cultural and Educational Variations in Maternal Responsiveness." Developmental Psychology. 28.4 (1992): 180-192. Print. Thomas, William I., and Florian Znaniecki. "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America." Political Science Quarterly. 33.2 (1918): 18-22. Print. Read More