The Film Precious - Term Paper Example

Introduction/ Case Description The film Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire is a movie that revolves around a teenage black girl suffering from what can only be described as a great extent of trauma. Precious lives with her mother, Mary and her father, Carl; both of whom mistreat her in their own way. The girl and her family live in the ghettos of New York City. Precious’ mother and father are not employed in any job and survive on welfare that they get partly on account of Precious’ daughter, Mongo who suffers from Down syndrome. Even though Mango does not live with the family, Mary cheats the government as a way to receive welfare money. Yet, of the parents, it is Carl who does the most harm to Precious; both physically and mentally. Physically, he sexually abuses Precious. As such, the viewer is made aware of the fact that this abuse has been ongoing for a period of more than 15 years; starting when Precious was only 3 years of age. Due to being continually raped by her father, Precious gives birth to two children; one girl and one boy. The girl has Down syndrome and is cared for by Precious’s grandmother. The boy however, lives with the family; at least until the point that Precious is willing and able to take a stand against her family. While her father abuses Precious in such a blatant and cruel way, Precious’ mother does little to protect her child. She turns her eye the other way while Precious continuously becomes a victim of her father’s sick desires. Moreover, her mother does not support her child but rather abuses her both physically and emotionally. She continuously asserts that education for Precious would do her no good and she should also adopt her lifestyle that consists of excessive smoking and welfare benefits. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Precious begins to dissociate herself with her family and surroundings. She increasingly begins to daydream of a better lifestyle where she is loved and cared for. Ultimately, this is done as a means of escaping from her brutal and cruel lifestyle. A real change starts occurring in Precious when she starts attending alternative school in light of her impending pregnancy. It is there that she meets with her new teacher, Blu Rain who encourages her to spend more time in reading and writing. This plants the seed in Precious of a love for education that continues to give her confidence. Later on, she finds more caring and understanding characters in the shape of her social worker, Ms. Weiss and nursing assistant, John McFadden. This allows Precious to improve upon herself and gives her confidence in her abilities and her personality. Since Precious goes through such a gruesomely difficult childhood, she pays little or no attention to her appearance. She is portrayed as an obese teenager who does not care about her weight. Precious also puts little attention to what she looks her and it is only in her imaginary life that she dresses beautifully. She has no confidence in her appearance and is even guilty about her femininity given the treatment at the hands of her father. Even though Precious is continuously abused by both her biological parents, she does not develop a rebellious streak. She complies with the orders of her parents even though she has to go through the process of giving birth to two children that are the result of rape and incest. It is only during the end of the film and through the support of her teacher, Ms. Rain and social worker, Ms. Weiss that she gains the confidence of supporting herself and her child. While Precious does not outwardly rebel against her parents, her rebellion takes the form of anger and frustration. This is the reason that Precious finds it difficult to make friends. She has no friends in her class and does not confide in anything. This builds frustration inside her and she puts up an angry front. COMPREHENSIVE THEORETICAL ANALYSIS In order to analyze the unique case of Precious as it is presented within the film, this paper would consider several different theories. Under the systems and ecological theory, the social systems theory will be discussed and elaborated upon. Likewise, under the psychodynamic theory, the attachment theory will be discussed and elaborated upon. Finally, under the learning theory, the cognitive development theory will be discussed. Lastly, the empowerment theory as part of alternative theories will also be discussed with respect to Precious and her character. Family Systems Theory Ultimately, one of the strongest forces for shaping and developing Precious’ behavior and character is the family within which she has been raised. As a function of this strong determinant to her behavior and personality, the Family Systems Theory is perhaps the single most appropriate theory in which to seek to further define and understand Precious’ case. At its very core, the family is the smallest social unit; as such, it plays a vital role in socialization and instilling concepts of self worth, self actualization, and a litany of other vital components towards proper psychological growth. As such, the level to which the family systems theory applies to Precious and her experiences is profound. Rather than providing the viewer with the positive means by which the theory can impact upon the growth and development of an individual, the case of Precious illustrates the very worst means by which such a theory can be exhibited within the psychological, sociological, and sexual development of a young adolescent. Ultimately, as a means of understanding the case of Precious within the family systems theory, one needs to integrate with the understanding that the family systems theory places the most emphasis on the fact that the actions of a single member of a family necessarily have broad ramifications onto other members of the family. These actions can of course be physical or psychological; spawned by levels of love or abuse – levels of physical and/or sexual abuse or the perfect exemplification of familial love. Likewise, the means by which the family systems theory relates to the case of Precious can be seen in the fact that she experiences a nearly constant stream of negative reinforcements; there include but are not limited to physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the hands of her family. Yet, still within the family systems theory’s scope, it can further be noted that fundamental aspects of self worth or fundamental desires imparted by her family to dream or to strive for more are all but nonexistent. In such a way and by such a means, the character and outlook for Precious is what can be called “preconstrained”. Although individuals can of course step outside of bad circumstances, as Precious ultimately did, the fact of the matter is that the individual is a product of their environment and no theory better explains the effect that environment can have on the adolescent that the family systems theory. Moreover, with regards to Precious case, all of the negative aspects of her life are almost invariably derived from the miserable family situation that she comes from. Had any of these aspects been different, it is quite possible that many of the negative aspects surrounding the case would never have been realized. More specifically, the family theory consists of certain components or generalizations regarding the set structures that exist between family, the individual, and society. Firstly, families have set structures within themselves. This refers to the role, authority, power, and position of different members of the family. In the case of Precious, one can easily see that each member of the family had defined and determinant positions; with the father being the most powerful, the most sadistic, and the most violent. Evidence of this power dynamic can of course be seen in the fact that Precious’ mother chose to ignore her husband’s discrepancies despite the fact that her own daughter was being continually victimized. Precious had the least amount of power in the family because she was nothing more to the family than a means of generating additional government handouts. Rather than exhibiting a situation in which love and affection is characterized within the family relationships that were evidenced, Precious served positively no purpose to her family other than helping to maximize government aid. These structures, attitudes and personalities of the family members developed into a pattern which had a strong bearing on the way in which Precious was able to develop mentally as well as socially within her life. One of the salient issues that the reader must continually bear in mind is the fact that even though Precious’ family is the epitome of dysfunctional, it can still aptly ascribe to the family systems theory as a means of defining and making sense of her development. Regardless of the level of dysfunction that existed within the family, it nonetheless had certain boundaries; boundaries that were as equally as dysfunctional as the family itself. One can of course realize the way in which this dysfunctional family imparted dysfunctional boundaries upon Precious to the extent to which she was pressured into remaining silent with regards to the abuse she suffered for so many years. Ultimately, while Precious was being raped by her father, she chose not to inform her teachers at school about the issue as a result of the instilled values that she had come to integrate with. This values were of course horrendously flawed and like the rest of her family life, indicative of the very worst that humans are capable of; nonetheless, the show the overall impressionability and the means by which one integrates with the environment – oftentimes regardless of how horrendous it may be. Yet another example of this was of course the fact that her own mother was swindling the government for benefit money against Mango who did not even live with the family; yet, the family still remained close mouthed about the issue. McGoldrick and Carter present the view that for healthy development, every person should find a place that they can call home (McGoldrich & Carter, 2003). This home should ideally provide a sense of safety, and belonging along with a caring environment. Analyzing Precious’ case, it is apparent that she was unable to enjoy such a place as her safety was continually called into question various times when her mother was physically and/or verbally abusing her while at the same time her father was sexually abusing her. When one analyzes the individual members of the family, it is of course painfully evident that are dysfunctional. Her father is unable to control his sexual desires; raping his only daughter. Her mother is also dysfunctional in the sense that she does nothing productive for the house or the family and worse still does not make even the slightest attempt to protect her daughter from the maniacal and deviant advances of her husband; all the while knowing full well what is going on. Moreover, the mother constantly smokes in the houses, even with an infant present, uses abusive language and even beats her teenage daughter. Therefore, from a family systems theory approach, it is little surprise that Precious is also dysfunctional. She exhibits a great deal of pent up anger which makes it impossible for her to develop caring and lasting friendships with those that seek to help her. This is ultimately because she was never conditioned to be able to receive, understand, or integrate with such feelings as a direct result of her familial experience. She has no desire to look beautiful as her own mother has no interest in this aspect and also she continues to demoralize her daughter which further lowers the self-esteem of Precious. Such an analysis of the family systems theory necessarily calls the reader and/or researcher to integrate with the further understanding of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Illustrated below in figure 1.0, the reader can come to appreciate the fact that the dysfunctional family that Precious was raised within ultimately was unable to gift her with even the most basic levels of needs that could have ultimately led to creating a well rounded/self actualized member of society. From the biological needs that Precious exhibited as a child, these are more or less met in the same way that any individual that continues to survive in the biological sense must meet such determinants. However, when the researcher begins to work their way up the chain of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it becomes apparent that secondary and tertiary needs are already not being met. As such, the reader can understand that the lack of these basic needs of safety, as well as love and belonging will have a powerful/negative impact upon the means by which esteem and ultimately self-actualization can ever take place. Moreso than perhaps any other factor, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs exemplifies the means by which Precious dysfunctional family (understood in the above analysis as the family systems approach) has saddled her with a nearly insurmountable level of psychological issues that exhibit themselves in a number of different ways (Greene, 1999). Figure 1.0 Attachment Theory The theory of attachment, proposed by John Bowlby, proposes that children and even adults need to develop an emotional attachment with someone in order to function properly and survive. Bowlby presents the finding that ‘children who form an attachment to an adult- that is, an enduring socio-emotional relationship-are more likely to survive (CITE). The person is oftentimes the mother; however, it can be any individual with a strong emotional relationship or that is otherwise a responsive or caring person. Attachments can form with fathers, grandparents or someone else (Zastrow and Krist-Ashman, 2012) In the case of Precious, she is unable to form an attachment with either her mother or her father; naturally as an obvious function of the trauma, abuse, and lack of satisfaction that even the most primitive aspects of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has indicated. According to Bowlby, in order for attachments to develop, the care giver should be responsive and caring towards the child (Robbins et al, 2011). This is most certainly not the case of Precious’ caregivers. They abuse her both physically and mentally; thereby encouraging her to develop deep emotional scars. As a function of this level of incomplete and entirely incorrect bonding and attachment, Precious becomes mal-adjusted and ultimately cannot form any meaningful or lasting relationship with even those individuals that wish the very best for her. Similarly, with regards to the further definition of the attachment theory, there needs to be four factors ultimately lead to attachment. The first of these is time spent with the child. Even though both parents spent time with Precious, they are unable to form an attachment due to the fact that both parents sought to maximize their own self centered needs above the needs that Precious exhibited. As such, even though Precious’ parents could be said to have spent time with her, the time was almost invariably negative due to the fact that Precious was either used as a means herself or ignored entirely. Similarly, the second factor includes attention to the needs of the child. In the case of Precious, both parents are obsessed about their own needs to such an extent that they completely ignore the needs of their daughter. The third factor includes commitment towards the child. The parents in this case are least committed to the child. They pay no attention to her appearance, her education, her behavior or any aspect of her life. The fourth factor includes being available to the child when the need arises. This could be anytime of the day or night. Here again, the parents do not have quality time to give to the child. All these factors and their absence in Precious’ case results in a lack of attachment between the parents and the child (Berzoff et al, 2011). Ultimately, this lack of attachment can be colloquially understood as a supreme lack of love and care. Naturally, although Precious suffers from a great many disadvantages, she is able to pick up on this dynamic early on and understands that she is unloved and ultimately unwanted. This has the ancillary effect of further destroying what little self esteem and pride that Precious would have had. Ultimately, this lack of love, care, attention, and affection causes Precious to imagine a world with a loving and caring boyfriend. She has no room for her parents in this world but there is a need for attachment therefore she imagines a boyfriend who can love her and care for her. This is an interesting dynamic due to the fact that although her home life is irrevocably scarred and horrendous, she still realizes that she is missing something that she has never had. This hints towards a degree of self-actualization; however, it is not a solid proof of such. Zastrow and Krist-Ashman give four kinds of attachment between parents and children. These include secure attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment, anxious-resistant attachment and disorganized attachment. The attachment of Precious with her parents can be definitively and unquestionably categorized as disorganized attachment (Zastrow & Krist-Ashman CITE). Within disorganized attachment, children do not have set responses. These responses vary between extreme fears to profound confusion. Such emotions are displayed in Precious’ attitude towards her parents. At times when her father or mother abuses her, she shows extreme fear while at other times she is confused or angry regarding their behavior. Glaser goes as far to assert that abuse directed at the child from the parent can ultimately lead to brain damage and a mentally stunted child (Glaser, 2000). In the case of Precious, one can argue against this claim however. This is of course due to the fact that although she had initial issues integrating with education and learning, Precious was able to adapt well as her life continued to progress further and further away from the environment of harm. This represents something of a restorative power of the human experience that none of the theories which have been covered herein can adequately speak to. Social Learning Theory Social Learning Theory promotes the claim that human development is greatly impacted by one’s social surroundings. In the case of Precious, it is understood that she grew up in family that has a low socioeconomic status. Hackman, Farah and Meaney with regard to the claim that growing up in a family with low SES (Socio-Economic Status) is associated with poor health as well as having the possibility of impairing psychological, cognitive, and emotional well-being (Hackman et al, 2010). As such, since Precious belongs to the group of low SES; the social learning theory expects that she will exhibit a number of characteristics based upon this reality. Precious, to a certain extent is psychologically impaired, since she hallucinates concerning a life that is not there. However, the viewer can and should understand this to be something of a stylized defense mechanism to continue to keep a shattered dream of normality alive within a world far to horrendous for dreams. Moreover, she is portrayed as an extremely anger and frustrated individual who is unable to properly form emotional attachment. Her inability to form friendship with her peers in the normal settings reflects that her emotional development is severely impaired. While one may argue several reasons behind this, however Precious’ low socio-economic status is a reflection of that aspect. In terms of cognitive development, one is also able to observe certain impairment within Precious. These are apparent in her educational achievements. Moreover, Precious develops an interest towards education and goes on to pursue higher education. This, she was able to do despite the restrictions placed upon her by her low SES. Robbins, Chatterjee, and Canda assert that if change is brought in the child’s environment, the child may be able to develop properly (Robbins et al, 2010). Thus, in order for the right development to occur, the proper learning environment should be provided. Precious did not initially receive such a gift; however, in time, she was able to be provided with this chance and took full advantage of it; thereby representing the resilience of her character and the strength of her will. Such a desire was first manifest when she started attending alternative school and her teacher prompted her towards reading and writing (Mahler 1967). Even though, the family life of Precious still remained essentially the same, she was able to prosper with just a little push. Later on, as Precious was removed from her family and lived in a foster home, she further went on to pursue higher education. Therefore in the case of Precious, the environment played nothing short of an integral role with respect to social learning. Empowerment Theory A definition of empowerment, presented by Zimmerman and Perkins in their article, ‘Empowerment Theory, Research and Application’ is as follows: “An intellectual, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking in equal share of valued resources gain greater access and control over these resources” (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995). Considering this definition, one can seek to adequately define Precious case with respect to such determinants. During the course of the film, Precious managed to gain empowerment even though there were negative incidents that continued to assail her on nearly every side. Ultimately, the empowerment began with Precious encounter with the Alternative School teacher Blu Rain. This teacher, and later other characters in her life, provide care and kindness to her in a way that she had never before experienced; thereby providing the absolute fulfillment of Zimmerman and Perkins definition of empowerment which has previously been integrated within this analysis. Other aspects of this empowerment include an intellectual process, mutual respect, critical reflection, and group participation. The intellectual ongoing process in the case of Precious begins when she starts attending alternative school. In this school, her teacher, Blue Rain, encourage her to read and write. She provides the foundation through which Precious later gains the power and confidence to pursue her education. Precious was also able to gain empowerment as a result of the combined efforts of other positive characters in her life. They believed in her strength and continued to support her. While her parents ensured that Precious had no confidence in her abilities, these individuals pushed Precious to actualize her true potential. Yoshikawa, Aber, and Beardslee present another theory in this regard. They include the element of poverty by present the view that poverty inhibits empowerment within individuals (Yoshikawa et al, 2010). Children belonging to poor families have difficulties in their mental, emotional and behavioral health. As such, they are unable to actualize their true potential. Since Precious belongs to a poor family, we may be able to consider the theory presented by Yoshikawa et al. The poor background of Precious to a great extent prevented her from pursing her potential. Add to this the unique psychological and emotional trauma that she underwent, and the individual is able to understand to a far better degree to the full nature and level to which Precious suffers. Moreover, Yoshikawa et al assert that the poverty of one generation impacts directly upon the next generation. This means that since Precious’ mother and father were poor and hailed from a poor background, the after effects of their poverty would make an impression on Precious; and in many cases – continuing the cycle. This is quite true to a great extent. Her parents, being poor, were unable to provide the proper lifestyle to their child and as such were also unable to provide the correct model of how a normal family should exist and seek to better themselves in the process. Since the parents’ own mental health was affected due to poverty, it made its impression on the child (Ungar, 2010). Critical Analysis Family System Theory The character was analyzed using the family system theory due to the fact that family was the main influencing source her life experiences. Further, the family system theory was also helpful in explaining how the actions of the nuclear family impact upon character development. Since it was the nuclear family in the shape of the dysfunctional mother and father, who were negatively impacting Precious, they theory perhaps goes the furthest of any in determining the actions and consequences that play the most powerful role upon how the character integrates with reality and the determinant decisions that affect her own life. A litany of prior scholarship points to the fact that the family system theory is perhaps the most relevant theory of all in explaining the actions and thought processes that define the characteristics of an adolescent individual that suffers from what can only be described as a traumatic (McNeil et al, 2013). Moreover, the drawbacks to this particular approach hinge upon placing too great of an emphasis upon the external factors. However, in response to such a drawback, the reader can and should understand that the external factors contributing to the way in which the individual integrated with the outside world, formed their decisions, and allowed their personality to be developed were so profound as a result of these external factors that seeking to place a higher level of emphasis upon the internal factors would necessarily be incomplete. Attachment Theory Likewise, attachment theory was utilized as it was highly necessary to analyze the role of individual’s mother and father in mutilating her personality. This is of course due to the fact that a secure attachment with the parents gives the child confidence to face the world (Bergman et al, 2008). Even though Precious had the confidence to face the world, she was still weak inside as a direct result of her inability and failure to form a close attachment in childhood with those that should have mattered most. Yet another reason for choosing attachment theory was due to the reality that precious was only able to take charge of her own life and integrate with successful change once she was ultimately relived of the constraints that attachment theory provided. Social Learning Theory Interestingly, with regards to the four theories which have been chosen, social learning theory was the theory that arguably did not integrate with the given case in question to the same degree that the others that were chosen did. This is due to the fact that Precious was able to prove this theory wrong by excelling at both emotional development and cognitive development despite no real changes within the environment. Prior scholarship has noted that this particular theory, although adept in explaining nuances of development behavior, oftentimes falls short in explaining determinant internal actions that cannot always be correctly attributed or weighted (Howorth et al, 2012). Even though her mentors, in the form of her teacher and social worker, provided motivation to her, Precious spent most of her time with her family and had always lived with them. As such, it can be definitively proven that this did not have a strong or noticeable impact upon her brain development as her life progressed. Empowerment Theory Lastly, empowerment theory was chosen due to the fact that it adequately explained the manner in which Precious was able to empower herself despite the limitations placed on her by her family. Precious, at such a young age, was not only able to give birth to two children but she began to care for one of her children at the tender age of eighteen. And while doing this, she was able to pursue further education. This film was further illustrated the empowerment that Precious underwent due to the fact that this young girl was able to turn her life around with just a little motivation and belief from the right people. Even though a person’s family is the main motivating force, Precious did not even need them to get ahead of her life. The empowerment theory has been noted by a range of scholarship to be one of the final determinants towards personal growth (Whiteside, 2011). Accordingly, it was this theory that was utilized and elaborated upon as a means of drawing a further level of focus to the empowerment that was displayed against seeming insurmountable odds that had integrated with the individual throughout the story. References Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., Glover, V., & O'Connor, T. G. (2008). Quality of child–parent attachment moderates the impact of antenatal stress on child fearfulness. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(10), 1089–1098 Berzoff, J., Melano Flanagan, L., & Hertz, P. (2011). Inside out and outside in: Psychodynamic clinical theory and psychopathology in contemporary multicultural contexts (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson Glaser, D. (2000). 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