Nature and Nurture Influences on Kings Life - Essay Example

? Lifespan Development of Introduction One of the most influential people of the 20th century was Martin Luther King Junior, born in Georgia on January 15, 1929. The reason Martin Luther King Junior is chosen for this project is the impact of his early development, family background, upbringing and environment on his later life as leader in the US Civil Rights Movement (Biography.com, 2013). An African American growing in a racially segregated society, King’s early life significantly shaped his future life and work as a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist church and the civil rights activist, fighting for equality for all in the U.S. King’s life as a teenager really influenced his later life. Given that he grew up in a strict Christian family with his father, Michael King Senior as the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther Junior considered racism not only a crime against human but also a sin against God (Biography.com, 2013). His early life as a Black American living in rural Georgia with strict Christian parents amid rampant racism prepared Martin Luther for his later life of activism against racism and other forms of segregation. Though his parents tried, they could not prevent Luther from encountering the racial prejudice the permeated the American society in that period (Biography.com, 2013). In his adulthood, Martin Luther King Jr. was opposed to racial prejudice, not only because he encountered it and suffered but also because his Christian upbringing considered racism and segregation disrespect to God (Biography.com, 2013). Due to the impacts of his childhood and adolescent life experiences on his adulthood, Martin Luther Junior is the right choice for this developmental psychology project. This paper explores the physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development of Martin Luther King Junior with regards to the major milestones in his life, the influences of nature and nurture in his life and the role of cognitive, physical and socio-emotional changes in his life. Nature and Nurture Influences on King’s Life Quite many physical, biological, cultural and environmental factors interplayed to influence and shape the life, times and experiences of Martin Luther King Junior (Woodside et al., 2006). Importantly, that Martin Luther King Junior was born in a multi-culturally rich and diverse surrounding impacted on his life a great deal. All these diverse factors in one way of the other influenced his physical, psychological, cognitive, emotional and social development and functioning (Woodside et al., 2006). In other words, the trajectory of Martin Luther King Junior’s life was determined by quite many factors, just as other peoples’ lives are directed by the same factors. His physical, cognitive, emotional and socio-cultural contexts thus contributed to his development, albeit to different extents. Besides the fact that his life and development were influenced by his age in a manner similar to others, the unique history of his family and community coupled with the non-normative surrounding in which he was born, brought up and lived in his adulthood had far-reaching constraints and influences on his life, experiences and perceptions (Woodside et al., 2006). It is due to these non-normative and historically-graded environments that King became a history changer not only during his lifetime but also in the 21st century in which his life and achievements are still being celebrated with even more gusto. Because of the large extent to which the history of his people influenced him, King became a social activist and a monumental leader at the right place an time. In addition, his cognitive, physical and socio-emotional developments made him a torchbearer in the in the movement for social change, especially with reference to the social injustices and constraints faced by the American society in the early and middle 20th century (Woodside et al., 2006). That nature and nurture played critical roles in King’s development and life is illustrated by his biological predisposition, which signified the importance of the interaction between nurture and nature. By combining an inquisitive mind and an advanced cognitive ability, King became a social reformist who played rather crucial role in changing the moral standards of the U.S. society. That is, nature and nurture challenged him to initiate actions that would result in social reform. Major Milestones in Martin Luther King Junior’s Life Martin Luther King Junior was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. He was brought up in the same city where he attended the Booker T. Washington High School. Being a bright student, King skipped the 9th and the 12th grade and joined the Morehouse College aged 15 years. In fact, he did not undergo a formal graduation from high school. He graduated from the Morehouse College in 1948, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. He also enrolled at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. King would later marry Coretta Scott in 1953 in Heiberger, Alabama. Together, they had children; Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice King (Nojeim, 2004). The other milestone in King’s life was when he became a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama n 1954. Soon after, he started his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and graduated on June 5, 1955. Inspired by Gandhi’s peaceful activism, King made a trip to India in 1959, which really influenced his brand of non-violent activism (Nojeim, 2004). His being stabbed on the in Blumstein's department store on 125th Street, in Harlem in a book signing exercise on September 20, 1958 was the other milestone in King’s life. King soon began to organize peaceful marches to call for voting rights, jobs, freedom, labor rights and against discrimination for African Americans (Nojeim, 2004). The government, through the FBI, soon started to tap King’s phone, alleging that he was working with communists in the Civil Rights Movement. The most notable of the marches King organized was the August 28, 1963 march in Washington, which he organized in conjunction with other civil rights leaders such as James L. Farmer, Jr. of the Congress of Racial Equality, John Lewis of SNCC, Roy Wilkins of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Whitney Young of the National Urban League and Philip Randolph of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (Nojeim, 2004). A unique feature of this march was that its attendance was over a quarter million people of diversified ethnicity, race and socioeconomic background. The meeting was gauged to have been the biggest in the history of Washington and it is synonymous with the “I Have a Dream” speech, which electrified the gathering. King’s efforts led to the enactment of the Rights Act of 1964. King’s opposition to the U.S. involvement and role in the Vietnam War was the other milestone in his life (Waldschmidt-Nelson, 2012). He felt that money and other resources wasted in the war could have been used on social welfare issues such as poverty. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while standing on the second floor balcony of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by one Walter Bailey, in Memphis (Ching, 2002). The Impact of Diversity on King’s Life The multicultural society that the United State was during the lifetime of Martin Luther King Junior greatly impacted on his life. That is, his achievements, struggles, decisions, challenges and even death were directly linked to the diverse nature of society with regards to his religion, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status (Ching, 2002). Through an examination of his genetic and environmental factors or constraints, it becomes apparent that a more comprehensive picture of these influences on King’s physical, cognitive and social-emotional development may be established (Ching, 2002). For King, the influence and role of the diverse and complicated environmental and genetic factors cannot be ignored. Due to the environmental constraints on King’s life, his biological potential was awakened. Dissimilar to socio-emotional and cognitive development, King’s physical development constructs were largely shaped by age-graded and normative factors as the biological, social and psychological forces on his life interacted (Waldschmidt-Nelson, 2012). Socialization in Diverse Society and its Influences As King socialized in society with people from diverse ethnicity, races, socioeconomic background, religions and cultures, his social and emotional experiences and development were really influenced and expanded. As he grew, King shifted from his parents to his peers, whose influences varied across cultures (Waldschmidt-Nelson, 2012). Hence, whereas parental influences decreased as King moved through grade school to college. There were also numerous neighborhood and community resources and social connections that made the family progressively less important as a core factor in King’s development. What is more, King progressively interacted with peers and friends from across the ethnic, racial, cultural and social divide, which resulted in greater social development impact on him. In this situation where the collection of factors affecting social development became more complex for King, the Brofenbreener’s ecological system theory gets rather appropriate in the assessment of the various layers of environmental constraints (Berk, 2012). According to this theory, King’s social and emotional development must have been caused by the intricate relationships he had with the multiple types and levels of diversity in the environment (Berk, 2012). The theory thus explains King’s enhanced and diversified surrounding as the reason he developed socially and emotionally to a greater extent compared to his African American peers. He was exposed to a system of resources, customs, laws and cultural values, which really determined and influenced his exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem (Berk, 2012). With highly educated parents and life in the high socioeconomic bracket, King had access to an enriched depth and breadth of social supports as and lived as a privileged African American child. Coupled to this life was a wide network of extended friends and family. This network of friends and family gave King a rather positive influence compared to that of people in lower socioeconomic status. Coming from a slightly privileged family compared to his African American peers, King had access to proper nutrition and other necessary resources. Hence, his physical development had a pattern considered relatively normal for his age and gender. The detrimental influences of disparity and poverty on King’s physical development would have been best explained by Brofenbreener’s ecological system theory, which highlights the impending consequences of such environments (Berk, 2012). Although it may not be said that King’s physical development and abilities greatly impacted on his leadership and role as a social-changer, this theory, and others, assert that one’s physical abilities and development are strongly linked to their cognitive and social-emotional development, especially on self perception and social development (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010). Due to his physical abilities and development, King played the all-important quarterback in College, boosting his self-confidence and potential to change history and the social setup of his community. He was thus presented with an opportunity to lead others through his physical abilities. In other terms, King’s physical development and abilities facilitated his cognitive and social-emotional development and furthered the course of his life’s narrative by enabling him to realize his incredible ability to lead his peers. The impacts of King’s physical development thus support Bailey’s theoretical perspective that a person’s physical development catalyzes and supports his or her perceptions and cognitive and social-emotional growth (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010). The Role of Cognitive, Physical, and Social-Emotional Changes King's Life King’s cognitive, physical and socio-emotional developments did not just occur because his age advanced; instead, these changes were to a large extent, affected by King’s rich experiences. Though it depended on his age, King’s cognitive, physical and socio-emotional changes were equally affected by the many non-normative influences of his early childhood, late childhood, and adulthood (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010). Notably, due to the influences that were specific to his situation and upbringing, King’s cognitive changes were average, in comparison to those of other African American children. First, King was not exposed to the history-based influences to which the majority of African American population was exposed. He came from a financially secure middle class, thus had access to social and educational supports. He thus socially interacted with skilled people, promoting his learning and cognitive development (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010). Besides being biologically favoured to excel cognitively, the environment in which King lived increased his potential for cognitive functioning. In particular, King’s parents were critical to his cognitive development from a tender age. The cognitive advances would see King deal with tough spiritual and social issues in his pastoral and activism duties. In fact, his advanced cognitive abilities, even at the age of twelve made King to question his parents’ religion and the uncritical nature of Christianity (Warren, 2001). The socioeconomic, cultural, political, ethnic, racial, sexual and religiously diverse society that King came from also largely impacted his life’s events, experiences, struggles, achievements and failures. Among the socially diverse people that King interacted with in person or through their works included Mahatma Gandhi of India and Malcolm X. At the local level, King interacted with civil activists of all races; whites, blacks, Latinos, Natives, immigrants among others social groups (Warren, 2001). On religious grounds, Luther interacted with Christians, Muslims and Hinduism adherents among others. Using Psychological Theories on King’s Lifespan Development Martin Luther King’s socio-emotional, physical and cognitive developments and the roles of these changes in his life, experiences, perceptions, successes, challenges and failures are best explained by Brofenbreener’s ecological system theory. This theory groups the factors that impacted King’s development into five contexts; microsystem (King’s own biology, people and groups that directly impacted on King’s development), mesosystem (interactions of micro-systems such as family events and occurrences), exosystem (the connections among King’s social and immediate/family settings), macro-system (King’s culture; ethnicity, poverty, parents, workplace, heritage, identity and values) and chronosystem (surrounding events and changes) (Woodside et al., 2006). Thus, quite many and diverse factors and forces influenced King’s development from infanthood, early childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood. Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory Besides Brofenbreener’s ecological system, the other theory commonly used to explain Martin Luther King Junior‘s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development changes through the various stages of development is the Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. In this theory, Erikson proposes eight stages of psychosocial development in a person’s lifespan. Each of these stages is characterised by a crisis which the individual must cope with and overcome to transit from one stage to the next (Berk, 2012). Although Martin Luther King Junior’s father was a disciplinarian, his mother managed to provide a warm environment by her gentility and supportiveness to Martin Jr., especially in his childhood life (Biography.com, 2013a). It is this kind of environment and upbringing that is believed to have seen Martin Jr. develop a sense of trust in his social environment in his infancy, unlike other different circumstances that would have resulted in mistrust. The development of social trust is a rather important aspect of development in infanthood. In essence, trust implies that Martin Jr. was accorded all the necessary attention he required, more so from his mother who was so much observant about his physical and emotional needs and well-being. King’s great sense of confident suggest that during his toddlerhood stage (autonomy versus shame and doubt); he was exposed to situations and opportunities that encouraged him to be independent in a safe and supportive environment. He became independent in his infancy due to his being subjected to activities such as toilet training, the use of language and learning to walk among others. This type of training and exposure made King to develop a great sense of autonomy (Berk,2012). John Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment John Bowlby’s (1969) theory of attachment described a caregiver as a form of a secure base on which an infant builds a sense of security, which encourage his or her to freely explore the world. It is also worth noting that secured attachment relationship coupled with consistency and responsive parenting styles translates into exploratory behaviours and perceptions in people as they grow. Most importantly, such parenting styles and security ensured that King adopted and preached a rather constructive and peaceful approach to solving social problems. What is more, children have greater compassion for others, hence are more predisposed to establish close and long-term relationships with their families and in later life, romantic relationships (Goethals, 1976). The point highlighted by these assertions is that the type and extent of parental or caregiver attachment largely shapes the manner in which people perceive themselves and their reality. In this case study, it is observed that King was cared for quite well by his mother. Consequently, King was able to optimally acquire and develop his cognitive learning by continuous stimulation of his senses during the infancy stage. By the age of 5, King was enrolled in a public school (Biography.com, 2013a) during which he was exposed to the the community outside his close-knit family. From this period, he was expected to expand his physical, cognitive and social reach. It is highly recommended at this stage in which a child has the choice between initiative and guilt (4-6 years) that supportive caregivers build infants in this regard so that children develop into people capable of making decisions and taking initiatives and leadership (Berk, 2012). As a result of his curiosity, King was expected, as is the case for other children, to emulate what the adults around him did (Berk,2012). Bandura’s Social Learning Theory According to Albert Bandura’s (1965), social learning theory, children learn via observing others, a learning method that may be reinforced to yield an increase their chances of imitating an observed behaviour in the surrounding. The other key principle of Bandura’s is the assertion that learning is a chiefly social process. In addition, Bandura emphasises that moral behaviour is mostly and best learnt through reinforcement and modelling (Berk, 2012). Since King’s father was a religious disciplinarian (Biography.com, 2013a), there is a higher chance that he unconsciously acquired the same gender role. Due to the praises he received for his personal accomplishments, King developed a feeling of competency and initiative. Major and conspicuous developmental progresses happened in King’s life up to the school stage and pre-adolescence stage mainly due to his industry and shunning the inferiority feelings with which African Americans were identified. For King, at the tender school-going age, he had mastered cognitive and social skills, learnt to work industriously and played well with others. From these developments, it is apparent that supportive caregivers are quite crucial in fostering a sense of pride and success in a child. King’s outstanding performance in school clearly explains how he managed to skip the 9th and 11th grades (Biography.com, 2013b). During adolescence, in which one is often torn between identity and role confusion, an individual faces numerous forms of confusion with regards to who they are and what they want to be in their adulthood. Erikson postulated that most teenagers undergo identity crises during which, the priorities of many adolescents is to separate their identity from their parents. This postulation is similar to that of Josselson’s (1980) individuation theory. This latter theory states that this is a process in which adolescents have spend their time and energy trying to conform to the values of the family and begin to gradually separate mentally and psychologically from their parents’ values and beliefs and search for own identity. As people approach adolescence, their urge to develop an individual and distinct identity, prompting them to experiment with the surrounding world to help them define and establish their own sense of self in preparation for adulthood (Berk,2012). This explains why King came to a point when he was confused about his parents’ desire that he joints their ministry (Biography.com, 2013b). Eventually, he resolved the crisis and managed to develop a sense of identity when he finally decided to join the ministry and move on his way to become a pastor (Biography.com, 2013b; Berk,2012). Whilst studying for his doctorate degree, King met Coretta Scott in Boston and married her, a union that resulted in their four children (Biography.com, 2013b). Generally, early adulthood is more about intimacy and isolation (Berk,2012). Since young adults require self-sufficiency and connectivity to others, there is always an urge to achieve a balance is between giving and taking in relationships. As an adolescent approach early adulthood, he or she develops individuation and the desire to improve relationships by way of promotion of trust, respect, communication, safety, support and equality. Adolescents and young adults achieve a sense of personal identity and self-worth through feelings of intimacy with others (Berk, 2012). Individuation is the process by which a person separates from his or her parents to become independent and unique. Although individuation continues throughout one’s lifespan, it is more prominent during adolescence and early adulthood. Biological, environmental and cultural forces influence individuation, the same manner they affect other aspects of lifespan development and growth (Berk, 2012). Several challenges and changes promote individuation; the need to shape one’s career and future family life is a key factor. At this stage, an individual’s social-emotional, physical and cognitive abilities and processes are quite fundamental in the performance of adulthood tasks (Berk, 2012). The other factors that initiate and promote individuation are; need for changes in the nature and quality of relationships, professional choices, formal education acquisition and completion, parenting responsibilities (Andersen, 1993). For King Junior, early adulthood was marked by the formation of intimate relationships and learning to love and be loved. The fact that he was married during the early adulthood stage means that he was able to achieve a great sense of intimacy early in adulthood. During his adulthood, characterised by generativity and stagnation, King gave back to society through work, family and community activities. Morality is an important aspect of our relationships with others. Morality is an aspect of development that featured prominently in King’s adulthood. For instance, there are current and past authors who have written about King’s intimate involvement with other women in addition to his wife. However, these were refuted by people close to King. Morals refer to systems of social rules that sharp our interactions and guide our behaviour. Lawrence Kohlberg (1984) developed a three level, six stages theory of moral development and believed that moral development was discontinuous, asserting that individual autonomy and justice are the highest moral values. According to this theory, King belongs to stage six, which is the universal ethical principle. At this stage, right behaviour is a commitment to ethical principles that reflect worldwide principles of justice. Conclusion Martin Luther King Junior’s lifespan development offers a good example to a case study of the various physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development and the factors that influence these changes. More importantly, the use of various psychological theories such as Bandura’s social learning theory, John Bowlby’s theory of attachment, Erikson’s psychosocial development theory and Brofenbreener’s ecological system theory has become rather interesting and effective aspect of studying psychological, cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development at the infanthood, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood. Due to the rich socio-cultural and emotional environment in which King Junior was born and bred, his physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development benefitted from a diverse social and cultural surrounding. References Andersen, D. C. (1993). "Beyond Rumor and Reductionism: A Textual Dialogue with Erik H. Erikson." The Psychohistory Review, 22(1): 35. Berk, L. E. (2012). Development through the lifespan. Allyn and Bacon. Biography.com (2013). “Martin Luther King Junior’s Biography.”Retrieved on September 16, 2013 from http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086 Ching, J. (2002). The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosen Publishing. Goethals, G. W. (1976). "The Evolution of Sexual and Genital Intimacy: A Comparison of the Views of Erik H. Erikson and Harry Stack Sullivan." The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 4(4): 529. Kail, R. V., and Cavanaugh, J. C. (2010). The study of human development, human development: a life-span view, fifth edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Nojeim, M. J. (2004). Gandhi and King: the power of nonviolent resistance. Greenwood Publishing Group. Waldschmidt-Nelson, B. (2012). Dreams and nightmares: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the struggle for black equality. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. Warren, M. A. (2001). King came preaching: the pulpit power of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Inter-Varsity Press. Woodside, A. G., Caldwell, M., and Spurr, R. (2006). “Advancing Ecological Systems Theory in Lifestyle, Leisure, and Travel Research. Journal of Travel Research, 44(3); 272. Read More