The Lost Boy
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THE LOST BOY
SOCW 3220: Human Behavior II
ABSTRACT
Imagine a boy who is nine years old and who is alone. He doesnt have a home, and the only possession he has is what he can carry in a brown paper bag. In the novel The Lost Boy, the author David Pelzer tells his experience of this first hand. David was removed from his abusive biological mother when he was nine years old and placed into a foster home.
Soon after his first placement, he began to come out of his shell. He was going through an adjustment period where he had to get use to being a boy instead of it. During this transition he became overly aggressive, and full of energy. This energy and aggression landed him in trouble on a few occasions. He was forced to move from one foster home to the next because of this trouble.
During this period, David not only had to adjust to his new surroundings; he also had to adjust to the awkward years of adolescence. This adjustment was especially hard for David because he was never really a boy. However, he was able to overcome it and grow up to live a normal life, as a pilot for the Air Force.
In the novel The Lost Boy, the main character was David Pelzer. David became a foster child because he was severely abused by his alcoholic mother. This book looks at his life from ages 9 to 18, when he was a foster child. The theoretical concept of development that applies to David during this stage of his life is Erik Eriksons psychosocial theory.
Erik Eriksons psychosocial theory has eight stages of development. These stages are as follows:
Stage
Crisis
Age Important Event
Basic trust versus basic mistrust
Birth to 18 months Feeding
Autonomy versus Shame and doubt 18 months to 3 years Toileting
Initiative versus guilt
3 to 6 years
Locomoting
Industry versus inferiority
6 to 12 years
School
Identity versus role confusion
Adolescence
Peer Relationships
Intimacy versus Isolation
Young adults
Love Relationships
generatively versus stagnation
Maturity
Parenting and creating
Ego integrity versus despair
old age
reflecting, and excepting life
(Zastrow, 1997)
Since the novel began when David was nine, the first stage that applies to his development is number four: Industry versus Inferiority.
“School age children six to twelve years old must address the crisis of Industry versus inferiority.” (Zastrow, 1997)
Children in this stage focus on being productive and succeeding in their activities. Childrens activities at this stage include play, school, and developing peer relations. “Children who experience failure in school, or even in peer relations, may develop a sense of inferiority.” (Zastrow, 1997)
When David lived with his mother, children wouldnt talk to him because he was dirty and he smelled. His mother made him do unreasonable amount of chores after school and on weekends. This made it so that David was never able to play. When he was removed from his mothers home, he was able to play. However, he still had problems with peer relationships because he was a foster child. A poor peer relation was one of the reasons David did poor in school. Since David was not doing well at school, or in peer relationships, he developed a sense of inferiority. This inferiority stayed with David when he progressed into the next stage of development, five.
Identity versus role confusion is the stage when adolescence explore who they are, and establish an identity. “It is the transition period from childhood to adulthood, when people examine the various roles they play.” (Zastrow, 1997) Some people become confused about their identity because it is uncertain and unclear. This type of confusion is referred to as role confusion.
Since identity development begins in the early years of life, David was unable to develop a good identity of which he was. “During the early years, ones own sense of identity is largely determined by the reaction of others.” (Zastrow, 1997) Davids mother always told him that he was a bad boy, a nobody, and an it. David played the role of the identity that his mother gave