Essay preview
At approximately the
seventh or eighth year of life
, children begin integrating comparisons
with others, such as their
peers, into their selfconcep
t. Their sense of
how their abilities and
situations compare to those around them become an important facet of their selfconcept. Does Gregory’s recollection in the chapter
Shame
conform to this understanding of childhood
development
? Which
stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development model would be most
relevant to Gregory’s example?
Provide a relevant example
for each question from the
chapter to support your answers.
Question Two (4 marks)
While information regarding the
hereditary influences
on Gregory are limited in his recollection, he
describes environmental influences that were relevant to his development . Specific environmental
influences important to
Gregory’s academic performance
are evident in his story. Discuss the
importance of two environmental influences on academic performance in children, providing
examples of each from Gregory’s recollection to support your answer.
1
Shame is defined as "a painful feeling caused by a sense of guilt, shortcoming, impropriety; dishonor or disgrace." This painful emotion can come from either external sources such as the feedback from people around an individual or from internal sources such as a person's own worldview. In the story "Shame," author Dick Gregory describes his experiences with both externally and internally Read more.... motivated shame.The externally motivated shame Richard feels is caused most notably by his teacher, who made belittling comments about Richard's poverty, his lack of a father and his poor school performance, which she insensitively assumed was a result of stupidity, not the hunger pains of a child used to going to school without breakfast and eating stolen food or paste to satiate his gnawing hunger. His humiliation is described in a scene in which Richard attempts to pledge money to charity, only to be chastised by his teacher. "We are collecting this money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory. If your daddy can give fifteen dollars you have no business being on relief. . . . We know you don't have a daddy." Before the unkindness Richard experiences at school, he was innocent of the prejudice caused by social differences. He knew he was poor, but he was not really aware how different he was compared to his peers. "I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that." The externally motivated shame Richard feels because of others' repulsion of his poverty becomes internalized. Gregory describes his embarrassment about wearing clothes that were obviously given to him in charity and eating food from the relief truck. "I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself."Young Richard is motivated to overcome his shameful circumstances by his aff...