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Psychosocial Theory and Child Development:
The case of Bruce Wayne
Brian Long
The Chicago School of Professional
Psychology
Abstract
Childhood development is
influenced by a myriad of factors.
Traumatic events, such as the loss of parents can have significant and
debilitating effects on child emotional and social development. This paper will explore the childhood
development of Bruce Wayne and specifically the effect of the murder of his
parents at a young age on his emotional and social development. After the murder of his parents, the
presence of his life long family butler, Alfred Pennywise, was instrumental in
his positive development.
Childhood bereavement and moral development will specifically be
explored as they relate to Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman.
Keywords: parental loss, childhood development,
psychosocial development, Kohlberg moral development
For this
assignment the childhood development of Bruce Wayne in the film Batman Begins
will be explored. The character Bruce
Wayne experienced several traumatic events in his childhood that affected his
development and led to the creation of his alter ego, Batman. The effects of two related events will
be explored in detail, an early childhood accident that led to a fear of bats
and the murder of his parents in front of him at a young age. These two events played a significant
role in Bruce Wayne’s development as a child and will be explored using
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development and Kohlberg’s stages of moral
understanding (Berk, 2010).
The
film Batman Begins explores the life of Bruce Wayne from his beginnings and
childhood factors in development until his first forays as Batman, the caped
crusader (Nolan, 2005). Moving out
of chronological order, the film starts with Bruce Wayne in his late 20’s or
early 30’s exploring the underworld of organized crime, trying to understand
the criminal mind. After an
interaction with a secret society, he decides that it is time to return to his
home of Gotham City, where after almost a decade absence he had been declared
legally deceased. Throughout the
film there are flashbacks to key childhood events that significantly impacted
him and his development into the caped vigilante he becomes. Bruce Wayne initially targets Carmine
Falcone, a crime boss he holds responsible for the economic conditions that
spurred the mugging and murder of his parents (Nolan, 2005). However, this leads to a greater
conspiracy as the secret society from his past returns in an attempt to destroy
Gotham City completely. While the
film focuses on the current struggle in Bruce Wayne’s life to balance his
personal life with his alter ego, there is a wealth of information about his
childhood and the two key events that took place and changed his life. The first event was a childhood
accident, falling down a well and into a cave full of bats (Nolan, 2005). This started a fear of bats that would
follow him to adulthood and influence his decision to model himself after a
bat. The second was the mugging
and murder of his parents (Nolan, 2005).
The
first life event, which would have a dramatic impact on Bruce Wayne’s
development, was a childhood accident that left him with a life long fear of
bats. While playing with a friend,
Bruce fell into an old mine shaft and was stranded, injured, in a cave full of
bats (Nolan, 2005). The bats
attacked him as they attempted to flee the intruder into their home. This event traumatized Bruce. A fear of animals is the most common
fear in children, and this would stay with him for the rest of his life (Meltzer, 2008).
After
the fall and injury in the cave Bruce Wayne was left with a fear of bats. While watching an opera with his
parents, actors in the show dressed as bats set off a panic attack and Bruce
and his parents left the theater to get some air. In the alley outside of the theater, they were mugged by Joe
Chill and during the mugging he shot and killed both of Bruce’s parents (Nolan,
2005). Bruce blamed himself for
this, believing had he not been afraid of bats, they would not have left early
and his parents would still be alive.
This event stayed with him for the rest of his life and is the basis of
his anger with criminals and his desire to seek vigilante justice.
Born to parents of
the highest socio-economic status (SES), his early childhood would have
afforded him every developmental advantage. Bruce Wayne’s father, Thomas Wayne, was a prominent
physician and philanthropist; his mother’s occupation is not mentioned. However, both parents were highly
educated, nurturing and supportive of their son. Along with loving parents, Bruce Wayne would have had access
to the best schools, private tutors, and any desired extra-curricular
activities or sports desired.
Bruce Wayne’s birth into a high SES family would have also meant access
to the best medical care and nutrition along with education. Prior to his parents murder, Bruce
Wayne had every developmental advantage money could buy along with the support
of loving parents. However, the
murder of his parents at crucial age in his psychosocial development left a
scar that he would carry forever and drive him to become a vigilante fighting
against crime in his home city of Gotham.
The loss of
Bruce’s parents occurred during Erikson’s third stage of development, industry
versus inferiority. This stage is
when children develop competence, a sense of moral commitment and
responsibility (Berk, 2010). The
alternate outcome at this age is the development of a sense of inferiority, or
a child with little confidence in his or her abilities. Parents are instrumental in this stage
of development and by encouraging their child to succeed by gradually raising
their expectations of the child as they increase in physical and cognitive
ability (Berk, 2010). The loss of
one’s parents at this age has the potential to severely disrupt the evolution
of the sense of self as a competent and able individual. Without parents to encourage the child
to attempt new challenges, there is significant risk of withdrawal from daily activities
and the development of a sense of inferiority. Thankfully for Bruce Wayne, although he lost his parents he
still had a caring adult in his life, his butler and caregiver, Alfred
Pennyworth, to guide him through the bereavement process and provide a
nurturing supportive role model.
The bereavement
process is important for children to be able to continue their emotional
development after the loss of parents.
There are several mental and physical complications that can occur
during the bereavement process in children, including frequent anxious
behaviors, depression, and conduct disorder (Howarth, 2011). Howarth (2011) describes a 4-step model
for child bereavement in processing the loss of a parent. First, is to accept the reality of the
situation and the permanence of the loss.
To do this, the child will need accurate information so that they can
avoid magical thinking. In this
case Bruce, with first hand knowledge of his parent’s death, already has
complete knowledge of his parents death and the events that occurred. The second step is to experience the
emotional pain that comes with the loss of a parent. Third, is adjustment to life without the parent(s). Finally, in the fourth step, “the
child must convert the relationship with the deceased from one based on
continuing interactions to one based on memories” (Howarth,
2011). The death of a child’s
parents will have significant and long lasting impact on development. Fortunately for Bruce Wayne, he was not
left entirely alone. Alfred Pennyworth,
the family butler, assumed the role of primary caregiver and raised Bruce as
his own child. This supportive and
nurturing relationship would have been instrumental in helping Bruce Wayne
maintain positive self-esteem and avoid the many developmental pitfalls that
plague child after the loss of a parent, let alone both parents. The ongoing support received from
Alfred is important because studies, such as those conducted by Abdelnoor and
Hollins (2004), conclude that the effects of childhood bereavement are ongoing
and can have a detrimental effect on secondary and tertiary education. However, given Bruce’s high academic
achievement and overall professional success, it is clear that he was able to
avoid the potential pitfalls that can plague children after the loss of their
parents.
Erikson’s Latency stage is also a key time for moral development
(Berk, 2010). Moral development
has been explored by many theorist’s, however for this paper, Kohlberg’s stages
of moral understanding will be the model that will be applied to Bruce Wayne’s
moral development. While all
children go through a period of moral growth and understanding, the moral
principles that Bruce Wayne has chosen to live by are more concrete and a
direct result of the trauma experienced in his childhood. Kohlberg describes three levels that
each contains 2 stages, for a total of 6 possible stages of moral development
(Berk, 2010). Kohlberg’s original
findings show that most people never attain the higher stages and that while
there is some fluidity in later life, most people are fixed in their moral
development by early adulthood.
Bruce Wayne however, is operating at the highest stage of moral
development, stage 6, or universal ethical principle orientation (Berk,
2010). At this stage “right action
is defined by self-chosen ethical principles of conscience that are valid for
all people, regardless of law and social agreement” (Berk, 2010). The events in the film depict Bruce’s
evolution through the moral stages from the brutal murder of his parents and a
life spent wanting revenge to a final epiphany of moral development where he
decides to fight for all who have been wronged and not a one-sided quest for
revenge. When the man responsible
for his parents murder is released from jail and subsequently murdered, Bruce’s
lifelong desire for revenge is taken from him and he is forced to reevaluate
his life (Nolan, 2005). In his
quest for understanding he comes to understand the criminal element and
realizes that for many the life of crime is not a choice but a reality of a
failing society. Bruce makes a
decision to fight for moral justice on two fronts. First, he assumes the persona of Batman and directly goes
after the individuals who create the harmful environmental conditions that
increase the likelihood of crime.
Second, he dedicates his public life as a philanthropist to working in
causes to combat poverty and the other causes of many criminal behaviors
(Nolan, 2005).
From a severe childhood trauma, Bruce Wayne is able to overcome
adversity with the help of a dedicated caregiver and become a symbol of hope
fighting for the downtrodden.
Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development outlines the importance of
the latency period for children to develop confidence in their abilities. Bruce Wayne would not be able to
carryon as Batman without the most extreme confidence in himself to overcome
the challenges he would face.
Kohlberg’s original research demonstrated that most people do not reach
the higher stages of moral understanding, however, Bruce Wayne is operating at
the highest level after years of soul searching and nurturing guidance from his
childhood mentor. At anytime in
his life Bruce could have despaired and faltered, but through a strong parental
relationship as a young child and a supportive caregiver from his parents
murder through to adulthood, he became a hero and symbol for
righteousness. His story clearly
illustrates the effects that supportive role models will have in a child’s
ongoing emotional, social and cognitive development.
References
Abdelnoor, A.,
& Hollins, S. (2004). The
Effect of Childhood Bereavement on Secondary School Performance. Educational
Psychology in Practice, 20(1), 43-54.
Berk, L.E. (2010). Development Through the Lifespan (5th
ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Howarth, R.A. (2011). Promoting the Adjustment of
Parentally Bereaved Children. Journal
of Mental Health Counseling, 33(1),
21-32.
Luecken, L.J., Kraft, A., Appelhans, B.M., &
Enders, C. (2009). Emotional and
cardiovascular sensitization to daily stress following childhood parental
loss. Developmental Psychology,
45(1), 296-302. doi:10.1037.a0013888.
Meltzer, H., Vostanis, P., Dogra, N.,
Doos, L., Ford, T., & Goodman, R. (2008). Children’s specific fears. Child: care, health
and development, 781-789. doi:
10.1111/k.1365-2214.2008.00908.x
Nolan, C. (Director). (2005). Batman Begins [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner
Brothers.
