Childhood Development of Bruce Wayne

Since someone asked...

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.