The Representation of Human Psychological Development in The Breakfast Club

For the past several centuries, humans have been on a quest to fully understanding human nature and capabilities, and human development remains to be one of the most important subjects of research. Several concepts and theories on human physical, cognitive, and social development have emerged not only in an attempt to explain how and why people behave a certain way, but also to provide insight on how current generations can breed future generations into being more productive and successful individuals. Generally, human development is believed to be a result of a myriad of internal and external factors to which an individual is exposed to, and that humans continuously evolve throughout the different stages of life. In order to understand human behavior better, it is important to look into the different factors that affect the individual’s cognitive and emotional development so that proper methods of intervention can be made if necessary.

The movie The Breakfast Club (1985) by Tenen and Hughes provides an insightful representation of human psychological development. It involves a group of hardheaded teenagers from Shermer High School who were forced to spend their entire Saturday in school detention due to their misbehavior in class. These teenagers came from different walks of life and had very different and often conflicting personalities: there was a male bully named John, a spoiled rich girl named Claire, a nerd named Brian, an athlete named Andrew, and an outcast and compulsive liar named Allison. At first, they found it difficult to relate to each other and argued a lot due to their differences. They insulted each other’s flaws, and quickly made assumptions about each other. Eventually, however, they became friends and, with the support of one another, were able to understand and acknowledge their individual strengths and weaknesses, their similarities and differences, and their purposes in life.

The most valuable insight from the movie is how past experiences, especially in the home and in school, greatly influence a teenager’s behavior. According to Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Personality, childhood experiences and exposures greatly influence an individual’s personality and behavior as an adult. This does not mean, however, that children exposed to the same set of circumstances develop similar personalities, for individuals have different ways of interpreting and accepting their experiences throughout life. The diversity of the characters in The Breakfast Club was made evident from the start, but the underlying explanations for their varying personalities were only revealed later. This is because the characters themselves struggled to understand and cope with their personal problems throughout The Breakfast Club.

Teenagers often struggle with establishing their individual identities and autonomy, but this task becomes particularly difficult for those who had a troubled childhood. This is based on Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, wherein he proposed that an individual goes through various crises in different stages of life due to conflicts between his personal and social needs. A child, for instance, often deals with issues on trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, and industry vs. inferiority, before dealing with identity vs. role confusion as a teenager. Although these stages do not necessarily imply the need to successfully achieve a particular phase before moving to the next one, a failure to address earlier issues will often lead to an increased difficulty in completing further stages.

Towards the end of the movie, it was revealed that John’s defensive and violent personality was a result of his experiences with his abusive father, Claire’s narcissistic and demanding attitude was due to peer pressure, Andrew’s inability to make decisions for himself was because of his controlling father, Allison’s parents often ignored her, and Brian almost committed suicide because of his failing grades and his parents’ high expectations from him. When they finally opened up about their personal issues to each other, this not only allowed them to develop a support system but also helped each of them individually acknowledge and accept their weaknesses and failures in life.

Another notable issue to analyze in this essay is the assistant principal’s ineffective approach to correcting adolescent behavior. Throughout the The Breakfast Club, he made use of negative and discouraging language, and punitive measures in an attempt to make the teenagers learn from their wrongdoings. However, as it turns out, his approach to discipline did not do anything to help the students deal with their respective issues. Instead, it simply made the students dislike him even more. Several research studies suggest that when students have a distressed relationship with their teacher, it significantly affects their motivation and overall performance in school. This was most evident in the relationship between the assistant principal and John. Throughout the film, John was very unresponsive to the assistant principal’s sermons. Their verbal exchanges were full of disrespect and pride. Instead of addressing this issue, the assistant principal simply made matters worse by saying nothing but negative things to John.

As suggested by psychologists, human behavior is often a result of a combination of factors that is unique in every individual. From this it can be inferred that when attempting to correct a certain behavior, inflicting punishments will not produce a long-term solution to the problem. Instead, what one must do is to make an effort to communicate with the troubled teenager in order to identify the root causes of his behavior and address these causes so that it will not create further damage to the person’s cognitive and psychosocial development. It is especially important for parents and educators to always try to listen, understand, and respond to the needs of the youth.

Once root causes are identified, educators and family members can work together to provide a more positive and nurturing environment that will allow the teenager to explore his interests and capabilities, and learn more about himself and his surroundings. Educators, in particular, serve not only as agents of intellect, but also of morality. In order to positively and effectively affect students, however, it is first important to establish a healthy relationship grounded on trust between the educator and the teenager. This will make the teenager feel important and understood and encourage him to share his thoughts and sentiments on various things.

We know that the teenagers will take all the characters of their peer group which will sometimes do good to them but most of the time it will create problems or destroy them. Every teenager will have a crew where he/she mingles a lot which will mold the character at that age. A lot of teenagers get addict to drugs and smoking just because they feel like if they didn’t do what their peer is doing, they will be out of that group.

Every person, at some point in his life, will inevitably face difficult situations whose outcome may be beyond his control, and which may lead to frustration or anger. This may seem easier to understand once one reaches adulthood since most people would usually have accepted the reality of life by then. This, however, is difficult for adolescents who are still struggling to establish their identities and respective roles in society. Hence, it is important for parents, educators, and the community as a whole, to guide the youth so that once they reach adulthood, they will be equipped with all the necessary knowledge and skills to get through life’s challenges. Indeed, current generations are greatly responsible for shaping future generations into better individuals so that humanity will continue to prosper in the future. So we have to work together to bring up our future generation to be a good adults with responsibility towards their next generation. Let’s work together to make this happen.

References

1. Journal Psyche. (2018). The Freudian Theory of Personality. Retrieved August 13, 2019, from http://journalpsyche.org/the-freudian-theory-of-personality/
2. McLeod, S. (2018). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
3. Panahi, S. (2015). Role of parents, teachers, and community in adolescents’ issues. Unique Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences, 3(2): 4-11. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308892358_Role_of_parents_Teachers_and_C ommunity_in_Adolescents_issues
4. Tanen, N. (Producer) & Hughes, J. (Director). (1985). The Breakfast Club [Motion Picture]. United States: Univer