RUNNING HEAD: THEORY APP

Theory Application in White Oleander

Deion Green
University of North Carolina: Pembroke
Human Behavior in the Social Environment
SWK 3450
Dr. Gloria Anderson
March 15, 2019
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ABSTRACT
There are different theories of development through life that can be applied to various

situations, and sometimes are applied in a way to try to understand why people do what they do

or how they reason with actions and feelings. In the movie White Oleander [ CITATION Pet02 \l

1033 ], the main character, Astrid, journeys through foster homes but the focus of the movie is on

the relationships that Astrid has with women and how they are framed by the men whose paths

they cross. Through the application of different theories presented by Newman and Newman in

the Development through life: a psychosocial approach [ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ], Astrid’s

development and growth can be categorized into a mixture of psychosocial, psychosexual,

relational-cultural, and social theory roles. The psychosocial theory explores how Astrid can

contribute to her psychological growth and development through identifying and differentiating

central issues that happen in her life and the effect that the crises that arise have on her

development. The psychosexual theory explores how Astrid applies her view of men and their

interactions with women to her own life and actions. The relational-cultural and social theory

both allow for Astrid’s development from the women who enter and leave her life and their

interactions not only with her but within society and themselves.
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Theory Application in White Oleander

Through analysis of the theories of development provided by Newman and Newman

[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ], one can better understand the development of a person through life

stages and events in various ways. After reading the material, the theories seem to be truly

wrapped in each other and not just a single theory. They seem to each discuss the same changes

and development through the aspects of different facets within life. It is hard to choose just one

theory to focus on, but the major theory that encompasses most changes is the psychosocial

theory discussed. Through looking at the 11 stages of development and the development tasks at

these stages (Newman & Newman, 2015, p. 47), the application of pyschosocial development

and growth is embedded through out. Through pyschosocial crises, radius of relationships, and

coping behavior a person is said to develop at different stages of life psychologically and

socially. Through linking childhood to adulthood, the psychosocial theory gives a broad context

base to study development in relation to the needs of society and the ability to interact with one

another[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ]. As with the Freud’s pyschosexual theory, the psychosocial

theory emphasizes the ego development and ego processes as a way of understanding the

development of life, but Frued’s focus on the sexual aspect and the role of the superego in moral

precepts and defining one’s own morals seem to be more apparent in the development of youth

through the teenage years. Some problems with pyschosocial theory are that it is underdeveloped

and the language used is sometimes hard to comprehend. Lastly, pyschosocial theory has been

mostly studied and developed in terms of males and little work has been done to understand how

these theories while applied to studying females actually do involve and reflect the true

development of females[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ].

While the psychosocial and psychosexual theories overlap, there is also an overlap in the

psychosocial with the relational-cultural and social theories. According to Newman, the culture
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that one is raised and exposed to as well as the socialization aspects within their life affect their

development. The importance on roles within the home, people within the home, and even the

connections with people around the home have a key role in the change of someone between the

ages of 6-22 as they struggle with subservience, group identity, disaffection, identity of self and

differentiating the misperceptions of finding their own identity[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ]. As the

social and relational-culture theories point out, “an individual’s life course is influence by his or

her identification with subcultural norms and values”[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ]. Without

witnessing and understanding every single aspect of every culture it is hard for one to truly the

impact of relational-cultural values on the development of youth but differences in decisions of

self-efficacy, self-control approaches, values and goals impact the way people approach a culture

condition[ CITATION New15 \l 1033 ].

In the case study of White Oleander[ CITATION Pet02 \l 1033 ], Astrid presents as a victim

but also as a survivor to many in her struggles of adapting to her mom’s actions and the

experiences in foster care. While the movie focuses on the relationship of Astrid with her mom

and how this influences her, as Cotter and Smokowski discuss the lack of parent support and

conflict created by the strained relationship of Ingrid trying to control Astrid from prison is a risk

factor for predicting female aggression as applied through the social and relational-cultural

theories analyzed to determiner promotive and risk factors associated with adolescent female

aggression[ CITATION Cot17 \l 1033 ]. Astrid struggles with finding her identity and even finds

herself in situations where she uses sex to control and manipulate others as she has seen

happening in her home through her mother. According to the study done by Josephs, youth and

children learn about sex more from the observations of parent sexuality than from other

resources until they reach adolescence [ CITATION Jos15 \l 1033 ]. With this thought in mind, the
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observations of Astrid going after men in relationships demonstrates her view from watching her

mom with men and the other women she is in the care of and their relationships with men.

According to Freud, she is allowing her superego to distress as she tests her morals and tries to

analyze them psychosocially into a definition of what should her morality be [ CITATION New15 \l

1033 ].

As we further look at the character of Astrid, we see social and relational-cultural norms

that come into her life and how she adapts to these changes and incorporates them into her

lifestyle as Newman has stated will happen while she struggles with how these will help her

develop and grow (2015). According to Emmerink et al., as they investigated the psychosexual

theory effects of the sexual double standard in adolescent sexuality, they state that the transition

into sexual activity for adolescents happens during a life phase in which peer norms are highly

sensitive (2016) which aligns with the pyschosocial theory presented by Newman (2015) and

further demonstrates the interconnectedness of these two theories. Furthermore, upon reading the

paper by Godoi and Fiamenghi, that looks into the effects of sexual abuse as a youth on the

psychosexual development of a female through a case study it is evident that female adolescent

promiscuity tends to follow abusive relationships from males at younger ages (2018).

Astrid, while developing into a young woman over time through the movie, goes through

many different stages of development and growth which is seen through interactions with

mother, foster parents, and even in the home she finally ends up in. Through the movie Astrid is

seen as developing through her interactions with people in her daily life and the crises that they

bring into her life, as well as through the letters with her mom. The evidence of her youth and the

role men played in the home and her mom’s relationships it is evident how Astrid finds herself in

different stages using different coping behaviors to address each different psychosocial crisis, but
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the effect of radius of significant relationships has a drastic effect on these [ CITATION New15 \l

1033 ].

If Astrid were a client, there would several obstacles to helping her but also several things

to address and help her deal with. First off Astrid has to rationalize what she has known of her

mom and their relationship, but furthermore the relationship of her mom and men and how does

this relationship affect her. In order to help her rationalize there would be discussions in which

we address her memories, her feelings about these memories, and even how she sees these

affecting her life in the future. Next to address the promiscuity of Astrid and how that is related

to her past with a goal of trying to find out why she seeks out males who are in relationships and

in an authority or parental role for her to be promiscuious with. The last thing to address with

Astrid is the feelings she has of abandonment that stem from her memory of her mother

abandoning her as a young child to stay with someone else and abandoning her by putting into

jail for murdering her boyfriend. In talking with Astrid it would be imperative to address her

changes in physical appearance and why those are happening to help determine if things with her

are going ok. Something that should be discussed is if Astrid wants to find out more about her

biological father that mom sent away went he came to see her at age 8, and determine how she

feels about a relationship with him. Another thing is to talk with her about Paul, how he makes

her feel and how he is different from the other men who have cycled through her life. Helping

her find closure from her past is important in helping her to move on in life and not let her past

define her but more so let it make her better person having learned from people whose paths

have crossed hers, from the crises that she has faced and lastly from the lessons she has learned.

In conclusion, through the analysis of the film White Oleander and the journal articles,

the theories discussed in the text can be applied and discuss in further detail and in application to
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several key situations. It has been instrumental to see the psychosocial and psychosexual theories

applied to the ego and superego development of Astrid and how they related to her sexuality

development as well as her development through tasks, psychosocial crisis, coping behavior, and

even the influnce of her radius of significant relationships. Seeing the social and relational-

cultural theories applied in Astrid’s life through the movements of her through various foster

homes and even within her mom’s home it is easier to understand how they influence her

behavior and actions rather than think “Why did she do that?”. Astrid has been through quite a

bit in this film, basically a prisoner of her mom’s actions, a victim, and then finally a survivor

who has let the past define them but has not let it become them demonstrating how one can

develop into something different than the circumstances that they have lived in during their life.

Astrid changes herself and moves forward with her life, free from her mom but also wiser and

stronger due to her life in foster care.

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References
Cotter, K. L., & Smokowski, P. R. (2017, Oct). An investigation of relational risk and promotive

factors associated with adolescent female aggression. Child Psychiatry and Human

Development, 48(5), 754-767. doi:10.1007/s10578-016-0700-1

Emmerink, P. M., Vanwesenbeeck, I., van den Eijnden, R. J., & ter Bogt, T. F. (2016).

Pyschosexual correlates of sexual double standard endorsement in adolescent sexuality.

The Journal of Sex Research, 53(3), 286-297. doi:10.1080/00224499.2015.1030720

Godoi, D. O., & Fiamenghi, Jr., G. A. (2018). Effects of a rupture in psychosexual development:

A theoretical case study on sexual abuse. Open Science Journal of Psychology, 5(3), 24-

27.

Josephs, L. (2015, May). How children learn about sex: A cross-species and cross-cultural

analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(4), 1059-1069. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0498-

Kosminsky, P. (Director). (2002). White Oleander [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHa6rS9I2PwrAUTYVz0eqwPdapGJ6DMe/view?

usp=sharing

Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2015). Development through life: A pyschosocial approach

(12th ed.). Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning.