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Film Analysis: Psycho By Alfred Hitchcock

1486 Words6 Pages

Jazmine Feijo—0884046
Professor Dr. Don Moore
Reading and Writing Effectively AHSS 1210
21 November 2014
The Child that Lives from Within
The social sciences often question if psychopathic behaviour is innate or a product of a social environment. The answer seems difficult to discern because it is not split down into equal parts of nurture and nature, but rather rely on one another for a better understanding. In the movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, Norman Bates’ downfall proposes how crucial a healthy childhood is to the mental state of a developing child. Contrary to nature focused beliefs, not all human behaviour comes from an individual’s genetic makeup, but rather through experiences that become ingrained in the mind like scripture (Cooke …show more content…

Every social contact he faces highlights his struggle to relate to people. Norman works at the Bates Motel and appears to be socially awkward to visitors, such as Marion Crane. His external relationships are at a disadvantage because of his anti-social behavior that is explained from incompetent parenting (Marshall and Cooke 213). Norman is attracted to Marion but “Mother” despises her and kills her. It is argued that “the most powerful predictors of delinquency and conduct problems to emerge [are] parental rejection, lack of parental supervision, and low level of parent-child involvement” (Marshall and Cooke 214). Norman is not experienced with having healthy relationships which causes him to act out in lethal rage that he builds up over the years. This can be linked to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial approach that emphasizes the eight stages of human life (Christiansen and Palkovitz, pars. 11). Erikson proposes that for a child to smoothly integrate into society and other relationships there must be “a caring relationship between the child and a maternal person” (Christiansen and Palkovitz, pars. 11). The relationship built in the primary stages are transferred onto future relationships with partners, a community, and the rest of humankind (Christiansen and Palkovitz, pars. 11). The incomplete early stages of Bates’ life reflect in his inability to have fulfilling relationships as an adult that is seen in …show more content…

Ross, and Dayna L. Fuchs. "Lifetime Axis I and II Comorbidity and Childhood Trauma History in Dissociative Identity Disorder." Psychiatry 59.3 (1996): 255-66. ProQuest. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. “Hitchcock & Psychoanalysis, 2 Freudian theories relevant to Hitchcock's movies.” Hitchcock Topics. (n.d). Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
LaBrode, Rebecca Taylor. "Etiology of the Psychopathic Serial Killer: An Analysis of Antisocial Personality Disorder, Psychopathy, and Serial Killer Personality and Crime Scene Characteristics." Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 7.2 (2007): 151-60.ProQuest. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
Marshall, Lisa A., and David J. Cooke. "The Childhood Experiences of Psychopaths: A Retrospective Study of Familial and Societal Factors." Journal of personality disorders 13.3 (1999): 211-25. ProQuest. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Muris, Peter. "Freud was Right... about the Origins of Abnormal Behavior." Journal of Child and Family Studies 15.1 (2006): 1-12. ProQuest. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Ponce, Febe. “Alfred Hitchcock: Why is Norman Bates so Psycho?” Deviance and Social Order. 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 14, Oct. 2014.
Sandis, Constantine. "Hitchcock's Conscious use of Freud's Unconscious." Europe's Journal of Psychology 5.3 (2009): 56.ProQuest. Web. 21 Oct.

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