Question

just write the answers in a sentences. No need to explain them.

THE CASE OF SEAMUS

Seamus was born to an Irish-American family that was upper class. His mother was a nurse; his father was an up-and-coming lawyer who was already making six figures in the middle 1970’s. Seamus grew up in a beautiful house with his brother in a predominantly white neighborhood. His family also occasionally took in Seamus’s friends who were having hard times. For example, one friend stayed with their family for a year when the friend’s family moved during his last year in high school and the friend did not want to move with his parents to another school. Although Seamus’s family seemed to be living the American Dream, all was not well. His father was an alcoholic; the most likely cause of this was the pressure he was under at work and the long hours he spent there because of it. His drinking made him abusive, and he would sometimes get into fights at bars. He beat his wife.

Although Seamus was not physically abused, he was scared for himself and his mother on these occasions. His father quit drinking when Seamus was five or six years old. Seamus’s father was an athlete—a golfer and marathon runner. He also encouraged athletics in his sons. Seamus’s older brother was tall, gangly, and not very coordinated. Their father was embarrassed by his older son’s clumsiness and would comment that this boy could not possibly be his biological son. Seamus heard these comments to his brother and was secretly afraid that he would hear similar comments about himself. Seamus’s father was very competitive, and Seamus became that way, too. Seamus wanted his father’s approval and tried to get it by conforming to his father’s wishes. Fortunately for Seamus, playing sports came easy.

But school was not as easy for him, and academically, Seamus was not as competitive, at least initially. Seamus went to public school and was held back in the first grade, most likely because he started kindergarten at the age of five instead of six. He was a young five when he started, as his birthday was in the middle of August, and he probably was not developmentally ready to start school at that time. His parents had not considered this and instead decided that smaller classes might be better for him, so they sent him to an elite private school.

After three years his academic performance improved as he matured and caught up with the other children. Seamus wanted to attend school with his neighborhood friends, and he asked his parents to let him go back to the public school. His parents granted this request, and Seamus earned good grades, mostly As and a few Bs. He had several friends. He was witty—the class clown—and everyone liked him. But his popularity and competitiveness in sports hid insecurity. He was concerned that he would not be able to live up to his father’s standards. His initial failure in school and his father’s critical nature left him unsure of himself, despite continued success.

In junior and senior high schools, Seamus continued to excel academically, socially, and athletically. He did weight training in the seventh and eighth grades. He was captain of the track team at his large city high school. He also played basketball but quit that sport because he realized that he would not get a lot of playing time. Seamus liked attention, and his antics in class along with his sports participation provided a lot of it. He received this attention not just from his peers but from his teachers as well. Seamus could get away with things other children could not. For example, he would often come to school late because he had stopped by a bakery on the way in. He would buy pastries that were on sale and ask his teachers to store them for him. Then, at lunchtime, he would resell the pastries at a profit. He got away with these schemes because his grades were good, he was an athlete, and he was charming. His superior record earned Seamus acceptance into an exclusive college.

Everything seemed to be going easily for Seamus. His acceptance into college was the next step of reaching his life’s goal of becoming a lawyer like his father and working in a prestigious law firm. However, Seamus almost flunked out of college in his freshman year. Because everything came easily for him in grade school and high school, and because he was able to charm everyone then, he thought he could do the same in college. Being away from home for the first time allowed him his first taste of freedom, and Seamus partied too much; he drank too much beer and smoked too much pot. He found himself failing his courses, especially freshman English. Seamus approached the English professor and asked her what he could do to improve his grade. She suggested extra credit work, which he completed. The extra credit was not enough, however, and he failed the course. For once, Seamus could not charm himself out of trouble. His performances in his other courses were similar, and he was placed on academic probation.

Finding his life, and his dream of becoming a lawyer, crashing around him, Seamus straightened up. He quit smoking pot, drank less, did extra academic work, and improved his writing. He maintained superior academic performance for the rest of his college career and in his junior year applied for an exclusive internship with a state senator. However, He was accepted but wondered whether his acceptance was based on his own merit or whether his father helped to get him in.

With his education and internship completed, Seamus applied to the law school from which his father had graduated. He was accepted but wondered whether his acceptance was based on his own merit or whether his father helped to get him in. After law school, Seamus applied for a position in his father’s law firm, which he was offered. A few years later, Seamus applied for a partnership in the firm, which he also earned. Seamus continued to have nagging doubts about whether his own performance earned his positions or whether his father helped him get his positions. He finally confronted his father, who replied that he had no influence on Seamus’s getting the initial position with the firm or getting the partnership, although he did help with the internship. His father stated that Seamus went through the same hiring practices as everyone else and that he had excluded himself from the decision-making process when Seamus was applying for his positions. Seamus was finally convinced that he had earned his partnership on his own.

While in law school, Seamus married his high school sweetheart, and they had three children. He is a devoted family man who describes his children as “wonderful and beautiful.” He plays with them often, and his wife sometimes describes him as her fourth child. He and his family live in a house next to the one he grew up in, and he enjoys attending functions at the school that he attended and that his children now attend. He is also active in the Congregational Church as an elder, a kind of church trustee.

1. Which of Maslow’s needs were fulfilled for Seamus? Which were not? Did the fulfillment of these needs change at any time in Seamus’s life? Could Seamus be perceived as self-actualized, according to Maslow’s theory? Explain.
2. Find at least two examples of Rogers’s conditions of worth in the case study. Explain how these conditions of worth likely affected his development
3. Find examples of Skinner’s radical behaviorism in the case study. How did reinforcement or punishment influence Seamus’s behavior? Specify the reinforcers and/or punishments.

Answer 1

1. Seamus’ physiological, safety (good and secure job), belongingness (loving family) and esteem needs (prestige in society and feeling of accomplishment) are fulfilled. Self-actualization is not fulfilled. Self-actualization need is fulfilled when one acts or performs without any wish to make money or profit. It is when one acts selflessly for inner happiness and satisfaction.

2. Rogers’ condition of worth is when one acts or performs to be accepted by significant one. Seamus gained competitiveness in sports to hide his insecurities. He was concerned to get approval of his father. His life’s aim was to become lawyer like his father. Seamus applied to the law school from which his father had graduated.

3. Seamus’s father comments on his brother worked like indirect punishment for him which pushed him to perform well in every area of life. Seamus’s parents grant his wish to attend school with his neighborhood friends served as reinforcement and he performed well in school. He liked gaining attention and he gained attention for his antique acts and good performance which further motivated him to continue his good performance.