Good Will Hunting
Biopsychological Approach:
The biopshychological approach to Will's behavior would suggest that he is like he is
because of his brain chemistry. The chemicals in his brain cause him to respond violently to
pressure. The make up of his genetics cause him to be the way he is and he would be this way no
matter how he was raised. This approach would also suggest that he could be changed by drugs
to balance the chemicals in his brain.
Behavioral Approach:
The behavioral approach would imply that all of Will's behavior is learned and he is a
product of his environment. He is violent because he was probably beaten as a child and as he
grew up he learned to handle his problems through violence. He kept up this behavior because he
was never punished severely enough to get him to stop. He learned that he could go to court and
talk his way out of his situations which did not give him any reason to stop doing what he was
doing. He also learned not to get to close to anybody or open up to them. This was learned
because some of the people in his life who were supposed to love him had abandoned him.
Psychoanalitic Approach:
The psychoanalitic approach would indicate that Will's behavior was from his
subconscious mind and were impulses from childhood experiences. For example, Will was beaten
up in kindergarten by a bully, later on in his life he sees the bully and starts a fight with him. His
decision to fight was made subconsciously from an impulse from a childhood experience. When
he was a child he was also abused by his parents. Later in Will's life, he often resorts to violence
subconsciously due to his childhood beatings.
Humanistic Approach:
The humanistic approach would state that Will makes his decisions based on free will and
is basically a good person. Will is how he is because that is how he wants to be. Will does not
realize until later in life that he has to much potential to waste his life. Will is an overall good
person. This is shown in his in his actions throughout the movie, for example, when he decided to
keep working construction instead of taking a job with military intelligence because he would
rather help people by making housing than get people killed.
Cognitive Approach:
The cognitive approach would suggest Will is how he is because that is how he sees
himself. Will is a well educated man but for most of the movie Will sees himself as a nobody who
will work for cheap and stay in the ghetto. Once his intelligence is noticed realizes that he has
the opportunity to use his knowledge and make something of himself.
Sociocultural Approach:
The sociocultural approach would say that Will is how he is because of influences from
society. Society usually views people from the ghetto as people who will never make something
of themselves so he feels the same way about himself. Society expects people from the ghetto to
resort to violence to solve their problems. This is why Will usually resorts to violence in tough
situations. Society also does not allow for men to open up and share their feeling freely. This is
the reason why it is so hard for will to open up and get emotional.
Heres an intro to ur essay.. and have to say good work. :)
In this essay, I will try and show the different psychological approaches in the movie Good Will Hunting. This movie is about a brilliant young man named Will, who has is the greatest mathematician ever but his view and attitude towards everything around him is unpredictable as he can become violent at times and he had a bad childhood which he never talked about. He goes through different therapy sessions of different approaches, until the last one which changed not only who he was to himself, but how he viewed everything around him.
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