The Adolescent Development of Malcolm X

Malcolm Little, known as Malcolm X, lived from 1925 to 1965. He was born into a background of violence and was subjected early in his life to violence against blacks and the violent resistance of blacks. His father, the Reverend Earl Little, was an itinerant Baptist minister and a dedicated organizer for the Garvey resistance. He had seen four of his six brothers die by violence, after his own death by white man's hands, only one of Malcolm's uncles would die in bed of natural causes (Rajiv, 1992, p. 83).

Malcolm was initiated into this world of violence, resistance, and religious rhetoric at a very young age. His father took him to the Garvey meetings that were held in different homes, and Malcolm heard a great deal of talk regarding the acceptance of Africa as the homeland for blacks in America. Malcolm had the powerful influence of his father as a minister and organized resister, and of particular note is the fact that his father favored him because his skin was lighter than that of his siblings. In this way his father had internalized the white prejudice against dark skin. His mother gave him more abusive treatment because of the light skin, probably of how she came to be light herself (Rajiv, 1992, p. 84).

The family came into hard times after the death of Malcolm's father. His mother had no means of supporting the family. She tried to work various jobs but was always fired after the employer discovered that she was a

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independence from parents and other adults, preparing for marriage and parenthood, selecting and preparing for an occupation, developing a personal ideology, and assuming membership in the larger community (Nielsen, 1987, p. 19). Malcolm achieved all of these developmental tasks, in part because of his alliance with Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm developed a spiritual discipline which provided a structure for his life, and even though Elijah Muhammad ultimately betrayed him, the discipline still worked as a personal ideology for Malcolm (Randolph, 1992, p. 126). In spite of the earlier difficulties with crime and addiction, the spiritual and leadership aspect of Malcolm's development provided a place for him in society at large. The theories of Maslow and Rogers are termed the phenomenological theories of personality. Maslow, a humanistic psychologist, considered the needs of humans in a hierarchy, much like a pyramid. The basic physiological needs and safety needs must be satisfied before a person can progress to love, self-esteem, knowledge, and self-actualization. Malcolm's life brought his great challenges in the basic need area. His family was poverty-stricken and eventually fragmented. Self-esteem and belonging were trem
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