Gestalt Psychology & American History X

Gestalt is a German word that is usually translated into English as meaning ôwhole,ö and Gestalt theory is frequently summed up as following the principle of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. In psychological terms, as Roy Jose Decarvalho (1991) puts it, ôThe human organism . . . is more than just the additive sum of each isolated and reduced part. The parts affect the whole and vice versa in a continual process of mutual transformationö (p. 43).

A number of principles are unique to Gestalt psychologyÆs approach to understanding psychological development. Several are similar to some of the fundamental concepts of Freudian psychology, but differ in important ways that relate to GestaltÆs emphasis on looking at the whole individual and the complete processes of personality development. KayeÆs (1998) film provides interesting examples of individuals at d

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ge onto those who they see as being different and, by their own definition, inferior. When Daniel claims that his black history teacher, Dr. Sweeney, is ôone of those proud-to-be nigger guys,ö Cameron helps him project even more negative feelings by saying, ôHeÆs not proud, no, heÆs a manipulative, self-righteous Uncle Tom whoÆs trying to make you feel guilty about writing about Adolf Hitlerö (Kaye, 1998). Cameron encourages Daniel to keep from feeling any guilt at all for his actions by projecting his guilt onto another person and, by extension, onto another group of people. The third concept, retroflection, seems at first to be antithetical to the actions of the characters in American History X. Fatout (1992) observes, ôRetroflection involves doing to oneself what one would like to do to others. For example, instead of expressing anger to the person with whom one is angry the person turns the anger inward. As a result the angry person becomes very stressed, rigid, and blockedö (p. 84). While Daniel and Derek (especially Derek before he goes to prison) seem to have turned their anger outward, both exhibit symptoms of being stressed, rigid, and blocked. Derek, for example, explodes in rage against his motherÆs boyfrien
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Donald Moss, Marian Fatout, Daniel Derek, Cameron Gestalt, American History, Mein Kampf, Jose Decarvalho, Daniel Vinyard, History Fatout, Hitlerö Kaye, fatout 1992, american history, kaye 1998, foulkes 1990, introjection projection retroflection, decarvalho 1991, projection retroflection, contact cycle, negative feelings, gestalt psychology, introjection projection, retroflection confluence denial, projection retroflection confluence, fatout 1992 observes, fatout 1992 writes,
Approximate Word count = 2131
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)