Ricky Baker is an orphan who has been arranged to stay with Bella and Hec. As he would usually do, at the beginning, he tried to escape. He got himself lost in the bushes. Bella, the foster Mother, did not punish or scold him for his attempt to escape, instead she teased about him being able to stay in the bushes for more than 15 minutes and reinforced him that he just needed to be back before breakfast. Bella has showered Ricky with uncondition love. Unfortunately, Bella passed away and the orphanage system led by Paula wanted to bring Ricky back. The journey of a national manhunt then begun when Ricky and Hec tried avoid being found in the bushes.
Dealing with Rebellious Kid
Bella's method of communicating with a rebellious kid like Ricky is appropriate. Instead of going against the child and asking him to do things that he obviously will not do, Bella asked him to do the things he like as long as he comes back at the end of the day. This sense of freedom that Bella allocate for Ricky has made Ricky less likely to rebel. People often rebel because they think they are being treated unfairly and want to seek for their own sense of freedom. McGregor (1944) mentioned that insecure or rebellious individual are in the process of seeking independence. They are searching for freedom, not the chance for self-growth (McGregor, 1944). In the case of this movie, since Bella has already gave Ricky his freedom, presumably different from his previous foster care, Ricky will less likely be rebellious.
On the other hand, when Ricky wants to tell Bella his "haiku". Bella listens to a few and then stops him from continuing. Based on Ricky's attitude at the beginning of the film, Ricky might be someone is forced that talk about himself, forced to change, and even brought to therapy sessions where he learnt his "haiku". However, when Bella show signs of uninterested in his "haiku", unlike others, Ricky might feel that Bella is genuine and is a "normal" person, instead of someone forcing him to change and to be the so-called "good" from the eyes of others.
From this, I learnt that at times we just have to be genuine and to learn how to accept others for who they are. Wanting someone to change is not for the benefit of the person, but more often for our own comfort and benefit. At the end of the day, who are we to judge what is right or wrong? In this movie, the child might be doing something that he strongly thinks is right for himself. Therefore, it is unreasonable for us to punish or try to change someone for what we think is wrong. It is important for us to be empathetic and think for others before making judgement and taking actions.
Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Study: Power and Abuse
In the movie, Paula, the orphanage care officer seems to be in-charge and having power. At the end of the movie, we also noticed that Paula shouted phrases that a police would usually say. Her assistant then said to her “This is only used in the states. And you are not even a police". From this scene and statement, we can tell that Paula is already assuming power that she does not have and is behaving in full authority manner. Her eagerness in capturing a child who barely does any crime reflects on her own situation and personality. It could that Paula is having a really lonely and isolated social life.
In Stanford Prison study, it is found that people who are given authority behaved in a brutal and sadistic way, some even began to harass prisoners (McLeod, 2016). With this, it is suggested that people are likely to conform into the social roles that there are given. In Zimbardo's study, no one gave instructions to the guards to perform those brutal behaviors but because of the position that they are in, they became more confident and feel as if they are in-charged when given the authority to guard the prisoners. This could also be the case of Paula, as there is no one giving her order to capture the child. During the live interview on the television (TV), it is also observed that Paula has became obsessed with her responsibility to capture the child. She did not answer the TV interviewers' questions appropriately and she keep repeating "no child left behind" with her eyes widely opened. It seems like she has been too into her own role.
In her journey to achieve her goal of taking Ricky away from Hec, she even suggested Ricky to accuse Hec for sexually assaulting him. Paula seems to be doing everything that she could to reach her goal. Her slogan "no child left behind" and the meaning that she carries is not entirely pure anymore. Her obsession in achieving her goal has made her irrational.
Through this, I realize while it is important for us to achieve our goal wholeheartedly and effortfully. It is also important to take a break from time to time and to evaluate on our ways of doing things. Sometimes, being too into something might lead us to doing things in an inappropriate manner.
References:
McGregor, D. (1944). Conditions of effective leadership in the industrial organization. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 8(2), 55-63. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0056439
McLeod, S. A. (2016). Zimbardo - Stanford prison experiment. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
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