Mommie Dearest Hypothesis

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Morgan Le Fay Instr. Zimmerman SWK 594 27 November, 2012 Mommie Dearest: A Diagnostic Hypothesis of the Mental Status of Joan Crawford Mommie Dearest was written by Christina Crawford as a biographic testimony of the abuse she endured throughout her childhood and early adulthood years from her adoptive mother and late actress Lucille LeSueur, otherwise known as Joan Crawford. Christina’s depictions of her mother imply Joan suffered from many psychosocial factors that were significantly distressing to her and impaired her ability form meaningful functional relationships with others. Before proceeding further, however, it is worth noting that the author does not mention any formal medical or psychiatric diagnoses in her book which indicate Joan…show more content…
Christina describes her mother’s primary concerns centralized around how she wished to be perceived by others and the public image she wished to project 74-75). Her false displays of intimacy, excessive vanity, egocentricity, lack of empathy, and attention seeking behavior are evident in her interpersonal relationships and emotional neglect of her children. Her career as a film star exacerbated these negative personality traits (27, 83). Any affection she showed toward Christina usually took the form of a shallow nod of approval or pat on the head for performing tasks such as mixing alcoholic beverages for Joan and her guests or when in the presence of others, but in private her treatment of Christina was very cold and her parenting style was excessively rigid, strict, and authoritarian. She relied primarily on punishment (particularly corporal) and negative reinforcement to gain compliance and desired behavior. She was also very belittling of Christina's academic success and (probably jealous/threatened by) her aspirations to become an actress. Christina recalls that her mother only came to see one play, The Mikado, the entire time she was in boarding school.…show more content…
In fairness, however, it's worth pointing out that this assessment is based on the biographical account of Christina Crawford. In spite of her traumatic upbringing, Christina Crawford became a competent adult and seems to have broken the cycle of generational abuse in her own family. Having some success as an actress herself, she moved on to become the President of Los Angeles' Inter-Agency Council on Abuse & Neglect Associates and an advocate for abused children, as well as being appointed county commissioner in Benewah, Idaho; in 2011 becoming the first President of the Benewah Human Rights Commission (2011). Works Cited Crawford, Christina. Mommie Dearest. Thirtieth Anniversary Edition. Seven Springs Press. Idaho. 2008. Print. Jones, Stephanie. 2004. “America's Real Sweetheart: A Biography of Joan Crawford.” The Best of Everything. 19 November, 2012. Retrieved from:
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