“The attention and environment you provide shape your child’s brain development for life”. When thinking of development, individuals only tend to think of how the human body works and the physical changes it undergoes as we age. Human development goes well beyond the physical changes that take place in our bodies. Human development is the study of these changes related to the physical, emotional, cognitive and social domains of an individual. In addition, it refers to the biological and psychological changes that a child undergoes from birth until late adulthood. These changes can readily affect or influence one’s wellbeing, how they interact with others and even how they identify themselves as they get older. Our textbook (Rathus, 2015) mentioned the different theories of development and the stages of development. Let’s consider Erikson theory of psychosocial development. With Erickson theory, children are seen as they developed through distinct periods of their life. Erickson belief is that a child’s experience during early life affects the child’s emotional and social life at the time and later on.
Stage one of the Psychological theory outlined by Erickson stated that when we are born into the world, we born without motor skills, no means of communication. At this states we are feeble and totally dependent, therefore, we rely on our mothers and trust that they will provide the necessities we need to sustain growth as well as life. Philosopher John Lock also shares a similar belief to Erickson. He believed that all children come into this world as a “tabula rasa” meaning having a clean slate. At the early stage of life, the attention and environment you provide for your child are important as these are some of the years in which the greatest physical and mental developments take place. It is important to recognize development throughout the lifespan and how an individual’s behavior and outlook on life can be impacted based on factors occur from conception until death. Let’s consider Robert Moses who was a revolutionary of his time but was also most controversial of his time. “Revolutionary” because he is responsible for building the bridges, tunnels and some parks throughout New York City, hence giving him the name “the master builder”. “Controversial” because he was believed to be racist and narcissistic. In this paper, I will further discuss the impact Robert Moses had on the New York City community and how his actions influenced some but also impacted many. In addition, I will examine the lifespan and development of Robert Moses and how his upbringing correlates to some of the developmental stages I have listed above and what we discussed in class.
BACKGROUND
“I raise my stein to the builder” Robert Moses once said, “I raise my stein to the builder who can remove ghettos without removing people as I hail the chef who can make omelets without baking eggs”. Mr. Moses noted his attitude towards the effect of building roads and highways through poor communities. As a New York’s controversial “master builder” Robert Moses major role was molding the state’s physical environment. Robert Moses was born in 1888 in New Haven Connecticut to Bella and Robert Moses who were both Jewish and fairly wealthy. At the age of nine Robert mother no longer wanted to live in Connecticut because she felt that it had no “cultural activity” so the family relocated to “the big apple” New York City where would spend the rest of the lives. Robert hated the city, he wanted to go back to Connecticut to pursue his dream of becoming the governor of Connecticut and he wanted to be formally educated at Yale University. He attended Yale University for his undergraduate after his graduation in 1909, he went on to study political science at Columbia and Oxford Universities. (Biography.com, 2016).
Robert Moses was only 25 years old when obtained his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. Moses was eager to join the government; even as a young boy he knew what he wanted so he attend training school at the Municipal Research Bureau in New York. While working at the Municipal Research Bureau for some time, Moses was appointed a chief of staff of the New York States reconstruction commission. Not long after Moses began to focus on developing New York City, he believed that the city was lacking the proper roads necessary for automobiles. In 1926, Moses was appointed a secretary of state by Smith Alfred who was the governor at the time. This was Moses first paid position so to continue proving that he was worthy and hardworking, he threw himself into the job building hospitals, parkways and parks thus earning the name “the master builder”. Although he did not remain secretary of state for very long due to Smith losing the election, he did, however, remain in charge of the park system because at that time it was a popular project.
Robert Moses constructed many playground, parks, bridges and tunnel. Some of which include the Riverside park, Central Park, Cross Bronx Expressway, Tri-borough Bridge and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Doing this did not come without a cost, one that have had a lasting impression on many in the middle class and lower class neighborhoods. More specifically, the Cross Bronx Expressway was created by cutting through the middle of the Bronx one of New York City five boroughs. This then caused a migration with the middle and upper-income resident class from the north side of the Bronx to move to the south side of the Bronx, leaving the lower class displaced. Thousands of homes were demolished, lower income class were under service by his effort to create the Cross Bronx Expressway and not to mention, the community was now destroyed. Nevertheless, this all boiled down to the question: Was he good or evil and was he revolutionary? Many describe Moses as power hungry and unsympathetic towards the poor because he wanted to be in charge of all New York’s Park and he destroyed the communities of low-income residents. Many also, believed that he was a racist that was unable to relate to the poor because of his upbringing. Moses was a big advocate of the cars which caused him to be criticized even more by the lower class since most of them did not drive or could not afford automobile at the time. They held the belief that he was being partial to the rich.
Disputed as Robert Moses style is he was one of the most influential yet controversial figures in the history of New York City development and Decay. His legacy was questioned and checkered due to biases and negative criticism, despite all the good he has done for the New York City. I agree with the general concept and idea being presented by Robert Caro in his book “The Power Broker”. He mentioned that Moses was stripped of his reputation and power by the press and the people who criticized him. Though he held power for 44 years in the state and 34 in the city and built many bridges and tunnels that have had more positive than negative effects on the city, many will hold on to the idea that he was evil as oppose to good. Moses was simply thinking of the future for New Yorkers. He was thinking in terms of access, crossing over water, access to the Bronx, long Island and the city. In 1981, Moses died of heart disease at his West Islip home. Moses had a successful career, building 13 bridges and 34 highways. He left behind two children and a legacy that will influence many to come.
MOSES LIFE AND ERICKSON THEORY
Developmental theories can be defined as a collective vision of how desirable changes in society is best achieved or a series of age-related changes that happen over of course of a lifespan and continue to build on top of another. Throughout history, several famous psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Erick Erickson and Lawrence Kohlberg to names a few, describe development as a series of stages in which people exhibit typical behavior patterns. In this section, I will discuss how Robert Moses life fits into both Erick Erickson and Sigmund Freud developmental theories. Erickson and Freud were a psychologist who studied how human-developed and change over the course of their lifespan, however, Freud theory was centered on the psychosexual development of a person childhood. While Erickson’s theory addressed psychosocial development and the importance of social relationships. Erickson proposes that personality development occurs through one’s entire lifespan. His theory has eight stages and during each stage people are faced with new challenges but the outcome of such change greatly depends on how well people handle these challenges. According to Erickson, “the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that were distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of identity of trust in society, and help the next generation prepare for the future”. (McLeod, 2008).
Linking Moses life to Erickson theory of development, Moses was born to both wealthy and highly influential parents. His father was a Jew of German extraction and a millionaire and his mother Bella Moses was a brilliant thinker. In his career and social life, he was considered an exceedingly influential and powerful figure, and not to mention wealthy. In terms of placement of Moses life into Erickson and Freud theories, he would be best suited in the generativity vs. stagnation stage given his transition from childhood to adulthood.
Freud believes that early childhood was the most important age or stages where personality is developed. According to him, most of our personality is established by age five and early experiences play a large role in personality development which continue to influence behavior as we get older. His theory was built upon five stages, if all five stages are completed successfully the result is a healthy personality however if one does not resolve an issue at a certain stage and move on to the next stage they will develop what is called “fixation”. Linking Moses life and Freud’s fourth stage of “latency”. In Freud fourth stage of latency, he suggested that the ego and superego are now present. This is the period in which a child will direct his/her sexual energy into areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interaction. For instance, when Moses was nine years old his family relocated to New York City as soon as Moses was old enough he moved back to Connecticut where he grew up to study political science at Yale University. After he graduated Yale in 1901 he moved back to New York City to attend Research school to help him advance in his future career. As demonstrated, Moses life fits into to both these stages seamlessly he displayed confidence as a child and as a man, dedication, and hard work.
THE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM THEORY
What is the ecological system theory and how does this theory affect a child development socially? The ecological system theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner; his theory emphasized that a child growth and development have everything to do with their environment. He divided this theory into five level which includes: The microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem and lastly, the chronosystem. The level of Bronfenbrenner theory that we will discuss is the exosystem as it relates to Moses life. The child is not directly involved with the exosystem stage; it is an external experience but nonetheless affects the child in a major way. For example; Moses family was wealthy which had a positive effect on his life because he was able to live a life that was superior to others, and his parents were able to provide for his physical needs. More specifically, the private schools he attended as a child and the ivy league schools he attended as a youth. Answering the question how does this play into or affect Moses life. According to
Moses was responsible for removing thousands of residents from their homes and destroyed urban neighborhoods in favor of a landscape of “red-brick towers” throughout his career. (Goldberger, 1981). Moses was chastised and criticized for favoring in the rich and not the poor. Moses early childhood (being born into wealth) and his upbringings may have played a small role in his attitude towards the less fortunate. For instance, a person who was raised by a poor family and later on in life becomes wealthy are normally more sympathetic towards a poor person than a person who have never been poor. Given that thought, the fact that Moses was born into wealth could have possibly made it difficult for him to relate to or be sympathetic towards the poor and thus favoring the rich.
ROBERT MOSES SOCIAL ROLE
A social role is defined as a set of behaviors that are expected of someone who holds a particular status and this can vary from culture to culture. In other words, how someone is expected to behave in a certain way in a certain position. For example, in the Jamaican culture, acting politely when in front of an older person. Since the social role that an elder person carry will make you feel nervous if acted out of the norm this can be seen as disrespectful. Given that thought, Moses social role was to the shape the physical environment of New York city. He was powerful which made him very influential to many New Yorkers.
Considering Moses overall life transition I would his life to be normative rather than idiosyncratic. Reason being, there was no major life changing events that happen unexpectedly, nor events that created an enormous amount of stress in childhood that caused a need for major reorganization of his or his families lives. Moses childhood had minimal amount of stress.
MOSES LIFE FIT INTO PIAGET’S AND KOHLBERG’S THEORIES ON COGNITIVE AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Kohlberg theory on moral development focuses on change and understanding of morality from birth until adulthood. He defined morality as how individuals treat each other. While his theory was centered around morality, Piaget theory is focused on cognitive development and the basic idea that our cognitive and logical reasoning goes through series of transformation throughout our lifespan. Although the two theories are slightly different they have some similarities and are connected. With that said, Moses moral and cognitive development was intact, he had a sound knowledge that one could benefit from and a strong sense intellectual ability. Both develop in a chronological manner.
“Those who can, build. Those who can’t, criticize”. -Robert Moses. Moses was in every sense of this statement a builder. He did remarkable things to advance New York City with the creation of 13 bridges, 416 miles of parkways and 658 playgrounds. Nonetheless, we cannot ignore the fact that in his effort to do great things countless of residents were forced out of their homes. Given all the good and the bad he has done, I strongly believe that it is reasonable to say that New York City would not be as effective and efficient if it was not for Robert Moses.