Bronfenbrenner's Character Analysis

Along with Bronfenbrenner, one of the other contributing theorist in Human Development is Piaget. Throughout much of the story, Dave was in the concrete operational period. This period “occurs between the ages of seven and twelve, which is characterized by the active, and appropriate use of logic” (Feldman, 2015, Chapter 5). An example of this from the book is the fact that Dave used logic to figure out when was going got be a good day or a bad day for him depending on the way his mother dressed and if his father was home. Sometimes he would find his mother on the couch, still hung over from the previous night or dressed only in her bathrobe, watching television. “She got up only to go to the bathroom, get another drink, or heat leftover food” (Pelzer, 1995, p 30). This would end up being a bad day for Dave and a day of brutal beatings. Dave even recalls her voice on these days “sending tremors down his spine” (Pelzer, 1995, p 30). On other days, if he found his mother wearing a dress with her hair and makeup done, she would be more relaxed and he would realize the day would not be as bad (Pelzer, 1995). Dave would breathe a sigh of relief whenever she came out of her room in a nice dress and her face made up. “On these days she always came out with a smile” (Pelzer, 1995, p 30). Dave also began to realize his father being home was going to be a good day and was able to find comfort in this. In the beginning, if his father was home, he would feel protected and “it meant no beatings, mirror treatments or long searches for her missing things” (Pelzer, 1995, p 32). Dave’s father was his protector. “Whenever he went to the garage to work on a project, I followed him. If he sat in his favorite chair to read the newspaper, I parked himself at his feet. In the evenings, after the dinner dishes were cleared from the table, Father would wash them, and I would dry them. I knew that as long as I stayed by his side, no harm would come to me” (Pelzer, 1995, p 32-33). After a short period of time and a number of harsh treatments later, Dave was in the concrete operational stage and began to use logic to determine his mother’s moods and also find a sense of comfort and sense of safeness in his dad’s presence. One other example of this was Dave’s use of logic to make punishments less severe. At first he would fall victim to his mother’s punishment, but used a resistance technique to get out of it. His technique “was to lie on the floor acting as though he didn’t have the strength to stand” (Pelzer. 1995, p 52). Although this technique only worked for a short time, he used his logic to come up with it as a way to make the punishment less severe and not as long. As Dave grew more accustomed to abuse and his resistance technique no longer worked, he …show more content…
“I’ve got to finish the dishes on time, otherwise no breakfast; and since I didn’t have dinner last night, I have to make sure I get something to eat tonight” (Pelzer, 1995, p 3). The reward for doing the dishes is being fed, but any little thing that wasn’t done right, Dave was punished for. One time his mother came in and his hands were out of the water. Before he could do anything she hit him and he was on the floor. Dave couldn’t just stand there, as his mother saw it as an act of defiance, which would result in being beaten more, and it meant an even longer period of time without food (Pelzer, 1995). Instead, Dave acted timid because all he wanted to do was eat. Shortly after his mother was done beating him, he waited for her footsteps to disappear. Dave finished the dishes and was given the reward of his brothers left over cereal (Pelzer, 1995). This instance is an example of the preconventional morality because Dave was trying to do the dishes the way his mother wanted in order avoid punishment and be given the reward of a very small