A Psychobiographical Study of Helen Keller
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF HELEN KELLER by Désirée Martina van Genechten Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MAGISTER ARTIUM In the Faculty of Health Sciences Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University November 2009 Supervisor: Prof. Christopher Norman Hoelson DECLARATION: I, Desiree Martina van Genechten, hereby declare that this treatise is my own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment to another university or for another qualification. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this treatise bears witness to the encouragement, support and guidance of many individuals. It is with sincere gratitude that I thank: • My late parents for instilling a belief in my abilities, despite my disability • Friends and family for your enduring encouragement and support • All those who have fulfilled the function of my eyes in the process of this work, especially Candice, Dominique, Jeanne, Nompumelelo and Wilma • Dr Roelf van Niekerk for the solid foundation laid in psychobiographical research • Prof. Chris Hoelson for your keen interest, dependable support and valuable supervision • Candice Platt for your encouragement and dedication. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Orientation to the Research Study 1 1.1.1. Contextualisation 1 1.1.2. Aim of this Study 2 1.1.3. Overview of the Psychobiographical Approach 2 1.1.4. Overview of the Theoretical Framework 3 1.2. Research Subject 4 1.3. Sources of Data 5 1.4. Structural Overview of the Treatise 6 Conclusion 6 CHAPTER TWO A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH 2.1. Research Paradigms 7 2.1.1. The Hypothetico-deductive Model 7 2.1.2. Phenomenological Models 8 2.2. Psychobiographical Research 9 2.2.1. Description and Definition of Psychobiography 9 2.2.2. Terms and Concepts Related to Psychobiography 10 2.2.2.1. Personality Assessment 10 2.2.2.2. Historiography, Historical Psychology, and Psychohistory 11 2.2.2.3. Narrative 11 2.2.2.4. Life stories and Life Histories 11 2.2.2.5. Case Studies 12 2.2.2.6. Autobiography and Biography 13 2.3. Psychology and Biography 13 2.4. History of Psychobiography 15 2.5. The Value of Psychobiographical Case Study Research 16 2.5.1. Uniqueness of the Individual 16 2.5.2. Socio-historical Context 16 2.5.3. Process and Pattern over Time 17 2.5.4. Subjective Reality 17 2.5.5. Theory Testing and Development 17 Conclusion 17 iv CHAPTER THREE OVERVIEW OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY: LEVINSON’S LIFE STRUCTURE THEORY 3.1. Contextualising the Theory 19 3.2. Introduction and Key Concepts 20 3.3. Structure of the Life Cycle 22 3.3.1. Era of Pre-adulthood (birth - 22 years) 23 3.3.1.1. Infancy (birth - 2 years) 23 3.3.1.2. Early Childhood (2 - 6 years) 23 3.3.1.3. Middle Childhood (6 - 12 years) 24 3.3.1.4. Adolescence (12 - 17 years) 24 3.3.2. Early Adult Transition (17 - 22 years) 24 3.3.3. Era of Early Adulthood (17 - 45 years) 25 3.3.3.1. Entry Life Structure for Early Adulthood (22 - 28 years) 25 3.3.3.2. Age 30 Transition (28 - 33 years) 26 3.3.3.3. Culminating Life Structure for Early Adulthood (33-40 years) 26 3.3.4. Mid-life Transition (40 - 45 years) 27 3.3.5. Era of Middle Adulthood (40 - 65 years) 28 3.3.5.1. Entry Life Structure for Middle Adulthood (45 - 50 years) 29 3.3.5.2. Age 50 Transition (50 - 55 years) 29 3.3.5.3. Culminating Life Structure for Middle Adulthood (55 - 60 years) 29 3.3.6. Late Adult Transition (60 - 65 years) 29 3.3.7. Era of Late Adulthood (65 years - death) 30 Conclusion 31 CHAPTER FOUR ETHICAL AND PRELIMINARY METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 4.1. Ethical Considerations 32 4.2. Preliminary Methodological Considerations 33 4.2.1. Researcher Bias 34 4.2.2. Reductionism 35 4.2.3. Cross-cultural Differences 36 4.2.4. Analysing an Absent Subject 36 4.2.5. Validity and Reliability Criticisms 37 4.2.6. Elitism and the Easy Genre 38 4.2.7. Infinite Amount of Biographical Data 39 4.2.8. Inflated Expectations 39 Conclusion 40 CHAPTER FIVE METHODOLOGY 5.1. Research Objectives 41 5.2. Research Design 41 5.3. The Psychobiographical Subject 42 5.4. Data Collection Method 42 5.5. Data Analysis Procedure 43 Conclusion 46 v CHAPTER SIX DATA COLLECTION AND FINDINGS 6.1. Era of Pre-adulthood 47 6.1.1. Birth - 19 months 47 6.1.2. Age 20 months - 6 years 48 6.1.3. Age 7 - 14 years 48 6.1.4. Age 15 - 20 years 50 6.2. Era of Early Adulthood 51 6.2.1. Age 21 - 24 years 51 6.2.2. Age 25 - 28 years 53 6.2.3. Age 29 - 33 years 53 6.2.4. Age 34 - 39 years 55 6.3. Era of Middle Adulthood 57 6.3.1. Age 39 - 44 years 57 6.3.2. Age 45 - 50 years 58 6.3.3. Age 51 - 55 years 58 6.3.4. Age 56 – 59 59 6.4. Era of Late Adulthood 60 6.4.1. Age 60 - 66 years 60 6.4.2. Age 67 - 80 years 61 6.4.3. Age 81 - death 63 Conclusion 64 CHAPTER SEVEN DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 7.1. Era of Pre-adulthood (birth - 22 years) 65 7.1.1. Infancy (birth - 2 years) 65 7.1.2. Early Childhood (2 - 6 years) 65 7.1.3. Middle Childhood (6 - 12 years) 66 7.1.4. Adolescence (12 - 17 years) 68 7.2. Early Adult Transition (17 - 22 years) 69 7.3. Era of Early Adulthood (17 - 45 years) 70 7.3.1. Entry Life Structure for Early Adulthood (22 - 28 years) 71 7.3.2. Age 30 Transition (28 - 33 years) 72 7.3.3. Culminating Life Structure for Early Adulthood (33 - 40 years) 73 7.4. Mid-life Transition (40 - 45 years) 74 7.5. Era of Middle Adulthood (40 - 65 years) 76 7.5.1. Entry Life Structure for Middle Adulthood (45 - 50 years) 76 7.5.2. Age 50 Transition (50 - 55 years) 77 7.5.3. Culminating Life Structure for Middle Adulthood (55 - 60 years) 78 7.6. Late Adult Transition (60 - 65 years) 79 7.7. Era of Late Adulthood (65 years - death) 80 7.7.1. Late Adulthood (65 - 80 years) 80 7.7.2. Late Late Adulthood (80 years - death) 81 Conclusion 82 vi CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION 8.1. Research Summary 83 8.2. Challenges and Limitations 85 8.3. Value of the Study 86 8.4. Recommended Future Research 87 Conclusion 88 TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 3.1 A conceptualisation of Levinson’s life cycle 23 Table 5.1 Levinson’s (1996) Periods in the Eras of Development 45 Table 7.1 Keller’s Periods of Development Compared to Levinson’s (1996) Typical Periods in the Eras of Development 70 REFERENCES 89 vii ABSTRACT This psychobiographical study of Helen Keller’s life is exploratory-descriptive in nature. The subject was chosen through purposive sampling. The choice was based on the researcher’s personal interest and the remarkable impact this profoundly handicapped woman had within her society. Helen Keller also meets the psychobiographical requirements. These include that she is historically well known, inspirational, and her life has been completed. The study uses a qualitative, single case, interpretive research design. The design is employed to study Helen Keller’s entire life span within a formal psychological theory. The theory used in this study is Daniel Levinson’s (1996) Life Structure theory of adult development. Data for this study were collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources which provided alternative perspectives on her life. In addition, the data have been corroborated by historical texts, and newspaper and journal articles. Levinson’s (1996) theory divides the lifespan into four developmental eras, each with its own biopsychosocial character. Each era in turn is divided into shorter periods of development, each with particular developmental tasks. Cross-era transitions separate the eras. By describing and exploring the data according to this theory, Helen Keller as a profoundly handicapped person is shown to display universal patterns of development as suggested by Levinson. At the same time, the Life Structure she developed, her life components, and Satisfactoriness illuminated her uniqueness. Through the application of the theory to Helen Keller’s life, this psychobiographical study facilitated an examination of the theory. This led to suggestions for potential development of the theory. 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Orientation to the Research Study This section provides a brief overview of the context and aim of this study. It then orientates the reader to the theoretical aspects of the study. In the subsequent sections the subject is introduced and an overview of the sources from which the data were collected are offered. 1.1.1. Contextualisation The aim of psychobiographical research is to obtain a holistic view of an individual’s life. As such it is necessary to contextualise the socio-economic and historical period in which the individual lived. Such contextualisation facilitates the interpretation and understanding of a person’s life story within the hermeneutic approach (discussed in section 2.1.2.). Helen Keller, the subject of this study, was born in 1880 and would have been influenced by a variety of contextual factors, some of which are mentioned here.