BORSTAL BOYAUTHOR: BRENDAN BEHAN

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

ERICA GREENE

A autobiography about Brendan Behan’s experience in a Borstal

Occurred in the Summer of 1939, when the Irish Republican Army was engaged in its bombing campaign to free Northern Ireland.

During this time a young boy, 16 years old, Brendan who was discovered in Liverpool with bomb-making materials and arrested as an Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists.

Brought explosives to bomb Irish shipyards

He was very big into his politics and being a Republican, and disliked the British very much

ABOUT

Sentenced 3 years as a juvenile in a Borstal (British reform school )

Very likeable person

Quickly developed friendly relations with most of his guards and other authorities and as well as the other prisoners in the borstal

Behan had such a good personality that he was never doubted for having sympathy for what he did

During his sentencing his political beliefs never changed but Brendan learned to become more tolerant of others through his Catholic beliefs

ABOUT

Brendan stayed lively through his sentencing in

the borstal by reading literature books from the

prison library and constantly working

Borstal Boy is about the journey that makes

Brendan Behan the person he is and how he

became the most likeable character even though

he committed a crime

I think Bredan was such a positive person

because he had such strong faith in his Catholic

religion and believed keeping himself lively would

help time pass by faster

ABOUT

Erikson emphasized that in addition to negotiating between

impulses and superego demands, the ego makes a positive

contribution to development acquiring attitudes and skills at

each stage that make the individual an active, contributing

member of society.

Psychosocial theory contains both internal and external social

factors

Each stage builds upon the others and focuses on a crisis that

must be resolved to move to the next stage to develop

effectively

Brendan followed this theory by being a positive person and

keeping himself l ively in the borstal, unlike many of the other

prisoners.

PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY

PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY

Brendan Behan was in the stage of life called

adolescence which is between the ages of 12 and 18

years old.

During adolescence young people develop bad,

dangerous, unfamiliar, and unregulated habits.

I believe that Brendan was part of this when he was

sneaking explosives to blow up Irish shipyards.

During this stage in life some young youth have a lot

of built up anger and taking risks is a way to let it

out.

“STORM AND STRESS”

Liverpool is located in the northern and western hemisphere

Adolescent storm and stress is more common in the

industrialized societies of the West than in traditional

cultures

In the West, a substantial amount of adolescent storm and

stress arises from regulated pace of youth growing

independence early.

I also believe that since during that time Brendan had to grow

up early and wasn ’t able to be a child for a long time, he was

more stressed and felt responsible for many things including

the bombing of the Irish shipyard.

“STORM AND STRESS”

From what I got out of this book, Brendan Behan figured out

that Irish Catholics and English Protestants had more in

common with one another through class than he thought they

were suppose to.

Also, Brendan Behan went through a psychosocial stage that

taught him he must resolve his problem in his stage of l ife

before he can move on with his life.

Lastly, that obstacles of religions and ethnicity were just

superficial and forced by a fearful middle class.

ENDING

Behan, B. (1958). Borstal Boy. New York: Random House.

Berk, L.E. (2008). Exploring Lifespan Development. (2nd Ed.) Boston: Al lyn

& Bacon

Fondacaro, M.R. (2014). Rethinking the scientific and legal implications of

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