A Psychological Look Inside the Movie ‘Good Will Hunting’ Essay

In the film, Good Will Hunting, main character Will Hunting is a troubled young man from a poor part in south Boston. Following a youth of abusive foster care experiences and only himself left to trust, Hunting leads a life of self-sufficiency worthy a witty sharp shooter. A expectingly independent individual working as a janitor in renowned local university, MIT, he spends his down metre with a select group of buddies he considers family or isolated reading volumes of old novels and textbooks. Upon being found as the secret sleuth to a graduate aim mathematics problem, MIT professor Gerald Lambeau seeks out the janitor, Hunting, in efforts to engage his mind and make him an apprentice. As the plot twists, an earlier issue lands Hunting facing jail time for assaulting an officer during a fight in his neighborhood. With knowledge of this, Prof. Lambeau uses his university standing and professional name to allow a proposition to be offered to Hunting that Lambeau believes to be rec iprocally beneficial Hunting is freed from jail time under the stipulations that he works with Lambeau academically and sees a therapist for counseling purposes, simultaneously. Initially standoffish, Hunting doesnt seem interested, meanwhile a recent new love interest sways his thinking and he accepts Prof.Lambeau and the courts offer. While there seem to be a few quandarys listed above, including the professors initial interest in offering a lessened jail sentence for his potential protg, the intent of his proposal was not for sole self-interest if the informant understands his point of view and life experience. In his opinion, what person could possibly turn down an opportunity to work directly with an MIT professor and for free? For the purposes of this paper, the ethical dilemma discussed is what happens next in the plot of Good Will Hunting, and that is when Will (who burns through multiple therapists before connecting with one) and his eventual Psychologist, Sean Maguire beg in working together. Two major(ip) occurrences happen, one is that in an early meeting between the two, Hunting begins to test Maguire in efforts to make him lose his temper and it works. By discussing a painting in Maguires office that holds emotional value, Hunting is able to prod the weak areas of Maguires past and after he could no longer take it, he became irate and physically restrained Hunting by the throat.To quickly go over this and how it relates to the AmericanPsychological Associations Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, this plain obvious violation is of course beyond all measures of intentions of helping but is also cited in Standard 3 Human Relations (APA Code of Ethics, 2014) in 3.04 Avoiding Harm Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational clients and other with whom they work, and minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable. In order to avoid such a situation, beyond the realm of Hollywood dramatization, a simple separation of the two people (professional and patient/client) to collect thoughts, breathe and reevaluate the circumstances would shit been an appropriate alternative to physical contact. A separate yet major occurrence of ethical standards in the film involves the follow through of professional table service to Hunting by Maguire as he deemed necessary when the role of Prof.Lambeau intended cessation of therapy so he could carry out his own prerogative. Maguire positively maintained the five foundational general principles as found in the APAs Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct Principle A Beneficence and Nonmaleficence seek to safeguard the benefit and rights of those with whom they interact professionally Principle B Fidelity and Responsibility concerned about the ethical compliance of their colleagues scientific and professional conduct Principle C Integrity strive to keep thei r promises and to avoid unwise or unclear commitments Principle D Justice exercise reasonable judgment and take precautions to batten that their potential biases, the boundaries of their competence and the limitations of their expertise do not lead to or condone unjust practices. Principle E Respect for Peoples Rights and hauteur respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.