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Running Head: FAMILY ANALYSIS: THE ACT 1
Family Analysis: The Act
Faith A. Sola
Liberty University
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The Act is a new television show dramatizing the chilling and convincing case of Gypsy
Rose Blanchard, her mother Claudenia “Dee Dee” Blanchard, and the world around them.
Although a fictionalized documentary of the real-life events, The Act accurately demonstrates the
psychological and physical abuse and inhumane actions that occurred in Gypsy’s life. Forced to
use a wheelchair since childhood, Gypsy, the Missouri community, and the public believed that
Gypsy was a sickly disabled teenager who had epilepsy, leukemia, muscular dystrophy, an
allergy to sugar, and a chromosomal disorder. All deemed false and misleading, after the murder
of Dee Dee; committed by Gypsy and her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. For most of
Gypsy’s life, Claudenia was her sole provider. Her father was not physically involved in her life
after his divorce to her mother, although he would pay child support every month. As an only
child, Gypsy was not permitted to create any social relationships with peers her age as they
would “adulterate” her pure mind, as Dee Dee would mention. The Act documented the complete
adolescence of Gypsy’s life; Claudenia was approximately in her 40s and 50s during Gypsy’s
adolescence.
Parenting Style
The imperious and overprotective Claudenia treated her daughter as a servile leading one
to believe she is an over exhausted authoritarian mother. True to the definition of an authoritarian
parent, Claudinea neglected Gypsy's needs in favor of her agenda, portraying overpowering
commands for compliance using persuasive tactics and punishing infractions (Laursen & Collins,
2009). For example, if Gypsy would eat foods that were sugar filled or decided to communicate
online with friends through Facebook, she would smash the computer and tie Gypsy to the
railing of her bed. Noted, Claudenias's inimical actions demonstrate an extreme case of
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authoritarian parenting: parental styles and parental practices are diverse amongst parental
strategies.
Positive Interactions and Support
According to Laursen and Collins (2009), positive interactions and perceived support are
pivotal in sustaining relationships amid rapid and comprehensive changes that occur in
adolescence. Determining positive interactions and support in a relationship are acknowledged
through closeness, or the strong behavioral and emotional connection between individuals, and
warmth. The literature states that as adolescents increase in age, intimacy expressed through
cuddling and joint interactions decreases, and conversation increases (Laursen & Collins, 2009).
Similarly, warmth decreases with young age.
Regarding Gypsy and Dee Dee's relationship, physical closeness, was apparent and did
not decrease with age (i.e., Dee Dee and Gypsy slept in the same bed when Gypsy over the age
of nineteen). Dee Dee did not recognize an increase in maturity level or a change of needs for
Gypsy, although Gypsy did want and need those aspects herself. For example, Gypsy would be
forced to wear a princess costume to secular events to victimize herself as a child. On the
contrary, warmth and emotional closeness did decrease with age: Gypsy no longer wanted to be
controlled by her mother, and as a result, Claudenia would vitiate Gypsy by conducting
punishing infractions.
Negative Interactions and Conflict
Research on conflict with parents has manifested some generalized points: disagreements
occur more frequently versus conflict; disagreements are more familiar with mothers; negativity
begets more negativity between parents and children; adverse effects are higher in mother-
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daughter relationships; and most disagreements are on uninteresting topics (Laursen & Collins,
2009). Similar to the data, Gypsy and Claudenia often disagreed on mundane topics such as what
to wear to an event and what type of food Gypsy should eat based on her "conditions." However,
they both often had heated conflicts when regarding Gypsy's social interactions with both peers
and future romantic partners and the world's perception of Gypsy's conditions (i.e., Gypsy's
ability to walk). The idea that negativity begets more negativity is prominent in this example: if
Gypsy does not perform what she is told, her mother has no problem cajoling more pessimistic
and insensitive infringements (ex. tying Gypsy up to her bed; having surgeons remove all of
Gypsy's teeth).
Adolescent Outcome
Firstly, correlated with higher levels of conflict are depressive symptoms, problems with
intimacy in relationships, and lower self-esteem. Secondly, parent conflict/divorce create
behavior problems, depressive symptoms, parent-child conflict, and academic problems. On the
other hand, behavior adjustment, that occurs through reconsideration after
disagreements/conflict, include increase academic achievement, prosocial behavior, empathy,
self-confidence, identity exploration (Brechwald & Prinstein, 2011; Laursen & Collins, 2009).
The first two points are conclusive the Gypsy and Claudenia's narrative: Gypsy suffered
depression, intimacy struggles, low self-esteem, and academic difficulties because of parental
conflict and the divorce between her parents. Since Claudenia did not reconsider her actions and
absolute position of authority after several conflicts with Gypsy, Gypsy has low self-confidence
and suffered through identity moratorium during adolescence.
Biblical Integration
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"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and
instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4, New International Version). It is significant for parents
not to exasperate, or intensely irritate or frustrate, their children. Of course, it does not mean that
parents should not discipline their children. On the contrary, the bible also teaches, "He who
spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him" (Proverbs 13:24,
New International Version). Although Claudenia loved her daughter, Gypsy, she consumed her to
the point of psychological and physical abuse. Parents should be willing to communicate, love,
and care for their children. Above all else, parents should be a replica of their relationship with
Jesus and should instruct their children as the Lord commands in His word.
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References
Brechwald, W. A., & Prinstein, M. J. (2011). Beyond homophily: A decade of advances in
understanding peer influence processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(1), 166–
179.
Laursen, B., & Collins, W. A. (2009). Parent-child relationships during adolescence. In
Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (pp. 1–42).
