Psychological Explanations Of Stalin

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Running Head: Lifespan Development and Personality

Lifespan Development and Personality: Joseph Stalin Chad A. Cohan University of Phoenix

Lifespan Development and Personality: Joseph Stalin

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Many evil people have sacrificed human lives to achieve their ambitions. Joseph Stalin, the former dictator of the Soviet Union, was a leader who sacrificed the lives of millions of people to achieve his agendas. His "Great Terror" campaign cost a great deal of lives. The Great Terror was the "aptly named period when Stalin effectively liquidated all traces of opposition to his rule. Large-scale purges struck the country, targeting all levels of society--including children: Stalin reasoned that parents were more likely to confess to trumped-up charges of subversion and disloyalty if they knew their children's lives were at risk." ("The Great Terror," 2009) Therefore, Stalin showed no mercy for his opposition, even for children. Stalin would take extreme measures to remain in power. What resulted in millions of deaths were when Stalin was initiated in the Five-Year Plans that profoundly changed the USSR's economy and social aspects ("Joseph Stalin," 2009). Joseph Stalin was a political figure who used his power to terrorize people and expand his political, military, and ideological agendas. Joseph Stalin's birthplace was in Gori, Georgia. He was a politician and dictator of the former Soviet Union. Stalin was the son of a cobbler; in 1903, Stalin befriended members of a revolutionary group and joined that group. He also took part with the Bolshevik movement of the Russian Social-Democratic Worker's fiesta. Stalin admired Lenin and was elected to the very first Bolshevik Central Committee after he partook in minute party posts. Stalin remained engaged in the security of the curtains and in banishment, at which time the Bolsheviks were brought to power in the Russian Revolution of 1917. In terms of the Politburo's party Central Committee, Stalin was the secretary general. After Lenin died, Stalin destroyed his enemies including, but not limited to, Leon Trotsky, Grigory, Zinovyev, and Lev Kamenev. It was at this time that the politics of the Soviet Union were under the control of Stalin. He executed and persecuted any threats to his power (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009).

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Stalin was born introduced with an inspiring family so dysfunctional, abusive, and poor in a village in Georgia. Due to having smallpox when he was younger as a child, Stalin was forever scarred and had a minutely disfigured arm. Because of Stalin's feelings that life treated him unfairly, he came up with an audacious and amplified desire for primacy. Stalin's mother had four children, three of which died and Stalin's mother believed that Stalin's health was in jeopardy. Stalin had a consistency to feel inferior to educated intellectuals, and in particular distrusted them. As the third child, Stalin was born to his father Vissarion, who was a poor shoemaker. Yekaterina, Stalin's mother, supplemented Vissarion's money by working as a servant domestically. ("Stalin's Childhood," 2009). Stalin was commended for his cognitive abilities and his excellent memory during his five years at the Gori primary school. When Stalin left Gori, he was accredited as the top student for entry into the Tiflis Seminary, which was a school known for its dismissal of Tsarism, which enlightened Stalin (Grey, 1979). When Stalin was 18, he joined the first Socialist organization in Georgia. The year thereafter, Stalin partook in a circle for workers. Stalin was truly into Plekhanov and Lenin's writings at this time. Stalin was eventually expunged from the Seminary. This is where he began his career of professional revolutionary (McNeal, 1988). Due to the aforementioned influences, Stalin became a destructive egomaniac. Stalin had a dignified self concept. In other words, Stalin was the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union was Stalin. In Stalin's mind, the destiny of Stalin and the Soviet Union were one and equivalent. His dignified self-concept was complimentary with this Marxism-Lenninism political ideology. In Stalin's mind, he was destined for that role. No compulsion compunction is also a factor that should be taken into consideration. When Stalin was searching for his angelic dreams, he was not prohibited by compunction. The only person whom Stalin was loyal to was to himself.

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Whenever there was a road block in his radical road to success, Stalin destroyed it, not minding if it was a friend or foe. For example, during the Great Terror, he executed and indirectly killed many people, even children (Rogovin, 1996). Stalin also showed unconstrained aggression in pursuit of his goals. With respect to achieving his goals, Stalin used aggression routinely. He used whatever force was at his disposal and go to the depths of violence, including mass executions and persecutions (Jones, 2002). His unconstrained aggression was an example in striving for his ambitions, but at the same time it was aggression in a defensive nature. Stalin also experienced a great deal of paranoia. While Stalin was not considered psychotic, he had extreme paranoia. He was always prepared for retaliation--with or without reason--and saw himself as surrounded by rivals. It was his political personality--angelic aspiration for infinite arbitrariness, the lack of compunction, uncontrolled rage, and a paranoid personality--which made Stalin so threatening. This is also termed destructive arrogance. Two primary theories of personality exist that explain some of the behaviors of Joseph Stalin: the developmental theory proposed by Jean Piaget and the moral development theory as argued by Lawrence Kohlberg. In Piaget's developmental theory, four stages of cognitive development exist: sensori-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational (Crain, 1985). With sensori-motor, one realizes themselves as an agent of action and begins to perform with desires. With pre-operational, the individual apprehends knowledge on how to make good use of language and to associate objects by images and words. With concrete operational, one can think logically about events and objects. With formal operation, one can think rationally about abstruse hypotheses (Atherton, 2009). In Kohlberg's moral development theory, he has three stages: pre-conventional morality,

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conventional morality, and post-conventional morality (Crain, 1985). In pre-conventional morality, in existence are the compliance and correction orientation and individual distinctiveness and barter prevail. In the conventional morality, good interpersonal affiliations exist and conserving the order of society. In post-conventional morality, the contract with society and personal benefits exist. On this level also exists all-inclusive ideals (Crain, 1985). Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development can be used to explain some of Stalin's horrendous behaviors. In the sensorimotor stage in Piaget's theory, intellect is shown through movements without the use of symbols. Because of the limitations of physical interactions and experiences, limited but developing knowledge of the world is accumulating. Children attain object immutability at roughly seven months of age, reflecting memory. Developing new intellectual abilities starts with physical development (mobility). Even some language capabilities are contrived at the end of this stage (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). In view of this theory, in terms of long chains of behavior, Stalin must have learned to conclude his activities to a broader spectrum of situations and accommodate them (Atherton, 2009). Stalin's primary influences during his childhood in terms of the sensorimotor stage were his parents. Stalin "was alternately smothered by his doting mother and beaten by his alcoholic father, who soon abandoned the family." ("Young Stalin," 2007) Since Stalin was abused as a child, he too abused people as he got older .

By the time that children reach the age of the Preoperational Thought stage, children

attain authentic skills in the area of psychological imagery and verbal skills (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). During his childhood Stalin was self-oriented and had a narcissistic view; being a child in the preoperational stage he used these skills egotistically to see the planet from only his context. The Concrete Operations stage of Piaget's theory postulates that children in this stage are capable

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to think more logically and more flexibly as well as more organized (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). They are capable of taking into account another individual's point of view and juggle more than one view at the same time. Stalin at this stage had the capability successfully to pass language, chronological, and reasoning tasks. The Formal Operations stage is unique to Stalin because at this stage Stalin's rationality made him capable of thinking in abstract terms. He could also reason hypothetically. Piaget argued that this was the most important stage of development (Atherton, 2009). It was during the Formal Operations stage that Stalin joined his first Socialist organization, when he was 18, further complimenting his egocentrism. Stalin's behavior can also be explained by Kohlberg's moral development theory. Stalin obviously alternated between the stages and manipulated them for his own benefit, not necessarily consciously. Stalin believed in Kohlberg's pre-conventional notion of obedience and authority. He believed that everyone should obey the law or face severe consequences. Hence, he created the secret police KGB to maintain order and stability within the citizenry. As Crain (1985) has noted, with respect to the implications of Stalin and Kohlberg's stage of conventional morality, "Now the emphasis is on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one's duties so that the social order is maintained." Stalin believed that everyone must obey the law and initiate the values which defined the ideal Soviet. Stalin also abided by the idea of Kohlberg's post-conventional morality level of social contract and individual rights, even though Stalin was very immoral. Stalin believed that society needed to function well and be organized. He believed that a well-functioning society was a totalitarian state. Indeed, Stalin controlled everything about the Soviet Union, including the economy, the state, mass media, and created a form of state terrorism via the KGB (Totalitarianism, 2009). Since Stalin believed that a wellorganized society was a totalitarian state, he used that to justify his murdering of millions of

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people. Joseph Stalin was an evil man who would use whatever means necessary to expand his ambitions. He killed millions of people in order to achieve his political, ideological, and military agendas. Stalin was born in Georgia and was the only child to live with respect to his mother's other three children. Stalin went to a prestigious college and received an honorary award for his intelligence. Stalin was abused by his mother and father as a child. As a result, Joseph Stalin was what could be termed as a destructive egomaniac. He too abused people as he got older. Two main theories exist that can be used to explain Stalin's bizarre behavior: Piaget's developmental theory and Kohlberg's moral development theory. Joseph Stalin will be a figure to be remembered for centuries to come.

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References Atherton, J. S. (2009). Piaget's developmental theory. Retrieved on July 1st, 2009, from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm Crain, W.C. (1985). Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Retrieved on July 2nd, 2009, from http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm Encyclopedia Britannica. (2009). Joseph Stalin. Retrieved on July 1st, 2009, from http://www.biography.com/articles/Joseph-Stalin-9491723 Grey, I. (1979). Stalin: Man of History. Retrieved on July 5th, 2009, from http://www.plp.org/books/Stalin/node10.html Huitt, W. & Hummel, H. W. (2003). Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. Retrieved on July 1st, 2009, from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html Jones, A. (2002). Stalin's Purges. Retrieved on July 5th, 2009 from http://www.gendercide.org/case_stalin.html Joseph Stalin. (2009). Retrieved on July 5th, 2009, from http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/stalin.html Learning Theories. (2009). Social Development Theory (Vygotsky). Retrieved on July 1st, 2009, from http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html McNeal, R. (1988). Stalin: Man and Ruler. New York: New York University Press. p. 9 Rogovin, V. (1996). Stalin's Great Terror. Retrieved on July 5th, 2009, from http://www.wsws.org/exhibits/1937/lecture1.htm Stalin's Childhood. (2009). Retrieved on July 5th, 2009, from http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/stalin/section1.html The Great Terror. (2009). SparkNotes. Retrieved on July 1st, 2009, from

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http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/stalin/section8.rhtml Totalitarianism. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 03, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/600435/totalitarianism Young Stalin. (2007). The Seattle Times. Retrieved on July 05, 2009, from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2003959238_youngstalin21.html