This work will talk about the movie “Pupille” directed by Jeanne Herry in 2018. It will be divided in several parts: first we will make a fast summary of this film, then we will explain the various approached concepts relating to the psychology, and finally we will approach my point of view on this one.
This film tells the story of Theo, given up for adoption by his biological mother on the day of his birth. The latter, then 21 years old, explains to the social worker contacted by the maternity hospital that she does not feel capable of taking care of him at the moment and that she prefers to entrust him to a family who really wants a child, and who will be able to provide adequately for all his needs. Following this announcement, we learn that she has two months to reconsider her decision. Then follows the setting in motion of the child welfare and adoption services. Theo was first placed with a family assistant, Jean, for the first three months of his life, whose mission was to provide a reassuring and loving environment for this child. At the same time, the adoption service struggled to find the person who would become his adoptive mother. After processing many potential files, their choice ended up being Alice. She is 41 years old, lives alone and has been fighting for 8 years to be entrusted with a child. This film retraces all the steps Theo will go through from his birth to his adoption: whether it is his living environment, his emotional states, or the different actors gravitating around him.
Through this cinematographic work, we can indeed learn a lot about the psychic suffering of a toddler as well as about the stakes of adoption. These notions are closely linked to child psychology in general and more particularly to the theory of attachment. Indeed, adopted children experience a rupture of relationships with their first attachment figures and must learn to create new ones. In this case, the film shows the difficulty of this child to trust the Other again. Indeed, several alarming signals are noted by the doctors, the psychologist and the family assistant as to his behavior: silent posture “baby too wise”, hypotonia (little movement, impression of a soft baby who lets himself go when carrying), sleeps a lot, less cries, does not ask for food, relational withdrawal. These multiple clinical signs are both somatic and relational. By using his body, the baby “says his suffering”. This is the challenge for the various professionals who work with the child: to allow the child to build secure attachment representations even though his or her first attachment experiences are not secure. In this case, they will do everything possible to understand where this baby’s malaise comes from. It is the social worker who will then bring to light an important point in his journey: Theo’s biological mother did not say goodbye to him. She came to see him before leaving as the social worker had advised her, but could not verbalize. However, as this film reminds us, babies certainly do not understand words but are able to understand the intention of words. This event makes the whole care process lose its meaning, since the infant will not establish a link between the different actors surrounding him. The social worker decides to explain the situation to him, as well as the intentions of his biological mother. Making sense of something where there is none is indeed crucial in all psychological care. Here, Theo, thanks to the interactions with this social worker and to the various positive and reassuring experiences that he will live with his family assistant will be able to gradually authorize himself to express his needs and to rely on the adult. Finally, for this child, developing an attachment relationship with his family assistant is a necessity; it will have a therapeutic role. He learns a relationship system based on emotional sharing. This is possible thanks to the support of the foster family by the social workers and the psychologist. Indeed, there are several important challenges that must be met for a placement to be considered successful (Zeanah et al., 2011):
1) Ensuring that caregivers are emotionally engaged and become true attachment figures
2) Train and educate caregivers on the specific needs of children in care to enable them to develop secure attachment
3) To ensure that the child sees him/herself as an important, unique person and a priority to the foster family
4) Ensure that the family assistants support the relationship with the biological parents and favour the transitions between the two families (biological and adoptive)
Indeed, concerning this last point, we can observe a transitional period where Jean welcomes Theo’s future adoptive mother at his home several times. These times allow the child to establish a first contact with this new attachment figure who presents himself to him while maintaining a continuity in the care. The goal is to share knowledge, as well as to create a link between the child and the future parent so that there is an emotional connection (accordage affectif). The latter is described by Stern as the dynamic process by which the mother synchronizes with her child. This notion is crucial for the psychological well-being of a child.
Finally, I liked this film very much because it seemed to me fair in the presentation of the different stakes of the adoption. This, as much from the child’s point of view as from the point of view of the different actors surrounding him. It traces the psychological difficulties linked to each subject and I find that it takes up elements that I have seen in class quite well. Moreover, the way it is filmed accentuates the key points: for example, zoomed-in shots on the child’s eyes give a more telling scope to his avoidance actions. Personally, I think it is important to emphasize the importance of the professions presented here and the importance they have in a child’s life. We often hear in the media only what is wrong with child welfare, but I think that this film highlights what can be beautiful if the different professions listen to each other and adjust. Finally, I found that a sentence said by the adoption service educator to the future adoptive mother in the film was very relevant to conclude : “A good candidate for adoption is not someone who has not experienced anything painful in his life. We all have minefields and flower fields. What we want to know is if you have succeeded in clearing your field”. Indeed, I find that it summarizes very well the whole aim of psychology.
Key Terms :
- Social worker : assistante sociale
- Attachment : attachement
- Toddlers : nourrisson
- Adoption : adoption
- Link : lien
- Child welfare : protection de l’enfance
Words I had learned :
- Foster family : famille d’adoption
- relational withdrawal : retrait relationnel
- wise : sage