The Impacts of Abusive Environment on Psychological Development of Children Depicted in Sheila, a Character from Torey Hayden’s ‘One Child’ (A Study Case of Psychosocial by Erik Erikson)

Personality is the dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations. Personality development is influenced by external factors such as family, friends and society. The personality development influenced by external factors is reflected in Sheila, a main character from One Child novel written by Torey Hayden. The main concern in this study is the process of Sheila’s personality development and her struggle in altering her personality to gain psychosocial virtues. Finding out whether it is possible for her to get positive changes in her personality with her new social environment with the help of Hayden as her teacher and her new friends. This study reveals in the result findings how Sheila’s personality development is influenced by her social environment, especially by the people around her. Because of Hayden’s and her new friends’ help in the special class, Sheila is able to gain the virtue of hope, determination, purpose and competency to prove that personality can be altered by the good and supportive social environment.