"Since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same."– Lois McMaster Bujold
The sex scandal at Penn State certainly is a big news item. I commented briefly about Joe Paterno in yesterday’s blog. More thoughts about Joe and the developmental cycle of man. One can hypothesize that man goes through a series of stages, i.e., Freud and Erikson. We are not going to debate whether it is a psycho sexual or psychosocial model.
In thinking about man’s aging process, I believe that psychologically man must deal with a series of crises at various points in his life cycle. And more importantly, history plays an important part in his later years. As a result, it is imperative to resolve these previous crises so that one can continue and better be able to deal with those that follow. All told, this means that in ones later years, he is either in a good position or not so good position to live out his remaining years in harmony. It is obviously better to be psychologically healthy and content with one’s life, in later years, or we can expect to be bitter, discontented, or in despair.
Although, I have not studied Joe Paterno, it is likely safe to say that this man, 84 years of age, was not ready to retire from being head football coach at Penn State. With that being said, it appears that he successfully dealt with and worked through his previous psychological stage of development referred to as Generativity. Simply put, Generativity refers to giving and guiding others, helping the next generation, modeling and being a good role model in assisting the development and integrity of the young. Needless to say, Joe was successful up to that point. However, the last crisis to master psychologically is ego integrity or despair. Can Coach Joe master or resolve this developmental crisis?
Something happened or interfered with Coach Joe’s, judgment. I do not know at this point, if he is going to be criminally charged because he did not report it to the police? Certainly the University stated that he should have done more with his lack of reporting. This mistake in judgment resulted in one quick stroke with his severance at Penn State.
His identity is simply Joe Paterno Penn State football coach. While, he is still known as coach, an added dimension of a sex scandal tarnishes this man. This is a devastating scandal that might follow him to the grave. In this culture of ours, I can think of others who have experienced a traumatic series of events at the end of their careers i.e. Gen. George Patton and Richard Nixon easily comes to mind. Their wanting years was filled with unhappiness, despair, and turmoil.
When it comes to the last phase of your life, hopefully you will have worked through the developmental issues and live the last cycle with feelings of integrity, well-being, and the knowledge that you have contributed to the younger generations. 20 years ago, I likely would not be thinking about Joe Paterno in these terms or about this phase in my life. Well, I certainly am now. Good luck Joe. It will be interesting to see what you do with the rest of your life. Remember, no one is perfect.
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