Why did Bettelheim write about Joey
Bettelheim wrote about Joey to provide evidence for his hypothesis that bad parenting is what makes children autistic. That because Joey's parents were indifferent towards him and had him on a strict and rigid schedule, is what made him into a machine.
However, Bettelheim had more than one purpose when writing the psychoanalysis on Joey. One of those purposes is that Joey's story carried a powerful message, a message that Bettelheim wanted to share with the world. He wanted to address the fear of machines controlling and overpowering our humanity. Joey's story directly faces this problem as in his case, he believes machines control his body. This provides an extreme and real case of when a machine overpowers a human being. It is both startling and intimidating to think that can be possible.
Bettelheim wants his audience to understand that no matter how powerful machines become, humans will always possess something that other creatures and machines can never possess. Joey also comes to realize this and that becomes the concluding element of his therapy with Dr. Bettelheim. Once Joey has realize the importance of being human, he was happy to consider himself one.
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