Juliette Gordon Low:
Analysis of Development

By: Mary E. Dean

May 3, 2014

Lifespan Development

Walden University

Spring Quarter 2014

Prof. V. Salzer

Juliette Gordon Low is most recognized for founding and running what is now known as Girl Scouts of America. Her insight and forward thinking for her time led to this astonishing achievement but what did it take for her to get there, who or what influenced her to rise above the conventional thinking of her time and forge to such great heights? In this analysis I hope to discover answers to that question while exploring age old concepts like nature versus nurture and comparing such development theories like Erickson’s stages of development and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Juliette Gordon Low, or Daisy as she was known in her childhood, was born October 31, 1860 into a life of privilege in Savannah, GA. Juliette was the second oldest of six children. Her father William Washington Gordon was born in the south and strongly believed in the true southern traditions such as owning slaves and that the South should succeed from the Union. While her mother, Eleanor Lytle Kinzie whose family helped to found the city of Chicago and believed intensely in abolition. These opposing views caused much anguish for Juliette’s mother during the Civil War and would play a strong influence on the family dynamics as Juliette grew up. While her parents described her has having a sweet personality and caring disposition her sibling often referred to her as “Crazy Daisy”. This nickname was derived from her lack of keeping track of time, her experiments that frequently went awry and from her “acts of kindness” that often turned into good nature disasters. As Juliette grew older her empathy towards others and her out of the box outlook on life became extremely apparent (Biography, 2014).
Juliette was educated at some of the finest school of the day, such as the Virginia Female Institute and the Edgehill School. Due to the expectations of the time, at the age of 26, Juliette married a wealthy cotton merchant, William McKay Low, whom he had meet while pursuing her dream of being a painter in New York. However, the union would not be one of bliss, as William was unfaithful in his marriage. Juliette filed for divorce but before finalization William died of a heart attack and it was then that Juliette found out the extent of his deception within their marriage as William had changed his will and left most of his wealth to his mistress, leaving Juliette with only a monthly stipend and the home in Savannah, Ga. (Cordery, 2012)
Upon losing her husband and most of her money, Juliette yearned for a sense of purpose in her life. She began traveling to France, Italy, India and Egypt. During this time she met a British general named Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts. The two hared many likes and similarities in family upbringing and became instant friends. They immediately began to build on the concept of the Boy Scouts to formulate what was then known as Girl Guides for the many girls that were showing up to their brother’s Boy Scout meeting eager to learn new and exciting skills. The main ideology that stayed in the forefront of Juliette’s mind was that learning should be fun. Juliette’s first troops were started in Scotland and London for girls in various socioeconomic levels. Juliette was so astounded by the improvement in the girl’s self-esteem that she decided to go back to America and start a program in her home town of Savannah. Juliette registered the first troop of 18 girls in what would be known as The American Girl Guides in March 1912. In 1913, Juliette renamed the group the “Girl Scouts” and used her own money and resources from friends, family and community contacts to fund the organization. Juliette Gordon Low was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1923 but kept it a secret in order to continue her work on her final mission, making the Girl Scouts ambassadors of peace throughout the world. Juliette Gordon Low died of breast cancer in 1927 leaving a legacy of empowering women with a membership of over 3.7 million (Biography, 2014).

Nature/Nurture The nature versus nurture debate has been raging for centuries, which and/or how much of each make up who we are and how we act. It has been long accepted that certain physical characteristics of are solely linked to our genetic make (nature). Such things as eye color, hair color and texture, pigmentation of our skin and certain diseases are all functions of the genes we inherit. But consider our behavior, how much of how we act comes from the genetic code we inherit and how much is learned through observation and environment? According to some like Bandura and Skinner our behaviors and even such things as language are learned through observation, imitation and behavior shaping tools (McLeod, 2007) In the case of Juliette Gordon Low nature versus nurture is definitely a question of how much instead of which one. There are several instances that the empiricists (extreme environmentalist) would consider influential in her life. Juliette was born into a wealthy family with paternal roots in the south and maternal heritage from the north. This being said, her families’ (both paternal and maternal) socioeconomic status had a great influence on her development. Due to her family’s wealth she was able to attend very prestigious schools, travel, and be exposed to many worldly things. This exposure could have played a role in ability/desire to think outside the box and not be limited but the era’s narrow minded perceptions of female ability. Another event that could have great influence in Juliette’s development was her family’s involvement in the Civil War. Her father was a die-hard southern gentleman who fought for the rebels, while her mother was a woman of the north who believed in abolition of such ideas as slavery. This friction within the family and her mother’s overwhelming anxiety of feeling torn between two very opposing ideals had the potential to shape Juliette’s views of values and morals. As her father fought for the south, her mother took the children and fled to the north where she was able to gain a great appreciation and understanding for different cultures such the native Indians, a cultural identity which Juliette became immersed in and idealized for the rest of her life (Biography, 2014). This appreciation for diversity within people, society and cultures is shown throughout her life living abroad and in her life’s work in Savannah, GA. It is also visualized in her finale quest to make her legacy one of peace.

Analysis of cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical changes on development

Cognitive, emotional, and physical changes happen throughout a person’s lifetime. How one reacts to such changes can be a pivotal insight into a person’s development. During Juliette’s life there were two profound physical changes that she encountered; 1) hearing loss due to an accident which eventually resulted in deafness in both ears; 2) diagnosis and subsequent death of breast cancer. These physical changes while having a great impact on her health in general were viewed by Juliette herself as mere obstacles to over-come. As reported in many of the biography written about her, Juliette often used her deafness to her advantage by pretending not to hear the refusals of her peers when asked to help her organization. It is said she would often turn away and say great I will see there, or I will look forward to your financial donation to my Girl Scouts and walk away, leaving the other party with no other outlet than to oblige her wishes (Cordery, 2012) By most consideration Juliette wanted for little financially but she still endured a socio-economic change during her adult life. Upon the death of her husband, who himself was a wealthy cotton broker, Juliette found herself financial unstable due to her husband leaving the bulk of his estate to his mistress. While she was by no means destitute her finances had changed considerably. Many woman of the era would have given up and gone back to live in the parental family home, but not Juliette she fought in court to regain what she felt was rightfully hers. Juliette was awarded the estate home of her late husband’s in Savannah, GA and a small monthly stipend. This again shows how Juliette did not let the conventions of her time influence her actions but instead she conceded to her own thoughts and behaviors and fought for what she felt was correct and just.

Milestones/Turning Points: A) Classical Theory: (Vygotsky’s {1896-1934} Social Development Theory)
The theoretical framework of Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory states the social
Interactions play a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky’s goes on to state that “every function in a child’s cultural development appears twice: first on a social level and later on an individual level, first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)” (Vygotsky, 1978). This theory can be used to analysis Juliette’s cognitive development. Being a child of privilege Juliette was exposed to many different people, cultures and social environments. Juliette observed her parent’s, grandparent’s and other influential individuals’ reactions and interactions to people different from them and modeled this behavior when socially necessary (interpsychological). Later in life Juliette was able to takes these cultural functions and use them on a deeper more individual level, such as in her appreciation for the Indian cultures and her understanding that hard work and perseverance can produce a positive outcome (intrapsychological).
B) Contemporary Theory: (Bandura’s {1925 - } Social Cognitive Theory)
Bandura speaks of cognitive development in the sense of learning thru social schemes and vicarious reinforcements. “People act based upon what they think might happen.” Bandura believes that children act upon what they see in their environment; meaning if a child sees others being punished or rewarded for an action then the child will choose whether to repeat the action or not based on their perceived meaning of the reward or punishment. Yet he also states that a child can affect or influences their own environment by the way the child acts within that environment; if a child negatively behaves often stress levels go up for the parents/caregivers often meet that child’s behaviors with negative reactions causing a cycle of negative behaviors by the child and negative reactions by the parents/caregivers (Ormrod, 2003) Through this dogma of social cognitive development learning is extremely individualized and tailored by personal experiences and environments. With this in mind, Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory can be used to analysis Juliette’s development by looking at many of the environments and situations she encountered as a child and an adult and the way people including Juliette herself responded to each. Let’s look at for example the way Juliette’s siblings and peers described her as a child. It was often said that Juliette was absent minded, showed very little concern for time and often ended up in many mishaps due to one scheme or another. Juliette’s constant “thinking outside of the box” for her era could have caused many negative outcomes socially and in turn personally if these mishaps and personality characteristics had been perceived by her family and peers as not correct or unacceptable. Instead they were viewed in a manner that implied while being annoying at times it was just who Juliette was. This in turn helped Juliette to build and capture a true adventurous spirit and to build on the belief that she could do whatever she set her mind to do. Another example being her persistence on moving to New York in order to become a painter and support herself, while she did eventually conform to social norms and marry, it was short lived and she did in the end manager to “take care of herself” without the conventions of marriage.

Impact of diversity (gender, race, culture, socioeconomic, religion, physical limitations etc.) In the research preformed in preparing for this project, I found that the impact of diversity on Juliette herself was minimal. Juliette did benefit greatly both personally, socially and professionally from her socio-economic status in her home town of Savannah, GA and abroad she did encounter many struggles. Starting in childhood with the separation of her father during the war, her eventually deafness in both ears, the loss of her husband and her financial stability, all the way to her decision to keep her diagnosis of breast cancer a secret Juliette rose to every occasion with a lion’s spirits, even extending that resilience to her organization by welcoming girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded in many other activities. Diversity whether gender (norms for females in that era), cultural (north/south or from different parts of the world), socioeconomic (privileged/poor), physical (deafness) or emotional (not quite ever fitting in with peers and/or society) didn’t seem to stop Juliette’s spirits.
She used her place among society to build, lead, grow and sustain a legacy that benefited all girls. Juliette was able to see beyond her environment and the limitations set by societal norms of the times and see a future where her intrapsychological schemes and beliefs were accepted and embraced. Hers is a living legacy created by many of the various people she befriended along the way. After her death in 1927, her friends established the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund to help finance international projects got the Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world.
References

Cordery, S.A. (2012) Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts. Penguin Publishing. New York: New York.
Juliette Gordon Low. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved May 3, 2014 from http://www.biogrpahy.com/juliette-gordon-low.
McLeod, S.A. (2007) Nature Nurture in Psychology. Retrieved May 3, 2014 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnuture.html.
Ormond, J.E. (2003). Lifespan Development and Learning (University of Phoenix Ed.) Pearson Publishing: Boston.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.