Norma Jean Attachment Theory

and had decided that Norma Jeane would not be coming with the family (Owings, 2013). Grace wanted to avoid placing Norma Jeane back in an orphanage so she came up with the next possible idea: marrying Norma Jeane off to the neighbor, Jim Dougherty. The two had become close while she lived with the Goddards and attended school together. Norma Jeane was about to turn sixteen, the legal marrying age in the state of California, and therefore would be able to marry Jim (Schwarz, 1999). This was all in hopes that Norma Jeane would finally have a family and someone to love her unconditionally. Grace had wanted to be sure that Norma Jeane would never have to be in an orphanage again or move around between friends’ homes. On June 19, 1942, Jim …show more content…
It was never meant to last; it was simply a way for Grace and Jim’s mother, Ethel, to keep Norma Jeane from suffering through more time at the orphanage. The relationship was forced; Jim did not have the will to provide the love and support that Norma Jeane needed. This relationship was in no way helpful to Norma Jeane’s emotional state and her poor relationship with Jim could have also been due to effects of attachment disorder. Norma Jeane dropped out of high school and moved with Jim to Catalina Island where he was stationed as part of the United States Merchant Marines (Owings, 2013). She felt as if Jim was abandoning her because he had wanted to join the military. While Jim was at sea working, Norma Jeane got a job that led to greater opportunities for her. She had also changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in order to give herself a better shot at being successful (Owings, 2013). Jim was not very fond of his wife working and being successful because he wanted a housewife. Norma Jeane was not willing to give up her budding career to be home where her husband was constantly leaving her for months at a time to go work overseas. In 1946, her mother, Gladys, came to live with Jim and Norma Jeane. Gladys only lived with them for a short while, but during that time Norma Jeane filed for divorce. Their relationship was not working out because of Jim’s expectations of Norma Jeane to be his homemaker and her insecurities and abandonment