Traditionally, mental illness was considered a biological problem, either inherited or developed due to genetic vulnerability within the individual. This point of view is termed the medical model. Treatment was provided to the individual in one-to-one meetings with a psychiatrist or sessions with a psychotherapist.
The field of mental health has evolved from the traditional model to one incorporating many more people, factors, causes, and types of treatment. The biopsychosocial-cultural model incorporates biological, psychological, developmental, familial, social, and cultural factors to understand how mental illness develops and how to design effective treatments.
Revisit the following case:
Wes Moore, the author of the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, was surprised when one day, the police approached him for a crime he did not commit. During the investigation, he came to know of another man who had the same name—Wes Moore. The shared name was not the only coincidence: they had both grown up in the same neighborhood at about the same time. Yet, one Wes Moore went on to become a Rhodes scholar, earn honors in the military, work at the White House, and become a leader in the business community; while the other Wes Moore was sentenced to life in prison. The descriptions of the lives of both Wes Moores are illustrative of the power of heredity and environment in the shaping of a person.
As boys, both Wes Moores grew up in poor, single-parent homes and did not apply themselves in primary and secondary school. The author’s father, a newscaster, died when the author was three years old. He and his two sisters were raised by his widowed mother. Before he was a teen, he became disillusioned with school and began getting into trouble in his neighborhood, even having brushes with the law for petty crimes. His mother decided to send him to military school, but he ran away five times before finally giving the school a chance. Once he decided to stay, he gained a strong sense of purpose and developed a strong work ethic.
Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore, who lived in the same area of Baltimore, was about the same age, and was also being raised by a single mother. He was arrested and convicted for first-degree murder of a police officer during a jewelry store robbery. He is serving a life prison sentence.
Important differences between the childhoods of the two boys are notable. The author had two college-educated parents. His father chose to stay with the family, but died at a relatively young age. He was relatively closely supervised. He, his siblings, and his mother lived with his grandparents after his father died. The author’s mother took extreme steps to try to turn him around. She moved several times to try to find safer neighborhoods. She sent him to military school when he exhibited troublesome behavior.
The other Wes Moore’s father was never a part of his life, choosing to abandon the family before his birth. His mother had been accepted to college, but federal budget cuts resulted in the loss of her Pell Grant. She had to abandon her goal of a college education and instead, had to work three jobs to care for her family. Eventually, she became overwhelmed and was unable to provide the kind of structure the author received. As a result, the other Wes Moore was unsupervised much of the time. He began using and selling drugs, later resorting to more serious crimes, like robbery, for money. It was during a robbery that he shot and killed a police officer—a crime that put him in prison for life.
Now pretend that you are the prison psychologist who completed the evaluation of the Wes Moore convicted of murder.
Using the module readings, the Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, complete the following:
- Gather information about the potential causes of Mr. Moore’s outcome.
- Write a report of your findings to be filed in Mr. Moore’s chart and used by professionals who will be helping Mr. Moore. Address the following in your report:
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- Analyze how each of the following played a role in causing or affecting Mr. Moore’s troubled childhood and eventual imprisonment:
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- Biological factors (genetic and physiological)
- Developmental factors
- Psychological factors (emotional and related to thoughts)
- Familial and social factors
- Cultural factors (environmental and multicultural)
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- Evaluate how Mr. Moore’s troubled childhood and eventual imprisonment could have been prevented by early intervention. In addition, explain how that intervention could have been designed to address each of the following:
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- Psychological factors
- Familial and social factors
- Cultural factors
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- Recommend at least two ideas for treatment that Mr. Moore should have received in childhood, based on all of the following:
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- Biological factors
- Psychological factors
- Familial and social factors
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Write a 3–5-page report in Word format (not including the title page and reference page). Include a title and reference page in APA format, and apply APA standards to citation of sources, including in-text citations and full references.
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