PSY 2010 Week 1 Assignment 3 Case Studies

PSY 2010 Case Study Analysis I

PSY 2010 Week 1 Assignment 3 Case Studies

The first step in understanding the behaviors that are associated with mental disorders is to be able to differentiate the potential symptoms of a mental disorder from the everyday fluctuations or behaviors that we observe. Read the following brief case histories.

Case Study 1:

Bob is a very intelligent, 25-year-old member of a religious organization based on Buddhism. Bob’s working for this organization has caused considerable conflict between him and his parents, who are devout Baptists. Recently, Bob has experienced acute spells of nausea and fatigue that have prevented him from working and have forced him to return home to live with his parents. Various medical tests are being conducted, but as yet, no physical causes for his problems have been found.

Case Study 2: PSY 2010 Week 1 Assignment 3 Case Studies

Mary is a 30-year-old musician who is very dedicated and successful in her work as a teacher in a local high school and as a part-time member of local musical groups. Since her marriage five years ago, which ended in divorce after six months, she has dated very few men. She often worries about her time running out for establishing a good relationship with a man, getting married, and raising a family. Her friends tell her she gets way too anxious around men, and, in general, she needs to relax a little.

Case Study 3: PSY 2010 Week 1 Assignment 3 Case Studies

Jim was vice-president of the freshmen class at a local college and played on the school’s football team. Later that year, he dropped out of these activities and gradually became more and more withdrawn from friends and family. Neglecting to shave and shower, he began to look dirty and unhealthy. He spent most of his time alone in his room and sometimes complained to his parents that he heard voices in the curtains and in the closet. In his sophomore year, he dropped out of school entirely. With increasing anxiety and agitation, he began to worry that the Nazis were plotting to kill his family and kidnap him.

Case Study 4:

Larry, a 37-year-old gay man, has lived for three years with his partner, whom he met in graduate school. Larry works as a psychologist in a large hospital. Although competent in his work, he often feels strained by the pressures of his demanding position. An added source of tension on the job is his not being out with his co-workers, and, thus, he is not able to confide in anyone or talk about his private life. Most of his leisure activities are with good friends who are also part of the local gay community.

1. For each case, identify the individual’s behaviors that seem to be problematic for the patient.
2. For each case study, explain from the biological, psychological, or socio-cultural perspective your decision-making process for identifying the behaviors that may or may not have been associated with the symptoms of a mental disorder.
3. Based on your course and text readings, provide an explanation why you would consider some of these cases to exhibit behaviors that may be associated with problems that occur in everyday life, while others could be associated with symptoms of a mental disorder.

Do not attempt to label or diagnose the mental disorder; there is not enough information in the case study. Just look at the behaviors presented.

Case Study Analysis I

Franklin hears about people being discriminated against at the workplace and in society but rarely experiences it firsthand. Cortez, on the other hand, speaks English poorly and is often subject to derogatory comments from peers and coworkers.

PSY 2010 Week 1 Assignment 3 Case Studies

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.