Case Study: The Mccoy Family

Johnson provides a brief account of the novella 's plot, together with his own perspective on the fact that so much of literature and literary analysis concentrates on the relationships that the characters have. In this case, the author examines the family as composed of children of ineffectual parents. While this writer does not know this with certainty, it is possible that many cases requiring family therapy are due to this very cause. The author then goes on to discuss the family in the context of the greater social system.

Over time, Moore became a product of the system by being raised in a single-parent household while “he had never met his father” (Moore 16) and his mother “was left with two alcoholic, abusive men who shared the DNA of her two children but no husband or dad for her boys” (Moore 17). Moore was raised in the best way possible that his mother knew how to raise him, however it didn’t cut it. Mary, Moore’s mother, was an extremely hard worker and was working long hours to support her family but that meant she was not around to parent Wes as much as she should’ve. With Moore’s lack of a father figure, his brother Tony steps in to help guide him because “he felt his brother’s life could be saved” (Moore 27) and Tony wanted Wes to try and escape the cycle of systematic oppression within their environment. The domestic aspect of Moore’s environment strongly influenced the decisions he made on a day to day basis because his home life was non-existent and there was a severe lack of parenting. In the end, Moore became a product of how he was raised and the troubles that existed within his household because of Tony’s confusing messages of staying out of trouble and doing the right thing while he goes and sells drugs, his mother’s lack of attention to Wes, and the lack of a father figure that would guide him in a better direction. These aspects of his home environment add up to the end result of Moore’s life and the tragedy that Tony pushed for him to stay away

Ed is described as the ‘cornerstone of mediocrity’ who lives in a ‘shack’ in a less desirable part of town, who has ‘no real potential’. Throughout the text Ed completes an array of different tasks giving the readers an inside perspective of the experiences. ‘Old lady Milla’ is one of Ed’s many tasks, he supplies her with the company she so desperately needs, but not only did he help her, she ‘put a piece of her heart inside’ him. The readers see Ed’s transformation from ‘dickhead Ed’ to a kind gentlemen willing to spend his time reading to a ‘lonely’ ‘old lady’ of which he barely knows. One of the toughest challenges Ed faces is his Ma, ‘one of his darkest hours’ as Ed is forced to confront his mother.

Whether you agree with Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, or Erik Erickson, theoretical approaches to human nature all agree that early childhood years play a major part of our conscious and unconscious decisions we make. For instance, even though both Wes Moore’s were brought up without a father in their home, the reality is that these absences meant something different to each of them. For Wes 1 his father died an unnecessary death due to lack of training of emergency personnel. He remembered his dad as being compassionate, loving, and kind. Wes 1 always knew that if given the choice, his father would have stood by him throughout his life. Wes 2, however, is left with negative fatherly feelings. In the three times they were together, his own father acted as though he didn’t recognize him. What’s worse is that Wes 2 knew that his dad didn’t want to know him, he chose to leave. That left not only a hole where there should have been a very important role model, it left rejection in its place. When Wes 1 was visiting Wes 2 in the jail and asked about the impact his father had on his life, the second Wes said, “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be. We’re going to mourn their absence in different ways” (Moore page 3). Later in the chapter Wes 1 gets emotional thinking about how he misses his father. He was left,

During the second session, the family was provided individual opportunities to relate his or her perceptions of the struggles in the family. Using Claudia as the identified patient, the family related struggles directly associated with Claudia’s behavior (Nichols, 2013, p. 15). Whitaker (1978) conceptualized the issues in a different perspective stating, “sounds like Claudia is in charge of getting Mom and Dad to start fighting, and you and Laura are in charge of helping them stop” (p. 11). Whitaker also indicated the parallels involving Carolyn’s anger at Claudia for hiding in her room and David’s propensity to hide in his study (p. 11). Using the unconscious frame of reference from session one, another conceptualization that was presented was that of Don’s willingness to talk as the reason that the family had not wanted to bring him to the first session (p. 12).

Edelman opens her essay by recalling the countless hours early in her marriage in which her husband spent working (50). With his hours increasing, she unwillingly cut back on her own work hours to care for their child. Edelman then spends time sharing her disillusionment with the newfound reality of her

The Winchester family, John (44), Mary (43), Dean (17), and Sam (15), have come to therapy to seek help for various issues. John and Mary are on the verge of divorce; Dean is skipping school, fighting, and shoplifting, and Sam has withdrawn completely from the family. The family was ordered to attend therapy after the Military Police (MPs) responded to a call from neighbors after an especially loud verbal altercation between John and Dean, in which John threatened to physically harm Dean if he did not leave the premises. John was order to move into the barracks and Mary is threatening to file for divorce.

    Humans have come to a conclusion that all lives are different, but all go through many hardships and tragedies. The impact from a slight difference can vary to be very vast to very small, such a slight difference, however, can change a person’s life as a whole. In the book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore there is a difference that can be identified between the author’s life and that of the other Wes. This difference, though can be very critical and is ultimately able to lead to a path of triumph or failure for an individual. The lack of involvement a mother has for their child can fundamentally deprive them from succeeding, and parent involvement has the opportunity to

The father’s way of dealing with his inner issues is reflected by the way he distracts himself with hobbies of the women he loves. This illustrates how a sudden tragedy can influence someone’s lifestyle. In fact, before his first wife passed away he showed a lot of interest in art and when she died he was lost and devastated ,” (…) after mom died, my sister and I used to worry about his living alone. And he was lonely.We knew that after putting in his usual twelve-hours workday, he would return to the empty house (...) then read medical journals until it was time to go to sleep.”(16). This implies that

It is easy to blame a child’s upbringing when something goes wrong in their teenage and adult life. However, both Wes Moore’s had a similar childhood yet still ended up with different fates. For example, both of them had absent fathers and were raised by a single parent One of them describes their situation perfectly by telling the other. “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be “ (Moore 3). A situation where the father is absent is commonly blamed for a misguided life but it is later evident that although there was no father, one of the Wes Moore’s was able to thrive in a positive manner. Since there was a lack of fatherhood, both of them lacked role models, specifically ones that would lead to live positive lives. One Wes Moore chose to retaliate by almost stabbing a neighborhood kid because “it was a pride issue”(Moore 32) and

Family and the values of the adults within a family are often left under-analyzed and neglected. In the Wes’ case, some may say that family values are all that matter. Although both boys had a loving and compassionate mother who obviously wanted the best for them, Wes’ mom failed to take advantage of a chance to discipline her son and this one decision led him down a road which included prison time, and his namesake had an intense family support system that placed him in the ideal position to take advantage of his opportunities and would lead him onto success. The author even admits that he, “found [himself] surrounded by people starting with [his] mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and leading to a string of wonderful role models and mentors

In this story, it fascinated me when it made reference about the therapist needing to be transferable to the mother or father role in the family regardless of the therapist’s sex. In this case the clients are the traditional mother and father with two male co-therapists. Whitaker was seen taking on the maternal role when addressing Carolyn’s childhood and current issues with her mother while Napier observed the conversation. This was a great part of the book which portrayed isomorphism. This idea of being able to stay neutral as well as to identify with the role of mother or father adds another layer of complexity to help guide the context of the situation.

When Kevin sees his father almost dying, he begins to think of the fatherless children in the world. He extends grace towards fathers in general by thinking how important a role they play in a child’s life, regardless of the mistakes that they might make. After thinking about fathers in general, he then thinks about his own father and as Bailey puts it, “ The caring-the carefulness-which was the belief in holding on to something worth preserving and passing on. Love. Kevin felt the tide of emotion that had been at its lowest ebb flowing back into him again. He looked to his Dad”. (259-260). Instead of remaining angry at his Dad for previous conflicts or for accidentally shooting his brother, Kevin extends grace to his Dad when he chooses instead to think and remember about all the love and caring his father has ever shown him. When he begins to feel that love for his father, his emotions pick up and that gives him the grace to keep on going without emotionally breaking down.

The Moore family is a family that is made up of three generations, starting with the grandparents, parents, along with the children. The Moore family also consist of multiple racial groups, such as African American and Caucasian that causes divided within the family because of the cultural differences within each group. The Moore family is made up of Jessica, Caucasian mother, Ed, African American father, Derrick, adopted African American son, Terrence, Jessica’s biological biracial son, and Debbie, Ed’s biological biracial daughter. With the listing of the both husband and wife along with the children, it is clear that this family has encounter a few life transitions, trajectories, cohorts, turning points, and life events. Understanding life course perspective will assist with understanding the family dynamics that are displayed within the Moore family. Life transitions, trajectories, cohorts, turning points, life events, along with other terms will be defined and discussed to fully examine the Moore’s family behavior and life events that guided their family’s development. With all of the issues that the Moore family has encountered both Jessica’s and Ed’s marital problems may be seen as the core of their family’s dysfunction, therefore, this will be explained under the life course perspective.

After the death of her husband, Mother struggles to keep her family together by providing the support and guidance they need, and encouraging them to use good judgment and think of the family as a whole before making their decisions. As the family faces various obstacles, each seemingly more severe than the last, Mother begins