Criminology

Case study 1 John’s mother is worried about him. Previously an excellent student and an active sportsman he is not doin" rel="nofollow">ing well at school. He has missed football practice a few times now. He doesn’t seem to want to go out with his mates on Saturday night and doesn’t want to talk to any of them on the phone. His girlfriend broke off the relationship with him a couple of months ago and he has been morose and withdrawn sin" rel="nofollow">ince then. When his mum tried to talk to him about it he snapped that it was “none of her busin" rel="nofollow">iness” and that he was “over it”. John also had a bad bout of the flu and needed antibiotics to treat a respiratory in" rel="nofollow">infection after the flu. John is in" rel="nofollow">in his fin" rel="nofollow">inal year of school and is mother wants him to do well. She thin" rel="nofollow">inks he is studyin" rel="nofollow">ing late at night because she can see that his bedroom light is on and he is on the computer. He fin" rel="nofollow">inds it difficult to get up in" rel="nofollow">in the mornin" rel="nofollow">ing to go to school and is very irritable when she comes in" rel="nofollow">in to get him out of bed to get breakfast and go to school. He has been skippin" rel="nofollow">ing breakfast sayin" rel="nofollow">ing he will eat at school when he gets there. His mum doesn’t know what to do. John is 18 so he is an adult and she feels she can’t force him to go and seek help. She has asked her GP what to do and the GP has said she is happy to talk with John but that he should make the appoin" rel="nofollow">intment and come in" rel="nofollow">in on his own. Case study 2 Mrs Jones is worried about her daughter Katie. She has asked her GP if it is normal for young women to go on diets and to be obsessed about losin" rel="nofollow">ing weight. Her GP reassured her that it was a usual part of growin" rel="nofollow">ing up – particularly for girls – and that they usually grew out of it. Mrs Jones is not sure about this advice from her doctor but she thin" rel="nofollow">inks perhaps Katie will get over it now that she is workin" rel="nofollow">ing and not under a lot of stress. Katie assures her that she is all right and that she is eatin" rel="nofollow">ing ok now. But when she thin" rel="nofollow">inks about it, Katie’s mum hasn’t actually seen Katie eat in" rel="nofollow">in the last few months. She skips breakfast and tells her mum she gets a cappuccin" rel="nofollow">ino and a muffin" rel="nofollow">in on the way to work. When she gets home, she tells her mum she has already had a snack before she left work and she had a large lunch anyway. Mrs Jones is still worried but accepts Katie’s assurances. Then one of Katie’s workmates rin" rel="nofollow">ings and says that Katie has fain" rel="nofollow">inted at work and could she come in" rel="nofollow">in to take her home. Her workmate says she wonders if it is because Kate hadn’t been eatin" rel="nofollow">ing anythin" rel="nofollow">ing that day. Her workmate says that she also wonders if Kate has a stomach bug or somethin" rel="nofollow">ing because Kate has been throwin" rel="nofollow">ing up at work lately. Mrs Jones goes in" rel="nofollow">into Katie’s work to pick her up and brin" rel="nofollow">ing her home. Case study 3 Julie and Ben have been married for 12 years. They have a son (10) and daughter (3). Julie is a full time carer to their children and Ben currently works two jobs. Julie experienced postnatal depression followin" rel="nofollow">ing both of her children’s births. In the last 6 months Ben has been so pleased to see how his wife is copin" rel="nofollow">ing and that the depression has lifted and she seems to be enjoyin" rel="nofollow">ing life again" rel="nofollow">in. She has become more social, plannin" rel="nofollow">ing lots of activities, runnin" rel="nofollow">ing again" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">in the mornin" rel="nofollow">ings at 4am and cleanin" rel="nofollow">ing the house in" rel="nofollow">into the early hours of the mornin" rel="nofollow">ing. In recent weeks however he has noticed that when he returns home from work at 7.30pm before his night job the children are complain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing of bein" rel="nofollow">ing hungry. Ben has started to realise that Julie has not been cookin" rel="nofollow">ing the kid’s din" rel="nofollow">inner. When Ben attempts to talk to Julie about the children she changes the subject. Ben has also received a call from the bank who tells him that their mortgage payments are two months behin" rel="nofollow">ind. Ben in" rel="nofollow">investigates further and notices that their savin" rel="nofollow">ings account has been completely depleted. Julie has recently purchased a $100, 000 car. Case study 4 Mark has been an excellent student throughout high school. He has been captain" rel="nofollow">in of the cricket team and very popular amongst his class mates and teachers. Last year thin" rel="nofollow">ings seemed to fall apart. His grades fell and he didn't seem to be able to concentrate on study. His mother was concerned and took Mark to the local GP who couldn't really see what was wrong. He gave Mark an antidepressant drug and said he would like to see Mark in" rel="nofollow">in a couple of months. The antidepressant didn't seem to help much. Mark's mother noticed a few other thin" rel="nofollow">ings. Mark seemed to have some odd thoughts - he said he could hear thin" rel="nofollow">ings and became upset when she told him she couldn't hear them. Mark became more withdrawn and stopped goin" rel="nofollow">ing out with his friends. He spent a lot of time in" rel="nofollow">in his room. His mother thought perhaps he was studyin" rel="nofollow">ing but he wouldn't talk to her about what his school work was about. Sometimes Mark is quite animated. He talks excitedly about science projects and says he has some unique ideas but that he can't talk about them in" rel="nofollow">in case someone steals them. Mark has done well in" rel="nofollow">in science so his mother thin" rel="nofollow">inks he probably does have some good ideas but is puzzled as to why he won't talk about his ideas. His mother doesn't know what to do or where to go for help. His exams are comin" rel="nofollow">ing up and she is concerned that he doesn't seem to be studyin" rel="nofollow">ing or focussin" rel="nofollow">ing. questions: 1. What are the psychosocial issues for the person in" rel="nofollow">in the case study? 2. What in" rel="nofollow">informal supports are available to the person? 3. What professional and/or agencies are in" rel="nofollow">involved or likely to be in" rel="nofollow">involved with the person? 4. What are the gaps in" rel="nofollow">in service delivery for people with this mental health illness? 5. What advocacy needs to happen for people with this mental health issue?