PSYCH 100
Case Study #2
Part 1
Select a character from the movie to diagnose with a mental disorder. (20pts)
Keep in mind that in an actual case of someone suffering from a disorder, we would want so much more information from a person before ever making an official diagnosis. The goal of this assignment is to see if you can identify diagnostic criteria and analyze the influences on their behavior/symptoms.
Character name:
McMurphy
Describe the character in two to three sentences.
McMurphy is a very wild guy. He is extremely manipulative. McMurphy seems like he didn’t have a mental disorder in the beginning but watching throughout the movie you can see he has many anger problems and has internal deep feelings that he bottles up.
Using the criteria discussed in class, does this character’s behavior meet our definition of abnormality? Name at least two specific criteria.
Yes, the first being that the behavior goes outside social norms, McMurphy gets into physical altercations, which is not something we see everyday and is frowned upon. Also, to go along his fighting habit, another qualification this would meet is causing discomfort, and causing danger to others. So yes it does meet at least 2.
How would you diagnose this character?
Disorder (specific disorder or classification):
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Diagnostic criteria/symptoms (list at least 3 from the DSM-4 packet, DSM-5 criteria, or the textbook):
· Irritable and Aggressive
· Manipulative
· Tells lies & Self Centered.
· Irritable
Examples from the film to support diagnostic criteria/symptoms above:
· We find out he has been sent to the hospital for fighting in prison.
· He befriended the people of the hospital, specifically the chief, in order to get what he wanted. He used them all to find a way to escape (although it didn’t exactly work). When they were voting to watch the game, he played off his charming ways to get more of them to vote.
· McMurphy was charged with rape, which he says it wasn’t rape. He lied and was more focused on the pleasure he received himself
· When he breaks the glass at the nurse’s station when he didn’t get what he wanted.
Part 2
Select one character, and describe how a behaviorist or social psychologist would explain the character’s personality development. Explain your reasoning. (5pts)
Character:
Nurse Ratched
Evidence supporting this claim:
Ratched herself is a caricature of the anal personality, a typical obsessive-compulsive creature with those typical needs for order, cleanliness, and power, with the tendency to treat people like objects, the inability to relax and to relate to others with tolerance for their frailties. She used her power to hold over Billy, since she was friends with his mother, she used that as a way to control Billy.
Select one character. Using ...
