General summary
Rosa Lee Cunningham, a drug addict has been experiencing poverty since she was young. Lee is a mother of eight children, fathered by six different men. Out of all her children, only two of them did not follow her footsteps. Rosa lee provided for her family by stealing goods, prostituting, and selling drugs. Her and her children live together in one-bedroom apartments. They go from apartment to apartment. Lee also shares her apartments with her grandkids as well.
Lee along with most of her children have been in and out of the justice system. They have been convicted of crime such as, selling drugs, shoplifting, and even murder. Mr. Dash a reporter for Washington Post, spent years writing about the life of Ms. Rosa Lee and her
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Mr. Dash is playing the role of the systems feedback. He gives feedback even when it is not wanted. Although Rosa Lee does not always use his feedback to change her behavior, she is aware of the feedback given. At first it seemed as though this system was closed. As the Mr. Dash continued with the interviews, it was clear that this system was open. They did not care that him or anyone else knew they were on drugs. Lee did not care that anyone knew she was shoplifting. She would sell the good that she stole from the stores. Drugs was the stability within this family. Everyone was satisfied when they had drugs in their system. They would go without food and electricity just so they could use drugs.
The subsystem of this system would be the relationship between Rosa Lee and her daughter Patty. They have a good relationship with each other. I the book Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America, there is a whole chapter about her and patty’s relationship. This is unlike another other relationship because they are close and Patty had her first time experiences with her mother. Patty’s first time using drugs was with her mother. Patty’s first time prostituting gig was set up by Rosa Lee. The two did everything together. Rosa Lee would even get extra pills for her and Patty’s HIV