Wes Moore's Theory

There have been many theories and research conducted on mental illness and how it can affect a person and their development through childhood and adolescents and follow them into adulthood as well. Many factors can play a role in a person’s development or onset of mental illness. These factors can have correlation with the environment the person grows up in and is surrounded with, it can be caused by something biological, the people that they surround themselves with, their economic status, and if they have parental involvement or support as well. In the case of Wes Moore, it shows and gives a better understanding of the biological, psychological, and cultural factors that can influence a child and their development, thought process, and

This could be the relationship that the child has with their parents and also the way their parents parenting style is. “Early on-set, persistent antisocial trajectories can be identified as young as 18 months, multiple family stressors, disrupted parent’s child attachments, parental maladjustments, nonresponsive, rejecting, or abusive caregiving” (Shepard & Dickstein, 2009). Many studies conducted have shown results about how important it is for a person to have a supportive support system in order to achieve a healthy life, physically, emotionally, and even mentally. Wes Moore had many risk factors during the crucial child development phase. Wes lacked parental supervision, attention, and motivation. These factors could have helped Wes to develop the motivation to better himself and his life. Wes also lacked having relationships in his life that are considered as healthy relationships, he also did not have positive role models, especially male role models that could have helped him learn and develop behaviors and traits that are seen as social

Even though Wes’s mother worked a lot and couldn’t always supervised Wes, there were other alternatives or programs that she could have put Wes into in order to help keep him occupied and possibly stay away from the negative influences. Wes could have been participating in after school programs, sports, or attend the local YMCA or big brother clubs in his community. These programs could have kept Wes busy but also spent time with positive role models that could have helped him get motivate and show him the right path and provide him the tools and skills to do better and be better. There are programs that the schools or even diversion programs that are developed to teach children discipline, respect, leadership, and other skills to become a better individual and tools in place to help improve their life as well. Wes’s mother could of also try to put Wes, or the entire family into family therapy in order to learn ways to develop a strong support for Wes and even the family in general. Wes’s mother could have also put him into psychotherapy as well. In psychotherapy “psychologists apply scientifically validated procedures to help people develop healthier, more effective habits. There are several approaches to psychotherapy — including