Homework

Assignment
Chapter 15/16: Psychological Disorders and Treatment
46-116-02 Winter 2016
Due: Monday, March 7th by 11:59pm on CLEW

This assignment will be graded out of 25 points and will count towards 10% of your course
grade. Your completed assignment should be submitted through Blackboard in advance of the
deadline. LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. A LATE ASSIGNMENT IS AN
AUTOMATIC ZERO! Only assignments in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDFs will be
accepted. Assignments should be maximum of 6 pages, single-spaced (not including title page
and references), in Times New Roman, 12pt font. If you experience any technical difficulties
with Blackboard, email your assignment to your lab instructor before the deadline.

NOTE on plagiarism: The University of Windsor Policy on Plagiarism states the source of any
ideas, wording, or data obtained from others must be disclosed and properly acknowledged by
citations, quotation marks, and bibliographic references in the proper format. Using the work
of others without acknowledgement is plagiarism. (FAHSS Plagiarism Policy, 2014). If you
plagiarize any part of this assignment you will receive a zero and may be subject to discipline
though the office of Academic Integrity.

It is expected that you will use the course textbook to complete this assignment as well as
outside references. You must provide proper citations for paraphrasing and quotations and
references for your source(s) using APA style. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!!!!

You MUST use the current edition of the course textbook for this assignment.
If you dont have the required textbook, go to the library and use the copy that is on reserve so
that you have access to the correct information including the DSM-5 descriptions of disorders.

*****
Assignment
Find an example of a psychological disorder portrayed in the media - movie, TV show, book,
newspaper, or magazine article. You must find an example of a psychological disorder that is
discussed in Chapter 15 of the course textbook (DO NOT select an example that portrays a
disorder that is not mentioned in Chapter 15 of the text!). The more information included in the
media portrayal, the more material you have to work with for the assignment; therefore, more
detailed portrayals are better!

Part I:
1. Write a three-page, formal, academic research paper about the particular disorder you
chose. (10 pts)
In your paper, be sure to include:
(i)
an introduction to this disorder;

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

a description of the symptoms of the disorder;

a discussion about how this disorder might impact the lives of those who have
it and the friends and family of the person with the disorder;
a discussion of the best type(s) of treatments for this disorder according to the
literature; and
the prognosis for someone diagnosed with this disorder.

Part II: In three pages or less, answer the following questions about your chosen media
portrayal:
Remember, you must still use references and APA for any material that comes from a source
other than your own head!

2. Describe your chosen media portrayal. Summarize the portrayal IN YOUR OWN
WORDS (e.g., During a recent episode of Criminal Minds, Joe Smith took a group of
passengers hostage on a train.). (5pts)

3. State which psychological disorder is being portrayed in your example. Outline which
specific symptoms of the disorder are demonstrated in the media example and how
you were able to identify the symptoms (e.g., He was experiencing hallucinations and
delusions as evidenced by him muttering to himself and referring to people who are
watching him.). (5pts)

4. Discuss whether or not the media portrayal fairly and accurately depicts the disorder
based on the information you gathered for your formal research paper. Specifically, is
this portrayal an exaggeration or misrepresentation of the disorder or does it
realistically illustrate the symptoms as you would expect to see them in real life?
(5pts)