Abnormal Psychology in the Movies

Abnormal Psychology in the Movies

 

For your final project you will be writing a paper in APA 7 format. (See details below.)  Your paper should be approximately 4-5 pages or 1200-1500 words.  Your paper will focus on the main character of the movie “Girl Interrupted.” This character suffers from a particular mental illness (or illnesses) covered in this course.  

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After watching your selected movie, it’s time to focus on the writing portion of this assignment.  The goal of your paper is to analyze the main character and her abnormal psychology. 

Please utilize the following headers within your paper:

1. Introduction: Introduce the character you are writing on and summarize the plot
2. Symptoms & Diagnosis:  What specific symptoms did the character experience in the movie?  What diagnosis would you give them?
3. Nature or Nurture: Was the character’s mental illness a result of biological or environmental influences?  Explain.
4. Treatment: What type of treatment would you recommend for the character?  Be specific.
5. Prognosis: Good or bad?  Why?
6. Conclusion: Summarize your main points and reflect.  Did you enjoy the movie?  Did the movie teach you anything you didn’t know already about mental illness?  Was it a realistic portrayal of mental illness?
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I would like you to reference at least three sources in this paper.  The textbook may be one of your sources (Kearney, C. & Trull, T. (2015). Abnormal psychology and life: A dimensional approach. (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.)

 

Here are some helpful tips and examples:

 

Parenthetical (In-Text) Citations

• A parenthetical (in-text) citation is when you place the source in parenthesis ( ) right after the sentence you cited instead of waiting until the end of the paper.  It helps the reader to know exactly what sentences and paragraphs are taken from particular sources.
• Place the author’s name and the source’s date of publication in parentheses immediately after the end of the cited material. If it is a direct quote, include the page number as well. For example:
  • “Psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental processes” (Coon, 2012 p. 12).
  • If you have paraphrased the information then you do not need to include the page number. For example: Psychology is a scientific field that specifically studies both mental processes and the associated behaviors (Coon, 2012).
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Helpful Tips

• Always use spell and grammar check
• Make sure you indented the paragraphs (5 spaces in)
• Balance – Each paragraph should be similar in length

REMINDER: MUST BE IN APA7 FORMAT!

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