Overview:
The purpose of this paper is to examine a disorder or maladaptive behavior (suicide) within the
parameters of a specific population that you choose. Within this paper, you will investigate the
unique characteristics that exist for this population and why they may differ from another
population for a particular disorder.
Disorders/Populations:
You can choose any disorder, including those that we have not covered yet; however, you will
want to familiarize yourself with this disorder by doing additional reading or research in this
topic.
For populations, you can choose any population but I would suggest trying to go beyond a
population that you are familiar with; however, that is not a requirement. When choosing a
population, I will say that you need a bit of specificity.
For instance, a topic of “Depression in PoC” would be too broad to cover. You would need to
specify further with “Depression in the Latino community”. You can have multiple populations
or intersectional populations, such as “Anxiety in LGBT+ Muslims” but make sure that you are
able to find enough information to cover any topic you choose. If you get too specific, there
may not be enough information available for you to find.
Potential populations to choose from (and if there isn’t a category I list that doesn’t mean you
can’t choose it; furthermore, if you are uncertain, email me and we can discuss it):
Race/ethnicity
Religion
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Immigrant status/Refugee
Disability
Age (think more children/adolescents or elderly)
Content:
As mentioned, you will examine the unique characteristics and challenges that your population
faces with the disorder you choose. Some areas that you could examine could be (but you are
not limited to these as these are suggestions to get you going):
What differences exist in how this disorder is diagnosed for members of the group or
groups you chose (e.g., prevalence rates, misdiagnosis/overdiagnosis/underdiagnosis)?
Do members in this group respond differently to treatment options or to treatment
outcomes?
Does having this disorder make individuals in the group be viewed differently from other
members in the group (e.g., Does the group add extra and/or unique stigma for
individuals with said disorder? Does the group offer additional resources/supports)?
How does society treat individuals with this disorder, who belong in this group, and the
intersection of those identities?
In what ways do the disorder and group identity intersect to make diagnosis and
treatment easier or more difficult (or both)?
What are the major barriers that make diagnosis and treatment more challenging? Why
do these barriers exist in our society?
Is a person’s outcome with this disorder affected by membership in this group?
What can we do as a society to breakdown potential barriers or inequities that exist?
You could do a large mix of the above questions or perhaps you wish to do more of a deep
analysis in one or a few of the above questions. If you only choose one, a few, or many of the
questions from above, make sure that you provide a sufficient analysis of those topics in
relation to the number of topics you choose. For example, if you decide to examine multiple
topic points, then you will need to give each topic point a sufficient analysis in your paper and
not just a superficial glossing over in hopes that the quantity of topics will let you write a
small amount of sentences several times over to reach the page limit.
If you find it easier to use section headers, you can but you will need to adhere to proper APA
format.
Overall, you need to have a solid introduction that identifies the topic or topics that you are
trying to cover, a main body of information that goes into detail with sufficient citation, and a
conclusion to synthesize and summarize all of the points you made, along with potential
suggestions or steps moving forward.
Sources:
You will be required to use at least two (2) journal articles. You can use more than this, but you
need at least two. You can use other sources (such as government statistics or non-profit
organizations), but you will need to properly cite those.
Format:
You will utilize APA format for the entirety of the paper, including the general structure of the
paper, the citations, and the reference page.
The basic standards for this will mean Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced,
along with a single space between paragraphs (just one “Enter” hit on the keyboard).
There is a 3-page minimum for this paper. This means a full 3 pages of written content. The title
page or reference page do not count towards this minimum. This will be submitted as a Word
document or a PDF. This will be submitted to D2L with no exceptions.
You will also need a title page and a reference page that correspond with APA format.
A good reference source for APA format is here. This site gives great and clearcut examples of
citation, sample papers, how to cite with various authors, and more:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/
apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
Plagiarism:
This is an area that I wish to heavily stress – anytime you take information from any source,
whether it is a quotation or a paraphrase, you need to cite that source. The only time you
would not cite a source is if it is your own opinion or conclusion on a matter. The area that I see
most folks struggle with comes from paraphrasing. Even if you write something in your own
words, if you gleaned that information from another source, you still need to cite it. If you do
not cite your work throughout this paper, that will severely impact your grade or potentially
turn the paper into a 0.
Rubric:
Formatting/Grammar (10 points): How well did you adhere to APA formatting, along with the
general flow and organization in your paper, your writing ability, and general grammar?
Content (30 points): This pertains to the presentation of factual information from your sources,
the analyses that you examined in relation to your population(s) and disorder as well as the
clarity in which you presented said information, and the overall conclusions and steps moving
forward in working with this population with this disorder
