Deborah Spann
Kaplan University
HN144 Human Behavior and the Environment
Professor Joanna Pintar
November 17, 2012
LeRoy Karas seemed to be a young man who had a future in sports stemming from his athletic abilities and physical build which lead to a scholarship in football. His outgoing personality and good looks made him popular with the ladies and on the party scene. He was also favored by his parents over his year younger brother Elroy. After entering college on a scholarship, LeRoy spent more time parting than studying and he became more dependent on alcohol and lost his scholarship. Soon after he dropped out of college he met his first wife, she became pregnant, they married and after 2 more children they divorced after 7 years of a bad abusive marriage due to LeRoys drinking. His self destructive behavior lead to another illegitimate child and another broken marriage after 6 years which yielded 2 more children. LeRoy's alcohol dependency lead to low paying, blue collar positions of which at first he found camaraderie amongst his fellow workers. His increased alcohol consumption lead to weight gain and the beginning of health issues which caused him to loose a job in the construction field. Legal issues ensued about the same time with regards to child support, and he sn was resolved to drinking alone for even his drinking buddies were tired of his behavior. At age 61 it was discovered that LeRoy had cirrhosis of the liver and a form of emphysema, yet he continued to drink and smoke. His drinking eventually lead to a fall at age 64 which caused a skull fracture resulting in a 3 1/2 month hospital stay where he berated the staff, fell into a depression and had suicidal idealizations. Based on my Ecomap of LeRoy's life the strongest influences on him were alcohol which short circuited his positive energy flow from athletics. Although early on his sports and social life were driving influences in his life, his
References: National Organization for Human Service, retrieved from: http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals Zastrow, Charles H. and Kirst-Ashman, Karen K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment, 8th edition, (pp. 584-587). Cengage Learning.