LeRoy Karas’
Casey Williams
Human Behavior and the environment
HN144
Kaplan University
September 28, 2013

LeRoy Karas’
LeRoy seemed to have his future within reach. He was an amazing football player and loved by everyone in his community. LeRoy was like any other sixteen year old. He had a lot of friends, muscular body and an amazing football player. What more could one ask for? LeRoy received a football scholarship and went to collage. During his time in collage LeRoy found himself drinking and smoking much more then before. LeRoy was married twice and divorced twice before the age of fifty. He fathered six children whom he never saw at all. LeRoy bounced around job to job but spent the majority of his earnings on alcohol. LeRoy gained a lot of weight and was up to 285 pounds by the time he reached forty eight. By the age of sixty one he found out that his health was declining fast. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and told he would not live too much longer. Within three years LeRoy was hospitalized and informed that he has emphysema. His attitude changed for the worse while being cared for. He did not have any visitors and wishes he would die. LeRoy had a brother named ElRoy and he had achieved much more in life. I feel as though his brother’s success may have made LeRoy jealous and not as equal. Growing up with his brother, LeRoy envied him because of his parents always showing affection and praise to him. LeRoy suffers from addiction for most of his life which caused a large amount of negative outcomes when it came to relationships with others. He began drinking at an early stage in life and continued to do so until he was no longer able to. LeRoy married first to Rachel and they became pregnant with his first child. At this point he dropped out of school to support his new family. He obtained many jobs but never settled into any of them long term. At this point he was drinking heavily and it was affecting his work and family. Rachel had bared three of his children to whom he harassed and abused for a long time. Rachel and LeRoy ended with divorce. This caused him a large amount of stress which only fueled his addiction. After his divorce he fathered another child and was obligated to pay child support. He married Jane and had two more children within six years they also divorced. LeRoy’s child support was a huge stressor to him considering that the bulk of his income went to alcohol. He never saw any of his children as they grew. I believe that LeRoy went through a lot of stress which in turn caused him depression. The depression would lead him into drinking more often so that he would not have to worry about his priorities. LeRoy was a heavy drinker which caused him to gain a lot of weight. This influenced his performance at his job as a construction worker and took a serious toll on his health. He also had a lot of stress being in and out of court on a regular basis from not paying child support. All of his legal issues were a trigger for him to be alone and drink daily. At the age of sixty one, all his years of addiction caught up to him. . His consistent smoking and drinking caused LeRoy to establish many serious health concerns. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis and emphysema before he was sixty five years old. LeRoy has withered away to nothing. He went from being considered an idol to a grumpy old man. He was depressed from losing his muscular build and the fame that came with it. LeRoy continued to drink and smoke daily even after the doctors told him he would not live much longer. When he was sixty four he took a fall while being drunk and caused a skull fracture. This ended up putting him in the hospital for three and a half months. During his stay he abused the nurses and doctors verbally and mentally. He had fallen into a deep depression and was having suicidal thoughts.
Based on the eco map, LeRoy’s strongest influences were alcohol and smoking. This caused him to drop out of school and throw away any career as a football player. Being married and divorced twice is another influence on his life. He ended up with six children during these times and now has legal issues. After being diagnosed LeRoy did not care whether he lived or died. He ended up lashing out at the people who were trying to be there for him and help him through this stage of his life. Livingston describes early adulthood as "the era in which people make choices that significantly influence their lives, and the era in which people display the greatest energy and experience the most stress," this is a rather long period of time which could last from approximately 17 to 40 years old (Zastrow, 2010). If LeRoy had done things differently during this phase of his life, he may have ended up doing as well as his brother. During this phase of his life, he made the choices to drink and smoke heavily which altered his overall health. LeRoy is in the late adult transition stage. This stage occurs between the ages of sixty and sixty five. LeRoy should be preparing himself for late adulthood but instead he is barley grasping on to life. According to Zastrow, a person’s life structure shapes and is shaped by the person’s interactions with the environment (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). LeRoy’s personality has been shaped and molded by his years of addiction. During his early adulthood era LeRoy made many life altering decisions. The choice he made to be an alcoholic turned him bitter against other people in his life and caused him serious health issues. LeRoy may or may not see any changes when it comes to his eco map. He may not live much past the age of seventy due to the illnesses he acquired. If by chance he is able to live a healthy life, he may start to realize that what is done is done. LeRoy is going to look back on his life and suffer many regrets based on the choices he made. If I was working with LeRoy I would have to question some of his decisions and choices that were made. I would try to explain to him that he needs to maintain his health and try to recover as much as he can. He has six children if given the chance could influence him in a positive way. LeRoy has aged a lot since being divorced and maybe all he needs is to feel love and affection. I would suggest strongly to him that he should gain human contact even if it is just with the nurses that work with him. LeRoy needs to know that he can change for the best. He needs to accept that his past is the past but his future is still available to him. As a human service worker I would encourage LeRoy to set goals for the rest of his life. I would have to be sure that he does not pose as a danger to the community or himself. I would be sure to let him know that his privacy and confidentiality will always be respected. I would explain to him that the only time that contract gets breached is if he is a harm to himself or others. I would help LeRoy to build strength and confidence within him. I will always be sure to use any and all resources that are available to any clients to help better them as a person. When working with clients such as LeRoy I would learn to appreciate people and their past. I think I would be more sympathetic to others that might be in a similar position as LeRoy is. When working with clients that have similar backgrounds finding what works with one may also work with another when it comes to recovery. If I had a client like LeRoy I would be tested on the resources that are available to me and my clients. To do this type of job you need to have empathy and courage.
References
National Organization for Human Services page (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/
Kirst-Ashman, K & Zastrow. (2010) Understanding human behavior and the social environment 8th edition. Cengage learning