Abstract: This paper presents a summary of Wilma Rudolph’s life, paying specific attention to the bio-social-psycho-spiritual-cultural framework discussed in SWO 351. This paper also uses a theory taken from “Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment” by Charles H. Zastrow and Karen K. Kirst-Ashman, 2007. This paper provides a basic overview of the framework and how it affected Wilma Rudolph’s life from childhood through middle adulthood and death. It allows the reader to grasp a better understanding of Wilma’s life by examining specific events in her lifetime that held significance in her adulthood development.

Wilma Rudolph is most well-known for her extreme success in track and field. What is most ground-breaking about Wilma and her success is the fact that she was a woman succeeding in what was considered at that time a “man’s sport.” She broke many records, but most importantly was the first American woman to win three gold medals during the same summer Olympics. Wilma had faced many troubles throughout her life, from illness and disabilities to insecurities and friendship issues. However, the most difficult time in her life was not the obstacles she overcame to reach her success but the point in her life after all of that- the point when she went back to reality. Throughout this paper I will discuss how the bio-social-psycho-spiritual-cultural framework had affected Wilma throughout her lifetime, ultimately influencing the person she turned out to be. Although I will touch upon her childhood and teenage years, the point of my paper is to identify just exactly how those periods of time in her life affected her throughout her mid-adulthood phase until her death in 1994.

BIOLOGICAL The first part of the framework suggests we look at Wilma’s biological past to help understand the person she became. When Wilma was born, she was the 20th out