Assignment 2: Discussion—Risk Factors and Protective Factors Research studies have determined many risk factors that can lead to the development of mental health issues and mental illness. These include, but are not limited to, exposure to violence, parental divorce, poverty, genetic predisposition, and dysfunctional parenting. At the same time, there have been children who faced many of these risk factors and overcame them. These children are referred as resilient , and researchers have been eager to determine how they were able to thrive under circumstances that undo other children. Let us explore the information presented in the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore (2010).You can also access the author’s interview with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the form of video, audio, or text transcript at the following Web site: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (Producer). (2010). Author Wes Moore’s book explores his own alternate reality [Video interview]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june10/wesmoore_05-12.html The following is a synopsis of the book by the publisher: Wes Moore, the author of the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates , was surprised when one day, the police approached him for a crime he did not commit. During the investigation, he came to know of another man who had the same name—Wes Moore. The shared name was not the only coincidence: they had both grown up in the same neighborhood at about the same time. Yet, one Wes Moore went on to become a Rhodes scholar, earn honors in the military, work at the White House, and become a leader in the business community; while the other Wes Moore was sentenced to life in prison. The descriptions of the lives of both Wes Moores are illustrative of the power of heredity and environment in the shaping of a person. As boys, both Wes Moores grew up in poor, single-parent homes and did not apply themselves in primary and secondary school. The author’s father, a newscaster, died when the author was three years old. He and his two sisters were raised by his widowed mother. Before he was a teen, he became disillusioned with school and began getting into trouble in his neighborhood, even having brushes with the law for petty crimes. His mother decided to send him to military school, but he ran away five times before finally giving the school a chance. Once he decided to stay, he gained a strong sense of purpose and developed a strong work ethic. Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore, who lived in the same area of Baltimore, was about the same age, and was also being raised by a single mother. He was arrested and convicted for first-degree murder of a police officer during a jewelry store robbery. He is serving a life prison sentence. Important differences between the childhoods of the two boys are notable. The author had two college-educated parents. His father chose to stay with the family, but died at a relatively young age.

1. Assignment 2: Discussion—Risk Factors and Protective Factors
Research studies have determined many risk factors that can
lead to the development of mental health issues and mental
illness. These include, but are not limited to, exposure to
violence, parental divorce, poverty, genetic predisposition, and
dysfunctional parenting. At the same time, there have been
children who faced many of these risk factors and overcame
them. These children are referred as
resilient
, and researchers have been eager to determine how they were
able to thrive under circumstances that undo other children.
Let us explore the information presented in the book
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
by Wes Moore (2010).You can also access the author’s
interview with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the
form of video, audio, or text transcript at the following Web
site:
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (Producer). (2010).
Author Wes Moore’s book explores his own alternate reality
[Video interview]. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-
june10/wesmoore_05-12.html
The following is a synopsis of the book by the publisher:
Wes Moore, the author of the book
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
, was surprised when one day, the police approached him for a
crime he did not commit. During the investigation, he came to
know of another man who had the same name—Wes Moore. The
shared name was not the only coincidence: they had both grown
up in the same neighborhood at about the same time. Yet, one
Wes Moore went on to become a Rhodes scholar, earn honors in
the military, work at the White House, and become a leader in
the business community; while the other Wes Moore was
sentenced to life in prison. The descriptions of the lives of both
Wes Moores are illustrative of the power of heredity and

2. environment in the shaping of a person.
As boys, both Wes Moores grew up in poor, single-parent
homes and did not apply themselves in primary and secondary
school. The author’s father, a newscaster, died when the author
was three years old. He and his two sisters were raised by his
widowed mother. Before he was a teen, he became disillusioned
with school and began getting into trouble in his neighborhood,
even having brushes with the law for petty crimes. His mother
decided to send him to military school, but he ran away five
times before finally giving the school a chance. Once he
decided to stay, he gained a strong sense of purpose and
developed a strong work ethic.
Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore, who lived in the same area of
Baltimore, was about the same age, and was also being raised
by a single mother. He was arrested and convicted for first-
degree murder of a police officer during a jewelry store
robbery. He is serving a life prison sentence.
Important differences between the childhoods of the two boys
are notable. The author had two college-educated parents. His
father chose to stay with the family, but died at a relatively
young age. He was relatively closely supervised. He, his
siblings, and his mother lived with his grandparents after his
father died. The author’s mother took extreme steps to try to
turn him around. She moved several times to try to find safer
neighborhoods. She sent him to military school when he
exhibited troublesome behavior.
The other Wes Moore’s father was never a part of his life,
choosing to abandon the family before his birth. His mother had
been accepted to college, but federal budget cuts resulted in the
loss of her Pell Grant. She had to abandon her goal of a college
education and instead, had to work three jobs to care for her
family. Eventually, she became overwhelmed and was unable to
provide the kind of structure the author received. As a result,
the other Wes Moore was unsupervised much of the time. He
began using and selling drugs, later resorting to more serious
crimes, like robbery, for money. It was during a robbery that he

3. shot and killed a police officer—a crime that put him in prison
for life.
Using the module readings, the Argosy University online library
resources, the Internet, and the PBS Web resource, respond to
the following:
Analyze why the author became successful, while the other Wes
Moore did not.
Evaluate the risk factors faced by each. (Explain at least three.)
Evaluate the protective factors that helped the author to be
resilient, despite difficult circumstances. (Explain at least
three.)
Provide an analysis of recent research on resilience in children
and adolescents and about how these children overcome such
difficult early experiences.
Write your initial response in 350–500 words. Apply APA
standards to citation of sources, including in-text citations and
full references. Incorporate information from at least two
academic sources to support your statements or ideas. Academic
sources could include your textbook, required readings for this
week, or academic journal articles found in the AU online
library.
By
September 28 2014
, post your response to the appropriate
Discussion Area
. Through
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Provide
a statement of clarification, a point of view with rationale,
challenge a point of discussion, or draw a relationship between
one or more points of the discussion. Consider commenting on
the following:
Provide a critique of the peers’ opinions regarding the resilience
of the successful Wes Moore.
Explain whether you agree with the risk and protective factors
identified by your peers, and why.

4. Request more information from peers who may have answered
briefly or listed less than three risk factors or three protective
factors.
Suggest additional readings you found in your research on
resilience, and provide references for academic research
articles. Summarize the researched information for your peers.