Example Outline for the Application of Psychology Final Paper

Example Outline for the Application of Psychology Final Paper

Title: A look into Schizotypal Personality Disorder as Illustrated in Joker

I. Introduction 

A. Introductory statement: Joker depicts a man who is seen struggling in a world who has no regard for him and his mental state. Arthur’s mental health causes a lot of people in his life to dismiss him, which later leads to a different image of himself that was previously portrayed.

B. Thesis statement: In this paper, I will explore the symptoms, causes, lifestyle impacts,and treatments of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) through the main character Arthur Fleck, in the movie Joker.

II. Body 

A. Summarize the Media/Movie (Topic Sentence): Joker is a movie about a troubled man, who is seems to be struggling to make ends meet both in a physical and mental sense. The main character, Arthur works for a clown business and finds joy in coming to work every day to make people laugh. While, he is alone, a different side is portrayed. The movie takes place in Gotham City, during this time it is seen to be very gloomy and filled with crime and poverty (Cooper et al., 2019).

1. Arthur suffers from mental illness. One of the main traits includes laughing when he is uncomfortable. One day while at work advertising a store with a sign, a group of teenagers take his sign while repeatedly kicking and punching him. In this scenario, the joker’s reaction is laughter.

2. One day while the joker and his neighbor were in an elevator, they have a brief conversation. This isolated incident leads him to create the illusion that he is involved in a romantic relationship with said neighbor. 3. On a subway ride home, Arthur finds trouble when he notices four men harassing a woman. Instead of intervening, he starts laughing uncontrollably which draws the men over to him, then a fight ensues. Arthur shoots and kills the men on the train station, which causes a great deal of media attention.

4. After admitting to the murders, Arthur appears on a nationally syndicated television talk show. While on the show the Joker begins to tell a joke. “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?!” Talk show host looks surprised but doesn’t respond. The joker responds by shooting and killing the talk show host on national TV. The media responded by giving him praise to showcase the divide between the upper and lower class citizens (Cooper et al., 2019).

B. Summarize Research on Psychological Concepts (Topic Sentence): Researchers suggests that SPD can be the result of environmental factors, such as childhood experiences or could have been passed down from your family.

1. SPD can include symptoms such as odd beliefs, speech, behavior or appearance, paranoia, social anxiety, inappropriate responses (APA, 2013; Walsh, 2017)

2. Childhood trauma has a high association with members who have been diagnosed with SPD, including physical sexual, and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and household dysfunction (Ridenour, 2016).

3. Untreated SPD can cause disruptions in social, emotional, and occupational functioning. In Overstreet vs. Wilson (2012), Michael Overstreet kidnapped murdered Kelly Eckart. The defendant claimed to suffer from schizotypal personality disorder.

4. SPD can be treated with medication and psychotherapy that can be used to cope with the different symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy, Antipsychotic medications, and antidepressants all play a huge part in regulating symptoms to help people living with STPD live a normal life. (APA, 2013; The Saylor Foundation, n.d.)

C. Apply Psychological Concepts to Movie (Topic Sentence): Arthur Fleck comes from a very underprivileged background. Living in Gotham City, where crime rates are through the roof, the world does not sit back and take a second to help. Instead this society places the mentally ill under lots of discrimination and rejection.

1. Throughout this film, Arthur exhibited a lot of symptoms such as social anxiety, odd appearance and inappropriate responses, delusions, and violent outbursts.

2. Due to Arthur’s environment and lack of attention to his illness, directly caused him to go off the deep end with some of his actions.

3. He tried to seek treatment but did not get it so his symptoms worsened.

III. Conclusion 

A. Closing statement: Arthur struggled in a society that did not see him, and was tormented both a physical and mental sense. Many people struggle with discrimination when it comes to mental illness. Sometimes discrimination isn’t as apparent as we might think.

B. Restate thesis: I have explored the symptoms, lifestyle impact and treatments of schizotypal personality disorder through the main character Arthur Fleck, in the movie Joker.