Stevie Documentary free essay sample

James was an advocate big brother in 1982 where he met a troubled young man named Steven Fielding’s. They would meet once a week as big brothers do, in which time they built a relationship. Years later the big brother contract had ended and Mr. James and Stevie had lost touch. Later on in life Mr. James developed feelings of guilt and that maybe he had abandoned Stevie. So he decided to return back to the town of Paloma, Illinois 10 years later, to chronicle the events of Stevie’s life. Steven Fieldings was born on March 18th, 1971 in Paloma, Illinois to Parents Bernice and step father Orville. He has a sister named Brenda who ends up being his social security payee and a vital part of his life in Illinois. Stevie suffered severe physical, emotional and sexual abuse in his child hood. He spent the first few years of his life in the care of his Mother and Step Father Oriville, whom up until Stevie was an adult thought was his biological father. His Mother Bernice was allegedly very rough and abusive with young Steven when he would â€Å"act up† or â€Å"talk back† as she puts it. Eventually young Steven was sent to live under the care and supervision of his Grandmother Verna Helger who cared and loved Steven dearly. His Grandmother was getting on in age and was unable to give Steven the care and attention he needed. In 1986 Stevie was given to the state for permanent placement in foster care. Stevie spent 10 years at Hubert’s boy’s home where he was cared for by Hal and Dolinda for 3 years. They did what they could with young Steven and he was finally receiving adequate love and supervision but eventually Hal got a job as a minister and left Hubert home. The next couple that took over Hubert’s Boys home was not as caring and compassionate as Hal and Dolinda were. Stevie suffered sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the Hubert Home. I believe these incidences in combination with the physical abuse he had already endured at the hands of his mother are the traumatic events that would have triggered his Mental Health issues. I would suggest based on research that Stevie suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and also some form of a Social Anxiety Disorder. The terrible events during Stevie’s childhood shaped and moulded this young man’s future. I don’t believe he had a fighting chance in life. During the movie he says to himself: â€Å"Where ever I go. Neither here nor there, trouble always follows me† (Steven Fieldings,â€Å"Stevie† 2002) Stevie never learned how to function properly in society and was abused from a very young age. I think a very large part of Stevies behaviour and the events of his life can be attributed to his Mother Bernice. I found her hard to listen to at times during the film. I found that she down played the fact that she abused her son and took no responsibility for reality that was his life. She justified her behaviour and put the blame on everybody else. In the end she was also the one that turned him into Police. Not to say that it wasn’t the right thing to do, but the fashion that she did it in showed that her love for Stevie is not what it should be, or what she claims it to be. She gives off the impression that she always loved Steven and that he is aware of this. She gives off this impression that its really no big deal that he is the way he is, and it’s almost like she blames him or that he brought all this on himself. I found that Steve James the Director was starting to experience some sort of a disconnect from Stevie when learning who he really was as a person. Maybe with the possibility that Stevie is just beyond help, as he just keeps offending and doesn’t seem to show culpability for his actions, or acknowledgement for his possible Mental Health issues. He repeatedly refuses counselling and has a very strong negative feeling towards therapists or physiatrists. I also believe that it’s possible that the traumatic events of Stevie’s life have also conditioned him to be a Sociopath. He doesn’t seem to show any regard for anyone else’s thoughts or feelings. The characteristics of a Sociopath were exhibited in Stevie’s behaviour towards his relationships with the people in his life. Factnet stated that â€Å"one will generally create an environment where levels of denial are so great that those involved are oblivious of the foolishness and self-evident absurdity of their denials when presented with the facts, with the result that non-involved observers are led to question whether such levels of denial merit psychiatric intervention† (factnet/characteristics of a sociopath 05/12/08) This quote stood out to me while reflecting on the film and doing research on the issues surrounding Stevie’s mental state. In 1988 he was committed to Shrode mental hospital in Atlanta. Stevie then went through extensive drug therapy and was heavily medicated. This would definitely have long term effects on his cognitive ability to make decisions. He was pumped full of drugs at a crucial age while his brain was still developing. I strongly believe this had an impact on Stevie’s decision making ability as an adult. Stevie was discharged from Shrode in 1989. The Discharge documents stated that Stevie has received maximum benefit from the treatment program. This couldn’t have been furthest from the truth. They were just sweeping young Steven Fielding under the rug in my opinion, because the system had failed him. Stevie was now 18 and was left to fend for himself in the world. He returned to Illinois and things continued to be difficult for him. He was arrested for a string of offences from assault to credit card fraud. I believe this behaviour was inevitable for Stevie. Even the director Steven James said early in the film that (Steven) â€Å"always seemed like an accident waiting to happen† (Steven James â€Å"Stevie† 2002). This is where the traumatic events in Steven Fielding’s start to take there long term effects on his life. By this time he had been severely and repeatedly emotionally, sexually, and physically abused and he was only 18 years of age. Stevie was now facing the vicious cycle of incarceration for various arrests and offences. Stevie is starting to really struggle with the events of his child hood and I believe at this point the characteristics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are being triggered and taking their toll on Stevens life and ability to make rational decisions. The Child Welfare Fact Sheet says that â€Å"The impact of child abuse and neglect is often discussed in terms of physical, psychological, behavioural, and societal consequences. In reality, however, it is impossible to separate them completely. Physical consequences, such as damage to a childs growing brain, can have psychological implications such as cognitive delays or emotional difficulties. Psychological problems often manifest as high-risk behaviours. Depression and anxiety, for example, may make a person more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol or illicit drugs, or overeat. High-risk behaviours, in turn, can lead to long-term physical health problems such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity†. (Child Welfare Fact Sheet 2008). Stevie had now started making terrible decisions in life and was exhibiting very questionable social behaviour which I believe was developing into a serious Personality Disorder. He was then charged with molesting and threatening his 8 year old cousin and this is where I find the movie takes a turn. This is where Mr. James starts to experience the aforementioned disconnect from Stevie. There is a full confession and Stevie pleads guilty to the charges. It is at this point that Mr. James learned that Steven had also sexually assaulted Brenda when they were younger and that she could be called as a witness to Stevie’s trial. Stevie is now focused on the trial and he is taking a very stubborn approach to his plea and what possible outcomes there could be. I understand Stevie acting this way and having that attitude. He is defeated by this point and is set in his ways. I don’t believe Steven has the rational or cognitive ability to make positive and progressive decisions without counselling. He is warranted in feeling this way and he has been down a very hard road and has endured a lot. Mr. James explained it very well when he said: â€Å"if the punishment is acceptable, you will beat the system† (Steve James â€Å"Stevie† 2002) meaning that because Stevie endured such severe physical and emotional abuse as a child, he felt he could take anything and nothing ever mattered. The events that were transpiring in Stevie’s life at this point were crucial. The fact that he was avoiding therapy and counselling were severely diminishing his chances of making any changes or strides towards bettering himself. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were surfacing and Stevie was inviting them. CAMH’s Mental Health index states that: â€Å"Children and adults can develop PTSD; the disorder can become so severe that the individual finds it difficult to lead a normal life† (CAMH information index 2012). These are the effects and characteristics that Stevie was exhibiting. Steven Fieldings was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual assault. Stevie served his entire 10-year sentence for the crime he was convicted for. He did not earn an early discharge for good behaviour — he spent his complete sentence in â€Å"segregation†, which is considered an in-prison punishment for problematic behaviour. Mr. James was in regular contact with Stevie throughout this period of time, visiting seldom and exchanging letters frequently. I believe in this case it boils down to a nature vs nurture debate. The question lies. Would Steven Fieldings have been better off and lived a better quality of life with proper parenting and supervision? I believe the answer is a resounding yes. Steven’s mother had much to do with his troubled child hood and he never had a chance in my opinion. With a better parental structure, I believe Stevie lives a much better quality of life and maybe is never even physically abused which was the cause of all his mental health issues and put him on a very destructive path. He went down this road with absolutely no counselling or support and that is not healthy what so ever. Like I said, Mr. Steven Fielding’s never had a chance and would most definitely benefit from proper parental structure and foundation. As I said, It boils down to the nature vs nurture and Mr.