Health & Medical Question

write an analytic paper in which you will apply the Life Course Perspective and/or the Stress Process Perspective to analyze the case study.

Requirements:

1No less than 600 words

2Double-space, Times New Roman

3Font size: 12

4Your name on page Header

5Page number at central bottom

C a s e S t u d y 1 . 3

The Suarez Family After September 11, 2001

Maria is a busy, active 11-year-old whose life was changed by the events of September 11, 2001. Her mother,

Emma Suarez, worked at the World Trade Center and did not survive the attack.

Emma was born in Puerto Rico and came to the mainland to live in the South Bronx when she was 5, along

with her parents, a younger brother, two sisters, and an older brother. Emmas father, Carlos, worked hard to

make a living for his family, sometimes working as many as three jobs at once. After the children were all in

school, Emmas mother, Rosa, began to work as a domestic worker in the homes of a few wealthy families in

Manhattan.

Emma was a strong student from her first days in public school and was often at the top of her class. Her

younger brother, Juan, and the sister closest to her in age, Carmen, also were good students, but they were

never the star pupils that Emma was. The elder brother, Jesus, and sister, Aida, struggled in school from the

time they came to the South Bronx, and both dropped out before they finished high school. Jesus has returned

to Puerto Rico to live on the farm with his grandparents.

During her summer vacations from high school, Emma often cared for the children of some of the families

for whom her mother worked. One employer was particularly impressed with Emmas quickness and

pleasant temperament and took a special interest in her. She encouraged Emma to apply to colleges during

her senior year in high school. Emma was accepted at City College and was planning to begin as a full-time

student after high school graduation.

A month before Emma was to start school, however, her father had a stroke and was unable to return to

work. Rosa and Aida rearranged their work schedules so that they could share the care of Carlos. Carmen had

a husband and two young children of her own. Emma realized that she was now needed as an income earner.

She took a position doing data entry in an office in the World Trade Center and took evening courses on a

part-time basis. She was studying to be a teacher, because she loved learning and wanted to pass on that love

to other students.

And then Emma found herself pregnant. She knew that Alejandro Padilla, a young man in one of her classes at

school, was the father. Alejandro said that he was not ready to marry, however. Emma returned to work a

month after Maria was born, but she did not return to school. At first, Rosa and Aida were not happy that

Emma was pregnant with no plans to marry, but once Maria was born, they fell hopelessly in love with her.

They were happy to share the care of Maria, along with Carlos, while Emma worked. Emma cared for Maria

and Carlos in the evenings so that Rosa and Aida could work.

Maria was, indeed, an engaging baby, and she was thriving with the adoration of Rosa, Carlos, Aida, Juan, and

Emma. Emma missed school, but she held on to her dreams to be a teacher someday. On the morning of

September 11, 2001, Emma left early for work at her job on the 84th floor of the south tower of the World

Trade Center, because she was nearing a deadline on a big project. Aida was bathing Carlos when Carmen

called about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Aida called Emmas number, but did not get through to

her.

The next few days, even weeks, are a blur to the Suarez family. Juan, Carmen, and Aida took turns going to the

Family Assistance Center, but there was no news about Emma. At one point, because Juan was worried about

Rosa, he brought her to the Red Cross Disaster Counseling Center where they met with a social worker who

was specially trained for working in disaster situations. Rosa seemed to be near collapse.

Juan, Rosa, and Aida all missed a lot of work for a number of weeks, and the cash flow sometimes became

problematic. They were blessed with the generosity of their Catholic parish, employers, neighbors, and a large

extended family; however, financial worries are not their greatest concerns at the moment. They are relieved

that Maria will have access to money for a college education, because children of parents who died in the

World Trade Center catastrophe are eligible to receive death benefits until age 21, or 23 if they are full-time

students. They continue to miss Emma terribly and struggle to understand the horrific thing that happened to

her, but the pain is not as great as it once was. They all still have nightmares about planes hitting tall

buildings, however.

Maria is lucky to have such a close loving family. She is sorry that she doesnt have clear memories of her

mother and likes to look at photos of the beautiful young woman that she understands to be her mother. She

feels sad when she hears people talk about the events of September 11, 2001, which happens in the South

Bronx a lot.

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