Non-Normative Life Events

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Non-Normative Life Events
Non-normative life events are events that occur to a person that aren’t considered the norm for most peoples lives rather this is good or bad. When interviewing Alice about what shaped her as a person one event changed the whole course of her life. When Alice was 8 years old her was passed away and her mother was crippled. Many children face losing their parents but few actually witness the catastrophe. The effect of losing a loved one in a violent and unexpected way makes the process of grieving much more drawn out and traumatic. One may even suffer from flashbacks, lack of concentration, sleep disturbances, nightmares ect (Santrock, 2014, p.613). Alice can still describe the day her father died with vivid memory of each event that day. They were …show more content…

Before the accident Alice’s family wasn’t rich, but they were making it ends meet with a little extra. After the accident they had to be placed on welfare just to eat at night. Alice remembers going to bed many nights hungry and also the teasing she received at school for being so skinny. Just to make this whole ordeal Alice’s siblings were split between each other and aunts and uncles. She went from having a big happy family who was making it to just having her sister to help take care of her mother who was never the same after the accident. Alice says growing up without a father has had many influences in my life. I never had someone to make sure I was treated right by boys. Alice felt this was a big reason why she got pregnant before she was married and also why her husband never treated her like a husband should. Alice felt as if she had grown up with a father she would have finished high school and would have gone on to have healthier relationships with men. This was probably the biggest shaper in Alice’s life even though it shaped her in a negative way she will never be the same

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