Psychology

There is a lot of point of views on how people perceive a person with a mental illness could it be because of his biological background, environment where he or she grew up with There could be a lot of factors that may contribute to mental illness and in this case study, we will attempt to analyze a very interesting character named Karl Childers. Since there are a lot of documented mental disorders throughout history, we will do our best to narrow down those choices, by interpreting Childers actions, attitude and his speech.

We will also discuss the possible origins of his ailment to further understand his whole persona and provide a discussion on how to treat Childers ailment.

Sling Blades Karl Childer
The central character of Sling Blade is a slow-witted loner named Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thorntons character).who, when he was quite young, snapped, flew into a homicidal rage, and murdered his mother and her lover using a garden tool (Sling Blade), when he found his mother having intercourse with a man who tormented him endlessly when he was a kid. During his childhood, Karl was locked in a shed by his parents and at one point was forced by his father to bury the still living body of his newborn brother (Naremore, 1998).  At the beginning of the film, he is pronounced  cured and is released from the mental state hospital into the town where he was born, his only possessions a set of books that he has read over and over the bible, a story by Dickens (Christmas), and some practical repair manuals  (same as  Naremore, 1998).  He returns to his childhood town and although being mentally handicapped, gets a job fixing small motors at a local repair shop. Karl befriends a young boy, Frank, and is soon invited by Franks mother, Linda, to move into the familys garage. As a strong relationship develops between Karl and Frank, a confrontation builds with Lindas abusive and sometimes violent boyfriend Doyle (Bowman, 2010).

What is Karl Childers Affliction
Karl Childer in the movie used the words mentally retarded, probably since during that time, when society especially in the rural area where he grew up labeled one person mentally retarded if he or she is somewhat different. Based on our hypothesis the nearest possible disorder that we can fit to Childers character is Autism. Throughout the movie, the character portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton has shown a lot of signs and symptoms of the said disorder (see signs and symptoms of Autism). A lot can be noticed from the early scene in which he gave access to an interview to a young reporter.

Although there are a lot of other comments from what I have researched for the character and some say that he (Childers) is really just mentally challenged and not suffer from any diagnosed psychological affliction (Fun Trivia Sling Blade, 2006). But the fact that he showed a lot of signs that he was indeed autistic confirms the theory.

Autism
Autism comes from the Greek word autos meaning self. Autism is a disorder that affects all mental development, symptoms usually starts to be noticed in childhood, but it is not a disorder of childhood, instead it is a disorder of development (Frith, 2003). Symptoms will necessary look different at different ages, certain features do not become apparent until later others disappear with time (same as Frith, 2003). Some reference points of classic autism are autistic aloneness, desire for sameness and islets of ability which are still considered to hold in all true cases, despite variation in detail and despite the existence of additional problems (Kanner, 1943).

Signs and Symptoms of Autism
According to Griffith, Moore and Yoder (2006) Autism symptoms affects a lot of body parts of the human being inflicted. It is usually discovered by the time a child is age 2 and a half, but for some cases could be later than that. The signs and symptoms are

Does not talk or may talk using nonsense words. May use a sing-song voice and repeat what they hear, Unable to carry on a conversation.

Is over active. Wants to play alone
Repeats the same movements over and over such as rocking  and flapping or twisting hands
Has special routines and does not like change
Does not want to be touched, such as being cuddled
May injure self by head-banging or biting.
Is bothered by noises
Overly interested in lights or moving objects

Aspect of the Theory
Karl Childers Underlying Themes related to his Disturbance
On the interview scene with the reporter, Karl requested to the administrator that he doesnt want his picture taken. . Jerry Woolridge, the state hospital director, said that Karl wouldnt even let them take his picture for the Easter collage. This is probably because when he was a kid he was teased so much growing up and has such low self-esteem. He also doesnt want anyone to know who he is or what he did (Fun Trivia Sling Blade, 2006).

During the interview scene, Karl explained his situation from the very beginning as he would think, that would help a lot for the reporter to understand him and also to avoid questions from her, in which is a classic symptom also of Autism, avoiding as much as possible lengthy conversations. According to Frith (2003) in describing normal conversation with someone with autism will be extremely limited, although by no means a total failure. It is generally agreed that difficulties in the domain of pragmatics are a universal feature of autism and are similar in many respects to those experienced by patients with right hemisphere brain damage (Frith, 2003).

Also on that scene, we have notice that he does not look straight, and  rubs his hands a lot and repeat such statements like Some people call it a sling blade. I call it a kaiser blade, describing the murder weapon he used to kill his mother and lover.

When Childers was describing the scene before the murder, he said that he was just sitting on the shed when he hears some noise this reflects some sense of hypersensitivity of sound which can lead to unexpected outburst of fear and rage by autistics (Frith, 2003).

A small fraction autistics also have some special kind of talent especially on the technical side of things, Childers shows this by having a great deal of mechanical skill, he could figure out to repair small engines without ever being taught how. In one humorous scene, his coworker cannot figure out why a mower wont start even though nothing appears to be wrong. Karl walks over to the mower, looks in the gas tank, and discovers it is out of gas (same as (Fun Trivia Sling Blade, 2006). And according to Frith (2003) the non social features for a ragbag of observations, in which they are not necessarily associated with behavior problems and may even contribute outstanding skills. After all, autism is compatible with high talent. Among other things, people with autism tend to obsessively go through the same repetitive sounds, gestures, and motions. They also have trouble making eye contact and relating to people - something that we also see in Karl.

Possible Origins and relevant background of Childers Affliction
When Karl was growing up, he used sleep most of the time in a hole in the ground, in a shed behind his parents house His parents were poor and ignorant. They believed that Karl was not normal, therefore not worthy of being a regular member of the family. He was placed in a shed in the back of his house. The only place he had to sleep was in a hole in the ground with a quilt. He was teased in school so much, that instead of going to school he just sat in the shed and tinkered with lawn mowers and small engines, this has caused much of his social ineptness, the loneliness of autism is something different altogether, and it demands a circumspect approach, one approach is to use standardized interviews with parents (Frith, 2003).

He is also regularly being beaten up by his father, which just adds to Karls dilemma. Karl doesnt like social injustices, he hates liars, cheaters, abusers and the only thing he could do is to react violently when he just had enough, which is why he murdered again to protect his young Frank and his mother from Doyles abuse.

What would be the Best Treatment for Karl Childers
Karl Childers has shown the typical characteristics of an autistic, and those signs were already noticeable since he was a kid. The best probable treatment for him is Applied Behavior Analysis. Applied Behavior Analysis is the design, implementation, and evaluation of environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvement in human behavior. ABA includes the use of direct observation, measurement, and functional analysis of the relations between environment and behavior. ABA uses antecedent stimuli and consequences, based on the findings of descriptive and functional analysis, to produce practical change (Wolf  Risley, 1987).

People with autism learn much, much less easily from the environment. Theyhave the potential to learn learn, but it takes a very structured environment, ABA is all about how to set up the environment to enable those inflicted to learn (Saffran, 1998).

Although this training could be very much helpful to Karl when it was applied to him since he was young, it doesnt mean it wont be reliable this time. Add to that another therapy called sensory integration therapy can be helpful in alleviating hypersensitivity to sound and light in which Karl also suffers (Rudy, 2007). To help Karl Childers speak easy a speech therapy would be helpful, this type of involves much more than than simply teaching a person to correctly pronounce words. This includes Non-verbal communication by teaching gestural communication or training with Picture exchange cards and other non verbal tools (same as Rudy, 2007). This therapy also helps on improving Karls conversation skills he will be taught and trained to differentiate making statements and carrying a normal conversation. Speech therapists may work on back-and-forth exchange, sometimes known as joint attention.( Rudy, 2007). Part also of Speech therapy will be teaching Karl some concept skills, to improve his ability to understand abstract concepts.

Conclusion
This essay have provided valuable insights that help us provide a theory on Karl Childers ailment, we have gone through his psychological make-up by understanding his history growing up as a child and undergoing a tough environment. We have identified based on Childers actions, way of speech and other small details that he may be suffering from Autism. And based on that affliction this study provided suggested therapies that could help treat Karl. We started from applied behavior analysis and followed by other important therapies such as sensory integration and speech therapy all needed to alleviate Karl Childers illness.