Antwone Fisher Case Study Summary

Case Analysis of Antwone Fisher
Synopsis
Antwone Fisher is a man who grew up in the foster care system of Ohio, suffered physical and sexual abuse, and eventually aged out of the foster care system. Like his many prior foster children contemporaries, Antwone ended up on the streets of Cleveland, OH and did what he could to survive (United States Senate Finance Committee, 2013). One day, he found himself standing outside of a U.S. Navy recruitment center; with the help of his recruiter, Antwone found his way off the street and he eventually attended Navy Recruit Depot, Great Lakes, IL (Finance Committee, 2013).
Case Analysis
Demographics
Antwone Fisher is an African American male, who is in his mid-twenties, born to a working poor woman

named Eva Fisher (Washington, 2002), and was eventually placed into two foster homes (Finance Committee, 2013). As he progressed into adulthood, he became homeless and then he was counted amongst the working class as he entered into the U.S. Navy as an enlisted man. Aside for the religious training that he had forcefully received from his second foster placement, Antwone did not disclose any sort of religious affiliation or spiritual practices.
Developmental History
Antwone’s life circumstances was similar to those who suffer from exceptional developmental delays (Fisher, Mannering, Van Scoyoc, & Graham, 2013) (Pecora et al., 2006). Antwone’s home environment was not stable, he was placed into two foster homes and eventually became a resident of George Junior Republic (GJR) reform school (Finance Committee, 2013). Several children who have suffered from similar environments have a “disrupted development of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is involved in executive functioning” (Fisher et al., 2013, p. 9). Such a placement history often leads to “elevated risk for ADHD, disruptive behavior disorders, substance abuse, and other forms of disinhibitory psychopathology” (Fisher et al., 2013, p. 9). Astonishingly, Antwon excelled at many forms of education (Finance Committee, 2013) (Washington, 2002). His strong academic aptitude may be attributed to the support, care, and possible attachment that he had received, as an extremely small child, from his first foster family placement (Finance Committee, 2013).
Medical History
Beyond his closed head trauma to the head as a child, Antwone has not disclosed any medical history nor symptomology.
Family of Origin
Antwone’s mother Eva Mae Fisher, also a ward of the Ohio foster care program, had a tumultuous life. She gave birth to Antwone within a correctional facility for girls; his father Edward Elkins, “was shot and killed two months before [his] birth” (Finance Committee, 2013, para. 1). Antwone was immediately placed in the care of Ms. Nelly Strange, a woman who Antwone grew attached (Finance Committee, 2013); she lived in a rural environment (Washington, 2002). Antwone’s second foster placement was with the Reverend Connie and Queen Ester Pack, in which Antwone suffered years of multiple forms of abuse (Finance Committee, 2013).
Social Problems
During his life, Antwone experienced several social problems. As a young child, Antwone did not know if he would reunite with his birth mother (Washington, 2002) (Fisher et al., 2013). Aside from the horrid relationship that he experienced with his second foster family, Antwone did not have any true friends (Washington, 2002). His closest friend, whom he had not seen for several years, was shot as the result of a convenience store holdup. According to Shook, Vaughn, Litschge, Kolivoski, and Schelbe (2009), foster children who have deviant childhood friends are much more susceptible to poor outcomes than non-foster children with deviant friends. Finally, as Antwone aged out of the system, he was presented with the prospects of homelessness, crime, and further isolation (Finance Committee, 2013).
Primary Care Givers
As they were the people who “cared” for Antwone the longest, the Reverend Connie and Queen Ester Pack was Antwone’s primary care givers (Washington, 2002). It should be noted that Connie and Queen were caregivers in name, only; although they provided for his physical needs, the amount of suffering that Antwone experienced at their hands does not constitute proper care.
Mother’s Prenatal Care
The level of medical care that Antwone’s biological mother (Eva Mae) received during her pregnancy is unknown; at least the last stages of her pregnancy was experienced while in incarceration.

Subsequently, the author questions the level of care and produced anxiety that they received within the correctional facility in the late 1950s (Finance Committee, 2013). According to Farmer (2009), “[The child’s] sensitive developmental period (i.e. more sensitive to environmental input) is primarily in utero, and insults that occur during this third trimester of pregnancy can adversely affect brainstem functions (e.g., sleep, feeding, self-soothing)” (p. 89).
Habits
By his own admission, Antwone does not have any substance use/abuse habits. That stated, Antwone was chronically volatile with others whom he saw as a threat to his person and his confidence (Washington, 2002).
Community Influences
While in Cleveland, Antwone experienced many negative community influences. As a foster child, he was placed in a low income/high street crime area (Washington, 2002), which is typical of the majority of foster placements (Shook et al., 2009). While growing up in his second foster placement, Antwone’s friends often bullied him. Also, foster care social workers were not attentive to their charge.
Medication Use
None reported.
Head Injuries and Impact on

Behaviors
Antwone admitted that the abuse that he received from his foster parent, Queen, had at times knocked him unconscious. The author of this paper suspects that Antwone had suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of this abuse. Caro (2011) describe TBI survivors as those who “suffer from diverse psychiatric sequelae, such as bipolar disorders, clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and significant personality changes” (p.23). Aside from bipolar disorder, Antwone appears to present the rest of these symptoms.
Trauma/Violence and Impact on Behaviors
Antwone was the recipient of trauma and violence within his home and within his community, as well. As Antwone has most likely suffered TBI and symptoms of PTSD, Caro (2011) points out that, “TBI patients with PTSD typically exhibit symptoms of acute anxiety disorder, avoidance behaviours, hyper-vigilance, insomnia and nightmares- all of which I impact on functional work and social capacity over prolonged periods with risks of homelessness” (p. 23). During the film, Antwone’s symptoms of depression, anxiety, isolation, hyper-vigilance, nightmares, aggression, and homelessness (Washington, 2002) was in keeping with Caro’s (2011) findings.