Reference no: EM133410861
George is 45 and identifies as nonbinary. Not in an enduring intimate relationship, George had some relationships with women and men in their 20s and 30s. They are medium build, brown eyes, a little overweight and balding. They have mild myopia.
Presenting with considerable anxiety, George interacts with little eye contact, often forgetting words, stuttering, and preferring their own company over others.
Homeless for 10 years George occasionally slept on friend's couches or in a car, but now lives in a shared house with other people, managed by a local housing cooperative, and built by the state housing office.
Addicted to opiates from late teens, George participates in a managed methadone program at a community health centre.
During childhood and teenage years, George lived in a country town. George's father worked in the automotive industry until the 1990s when car manufacturing moved offshore. He was mainly unemployed after that. Migrating to Australia from Europe in the 1960s George's dad had experienced trauma through the war in Europe and had frequent mood changes. George remembers alcohol use and anger and says fear was present in the house.
Of Irish Catholic descent, George's maternal family 19th Century migrants following the Irish famines. An active member of the Catholic Church, attending mass and contributing to a local emergency relief service, Georges' mother often said that that George had their father's addictive personality. George did not disclose to family members about their gender identity for fear of violence and shame for their mother.
George had one sister, Jacky, who did well socially and academically and went to university when it was free and eventually moved to work overseas for a global corporation, occasionally visiting family for xmas and other family events.
At 14 years, George's parents separated. Their father moved to the city and eventually re-partnered. George does not recall that they legally divorced and thinks it would have been unthinkable for their catholic mother.
Throughout school, George was considered a young male, difficult, unmanageable, with poor concentration. With no friends, George was often bashed up and by year 7 he was smoking weed, then left school as quickly as he could at year 9. George identified as a drug addict by the time he was 21 and was treated as such when he presented to doctors to try to get help. At 30 they changed sexual identity. They attempted suicide several times but did not receive help through psychiatric services because of the heroin addiction. Now 45, George feels deeply guilty for causing such lifelong grief for their mother. However, George's identity as non-binary feels right and they now feel like they belong to an accepting community of non-binary people in an Australian city.
Using pre-existing knowledge:
Identify any life influences you consider social.
Identify biological influences.
If you were an advocate for social determinism, explain George's identity.
If you were an advocate for biological determinism, explain George's identity