"The Pursuit of Happyness" Double ABC-X Model
bB
Resources
- Chris lands a spot in a 6-month unpaid, competitive internship program, which gives him the opportunity to earn a stockbroker position at Dean Witters
- Public transportation enables Chris to be able to get to destinations without a car
- Homeless shelter provides nightly food and a place to sleep
- Daycare provides childcare of Christopher so Chris can sell the remainder of the scanners and then go to his internship every day
- Chris's friendship with a full-time Dean Witters broker makes him feel more comfortable at the internship and provides him with advice on how to be a good broker
b
Resources
- Sale of the bone-density scanners provides a source of income
- Linda's additional income helps support the family
- Daycare provides childcare of Christopher while his parents are working
- Chris's car enables him to get from place to place
xX
x
Coping
a
aA
Adaptation
Stressor
Crisis
Pileup
(Bonadaptation)
- Chris sells the remainder of the bone-density scanners.
- Chris works hard every day at his unpaid internship in hopes of being hired as a paid, full-time broker.
- Chris and Christopher try their best to have a positive outlook on life and their current situation.
- Chris and Christopher focus on what they do have, rather than what they don't, such as each other.
Chris Gardner invests his family's savings in bone-density scanners, which produce slightly clearer images than x-rays, yet are twice the cost. His inability to quickly sell these devices puts significant financial strain on his family, including his wife, Linda, and his son, Christopher.
- The family is evicted from their apartment
- Linda leaves Chris
- Chris is now responsible of taking care of Christopher on his own
- Chris can no longer afford his car
- Chris and Christopher are evicted from a motel
- Chris and Christopher are without a stable home
- Chris's internship is extremely rigorous and time-consuming, yet unpaid
- Chris must leave his internship early every day to get a room for the night in a homeless shelter
- Chris loses his last 600 dollars to government taxes
Chris and his family are stuck in a situation that they do not know how to get out of. They are incapable of producing an acceptable family income and unsure of what to do in order to support their needs to live.
- Chris and his son become even closer and more appreciative of each other than before
- Chris and Christopher have a much more modest understanding of the necessities of life
- Chris is hired as a full-time, paid broker at Dean Witters which means he will now be able to, more than adequately, provide for himself and his son
- At this point, Chris and Christopher are in a position of much more promise than the position they were in pre-crisis.
c
Perceptions
- Chris sees bone-density scanners as sell-able
- Linda sees selling the scanners as a hopeless task
- Linda doesn't think Chris is a suitable husband or caregiver
- Chris thinks that if he and Linda work together they can support the family
- Christopher is mostly naive to the situation, but has a hopeful outlook
cC
Perceptions
- Chris believes that if he works hard enough he is capable of being hired as a paid, full-time broker
- Christopher has faith in his father and believes he will take care of him no matter what
- Chris sees providing for his son and not disappointing him as an absolute necessity, and he is willing to go to whatever lengths he must to do so