Scenario: More Homework Susan finishes the last tasks for the day and waits for

Scenario: More Homework
Susan finishes the last tasks for the day and waits for Frank to come out of his office. She wonders whether she should ask him about the zombie rumor. Will it violate patient confidentiality to mention what the mother said? Will he think she was stupid?
“You’re still here?” Frank asks as he comes out of the office. Susan nods and forces herself to speak.
“I overheard one of your clients talking about zombies as if they were real,” she says. “What leads people to believe in conspiracy theories like that?”
“There are several factors,” Frank says. “Why don’t you do some research and then tell me what you found?”
“Not more homework,” Susan groaned. “I feel like that’s all I ever do.”
Frank laughs. “Maybe you can turn this research into something for one of your courses.”
Susan leaves, and goes down the street to her favorite coffeehouse. The free Internet makes up for the loud atmosphere. After grabbing a soda, Susan finds a seat at one of the long tables. With her laptop out, she tries to knock out her discussion post so she can move on to misinformation and conspiracy theories.
“What are you working on?” the man next to her asks. “It looks like homework. That’s a dull way to spend the evening.”
Susan decides she isn’t focusing anyway and introduces herself. She learns that his name is Mark, and after a bit of conversation it becomes clear that he doesn’t take much seriously. His attitude reminds her that she still has goals and should do some work. But Susan decides to skip her schoolwork and starts searching in the library for articles on conspiracy theories.
The first one she finds talks about the characteristics of people who believe in conspiracy theories. Susan wonders: Are there many people in Riverbend City who feel alienated, like the people the article describes?
This week we look into how we develop our sense of self and our social identity. Think about the scene above. What is Susan’s sense of self? What is Mark’s social identity? And if you want to try out your new knowledge, how does social identity play a role in conspiracy theories?