Major Issues during Interview Sessions - Essay Example

Interview Name: Institution: Interview Interview Session Interviewer: Welcome to the meeting Skyla. I’m glad we could finally get to talk. How are you doing today? You look a little tired and frustrated. Skyla: I’m fine, I guess. I'm just wishing I could move on from this incident so that I can go back to taking care of my children. Interviewer: You look like you really love your children. That’s very encouraging Skyla. Tell me, what do you make of the four charges brought against you this week? Skyla: Well, I was very disappointed in myself and I deeply regret my actions, especially hitting the security guard in the face, which is totally out of character for me. Interviewer: So do you wish you could have done things differently were you given the chance to go back in time? Skyla: Yes, I would have not made those offences. Although I have to say, I was in a particularly difficult situation at that time. I couldn’t afford nappies for my 8 month old daughter. I was in a dire situation. Interviewer: But the records of your arrest indicated that you had around $ 110 in your pocket at the time you were arrested. Skyla: Yes, but that money was for food. I have been out of a job for a long time. It was really a matter of priority with the money. There wasn’t enough to buy our food, the baby’s food and nappies, so I decided that the biggest priority was the food, which I was saving for. Interviewer: I see, Skyla, I’m sorry that you were in such a challenging financial situation. I can imagine that it was a very frustrating time for you. Is it possible that you could have asked for help from a family member or friends? Skyla: I couldn’t! I would never! My aunt doesn’t want to talk to me, and I cannot even talk to my mother about it. After she got re-married, she abandoned me and my smaller brother. The only people in my life now are my two children who depend on me totally as well as my younger brother who lives with me and does not even have a job. Interviewer: It is unfortunate that you did not have any family or friends to turn to during this difficult moment. What about the children’s father? Is he not in a position to help financially? Skyla: Well my children’s father is no longer in the picture too. After I had my second child he decided to be no longer part of us. He left after we had Maddison. Interviewer: I am very sorry to hear that Skyla. There is a clear financial problem going on with your family currently. Have you done anything to get yourself out of the situation? Despite you getting the single parent payment every month, it will not be enough for you to support Bailey, Maddison, your younger brother and yourself. And chances are that if you continue to be in this situation then there is a high likelihood that you will offend again in the future. Skyla: Well, I’ve been looking for a job ever since I got my second child. It hasn’t been easy because I cannot afford a nanny at the moment and my younger brother cannot be baby sitting as he needs to go to school in the weekdays. It has also been hard for me to leave them at a neighbor’s because everyone is so busy these days. It was hard to take care of Bailey alone even when I worked at Woolworths. Now that I have Maddison it had become even harder. I just wish I could find a good job. My education has also limited me to low skilled and low paying jobs over the past several years. Interviewer: You are saying that your educational background has set you back from getting a decent job. It read here that you had enrolled to learn about hair dressing. That’s wonderful. It could have allowed you to get a better income. Why did you terminate the program? And do you plan on resuming it? Skyla: If only things were that simple. You see, it all comes down to money once again. I’m unable to leave my two children alone to go back to studying hairdressing. And as I had mentioned, it is difficult to find anyone who can take care of them during the day for fee. In addition to that, I wouldn’t be able to feed my two kids and brother if I’m not working. The program takes one year to complete: a year that I would need to study full time and therefore have little or no time for a job. This is why I decided to take a break from it as I gathered my finances. Interviewer: Tell me about the drugs Skyla, do you use them often? Do you think you have a drug problem? Skyla: of course not! I use the methyl amphetamine and the marijuana to calm my nerves. At times life can get very stressful, and everyone needs help to relax. Interviewer: how long have you used the drugs? Skyla: I haven’t used them for long. I’m also always careful to not use it in front of my kids. Interviewer: Tell me Skyla; were you under the influence when you committed these offences? Skyla: I may have smoked a stick or two when I went into the store the first time. Interviewer: you do not have any previous record of stealing from a store? Was this your first time? How did it make you feel afterwards, especially considering you got caught? Skyla: I felt very remorseful about the whole situation. This is not the type of example I want to set for my kids. But on the other hand, I felt like I was trapped. My child needed something that I could not provide, so I felt like I needed to do it. Interviewer: Looking back, do you feel like you could have made a different, maybe better decision? Skyla: I certainly would have made a decision not to steal, but you have to understand, I did not steal out of sheer fun or excitement. I did it because I was in need of something essential, which I could not afford. So definitely if I was in a better financial situation from the one I am in, stealing would be the last thing on my mind. Interviewer: what about hitting the security officer after being verbally abusive? How did you feel about that? Skyla: once the security officer saw me, I panicked, and I thought that maybe if I told him off he would leave me be. However, he had already seen me packing the nappies in my bag, and had taken the bag away from me. Interviewer: Did you grow up in a physically and verbally abusive home as a child? Skyla: To some extent yes, but I do not think that it affected me in a huge way, because I normally do not hit people. Interviewer: Sometimes we may fail to pay attention to how the little things we hear or see affect us. Therefore, it is possible that you may have an abusive issue stemming from your childhood. Also, it appears that you do not have a strong relationship with your mother or aunt, who seemed to have been very close to you once. Is it possible that this is an issue that has reflected in the relationship with that of your children’s father? Skyla: It is possible that it has. Interviewer: That will be all for today. Thank you for making the time to have this talk. I’m glad that we have made some progress. Problem Overview The interview with Skyla could be described as a success. Through the conversation, we were able to unravel some of Skyla’s major issues, which led me to believe that they were the cause of her committing the offences. Skyla grew up in an abusive home. Although the abuse was not very intense, it seemed to have affected her. Secondly, Skyla’s major problem currently is her financial situation, which makes it impossible for her to take care of her children and younger brother comfortably. At the point when she committed the offence of stealing. Skyla felt trapped between doing the right thing by law or her children. She felt like those were her only two choices, and decided to choose to provide for her children. Like many mothers in such difficult situations, it may become tempting to commit crimes, not knowing that it could put them in a far worse situation. Skyla is also young and lacking guidance from older family members or friends. The lack of healthy and solid relationships may perhaps contribute to her situation with the children’s father. It is my belief that we are likely to make much more progress in getting to the core problems of Skyla’s problems in order to know why she committed these offences. Several aspects were well done in the interview. Foremost, Skyla was a fairly good communicator in terms of expressing herself. She was straightforward and sincere about her issues. Whenever I asked her questions, her responses seemed valid and well within reason. Secondly, Skyla seemed to be accepting of her responsibilities and willing to make positive changes in her life. Openness is one of the crucial elements to meaningful communication (Aldridge, 204). However, several aspects were still amiss in the interview. Skyla did not seem to be withholding about her family issues, particularly those concerning her aunt and mother and why they are no longer in speaking terms. I feel that if improvements were made on this, we would be able to unlock some of the inner relationship issues she is facing. She is also very determined to be able to take care of her children, while this may be a seemingly good aspect; she appears to be ready to commit offenses in order to provide for them. I believe that if improvements were made on her financial situation, Skyla would be in a better psychological situation to communicate more freely due to less stress. As a regular drug user, the interview session would be made much easier if she had stopped her drug use in order to become clearer headed to communicate. Reference Aldridge,S. (2014). A Short Introduction to Counseling. London: SAGE Publications Read More

Skyla: Well my children’s father is no longer in the picture too. After I had my second child he decided to be no longer part of us. He left after we had Maddison. Interviewer: I am very sorry to hear that Skyla. There is a clear financial problem going on with your family currently. Have you done anything to get yourself out of the situation? Despite you getting the single parent payment every month, it will not be enough for you to support Bailey, Maddison, your younger brother and yourself.

And chances are that if you continue to be in this situation then there is a high likelihood that you will offend again in the future. Skyla: Well, I’ve been looking for a job ever since I got my second child. It hasn’t been easy because I cannot afford a nanny at the moment and my younger brother cannot be baby sitting as he needs to go to school in the weekdays. It has also been hard for me to leave them at a neighbor’s because everyone is so busy these days. It was hard to take care of Bailey alone even when I worked at Woolworths.

Now that I have Maddison it had become even harder. I just wish I could find a good job. My education has also limited me to low skilled and low paying jobs over the past several years. Interviewer: You are saying that your educational background has set you back from getting a decent job. It read here that you had enrolled to learn about hair dressing. That’s wonderful. It could have allowed you to get a better income. Why did you terminate the program? And do you plan on resuming it? Skyla: If only things were that simple.

You see, it all comes down to money once again. I’m unable to leave my two children alone to go back to studying hairdressing. And as I had mentioned, it is difficult to find anyone who can take care of them during the day for fee. In addition to that, I wouldn’t be able to feed my two kids and brother if I’m not working. The program takes one year to complete: a year that I would need to study full time and therefore have little or no time for a job. This is why I decided to take a break from it as I gathered my finances.

Interviewer: Tell me about the drugs Skyla, do you use them often? Do you think you have a drug problem? Skyla: of course not! I use the methyl amphetamine and the marijuana to calm my nerves. At times life can get very stressful, and everyone needs help to relax. Interviewer: how long have you used the drugs? Skyla: I haven’t used them for long. I’m also always careful to not use it in front of my kids. Interviewer: Tell me Skyla; were you under the influence when you committed these offences?

Skyla: I may have smoked a stick or two when I went into the store the first time. Interviewer: you do not have any previous record of stealing from a store? Was this your first time? How did it make you feel afterwards, especially considering you got caught? Skyla: I felt very remorseful about the whole situation. This is not the type of example I want to set for my kids. But on the other hand, I felt like I was trapped. My child needed something that I could not provide, so I felt like I needed to do it.

Interviewer: Looking back, do you feel like you could have made a different, maybe better decision? Skyla: I certainly would have made a decision not to steal, but you have to understand, I did not steal out of sheer fun or excitement. I did it because I was in need of something essential, which I could not afford. So definitely if I was in a better financial situation from the one I am in, stealing would be the last thing on my mind. Interviewer: what about hitting the security officer after being verbally abusive?

How did you feel about that? Skyla: once the security officer saw me, I panicked, and I thought that maybe if I told him off he would leave me be. However, he had already seen me packing the nappies in my bag, and had taken the bag away from me. Interviewer: Did you grow up in a physically and verbally abusive home as a child? Skyla: To some extent yes, but I do not think that it affected me in a huge way, because I normally do not hit people.

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