Report of Social Worker Concerning Michaels - Case Study Example

 Social Work-Michael’s Case Assessment of the Situation Assessment frequently allows the social worker to assist the client in making a rational judgment, empowerment as well as decision making in the process of enabling him/her in recovering. It creates a sense of strength-based problem-solving action plan by analyzing the data collected to determine how the inherent issues can be addressed. Michael has been involved in active drug use a condition that has caused personality disorders, as well as lack of concentration in his school work. Currently, he does not socialize with his peers and has developed a lack of interest in the things that he previously enjoyed doing. It has been a concern among his teachers since the manner in which Michael has been behaving is entirely different from what he used to do six months ago. Given the fact that he was spotted by one of his teachers hanging out with drug users they speculate the condition might worsen if not intervened immediately. Additionally, there are a number of social problems back at home whereby Michael’s family is undergoing financial problems a situation that has been complicated by deteriorating health conditions of his parents. Klara is currently under anti-depressant drugs due to depression as a result of the fact that they are leading a miserable life while the father is suffering from chronic back pain thus making him ineffective in his work further compromising the ability of the family to raise adequate income for their upkeep. Problem Prioritization In order for the social worker and the client involved to conduct intervention and a treatment plan the inherent problems and needs in the particular case have to be prioritized in the in the order of their urgency to determine, which problems of needs ought to be addressed first to avoid conflict of interest. Michael’s prioritization scale can be reviewed in Appendix A. Based on the prioritization scale Michael’s problem with drug abuse has the greatest potential to change as it scores 25/30 since previously he was able to freely socialize and interact with his peers as well as concentrate on his class and other co-curriculum activities until six months ago when he began his addiction with drugs (Parker and Bradley, 2010). Ecological Systems Perspective Cultural Assessment He has been doing well to this point as far as education is concerned since no incidents have been reported concerning misdeeds or underperformance in his academics. The family migrated from their Croatia which was their country of residence ten years ago and thus Michael’s education has not been affected by the transition in terms of the compatibility of the education systems between the two nations since he only begun going to school once they settled in Australia. Michael has demonstrated a sound body and mind with no incidences reported concerning ill health. However, in the past six months he has been experiencing difficulties in concentrating in class as well as he developed a tendency of wanting to isolate himself from the rest as he did not integrate with other students freely as he previously used to do. The fact that the English teacher recently spotted Michael hanging out with older men who are active drug users indicates that the sudden change of behavior that is being experienced by Michael is as a result of drug use (Kock, Kerckhove, & Vens, 2014). Sociological Assessment Ideally, Michael has developed a tendency of avoiding his peers since currently he only keeps a single friend in the entire school who happens to be a new student in the school It implies that Michael wants to keep distance from his former friends and peers for the fear that they will get to understand his new adventure and thus expose him. Thus, since he is keen to avoid the fear of being exposed by his peers Michael has decided to keep away from them by maintain an isolated life with only Terry as his friend based on the notion that he is new to the school and thus he knows little concerning his past and thus will not be in a position to judge him from his change of behavior (Pack and Cargill, 2015). Psychological Assessment Michael is talented musically, but since he started indulging in drug abuse he has virtually lost his interest in piano practice something he used to participate actively in. His music teacher has noticed the change and raised the alarm over the sudden loss of interest in piano practice given the fact that he talented musically and previously was among the best in playing the piano. Despite the fact that Terry is Michael’s only friend the manner in which he conducts himself is quite different from how his friend behaves. For instance, Terry is a talented sportsman who represents the school in athletics. On the other hand, Michael used to be good in music and thus played piano but since he begun drug use his interest in music dropped drastically and he no longer enjoys attending piano practice and thus his interest in the same has been lost. The music was Michael’s talent, and he used to perform previously very well in terms of playing the piano to the point the music teacher would recognize his efforts. But the moment he begun indulging in drug use I the company of older men the vice eroded his passion for music and thus his interest on the same was lost a reason he became reluctant in attending piano practice sessions at school (Holosko, Dulmus, & Sowers, 2012). Family and Environmental Factors Assessment The family of Michael moved from Croatia ten years ago and bought a small farm just outside Canberra where they established their home. It is at the same place of their residence that Michael’s parents developed winery that served as the primary source of income that supplemented the family on top of the part-time job that his parents undertook at a grocery store as attendants. The fact that they had to move out of Croatia meant that the family had to begin reconstructing themselves once again from scratch since the progress that they had made in Croatia had to be done away with as a new life had to start in Australia (Palvin, 1980). Anton and Klara had difficulties coping up with the small income that they got from the winery is a testament that the family was undergoing financial constraints or rather limited supply of money as compared to the previous lifestyle they were used to back in Croatia. It is from this premise that the two parents decide to top up their income by working part-time to make some extra money to improve their lifestyle in a bid to fit their previous kind of life (Dittrich, 2014). The difficulties that came along with the family having to get used to the small incomes that it used to get made Klara develop the mentality that his husband Anton was not doing enough to ensure he managed the workforce efficiently to provide better returns from their business. Socially, Michael’s family disintegrated since the sister was living with friends in Canberra where she was attending her university education. Michael was visiting St. Joseph High School while his parents were busy managing their small business as well as performing part-time jobs to supplement the family’s income. The family of Michael, especially the parents did not demonstrate any form of emotional concern for their children since it is evident that the whereabouts of their children was out of their guidance and boundaries. The daughter who was pursuing her university education was left to stay with friends in Canberra while the parents stayed back at home without any form of monitoring to ensure their daughter was fairing on well both behaviorally and socially in general. Similarly, despite the fact that Michael was staying with his parents they were so much preoccupied with looking for income for the family, and they forgot their primary role of monitoring the behavioral development of their children. It is prudent that the factors that instigated Michael into drug use would have been rectified if the parents intervened in time to address the situation (Congress and González, 2013). Intervention Plan Since Michael is a single individual; we will opt to implement an intervention program that will be focused on the micro client system. The system is meant to empower the customer as well as facilitate the process of problem-solving courage and confidence in themselves and their environment. The intervention plan involves a number of components all which have various benefits that will work to assist Michael to recover from his current situation. Power-Shared Relationship The component is premised on the notion that the client and the social worker ought to develop a relationship that is professional, equal and realistic at the same time to ensure the get the best results out of the process. In that regard the client who in this case if Michael will feel confident that indeed the social worker is supporting him to recover as well as develop a sense of empowerment and self-determination in getting out of his current situation. Despite the prioritization scale’s outcome, I will ask Michael the problem that he thinks should be addressed first to instill some sense of personal control over his situation. In that regard, Michael will be empowered to make positive changes since he will develop a feeling of control over his situation (Parker and Bradley, 2010). Competency Based Assessment The component allows the client and the social worker to explore other contributing factors that might have influenced Michael’s current state of powerlessness in regard to the problems he is facing that might hinder the process of recovery. In that light, Michael was an immigrant in Australia having moved there barely ten years ago. Thus, he is a member of a minority group a factor that may hinder him from benefiting from external resources. Similarly, he is a drug addict a factor that makes him prone to impaired judgment and powerlessness in controlling his situations (Greene, 2008). Normalization Normalization is meant to analyze the environmental factors that have facilitated Michael’s current situation. It is prudent that the act of moving out of Croatia to Australia did destabilize the family’s income generation capability a factor that saw them live a lifestyle they were previously not accustomed. It is from this premise that Michael’s parents decided to venture into income generation activities both at the winery and in part-time jobs to make extra income to supplement the needs of the family. In pursuit of their quest for money, the family becomes detached as they did not have enough room to monitor the situation of their son a factor that made Michael slip away into drug use. Additionally, the fact that Michael’s parents had developed some health conditions further complicated his life further and can be attributed to another factor that contributed to his current state (Walker, 2010). Collective for Mutual Aid It is beneficial to offer the client a chance to interact with other people who are currently of have in the past experienced the same situation that Michael is undergoing. On that light it will be prudent for Michael to undergo a substance abuse therapy to enable him to interact with persons experiencing the same problems as his to instill a sense of collectivism and give some assurance that he is not alone in those tribulations (Walker and Beckett, 2011). Counselling Before the actual counselling process can commence I will indulge in an in-depth knowledge finding process to uncover all information regarding the condition that Michael is currently undergoing to try to determine the best manner in which it can be approached to obtain the best results. From that point forward it will be appropriate to counsel Michael on his current situation depending on his level of willingness to positively embrace my counsel and thus brace him for change. Theoretical Perspectives The assessment and intervention plan for Michael’s case have been premised primarily on the social work theory. The theory provides for how social workers ought to respond to the issue while offering holistic intervention that will benefit the individuals involved. Similarly, change theory has been incorporated in the formulation of the intervention plan as it elaborates on the issues that ought to be addressed if at all the interventions that social workers implement are to have any meaningful effect on the clients. Michael’s situation was not different from other circumstances that we as social worker encounter in the course of our duty. The inherent issues that characterized the situation are part of the problems that numerous other individuals face in the course of their lives. Thus, based on past experiences in dealing with similar situation Michael’s scenario was handled in a holistic manner with moral values being incorporated in the entire process to ensure the client benefits from the process entirely (Lishman, 2007). Reflection Michael’s situation was not different from other circumstances that we as social worker encounter in the course of our duty. The inherent issues that characterized the situation are part of the problems that numerous other individuals face in the course of their lives. Thus, based on past experiences in dealing with similar situation Michael’s scenario was handled in a holistic manner with moral values being incorporated in the process to ensure the client benefits from the process entirely. The assessment and intervention techniques that have been applied to Michael’s case take into considerations the immediate needs of the situations as well as the inherent problems that ought to be solved. Social work is a holistic process that serves to reconstruct an individual or a group of people’s lives in a positive manner by assisting then to overcome particular problems they have encountered in the past. In this case, the primary intention of the social work intervention was to aid Michael to revert back to his normal life through a counselling process aimed at ensuring he quits drug use to overcome the effects that substance abuse had caused him especially in school. Social work has assisted me to understand the interventions that people ought to take to help vulnerable people in the society who are undergoing various social problems in a bid to ensure they lead a better life. Additionally, the course has given me new insights into the whole idea of social issues. People indulging in vices like substance abuse or any other form of psychological problems do not choose to lead that kind of life there a number of underlying factors that facilitate or rather push them to those vices that later on culminate into greater problems. References Congress, E., González, M. J., & Manny Gonzalez, D. S. W. (Eds.). (2012). Multicultural perspectives in social work practice with families. Springer Publishing Company. De Kock, C., Van Kerckhove, C., & Vens, E. (Eds.). (2014). Social Work in an International Perspective: History, views, diversity and human rights (Vol. 2). Maklu. Dittrich, K. (2005). Social work with elders: A biopsychosocial approach to assessment and intervention. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Greene, R. R. (2011). Social work with the aged and their families (Vol. 1). AldineTransaction. Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., & Sowers, K. M. (2012). Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. John Wiley & Sons. Lishman, J. (Ed.). (2007). Handbook for practice learning in social work and social care: knowledge and theory. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Pack, M., & Cargill, J. (2015). Evidence discovery and assessment in social work practice. Palvin, F., Crawley, J., & Baos, P. J. (1980). Perspectives in Australian social work. Bundoora, Vic, Pit Pub. Parker, J., & Bradley, G. (2010). Social work practice: assessment, planning, intervention, and review. Exeter, Learning Matters. Walker, S. (2010). The social worker's guide to child and adolescent mental health. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Walker, S., & Beckett, C. (2011). Social work assessment and intervention. Lyme Regis, Russell House Pub. Walsh, J. (2009). Generalist social work practice: intervention methods. Belmont, CA, Brooks/Cole Cenage Learning. Appendix A Michael’s Problem Prioritization Scale: Problem List: Problem: Personal Strengths: Environmental Resources: Total Change Potential: Problem Prioritization: Substance abuse 8 9 10 27 1 Family detachment 8 3 8 19 3 Health condition of parents 2 2 9 13 5 Personality Disorder 2 2 9 13 4 Limited source of family income 8 8 10 26 2 Scale: 0= no potential 1= very low potential 2= low potential 3= somewhat low potential 4= somewhat high potential 8= high potential 9= very high potential 10= maximum potential for change Read More