Identifying Information - Case Study Example

?Assessment for Jones I. STUDY A. Identifying Information In 1987, Jones was living with her parents. Jones is the main character of the movie Precious, and she is, in fact, the one who is referred to as precious. The movie tries to bring out the important fact that everyone is precious in their own way no matter what kind of circumstances they face. Jones was brought up in the worst environment ever. Not only was the sixteen year old girl obese and illiterate, but also she was brought up by parents that took advantage of her naivety. Her father raped her repeatedly and even fathered two children with her (Bradshaw, 2010). The name of the first child she gets is Mongo. Mongo is the short version of Mongolid. The child suffers from Down syndrome. It is even worse to raise a child with this kind of condition in such a setup. Luckily, the grandmother lovingly raises the child for her. However, Mary (Jones mother) is keen on receiving extra money from the government, so she forces her daughter Jones to pretend that she is living with Mongo. This way, she manages to get some more welfare money from the government. And she was just a naive sixteen years old girl (Sukhdev, 2010). C. Reason for referral (Presenting Problem) 1. Source of referral Jones was referred to the new school by her former principal. Arguably, the new school helped her get the help she needed to get over her abuse 2. Reason for referral to agency at this time Jones’ studies were temporarily interrupted after she became pregnant for the second time. When her principal discovered that she referred Jones to another school which she believed would be better for her while she was pregnant. She wanted Jones to continue with her studies regardless of her state but in an environment that would not make her feel rejected. 3. Client's understanding of the problem Jones is a young girl who may not really understand why she is being abused by her parents. Arguably, Jones is in a make or break scenario. An individual could breakdown under the pressure and take drastic decisions including suicide attempts. However, an individual that is exposed to this kind of scenarios can also rise up and come out strong against all odds (Patino-Fernandez et al., 2006). Inspiration and resolution are the main reasons why some people rise from ashes and make something good come out of their circumstances irrespective of their dark past. This is the path that Precious chooses. It is important for the medic to help the patient walk towards this path and even recommend therapy if need be. 4. Cultural and non-Western views of the problem Rape and child abuse are both strongly and widely condemned across all societies. Rape is one of the worst things that could happen to anyone and it is even worse when it is done by a relative (Fisher, 2009). 5. Other difficulties associated with the problem Jones has gone through enough peril as a victim of her father’s sexual abuse. Apart from the sexual harassment from her father, Jones also suffered physical, verbal, and mental abuse from the dysfunctional stay at home of her mother. 6. Previous efforts to deal with the problem Jones was lucky to have a school principal that went to the trouble of finding out why she had stopped attending school. On realizing that she was expecting her second child, the principal decides to get the girl to a school that could be of help to her. It is this decision that ultimately changes the life of Jones, as she becomes a precious girl once again. However, she still continues living in the same house and is susceptible to further abuse. The nice principal followed by the good teacher and helpful social worker as well as the friendly nurse each played a very special role towards the emancipation of Precious from her state. This can be seen clearly when her mother drops her new born baby and she fights back for the very first time against her brutality and even masters the courage to run away from her. This time she goes away permanently and takes her son with her. For lack of anywhere to run, she decides to go to the school where the teacher found her and intervened by organizing an accommodation for her. This way, she lives well, takes care of her son, and still continues with her education while at it. You would think that her life is back on the right track, but just then her mother resurfaces with some news: her father is dead. He died of HIV. She later finds out that she had been infected too but luckily her son had not. D. Physical and Economic Environment Precious Jones lived with her parents in section eight tenement. She obviously came from a very poor family since they relied on welfare all year round for their food and clothing as well as other needs. In fact, Mongo had to be taken care of by her grandmother since they could not afford it. However, the mother forces Jones to lie that she lives with Mongo to the social workers so as to receive more welfare money from the government. E. Current Social Functioning 1. Family situation The very people who were not just her guardians or custodians but her real parents abused her. Why would someone hurt his/her own flesh and blood? There are many explanations that can be given to this, but it all boils down to a molested person becoming a molester. Chances are that the parents of Precious had gone through some form of abuse due to which, partly, they became who they are (Sukhdev, 2010). The medic could acquire this information by having a friendly chat with Jones in order to develop an environment of trust. Usually, anyone that is raised in such circumstances grows up with certain traits that make life almost impossible. For instance, most girls that were abused by close family members like their fathers or even family friends grow up resenting men. This often happens unconsciously, since every male they meet reminds them of the family member that molested them (Hochschild & Machung, 2003). A father is an important figure in the life of a growing child since the image he imprints on the children is probably the image the child will conjure each time he or she encounters another male in the future (Faye, 1994). a. Physical abuse Jones has gone through physical abuse from the mother and the father. She has suffered over the years in silence but she eventually decided to run away and took her son with her when her own mother intentionally dropped her baby. b. Sexual abuse The father has been in the habit of sexually defiling her over and over again. Even after she became pregnant and bore her first son, the father did not relent but kept raping her until she was pregnant with a second child. 2. Current sexual/emotional relationship Jones had no prior history of dating and was certainly still a virgin when her father took advantage of her. In fact, the only evidence of dating that we have in the life of Precious is captured in her stream of censoriousness. This happens when she is standing outside the temple the day she ran from her parent’s house. She had stood at the window for a moment to admire and listen to the songs that the choir sang as they prepared for Christmas carols. As Precious peeped through the window, all she hoped was that one day she would be walking hand in hand with her new boyfriend. It is a desire that was not fulfilled – at least not in the lifespan of the movie. The nurse could try to look for any tell tale signs of physical and sexual abuse. On identifying any bruises on the girl or any other thing, she/he could try to coax Jones into full disclosure. The naivety of Precious is probably what made her father to take advantage of his own daughter. He probably knew that she would not be bold enough to tell the secret to any one, and, after all, chances were that even if she did, no one would believe her any way. So he went on molesting her until she could not just take it anymore. A family history could be taken in a bid to establish the kind of family background that Jones came from. The full disclosure principle might be of help to the medic when getting the information not only from Jones but from the guardian (Rajan, 2008). 3. Occupational/school situation Jones attended two schools. She was referred to her second school by the principal of the first one after she conceived the second time. In her first school, we don’t see her being close to anyone. This could be a result of the low self esteem due to the defilement she has gone through at home. However, this changes when she goes to her new school. She becomes close to some teachers and she even talks freely with the social worker. Her concentration in school seems to come back again. II. ASSESSMENT A. Intellectual functioning Jones’ intellectual ability comes to life when she moves to the second school. We see her engrossed in reading and writing, and she even becomes close to her teacher. Her cognitive ability is revealed when her mother drops her new born baby down and she fights back for the very first time against her brutality and even masters the courage to run away from her. Jones is not suicidal and has no potential for violence. We see her fantasizing about walking down the aisle someday when she was bypassing the church. She also has a new motivation in life – to give the best for her children. This newly found desire is enough fuel to propel her in life. She is, of course, mad with her mother and father, but she decides to go away from them and has no intention of meeting them again. B. Emotional Functioning The death of the father of Precious may be important for the development of the plot of the movie, but one can argue that the father was dead to Precious long time before his actual death. It is impossible to a daughter to consider her father a real father after he rapes her. Just as expected, Precious does not bemoan his death. To her, the only thing that she moans is having ever met him in the first place. This information can be helpful for the nurse when taking the history of the patient. The reaction on the patient’s face at the mention of the dead father can reveal if she resented him or if she is sorry that he is dead. Resentment would probably mean that he was abusing her and she was glad he was no more. C. Motivation for change and commitment to services There are motivations that result in the seeking out for help; the very first one is to have a better life than the one she currently lived. As the character reveals, Precious would often be lost in her thoughts of a different world where she was loved and where she loved back. At one point in time, she was thinking of how she would be walking down the aisle alongside her boyfriend. This image of a possible bright future must have pushed her to open up to the social worker. The second motivation was her newly found friends. Jones had grown up in a family in which she was resented and misused by both of her parents. There was a vacuum in her that longed for real love. When she made some friends at her new school, she was ready to share her perils with them and a solution was eventually arrived at, although she is the one that set the ball rolling (Bradshaw, 2010). The chain of events that led to the emancipation of Precious can be traced back to the decision her former principal made to recommend her a new school. At the new school, she met with people who gave her hope and a shoulder to lean on. The help she received and the love they showed to her is probably the most important part of the intervention process that they gave to her. Even though the film ends with so many questions unanswered, it still leaves the viewer with the satisfaction that something good can come out of Precious in the long run. Indeed, everyone is precious and all we need is a little help to bring out the best in us. The Jones that we see at the beginning of the movie is not the same Jones that we see at the end of the movie. At the beginning, it is just a Jones that is going through hell on earth, but by the time the movie ends it is no longer just Jones – it is Precious who has a new lease of life. 111. INTERVENTION While it may not be possible to control what goes on in every family, at least it is possible to take actions that are geared at intervening for the sake of not only the minors that are in trouble but also those adults that may be in dire need of help. For instance, when Jones went to the new school, she arguably received a new lease of life. She met teachers that inspired her to forge ahead in life with positivity. It is at the school that Precious meets her new teacher Rain Blu. Rain inspires the girl and she begins to pay more attention than she previously did to reading and writing. Her efforts seem to bear fruit as she soon starts to grasp what she had been missing for the better part of her easier school days. It would seem that the new environment has given her a new look and approach to life altogether (Sukhdev, 2010). A change of environment usually has a significant impact on the success of intervention for a client. That is the main reason why clients are often secluded in a different location in order to help them recover. This is the reason why psychiatrists try to make their offices as attractive as possible. Not only will they have a comfortable couch for their clients, but also have other accessories like aquariums. Cool colors are typically used to paint the walls of the office and soft music is played in the background. This gives the patients a relaxed feeling and helps them to forget about their problems, even if for only a short while before new solutions are suggested to them. This experience reveals a very important fact about the act of intervention. It is easier to intervene when you first take time to build friendship with the client. Victims of any kind of abuse and molestation are often afraid to talk about it to any one and can only do that if they are convinced that what they are sharing will not lead to their punishment. When she delivers her second child whom she names Abdul, she also meets a very kind nurse. This is a very important part in the intervention. Clients can only open up if an environment of trust is cultivated. This is the main reason why Jones had in fact not shared her predicament to any one when she was in her former school. 1. The usefulness of theories in nursing and medical practice fully relies on important information about the history of the patient. A good treatment for a patient happens not just as a result of what the nurse observes, but also as a result of what the nurse/medic perceives to be going on in the life of the patient (Rajan, 2008). For any client that seeks help from an intervention center, it is important to seek out the kind of family background the person had. For starters, the counselor may want to know if the client came from a broken family or if there were any siblings left in the house. There are many reasons for this, and some of them are legal. For instance, the adults that live with a minor are considered by law as the guardians of the minor, and they are in fact answerable if something goes wrong. In the case of Jones, her parents should be responsible for the abuse and legal action could be taken against them. Any child that goes through abuse without sharing it with parents usually refrains from sharing the information out of fear or intimidation. That speaks a lot in itself since a child that is in a good family setup should not be afraid of sharing such information with her parents or guardians. The fact that Jones refrained from sharing the information with her parents is one of the best pointers that probably the parents themselves were involved in the abuse. References Bradshaw, P. (2010, January 28). Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jan/28/precious- review. Faye, D. Resnick. (1994). Nicole Brown Simpson: The private diary of a life interrupted. New York: Dove Books. Fisher, T. (2009). Fatherhood and the British fathercraft movement, 1919-39. London: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Hochschild, A.R., & Machung, A. (2003). The second shift. New York: Penguin Books. Patino-Fernandez, A.M., Pai, Ahna, Alderfer, Melissa, Jensen-Pace, Merritt M., Reilly, Anne, & Kazak, Anne E. (2006). Assessing psychosocial risk: Mother, physician, nurse report. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Philadelphia, PA. Rajan, R. (2008). Psychosocial Interventions for chronic pain. In search of evidence. New York: Springer Sukhdev, S. (2010, January 28). Precious, Review. Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/7092274/Precious- review.html. Read More