The Art of Socializing with People - Case Study Example

ThelClient’s background The crucial decade for any human being is between 10 years when the art of socializing with people gets defined and practiced. The art of socializing is primarily gained through the immediate family, from whom the child learns community norms. Other important facts that influence the child are school, peer groups, mass media and church going. The child’s willingness to interact with others is, to very large extent, governed by his general acceptance of the norms governing society norms and its implications on his interactions. Should a young person have imbibed the right social training since his early years, his social interactions would be normal and productive, and would underpin his growth, whereas, if he is the victim of certain childhood traumas, his social interaction would be negative and, in certain cases, undesirable. The client in question has serious manifestation of social maladjustment and failure to interact with peer/adult groups. This client, Devin is a 10 year old boy of African American descent, studying the elementary 4th standard, is of Christian faith and presently staying with his grandmother, Ms. Jackson Moss. who is around 54 years old. Beside his father and mother, he has a step sister aged 19 years and a cousin, Melanie aged 17 years. Devin’s case has been one of child abuse at the hands of his biological parents and step sisters in Georgia. Since the last 2 ½ years, he is staying with his grandmother. He was referred to SSW by the school, due to incorrect interfacing with his age group children and adults. He also lacked social skills to move with people. The cause of this was a direct result of psychological impairment due to sexual, physical abuse and cruel treatment. However, he enjoys a close and excellent rapport with his grandmother and opens out his mind to her regarding his past life with his parents and step sisters. (McGuire-Snieckus et al, 2006; Craighead et al, 1985). It is strongly believed that abundant love and care would slowly return Devin back to normal, for which his grandmother has offered her fullest co-operation. He is now under medication and counseling therapy, and according to his grandmother, if is not satisfactory, he would be assigned to a residential psychiatric setting for specialized treatment. There is need for “ an innovative schema for assessment and intervention with respect to difficult life transitions and traumatic events,” which has occurred in Devin’s life ( Carol B Germain and Alex Gitterman 1996 ) Contract Agreement In the case of Devin, it is important to understand the process by which the contract is initiated. First of all, it is necessary to identify the causes for the behaviour of Devin and its contributory factors. In this case, it is also intrinsic that primary care be allocated to Devin to enhance his social skills. Another important aspect is the participation of his family member in his programme of rehabilitation and reorientation. His grandmother has a primary role to play in the process of his attaining normalcy and good behaviour. At the start of the intervention, it was made clear to Devin that he should take proactive participation in the programme so that efforts can be productive (Gitterman & Shulman 2005) Devin himself should cooperate with the members of his family to return to normalcy and studies. Through love and caring, and the active support and encouragement of his family members and medication and professional counseling, it is expected that Devin would reform and become a normal child and the assigned school social worker would provides behavioral assessments, crisis intervention, and consultation in addressing the barriers to student achievement. (School Social Work & Attendance 1998)   Issues related to transition Transitional problems occur in any change, and this is more so in the case of Devin since he is, to a certain extent, mentally challenged. Although he prefers his current home and school, he needs to build skill sets to be able to live happily and perform well at school. Devin needs to understand the cause-and –effect of his actions and also he needs to improve his interaction with his classmates and teachers. He should take his tutorials seriously so that this would help him do well in school. He needs to develop the skill sets necessary to compete with his classmates in school and this would also help him get necessary confidence. He needs to adopt a positive attitude towards his peer group. The idea would be to support Devin during his tutorials so that he would become in a position to take his place with his class-mates. Devin should also be made to understand this aspect. A critical aspect would be to improve his communication skills, so that people are able to understand what he wants, and also respond and help him in all his endeavors. This aspect is crucial because he needs to communicate his wants to people in order for them to help him in his efforts to attain normalcy and compete with his peer groups. Life’s Transition Connections It is very essential that Devin gains freedom to express his thoughts and feelings, so that he could improve his thought process and communicating skills. Although initially he was reluctant to engage in conversation ,later on, when he realized it was for his benefit , his reactions were different, and he was able to understand the real motives behind it and reacted positively to it. It is also important to actively involve Devin in the programmes associated with his welfare. With a lot of care, understanding and love, the trauma of his earlier life could be obliterated and he could be guided to lead a normal life. For example, when he expresses reservations about academic guidance support, he was initially skeptical, but later on, when he realized its implications, he developed a positive attitude towards it. In providing information for his family and his teachers how they can positively help Devin, there is assurance that the boy will be able to gain access to his critical needs (Craighead et al, 1985). Through his grandmother’s support and guidance in co-coordinating for obtaining better grades at school, Devin has shown significant progress during the course of his evaluation. Through sustained medication and psychological treatment, his problems of poor sleep, bedwetting, headaches and ‘hearing voices’ could be cured. But the important matter is the total involvement of Devin himself and his carer in the treatment process and the continuous improvement process through counseling and studies supports systems in order to make his school studies easier and to increase his self esteem through better interaction with his peer groups and the teaching faculty. All these matters that need to be addressed to Summary of Transaction Efforts Establishment of Communication Channels C: Devin enters the room and offers a brief and quiet ‘hello’. When prompted regarding the purpose of the meeting, Devin expresses that he doesn’t know why he has to attend the session and relates his reluctance to participate in it. W: To alleviate his discomfort, I offered him a smile and said ‘hello’ to him and told him that this the meeting today was more of a ‘getting to know each other meeting’ and that I understood why he may feel uncomfortable Skill: Displaying understanding of client’s feelings, offering insight Evaluation: Reading the client – I feel anxious about the meeting because I know that it will talk about my family and my recent activities. I feel uncomfortable about my experiences and tired of having to repeat it to people I don’t really know. I just want to be like the other kids. I want to fit in. I don’t want to have to talk about what my family did to and most specially, I don’t want the other students to find out about it. I just want to forget about it Reading the worker – For Devin, fitting in and being like everyone else is an indication of stability. He doesn’t want any kind of activity that brings him attention. He is still trying to find his place among the other students and establish friendships which he feels can be compromised by his history. I understand that Devin may have existing reluctance to discuss his issues because of its emotional impact to him as well as because of the possible stigma he perceives in his situation. His previous experience in similar situations may already have created a feeling of redundancy for the activity Accuracy on primary emotional message - The first meeting with Devin indicates that there are pre-existing measures that have to be overcome to establish rapport and cooperation. It is difficult to identify the specific issues that have developed this reluctance in the client, whether it comes from the actual abuse of previous interventions. It is apparent that Devin is reserving his participation and his perception of my involvement. I believe that I was able to understand how much Devin wants to feel secure and accepted by peers. It is important for him to feel that he is liked because of his experience of being the focus of anger. Assuring Devin that the session is right for him despite the taunts, communicates that what is imperative is the help that he needs. Another try – Devin, I know that this is difficult for you and that you may have gone through something like this before. But I’m telling you that we won’t have to discuss anything that you don’t want to talk about. All we have to do here is to find out how I can help you. It’s sometimes hard for other people to understand others’ experience or the things one has to do to be better. It takes a lot of courage to do something that you have to do not just for yourself but also for those who love you like your grandmother New Skills – Re-clarifying social worker’s purpose and role; putting client’s unspoken feeling to words; helping clients see the situation in a new way; tuning into the client’s struggle; normalizing and helping clients see the situation in a new way Identifying Key Issues C: Devin believes that he finds his homework difficult and that he is of the opinion that, on the contrary, his class-mates find them relatively easy. He also says that he has problems going for tutorial classes since it involves a change of homes. Although he recognizes his need for academic support, he says he does not wish to be put in a class for imbeciles. . W: I asked Devin whether he asked for his teacher’s help or assistance from other school programs that could help him with his academic studies. I also asked him whether he used to discuss these matters with his grandmother. I inform Devin that by asking for help and accepting it does not make him stupid- it actually makes him a winner. Skill: Inviting client’s story, reframing Evaluation: Reading the client – I feel that I am not as good as the other students and that they may think I’m dumb. Though I know that I am in a better environment now, I am still adjusting to it ,so I still find that I’m pressured to perform in my studies. Reading the worker – I see that Devin still needs help with his self-concept as well as his need to be accepted by his peers. I remember my own anxiety in school and trying to cope with lessons. I found it particularly frustrating as well, when my classmates seemed to be able to accomplish the tasks better than I did. I realize that this period for Devin also has become more stressful than my own experience because of his transition to a new home Accuracy on primary emotional message – I feel that Devin wants to ask help regarding his schoolwork but is both reluctant to bring attention to himself and his concerns. He also may not be aware of the services that he can access or the channels that he can approach for help Another try – Do you want me to help you where you can find some help for doing your schoolwork. I can ask them to give me a list of the programs they have and you can choose for yourself what you want to do. You know Devin, it’s not just you can’t understand your lessons; it may just because you’re in a new school and need a little review of the skills you need. Don’t you think that a smart person knows when he needs to do something that can improve himself? New Skills – Dealing with issues of authority; attending to non-verbal messages, making a demand for work or action Establishing Program Participation C: Devin says that he is willing to attend remedial programs and participation in the therapy sessions so that he can do better in school. He also expressed his commitment in minding the instructions of his teachers and grandmother W: I told Devin that it takes a lot of commitment to do well in school but that the rewards are worthwhile not just because he will be able to do better for himself but also to make his grandmother happy. Skill: Participating and visualizing Evaluation: Reading the client – I want to be part of these efforts to be able to do better and help my grandmother. I understand that I need to give it al lot of effort and that it can mean that I have to follow directions and mind my teachers and my grandmother better. Reading the worker – It is to be expected that Devin wants to please his teachers and his grandmother because he associates their opinion with being able to stay in the environment he is in now. His understanding of the importance of his participation indicates that he has an understanding of the need for work and effort to accomplish a goal. Accuracy on primary emotional message – I feel that Devin wants to do better in school and realizes that he lacks essential skills to do so. I believe that it is important for Devin to know that people are there to help him and that he can be better through their efforts. Most of all, it is important for the child to realize that he is worth these efforts and deserves them Another try – Accomplishing you responsibilities is a great way of showing people who care about you that you appreciate their efforts in caring for you and that you want to actively participate in becoming a better student. New Skills – Dealing with issues of authority, specifying action tasks, attending to non-verbal messages Establishing Indicators of Performance C: Devin says that he believes that getting better grades will be his indicator for performance and becoming more personally responsible for himself in terms of schooling and doing his chores. W: I told Devin that getting better grades is an indicator of his performance but that he should expect that it will take time and effort. At the same time, I told him that grades or accomplishing his chores are the sole indicators of his progress and that he also must be able to understand the value of these tasks Skill: specifying action tasks and reframing Evaluation: Reading the client – I want to please my family and my teachers so that they will thinks that I am worth the efforts they are giving me. I want recognition hat I have value and that I am just as good as any other child Reading the worker – Devin has great need to establish his self-worth and thinks that his efforts should yield positive results that he believes are essential in gaining approval or affection. Accuracy on primary emotional message – Devin wants to do better in school but still lack a confident perspective to prevent his from pegging his worth to his performance. This may have been one of the main reasons why he previously was unwilling to devote himself more to school or home Another try – This process will take effort and time on your part and you should not be discouraged id things do not easily go well. What is important is that you are doing your best and are making an honest effort. New Skills – Correcting misinformation, giving advise, preparing and planning for task completion Evaluating Client Progress C: Devin signifies that since the programs that he has been participating in have been successful, he feels more empowered and willing to participate in therapy or similar support programs W: I told Devin that his enthusiasm is an indication that he is adjusting well to his new home and school. His voluntary participation in the programs is an indication that he wants to be proactive in his life. Skill: Participating, identifying strengths Evaluation: Reading the client – I can make a difference in my life and become a more positive individual. I am willing to make an effort and expect that it will take time and effort to succeed. Reading the worker – The best testament of having been able to positively establish a positive communications channel and relationship with a client is in being to encourage active and responsible participation in a program. Accuracy on primary emotional message – I feel that Devin is greatly encouraged by the support that he is able to get both from school and at home. This shows both Devin’s willingness to participate and at the same the sheer thirst Devin has for positive reinforcement Another try – It is good that you are willing to participate more in the program not just to please your teachers or your family but also so that you can take ownership of the progress you are making for yourself. New Skills – attending to non-verbal messages, offering reassurance, inviting self-reflection Practice Evaluation The main basis for the developed program was based on the belief that Devin’s behavior is a direct reflection of the abuses he has endured during his early childhood, physical abuse, and mental torture at the hands of his relatives in Georgia. He was also deprived of love and care which is necessary during the formative years. His mother used to keep him with others for long periods and deprived him of maternal attention and care. All this had a great bearing on his mental buildup, since he has now assumed manners akin to his abusers. The main objectives are to ensure that Devin receives the proper care and mental nourishment to erase his past memories, and also, he needs a nurturing environment and a loving home that could provide him the critical support for his transition. It was concluded that Devin’s previous environment had a lot to do with his present behavior, which is also the main reason the concern was forwarded to SSWAD. It was important to observe that Devin’s childhood involves a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect which, undoubtedly, has had a negative impact on his behavior. The lack of stability because of being placed in variety of homes with relatives and friends also made Devin reluctant to trust people easily and he reacts passively at efforts for better communication or treatment. But since Devin appears to have a close relationship with his “grandmother”, there is evidence that he can react positively to programs involving the members of his family. To develop focus and direction as well as a means of feedback for programs with Devin, it was crucial for him to understand the significance of the programs he needs to participate in and how important they were to help him in his new school and home. It was emphasized repeatedly to Devin that his actions have a consequence and that he can positively affect the direction of his life and those he cares for by doing well (UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity, 2006). From the initial contact with Devin, it is apparent that he already ahs an understanding of what he needs to accomplish. Final Status Presently, Devin remains in the care of Ms. Jackson-Moss and under the supervision of the SSWAD program. He is receiving ongoing in-home counseling services through the Chrysalis center, and is seen by their consultant psychiatrist as well. The concerns initially rose for Devin such as problems with sleeping, hearing voices, bed-wetting, headaches and focusing difficulties are being addressed to. The primary issue is to provide him a loving and caring environment that could erase his traumatic past and revitalize his mental health and unite him with his peer groups. Through a gradual process of interactional behaviour with adults, his approach would also be improved. He is still under medication as was prescribed by therapists but there is a prognosis that Devin can eventually function well without them or become less dependent on them over a period of time. Devin has had a very positive relationship with his grandmother and has related more about his feelings and some of the mistreatment he has endured at the hands of his relatives (Shulman, 2006). One of the main foundations of this relationship has been because of Ms. Jackson-Moss commitment that Devin receives quality care, and services necessary for his constant well-being. Though Devin’s grades or aptitude are still an area of concern, his behavior has become less of an issue. To respond to his academic performance requirements, he has been enrolled in one-on-one tutoring programs together with remedial classes to reinforce his development of skills appropriate for his grade level (Broward County Public Schools, 2007). Devin wants to ask help regarding his schoolwork but is both reluctant to bring attention to himself and his concerns. Therefore, monitoring and prompting for support is still needed. Also because of his lack of a concrete schooling before his stay with his grandmother, he remains to be generally unaware of the services that he can access or the channels that he can approach for help. Moreover the memories of a traumatic past still lingers at the back of his mind, inhibiting his positive attitudes and desire for need fulfillment.. Thus, it was essential that the available services were provided to him and that he have a positive understanding regarding the purpose of these programs (Desocio et al, 2006). Ultimately, these efforts will be important in emphasizing the Devin a positive outlook for his life. Reflections The policies and practices that are developed as part of social services have the potential of improving child well-being particularly in situations when there are indications of neglect or abuse (Blank, 2002). Researchers is welfare, nursing and rehabilitation all suggest that the possible effects of neglect and abuse are best addressed by developing programs that consider social and economic factors not just as factors of the condition but as drivers of prevalence (Germain & Gitterman, 1996). Exposures to empirical studies broadens the visions of the social workers and by using the interactional approach with clients, they can also gain from them, first hand practical knowledge and intimacy regarding the issues that are involved. The exposure to actual social conditions allows social workers the scope for thorough comprehensive knowledge of issues that is entails, especially in sensitive areas like pediatric care, which is essential in developing sensitivity about issues and developments that may not be as readily addressed in clinical approaches and when viewed from purely medical angles. Thus, to better address the social challenges that develop from abuse and neglect, it is essential that social service providers be able to personally understand the challenges that their clients face on a personal level so that they can effectively support rehabilitation and recovery ( Cox & Ephross, 1998). The issue in hand is not just a post-mortem of the series of traumatic experiences of the client, especially related to pediatric cases and its review. The primary issue that needs to be addressed is the recouping of mental health and stability by the client and his ultimate rehabilitation in social settings, so that the client could develop good interpersonal skills and gain good grades in school, for which the active support and co-operation of the member of his family is also necessary along with the professional care of the psychiatric team attending to his condition. References Blank, R. (2002). Evaluating Welfare Reform in the United States. Journal of Economic Literature. 1105-1166. Broward County Public Schools (2007) The Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved on February 27, 2007 from http://www.browardschools.com/ Cox, B. and Ephross, P.H (1998). Ethnicity And Social Work Practice. New York: Oxford University Press. Craighead, W. Edward, M., Andrew, W. and Craighead, L. W. (1985). A Conceptual Model For Cognitive-Behavior Therapy With Children. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology. Volume 13 Number 3 September: 331-342 Desocio, J, Stember, L and Schrinsky, J. (2006). Teaching children about mental health and illness: a school nurse health education program. J Sch Nurs. 22(2):81-6. Germain, C. B & Gitterman, A. (1996). The Life Model of Social Work Practice (2nd ed). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved on April 17, 2007 from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023106/0231064160.HTM Gitterman, Alex and Shulman (2005). Mutual Aid Groups, Vulnerable and Resilient Populations, and The Life Cycle. Chichester, West Sussex: Lawrence Columbia University Press McGuire-Snieckus, R., McCabe, R., Catty J and Priebe S. (2006). A New Scale To Assess The Therapeutic Relationship In Community Mental Health Care: STAR. Psychol Med. 2006 November Volume 9: 1-11 School School Work & Attendance (1998) : Broward country public school : About School Social work Services Retrieved on April 17, 2007 from http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/studentsupport/sswad/HTML/ABOUT.htm Shulman, L. (2006). The Skills Of Helping Individuals, Family, Groups And Communities (5th ed). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity (2006). Public Service Productivity: Health Read More