Psychosocial Evaluation
The Andre. R case is an assessment of a three-membered family. It comprises of Vincent who, according to the case, is a victim of child neglect and abuse from his parents. Additionally, Vincent’s mother, Andrea who suffers from depression, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder, can be termed destitute emotionally. She is also portrayed as an unfit mother with drug problems. Finally, John who is Vincent’s father who is an irresponsible parent and also a poor family keeper (Real Cases Project, 2007). Poverty and sickness seem to rock this family, and thus, it renders the parents incapable of giving proper care to their son, Vincent. Andrea’s maltreatment at a tender age makes her neglect her own son. In the case of John, he’s unemployment and sickness makes him a poor father and family man who cannot fully supplement the needs of his family.
It is, thus, clear that this family is suffering from a series of challenges. One of the challenges in the family is abuse; this is from the bruises and welts that Vincent suffers from his parents. Moreover, his erratic behavior reported by an officer is a symptom of child abuse mimicked from what he suffers under the hands of his parent. Addiction is also a challenge of this family featured in the Andre. R case (Real Cases Project, 2007). This is relative to the reported cases of alcohol and drug abuse of Andrea. Likewise, poor parenting is a challenge facing this family, which is an aspect that Walker and Beckett (2011) have agreed with in their research on different family issues. It is evident that Vincent does not receive proper guardianship from his mother and father. An example is where he is reported going to school with dirty or stained clothes and missing school often.
Apart from the family’s drawbacks, the family highlighted in the Andrea. R case is positive with one another. This is true as no alterations are reported of the father and mother. Therefore, in this case, Andrea’s mental condition can heavily be attributed as the culprit to her poor parenting. A survey concluded on parents with mental conditions noted poor communication between child and parent as an impact on their parenting abilities. Also, hostile or aggressive behavior was reported by the parent with the mental condition. Likewise, the parent is likely to disregard their child’s state (Real Cases Project, 2007). Hence, to offer treatment to this family one must share and understand their feelings. This is through redirection of feelings of the family’s state to nostalgic good times that they have had. Also, use of appropriate interview techniques that would make them comfortable in sharing.
In this case, it would be appropriate to label Vincent as the client. This is due to the need to support him from abuse of all forms as proposed by Lindsay (2009). Also, it can be articulated to the need for him to be provided with good parental care. As a result in a bid to help Vincent there is need to formulate various models of social intervention. The first social intervention is in neglect and abuse intervention of Vincent’s case. This may be done by offering Vincent with counseling by trying to mitigate the consequences of abuse and neglect by his parents. Moreover, this form of intervention would seek to educate Vincent’s against abusing or neglecting him (Real Cases Project, 2007). This is by showing them the negative repercussions on the same toward’s Vincent’s development. The parents would also be granted court services under this intervention. Housing and educational authorities would also be involved in this intervention for monitoring Vincent’s welfare.
Andrea’s mental illness is also vital in treatment. Thus, mental health intervention is to be put into play. This is by offering her therapy and medication to calm her depression. Also, she needs to be counseled on how to handle her mental condition around his son. This is because he is likely to pick on what her mother does and would result in his poor growth. The final intervention would be the homeless and employment intervention (Real Cases Project, 2007). This intervention would seek to help Andrea and John find employment to fully support their son. It is through providing information to help them to find jobs that they are legible to find employment. Thus, in light of the above interventions, Andrea can find full custody of his son. However, this will not be easy for her as she will have to report to a social worker’s office together with his son to monitor his progress. Also, a social worker would have to monitor Vincent in school and home regularly to ensure that he lives in suitable condition for his holistic growth (Real Cases Project, 2007). Andrea would also have to go for random checks and will have to test negative for drug and alcohol abuse. She should also secure employment through help by a social worker to support his son.
From the Andrea. R case, the easiest member to identify with is Vincent due to his innocence and age. Therefore, it would be easy to interact. The hardest member to work with on this family would be Andrea due to the mix-up she is entangled in of sickness and drugs, thus, it would be incoherent to have a conversation or interaction. Hence, the best approach to interacting with her is, first of all, putting her under medication and make her fill easily around your presence. This case has helped me in having first-hand experience in what to expect in my field of study. It has also helped me to broaden my psychosocial evaluation skills.
References
Lindsay, T. (2009). Social work intervention. Exeter: Learning Matters.
Real Cases Project. (2007). Andrea R. Case Study , 1-7. Retrieved from http://socialwork.adelphi.edu/realcases/pdfs/Case_Studies_Andrea_R.pdf
Walker, S. & Beckett, C. (2011). Social work assessment and intervention, (2nd ed.). Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing, Ltd.
