Q Case Vignette Assignment SWK 6301 Overview: Week 11 Case Vignette Assignment Instructions: Please read the case vignette below carefully and select two developmental issues/topics that were covered in weeks 1-10 based on the behaviors/issues of this family system. Please follow the discussion prompts that follow after the case vignette. Jack is a 3 year old boy of European-American descent who attends a local day care center. His mother Kimberley was 21 when she was pregnant with him. She said that she had no problems with her pregnancy, although she said that she and Jack’s father smoked throughout the entire pregnancy. She did have a few weeks where she was sick with the flu, but this did not seem to have any impact on the pregnancy or Jack’s birth. Jack was a very small baby (just under six pounds), but did not have any complications after he was born. Jack is an only child. His mother Kimberley (now aged 25) works during the day as a nurse in a doctor’s office while his father Brandon (age 28) works full time as a mechanic for a chain of auto shops in town. Jack’s parents separated about six months ago. He lives with his mom during the week and lives with his father on the weekends. Jack’s parents were married approximately 5 years ago. Jack used to stay with his maternal grandmother Barbara (age 60) while Kimberley attended nursing school. About six months ago Barbara started having more problems with arthritis. She was more tired due to the symptoms and requested that Kimberley find another place to take Jack during the day. Jack seemed to make a good adjustment to the day care although he sometimes would sit quietly and observe the other kids. Recently, Kimberley asked how Jack’s was doing at the center. The teaching staff stated that Jack seemed on track with his overall skills. He was interacting and speaking more. He also seemed to enjoy identifying and categorizing animals in the books they read to him. Occasionally, staff would have to help Jack with new pronunciations and categories of animals that Jack didn’t readily know. The staff also said that Jack continued nervous and shy around the other kids. He’s always been somewhat quiet, and easily played on his own. Recently when other children took toys from him he would cry and do nothing else. The staff said that Jack enjoyed bringing cars and trucks in with him that his dad had given him, and these usually helped him to calm down and reengage with the staff and other kids. Family Issues Kimberley and Brandon attend couples therapy. Kimberley presents as very thin and looking tired. She is usually dressed in her work clothes because she “has to come right after work in order to pick up Jack and take him to his grandmothers”. This way Kimberley can attend the sessions. Brandon is typically neatly groomed although his clothes look worn and stained from his job. He appears older than his age and seems to already show some signs of graying at his temples. He is slightly overweight and typically wears sunglasses through the sessions. Brandon does very little talking and only nods on occasion when Kimberley mentioned a detail about Jack’s development. As noted above, Jack’s parents are separated. Brandon found his own apartment and moved out of the family’s apartment about five months ago. Although their first year of marriage went OK, they started having problems over money when Brandon was laid off. Brandon said that Kimberley couldn’t pass up a sale despite the fact that he was unemployed for almost three years while she was attending school full time. Although Brandon has worked for almost two years, the couple has many outstanding debts. Kimberley accuses Brandon of spending too much money going out and drinking with his friends and then coming home and sleeping in front of the TV. In fact, most nights Brandon ate at a fast food nearby instead of coming home to eat dinner with Kimberley and Jack. Kimberley acknowledges that she hasn’t been eating much, but feels she needed to lose weight anyway. Almost six months ago, the couple had a very long, heated argument. In the midst of the argument Brandon shoved Kimberley and she threw a glass at him, which shattered on the wall behind him. Jack started to wail and was irreconcilable for several hours. Brandon stormed out of the house and Kimberley called her mother. Later, that night, Kimberley asked Brandon to stay with one of his buddies. He got angry again and reminded her that he helped pay off her credit card bills. He left that night. Several days later he phoned Kimberley to state that he wanted his own place “for awhile”. Brandon’s speech seemed a bit slurred while he spoke. Kimberley only remembers that it was “a terrible night for Jack”, but is glad that she and Brandon are in counseling to try to save their marriage. Discussion questions: a) Identify two developmental topics or issues that can be applied to this family. b) Include a detailed example of the developmental topics/issues you have identified as noted below: ? b.1 Describe the family behaviors (i.e. the dynamic of this family from a person-in-environment standpoint) that you believe demonstrates the two developmental issues you have identified in this case vignette as manifest in this family system. ? b.2 Provide the rationale for your assessment that the identified developmental issues and/or behaviors noted above could potentially benefit from a generalist, social worker’s intervention. ? b. 3 Considering your own intersections of diversity with those mentioned in the vignette about this family, what things may impact upon your ability to engage effectively with this family system to address the developmental issues you have identified? How will you seek to reduce the identified barriers to a strong, therapeutic engagement, while strengthening those potential areas that may assist in engaging effectively with this family system? ? b. 4 Identify what type of social work intervention(s) may be helpful to this family system, and describe how you would evaluate the success of those interventions to address the two developmental issues you identified. Please reference course materials or other credible sources to support your assertions. Please use APA format for citations. Writing Requirement: Remember to address all points for the two, clearly identified development issues that you select for this family system. For this assignment, focus on family dynamics relevant to developmental concerns and opportunities, and apply learned concepts to the case study at the family level. Please use a narrative format to answer the questions. That is, don’t simply use lists, tables, or bullets as answers. Your paper should be 4 - 6 pages in length, using 1” margins and a 12 point font. (34 points) Rubric for Total Points 34 Exemplary (2) Good (1) Marginal (.5) Unacceptable (0) Grammar Virtually no spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Few spelling and punctuation errors, minor grammatical errors. A number of spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. So many spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors it interferes with the meaning. Quality of writing Very informative and well organized. Somewhat informative and organized. Gives some new information but poorly organized. Gives no new information and very poorly organized. Potential points earned for this area: 4 points Identification of overall developmental issue to be addressed Exemplary (6) Good (4) Marginal (2) Unacceptable (0) Accurately identifies two developmental issues for this family system and includes references to the course materials to support the rationale. Accurately Identifies the developmental issues for this family system without making reference to the course materials that supports the rationale Provides a marginal identification of the overall developmental issues to be addressed that seems to largely miss the mark. The developmental issues are not identified or what is identified is and/or is inappropriate based on this case vignette. Provides clear behavioral examples of two the developmental issue The behavioral examples are written in clear, objective terms, and accurately fits course material descriptions of the two developmental issues. The behavioral example are written in a way where more clarity is desired and preciseness, but overall it is an accurate example of the two behavioral issues in that it fits the course material’s descriptions of the developmental issues identified. Behavioral examples of the developmental issues are provided, but the two are not tied clearly to the case study and this family system Absent or inaccurate examples of the developmental issues. Provides a clear rationale for how the developmental issue may be benefitted by a social worker’s intervention specifically Provides a coherent and clear description of how the previously identified developmental issues can potentially be positively impacted by a generalist social work intervention, with reference(s) provided in APA format. Provides a coherent and clear description of how the previously identified developmental issues can potentially be positively impacted by a generalist social work intervention without supporting reference(s) and/or no APA format used. Provides an unclear, imprecise description of how the previously identified developmental issue can be positively impacted by a generalist social work intervention, without supporting references and/or no APA format used. No rationale is provided in regards to how the developmental issues may be benefitted by a generalist social worker’s intervention. Provides a thoughtful exploration of potential engagement considerations based on the intersections of diversity between the student in the role of the social worker, and this client system Insightful identification of multiple levels of both potential areas of strength in engagement and potential challenges based on the intersections of diversity that were identified, with thoughts on how to minimize potential engagement barriers. Identification of at least one potential area of strength in engagement and at least one potential challenge based on the intersections of diversity were identified, with thoughts on how to minimize potential engagement barriers. Identification of at least one potential area of strength in engagement and at least one potential challenge based on the intersections of diversity were identified, but no thoughts on how to minimize potential engagement barrier(s) or the examples of the latter provided did not seem relevant/helpful based on the rationale provided by the writer and/or course materials. No exploration of engagement concerns and areas of potential strengths, and/or inadequate and/or inappropriate exploration of potential engagement considerations. Identifies a reasonable social work intervention and means of evaluating whether the intervention was successful or not. An appropriate, generalist social work intervention is identified that has supporting documentation suggesting its potential effectiveness with this client system noted with proper APA citations. Clear means of evaluating the interventions’ success is included, and the means of evaluation are simple, clear, and seem feasible with this family system. A social work intervention is identified that is at the generalist level of social work intervention, but the documentation suggesting its potential effectiveness with this family system seems lacking. There is a means of evaluating the interventions’ success, however the supporting evidence provided is not properly cited or weak, and/or the feasibility of using the evaluation method(s) is a major concern. A social work intervention is identified, but there is a concern about the reasonableness or effectiveness of the intervention to effect positive changes in the family system. The means of evaluating the intervention are questionable and/or not supported by course materials or other documentation. References, if present, are not properly cited using APA format. No social work intervention was identified and/or no means of evaluating the success of a reasonable social work intervention was provided. Potential points earned for this area: 30 points