Reference no: EM133277224

What are the similarities and differences between how you would help the client/consumer as a friend in contrast to how you would support a client/consumer as a case manager for each case.

Explain the strategies you would use as a case manager for each case.

Next, describe the skills needed to thoughtfully engage your client/consumer through a change experience, keeping in mind cultural awareness, ethics, and client autonomy. As a social worker, what are the challenges you may experience and the biases you must be aware of for yourself as a social worker in each case?

First Scenario:

Florence came in to see a case manager in an agency that addresses child abuse and neglect. Recently her daughter Crystal was removed from the home because of complaints by neighbors that she was abusing the child. An investigation of the situation by child-care workers indicated the abuse was severe. The discipline she was administering was discipline she had experienced and witnessed as a child from her own parents and her aunts and uncles who lived on farms near her family. Florence related that she was the oldest daughter, third in line of nine children, of a farm family of 12 people. Her parents worked hard from sun up until long after dark. Much of the housework was done by Florence and her aunt, who lived with them. Her mother was ill, often in her room in bed. Florence does not know what the illness was, but does not recall her mother ever seeing a doctor. She tells the case manager that she knows her mother and her aunt did not like her.

At 18, Florence ran away with Dave, who did mechanical work on cars. "He was my first and only boyfriend," she explains, weeping. Florence and Dave never married, and they had one child, Crystal. Last April, Dave died in a car accident on the interstate. Florence cries as she describes that night and the way the police came to her trailer and how kind they were to her. She describes how alone she has been. Florence receives welfare. She completed eighth grade before her father "yanked me out of school to do housework. Said it was no place for a girl. A girl didn't need no schooling."

Florence had enjoyed school, mostly for the companionship of other girls. "I'm shy of people, you know. But at school, I had friends." Florence remembers school as hard, and she had trouble with subjects like math and science. "Mostly, I sat there and worried about what would happen when I got home from school. It was always something: Mom was worse, I was in trouble, and there was some big push to get in a harvest. I was glad when I quit." Leaving with Dave had alienated Florence from her family. "Dave used to say, 'They're just mad
'cause they can't use you no more.'" For this reason, Florence has not seen her family since Dave's funeral, and they have made no attempt to get in touch with her, even though they're only a few miles apart. The welfare agency reports that their workers have rarely seen Florence and have not as yet offered her any services for going to work, although she is on a list of single mothers they would like to make job-ready. Child welfare tells you that they cannot return Crystal until Florence has had intensive parent training and supervised visits with her child. They also tell you that they found her home worn, but immaculate.

Florence confides that she is terrified of going to work, that she feels useless, and that she probably has little to offer on a "real job." She also appears to be depressed, crying at intervals and hanging her head. Socially, she is isolated both because of Dave's death and because her neighbors are fed up with her child-care practices. "The neighbors don't like me either," she says with resignation. The child-care agency is asking for parent training, but it's unclear who will offer that in this rural area.

Second Scenario:

Marta is a 33-year-old woman who recently left her husband. She tells you that she and her three children had to leave after both physical and verbal abuse escalated in the past year. Her children are 3, 7, and 9.

Marta states she and her husband were married 11 years ago. They met in college and waited for her to finish her degree in accounting before getting married. Her husband is a successful engineer. No one suspects that there has been violence in the home. The few times Marta had visible bruises she explained them away as accidents while doing housework. Recently she had concluded that her family is skeptical of this explanation. Marta states that in public and at social functions her husband is charming, both to her and to others. It is at home that he becomes sullen, critical, and demanding, escalating the smallest problem into a shouting and punching episode. Marta has noticed that all her children appear anxious around him and the oldest is not doing well in school. She has offered to leave, but he always becomes remorseful and promises to reform his ways, stating he could not get along in life without her.

"Up until now, I have believed him. I would think we had turned over a new leaf, but in a week or so, things would be the same. Now I have a 9-year-old who bites his nails and a 3-year-old who clams up when her father is in the room. Recently my son told me he is afraid to bring
friends home because of the 'way Daddy acts.' I have done everything I can do alone to make this thing work. He refuses to go to counseling and I can't live like this the rest of my life."

Marta is seeking help with finding a place to go with her children where her husband cannot have access. She left everything behind this morning when they left the house. She has her social security card and driver's license, but no birth certificates or other records and only 5 checks for the checking account. She read about the case management unit in an article some time ago in the paper and has carried the article in her wallet ever since. She kept the two older children out of school this morning. She has never held a job since the first year of her marriage because her husband resented her working and became furious when she was promoted.

Marta appears fearful and anxious. She frets about where she had to park and fears that her husband might see her car. At times she is tearful as she describes her futile efforts to keep the marriage together. The oldest child, Billy, stands around silently listening to his mother while the younger children color and play with toys in a playroom. He does not want to go to the playroom, but instead listens intently. He looks sad and burdened to you.