Bachelor of Arts Honours Applied Social Studies in Social Care CW_HKASS_H_4
| Module Title | Children and Families |
| Assignment Type | Case Study |
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to:
LO1: On completion of the module students will be able to evaluate working with children and families from a range of theoretical frameworks.
LO2: Articulate and appraise the range of interventions employed in working with children and families who have experienced abuse, trauma and a range of stresses in their lives.
LO3: Critically evaluate assessment, intervention and ongoing support frameworks used when working with children and families.
Assignment: - REQUIRES TWO MEITHEAL FORMS
With reference to theory and best practice principles students are required to complete the Meitheal Strengths and Needs Record Form for the Case Study given. As the Meitheal Form states, one needs to be completed per child, thus both Sam and Megan in the Case Study will require one each. Once completed students are required to articulate and appraise the range of interventions they have highlighted in the Strengths and Needs Record Form.
The Meitheal form can be found by doing a google search for: Meitheal Strengths and Needs Form.
(The completed form needs to be handed in with the hard copy of the assignment however should not be included in the word count and not put through Turnitin)
Word Count: 1,600. COUNT, DOES NOT INCLUDE REFRENCES).
This assignment is worth 40% of your overall grade
Format:
Assignment should:
· Typed in Times New Roman or Ariel font size 12
· Spacing 1.5
· Adopt a discursive, formal, objective tone throughout.
· Provide a word count at the end excluding reference list
· A cover page with student name, student number, module and lecturer name
· You must include a reference list
· You must attach the feedback sheet
Assignments must be submitted to Turnitin by 9.59pm on the submission date. If assignments are not submitted via Turnitin, this will be regarded as a non-submission and no mark will be awarded.
A hard copy must also be handed up on the submission date.
Failure to submit on the specified submission date will result in a 0 mark. To receive marks, work must be submitted to Turnitin and a hard copy submitted.
SAMPLE CASE STUDY
SAM AND MEGAN
Father: Andrew Kelly – 45 years old
Mother:Mary Kelly – Deceased
Children:Sam Kelly – 17 years old
Megan Kelly – 14 years old
__________________________________________________________________________
Presenting Situation:
Maternal grandmother, Mrs. Clarke, called her local Tusla office on a Friday at 2pm to request an investigation of her son – in – law’s home. Mrs. Clarke believes her granddaughter and grandson are being abused by their father. Grandson, Sam, is 17 and granddaughter, Megan, is 14. Their mother, (her daughter) is deceased.
Mrs. Clarke reported her grandchildren spend one weekend a month in her care. They are currently with her, and she saw bruises on Megan’s arms and legs. She is also concerned that Sam has bruises; however, he is wearing a long sleeved shirt and trousers and will not allow her to look. Megan and Sam will not discuss what has caused the bruising. Sam said his father did get upset with him and with Megan but would not say anything further.
Mrs. Clarke did not want to send the children back home on Sunday afternoon. She said her son-in-law had developed a serious temper, and she is afraid he has begun to abuse the children. She said since her daughter died earlier this year, Andrew has become increasingly angry and verbally abusive toward the children even in her presence. She has not seen him hit the children, but she has heard him shouting at them.
After discussing the call with the duty social worker, an available social worker made a visit to Mrs. Clarke’s home. She met with Mrs. Clarke, Sam and Megan. Megan was crying and refused to speak. Sam would only say his father’s temper has got worse since Mary’s death.
The social worker observed several marks on Megan’s arms and legs: two round shaped marks about 1.5 inches in diameter on either side of her left upper arm and three marks on the back of her right calf, each about two inches in length and .5 inches in width. The social worker said “You have several bruises, Megan. Can you tell me how you got them?” Megan cried harder and did not respond. The social worker said, “Sometimes I talk to teenagers who are unsure about whether to talk to me. They want their family to get help but they don’t want anyone to get into trouble.” Megan continued to bow her head and cry. Sam said “Look, just please stop asking questions; we can handle it and you are just going to make things worse.” The social worker explained that she and other social workers have been able to help other families before. She explained that she know the children’s mother has passed and expressed her condolences. She said, “Sometimes when families are grieving, people need extra help. Maybe that is so for your family?” The children did not comment. Mrs. Clarke tried to get her granddaughter to discuss their home life but they continued to remain silent. Sam refused to show the social worker his arms or legs.
The available social worker spoke with the duty social worker and concluded the children needed to stay with Mrs. Clarke until the father could be interviewed. The social worker instructed Mrs. Clarke to contact the duty social worker if Andrew called or came to pick up the children. Mrs. Clarke stated she does not hear from Andrew when she has the children, and he does not respond when she calls. Mrs. Clarke made a point to tell the social worker she wants the children to be with their father but only if the children are treated well and remain safe.
After leaving Mrs. Clarke, the available social worker tried calling the father at his home but received no answer. The social worker also called Andrew’s mobile phone number provided by Mrs. Clarke. There was no answer, and the social worker left numerous messages by voice mail.
Current Situation:
On Sunday morning, the guards received a frantic call from Andrew. He wanted to know why a social worker was calling him. The Guards advised Andrew to phone Mrs. Clarke to discuss the situation.
Andrew phoned Mrs. Clarke and asked if Megan and Sam were safe. She told him they were but that a report had been made to Tusla alleging abuse of Sam and Megan. She stated to him that social workers wanted to talk to him on Monday. Andrew become angry and stated he could not “handle the children” since Mary’s death. He stated they were “ungrateful” and could just stay with her (Grandmother) “forever”. Andrew hung up at this point and the children stayed with their grandmother.
The duty social worker contacted Andrew on Monday morning and explained he needed to come into the social work offices that day to see her. Andrew stated he would be available after work that day at 4pm and did not want the children home. The duty social worker asked if Mrs. Clarke agreed could the children stay with her. Andrew agreed stating “She can have them.” The duty social worker told Andrew she would see him in the social work offices that afternoon at 4pm. The duty social worker contacted Mrs. Clarke, and she agreed to keep the children for as long as necessary.
Case Study
Module: Children and Families
Introduction
Abuse of a child can take many forms whether they are victims, or they are the witnesses. The impact of the abuse can stay life-long for a person (UNE Online, 2020). In this regard, the responsible social worker can take some approaches in order to heal the mental condition of the two abused children, Sam and Megan. According to the context, the age of Sam is just 16, and his sister's age is 14year. Thus, the abuse on them impacted vulnerable due to which they like to stay at their grandmother's home. Based on the needs of the child as evident in the Meitheal Strengths and Needs Record Forms of both the child, the responsible social worker should adopt some strategies in order to bring a prosperous life in Sam and Megan's life.
Intervention strategies for the social worker:
1. Indulging in play to increase verbal power:
One can be the most effective strategies for the social worker in order to enhance the verbal communication of the children, Sam and Megan. Regarding this strategy, the social worker should influence them to express their feelings in a sentence or verbally to her; thus, she can understand what they actually feel about a matter. For expressing their feelings, they might need to have effective communication skills (TheSchoolRun, 2020). The social worker should establish a listening and speaking session with them in order to develop Sam and Megan's speaking power. Due to the impact of abuse, both the children remain in a frightful condition. The social worker should develop a healthy bond with the children such that it could be easier for the children to communicate (Thulin et al. 2019). The social worker should implement indoor playing sessions like storytelling, painting activities in order to develop more communication between them. When they are in a playing session, Sam and Megan can easily mix with the social worker and express their feelings. By the help of which, their communication power can be raised.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
2.Engagement to recognise their feelings:
According to that, the social worker should take another approach of “few questions with more answers" (Singer et al. 2017). In this regard, some open-minded gameplay sessions have to be carried out by the social worker. The social worker should ask a question and tries to achieve more than one answer from Sam and Megan. If both of them provide more answers or statement in regards to a question, then their power to express their feelings increase at a greater extent. Though, some open-ended questions are required to deliver the children by the social worker.
Advantages:
Fear will not get a chance to attack them, which is a positive response to this strategy (Childress et al. 2018).
Disadvantages:
The most crucial drawback of this strategy is that children share their every feeling, which are sometimes needed to be kept secret (Kelly,2018).
3.Strategy to make emotionally healthy:
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 21 per cent child of United States needs some diagnosis regarding their mental health (Firestone, 2012). Therefore, it is very crucial to develop a mentally healthier child. Regarding this factor, the social worker should influence Sam and Megan to speak a sentence. When they deliver their statement, the social worker should provide dominancy over them. Although, the social worker needs to be casual and open-minded and also to have a friendly characteristic. By this kind of gameplay, the children, as mentioned above, should learn about how to deal with a dominant factor, which can make them emotionally stable. Apart from that, the social worker has to deal with them politely in those situations.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
4. Increasing learning power:
According to the statement of Sam and Megan's father, they both are not concentrated in their learning and future development. Thus, the social worker should deploy strategies like maintaining dairies, making storyboards and others in order to increase the concentration power of Sam and Megan. Thinking gameplays are most beneficial in this regard. Crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles can improve the concentration level of the children's (Duh, 2016). Along with that, sequencing games are also helpful. As the relationship between sequencing and concentration is very strong in nature (Lau, 2018). The social worker should set some things in alphabetical order and asked them to recognise the pattern. After that, the social worker should arrange them randomly and ask them to resolve it. Due to this type of gameplay memorisation power as well as the concentration power of Sam and Megan can be increased by the responsible social worker can increase.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
5. Working on improving concentration:
For increasing the patience of Sam and Megan, the social worker should develop a distraction-free environment. Regarding this, some sessions have to be carried forward by the social worker in which Sam and Megan could be kept in a room with visual graphics and lighting. The social workers should be encouraging learning activities through the visual presentation as it could be able to attract the attention of the children
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Conclusion
By implementing the strategies as mentioned earlier, the responsible social worker can effectively handle Sam and Megan. Alongside, the social worker can develop a beautiful and precious life for the abused children.
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Pages: 4
Words: 890