A Brief Note On System And Sub Systems

During your undergraduate studies, you learned to assess your client’s issues and/or concerns and your planning process for intervention, you decided with your client what behaviors to target for change.

The client is living with her parents, who are retired and live in a small, rural town near Yuma, Arizona. Their relationship has been strained (as reported by the client) ever since she was a teenager. The client has no job due to her inability to get hired because of prior arrests, no transportation due to her license being suspended and car being impounded after her last arrest for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.247 and client states that she feels stuck. (Micro).

Client (AM) is a 20-year-old heterosexual African American female, born in Durham, and currently still resides there. Her primary language is English. She lives with her 13 moth old child (NM) in a one-bedroom apartment. The client is unemployed and currently receives SSI benefits. AM resides in subsidized housing because of her social security income. Client did not finish high school and has no desire to do so.

The client is a Hispanic Male, age 69, who was born in the Dominican Republic. The client communicates solely in Spanish. He has two daughters who both live in the Bronx. The client suffers from Diabetes, Cholesterol and moderate Dementia. The client has tremors in his hands as a result of brain surgery. The client lives in a rented room in Inwood Heights. Initially, the client 's presenting problem included finding adequate housing however, after completing the intake form I became aware that the client was over income for most housing assistance programs. The reason why the client is seeking housing assistance is because according to the the client “he lives with two other men in a single bedroom apartment”. Furthermore, the client informed me that his roommates work overnight shifts which is when the client sleeps. They sort of rotate their sleeping shifts to accommodate each other. My client describes his housing situation as uncomfortable and stressful. Additionally, when the client and I talked more about the reasons he wanted to find housing it became obvious that the client also wants to feel valued by his children. In other words, the client describes the relationship with his daughters as solely for monetary purposes. My client believes his daughters are distant and do not care about his present living situation although they are the ones who monitor my clients finances and pay for the rented he is living in. My client also mentioned wanting to overcome

The demographics of the staff in the Impact program are predominantly older black males. There is only one woman who is a counselor and she is also the only Spanish speaking counselor. The Spanish speaking counselor has a good relationship with her deck because she is able to translate between the clients who speak Spanish and the clients who speak English. The other counselor on her deck does not have a good relationship with the clients because he cannot communicate with the Spanish speaking clients and resorts to ignoring them. There is only one white male counselor and all of the clients on his deck respond really well to him because he listens and can empathize even though he has not been through all of the same experiences as the clients.

The client is a 12 year old single male who lives with his mother, father, and little sister. He is in the seventh grade with no behavioral problems on record. He has no documented history of medical issues. There has been no evidence of substance use and he currently has no criminal record. The client had a younger brother who died when he was an infant by drowning in the bathtub. The client’s mother and father are both college level educated and seemingly well adjusted, having no documented mental disorders, marital issues or criminal records.

“Those who study systems theory tends to view any system as the result of a dynamic interrelationship between its component parts and its whole. They view the parts as mutually determinate with the whole. Social workers utilizing systems theory view societies and social groups as dynamic systems. They are concerned with bettering the conditions of the individuals who make up such systems.” (Flamand, 2010) Systems theory is used by many social workers. This theory helps social workers understand how the surroundings of the client’s environment

I am currently doing my field practicum at an agency named Quality Care and Advocacy Group (QCAG). QCAG is a therapeutic clinic that provides an assortment of mental health services to clients that need their psychological needs met. Some of the of the services provided at the agency are in-home counseling, behavior aid, family therapy, individual counseling, life skills, and crisis intervention. Our clients’ ages range from children to adults. Many have acute emotional and psychological disorders that they are struggling to overcome in their life. My caseload typically consists of children, elementary to middle school age. My client is an eight-year-old African American male. My client currently resides with his mother and step-father. He has a younger sister that is one-year-old and his mother is presently pregnant with another girl. The client’s natural father was murdered several months ago. The mother reported that the client feels some anxiety over his father’s death and frequently states that he misses him. The client has a strained relationship with his step-father and habitually opposes his rules. The client has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). This causes him to misbehave at home and school. The client repeatedly engages in altercations with other students and even staff. The client will attack students and staff with pencils by attempted to stab them. The mother has been called to the

Identified client is 7 year old Lucy and Father Sam. Sam is a developmentally disabled male who has the learning capacity of a 7 year old. The presented problem is Sam’s ability to properly care for Lucy, given his learning disabilities and his living and work situation.

St. Charles West High School has a vast array of students that attend the school. While I have observed 3 different classes, there are different students in each class. The Civics class consists of freshman, ages 14. These students are a bit rowdy and tend to act out when I am in the classroom. There is majority of mixed-race students in this class when compared to white students with an even amount of males and females. Also, 1 student with an IEP with ADHD. The next class is Contemporary Issues which consists of sophomores and juniors ages 15-16. Majority of white males with only 2 mixed males in the class. There is no special needs students in this class. Lastly, the AP class consists of 10 students with an even amount of males and females. Grades are sophomores through seniors, ages 15-17. This class consists only of white students and no students with special needs.

The following is a case study of a client by the name of Lydia Sanchez. Lydia has been truant 20 times within the past 3 months. Lydia teacher Ms. Ellis sent a referral to the main office because Lydia came in her classroom smelling like alcohol, and marijuana. Ms. Ellis also noted in the referral that Lydia pushed her when she tried to look inside of her backpack. The principal found cigarettes, and a white water bottle filled with alcohol inside Lydia’s backpack. Ms. Ellis noted in the referral that Lydia has not handed in any assignments this year yet. Ms. Ellis told me that Lydia was a straight a student last year, and that she does not know what has gotten into her. Lydia’s mother Stephanie also called into the school stating that her daughter Lydia needs help, and that she has been dating a 21 year old man for the past 6 months. Stephanie does not know what to do with Lydia anymore, and she is worried that she might drop out of high school.

My client, whom I will call “Jay,” is an eight-year-old, African-American boy, who was referred to our agency by his mother who wanted him to get “any services he could get for free.” He has some emotional and behavioral deficiencies, and does not handle stress well. He has frequent outbursts in class, and reacts without thinking. He needs to work on his interaction skills, and develop strategies that will help him use his words instead of physical reactions when he is frustrated. Because his trigger is frustration, he needs to learn to respond in a positive manner to his peers and teachers. Also, “Jay” needs to learn how to think and act independently.

for deciding not to treat the client should be explained carefully. This will let the client know that

Explore the differences between the worker and the client, respecting and learning from them, and incorporate these unique features in the relationship.

A general systems perspective examines the way components of a system interact with one another to form a whole as is the case in the Budd family. Rather than just focusing on each of the separate parts, a general systems perspective focuses on the interrelation all the parts. A systems perspective permits one to see how a change in one component of the system affects the other components of the system for example a change in parenting style of James to be more supportive of Eleanor can have major positive impact on the whole family.