Case Study

Case Study Analysis: Roger and Annette

Roger is a 43-year old husband and father. He has been married for 11 years and has two children, eight and five. Currently, he works as a middle manager for a large engineering firm. The office is located almost an hour away and it is an extremely stressful work environment because of bidding competition and project deadlines. The company has mentioned a possible downsizing of the workforce due to ongoing economic pressures and middle management is seen as being the most vulnerable. Roger has been with the company for seven years now.

Annette, Roger’s wife also works. She is an office manager for a local pediatrician but may have to leave due to recurring back problems and other health concerns. The possible loss of her income has strained the marriage a bit, especially over the past six months.

Roger works late many days and sometimes doesn’t get home until after the children have gone to bed. Lately, he has appeared to be increasingly irritable and frequently “loses it” and ends up yelling at Annette or the kids. During his senior year in high school and also while attending college, Roger would drink socially with friends and occasionally get drunk. Annette knew of his drinking when they started dating, but it never seemed to be a problem and she had never actually seen him drunk. Roger’s mother was an alcoholic and died four years ago from complications related to her drinking. She was 67 at the time. Her brother (Roger’s uncle) has also been in a detox center twice for drinking problems. One of the reasons Roger was coming home late was because he was stopping at a bar to have a drink with several of his coworkers. What started out as a beer or two once a week after work, became a six-pack three or four times a week. Drinking on the weekends also became more routine and he no longer tried to hide it from Annette. She also recently found pornography on his computer. Annette greatly resents the drinking and is becoming increasingly concerned.

Her primary way of dealing with the issue is to lecture and moralize the situation. Roger responds with anger, sullenness and most recently, by leaving the house for hours at a time. He doesn’t believe he has a serious problem with alcohol and that he could stop if he really wanted to. Besides, he feels like it, “calms him down” after the stress of his workday. He appears aloof and somewhat suspicious of others.

About a month ago, Roger stopped attending church with his family. Annette has explored the possibility of seeing a counselor for help. After a lot of asking, complaining and even a threat by Annette to separate, Roger has agreed to come in. He says he loves his family, but doesn’t know, “what the big deal” is really all about. He doesn’t believe that the Bible expressly prohibits drinking altogether.