Assignment

Social History Assignment

The projects will not be evaluated for artistic ability but rather on such elements as depth of insight, creativity, amount of detail, and completeness. Regardless of the format, specific information needs to be clearly incorporated.

Focus Competencies or Practice Behaviors:

EP 2.1.3c Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues

EP 2.1.4c Recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences

EP 2.1.7a Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention, and evaluation

EP 2.1.1Oa substantively and affectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities

EP 2.1.1Ob Use empathy and other interpersonal skills

EP 2.1.1Od Collect, organize, and interprets client data

EP 2.1.lOe Assess client strengths and limitations

A. Brief Description

You will select and interview with an individual while following an outline that indicates the information you need to solicit. The information reflects the types of information typically gathered by social workers in practice when doing a social history. Social histories reflect the important aspects of an individual's development and help social workers assess the nature of a client's problems.

B. Objectives

This exercise will enable you to:

1. Identify those aspects of human development that are important in shaping an individual's life situation and issues.

2. Recognize the complexity and necessity of assessment in social work practice.

3. Experience the process of interviewing and recognize the need to develop interviewing skills.

C. Procedure

1. Choose a person to interview. This could be a friend, a relative, or an acquaintance. Describe this assignment to the person, and ask the person for permission to do the interview. Feel free to show the person these guidelines or your proposed outline ahead of time. Make it clear that his or her real name will not be used and that the information will be kept confidential.

In practice, a social history involves "an in-depth description and assessment of the current and past client situation, often included in the case records and medical records of clients" (Barker, 2003, p. 404). The purpose is not to learn every intimate detail of the client's personal life but rather to gain a generalized understanding of what a client's life is like in addition to gaining more specific information related to the client's problem.

The Social History Outline developed for this assignment is not a complete social history but only portions of one. There are no sections that relate to problems or to recommendations. This assignment does not focus on a client's problem, because you have neither client nor problem to work with. However, this assignment is designed to give you a chance to interview someone, obtain developmental and social information, and summarize this information in an organized, informative manner.

2. One requirement of the assignment is to go to the library and do some related research on interviewing techniques. Look for information on what is involved in interviewing and how to do it. Summarize the research and information you reviewed and include it in the “Research Applications” section of the paper. Apply this research and information to your own interview where possible. For example, which techniques did you find useful or could you have used? How were they, or might they have been, helpful in your interview situation?

Include a brief bibliography of all your references at the end of the paper.

Use the following outline when conducting the interview. Note that, at times, the outline includes specific questions you might want to ask. This is simply a guideline for you to use. In some cases, you might have to ask more questions to get sufficient information. In other cases, the questions may not apply. In these cases, you should state that they do not apply. You should also make it clear when information is unavailable.

SOCIAL HISTORY OUTLINE

I. Basic Data

Client: (Legal name plus nickname) Date of Birth:

Chronological Age: Race:

Religion: School and Grade:

Place of Employment: (if appropriate) Address:

Telephone Number:

II. Individual Client Profile

A. Brief Physical Description of Client-Personality Picture

1. Describe the person's physical appearance (e.g., tall or short; color of hair). You might include information about dress, posture, and facial expressions.

2. Mention anything that is striking about the individual.

3. Describe your impression of the person's personality (e.g., outgoing; soft-spoken; nervous).

4. Mention specific behaviors, if appropriate, that describe exactly what you mean (e.g., "She seemed nervous, as she constantly fidgeted in her chair and rapped her knuckles on the desk"). This might include information about motor activity, unusual mannerisms, and the client's reactions to you, the interviewer.

5. be brief, clear, and specific.

B. Developmental History Questions

1. Pregnancy

a. Was your mother's pregnancy normal; uneventful; problematic?

b. Describe any problems or unusual circumstances.

2. Delivery

a. Was the delivery normal; routine; difficult/problematic?

b. Identify difficulties, problems, or unusual circumstances.

c. Provide APGAR (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration) score, if available.

d. Type of delivery (e.g., vertex; breech).

e. Were you born at full, post term or prematurely? If premature, by how many months?

f. Where were you born?

3. Medical Problems

a. Did you experience any significant medical problems as a child that were out of the ordinary?

b. If so, please describe the problems and any treatment you might have received.

4. Developmental Milestones

a. Sat alone

b. Walked

c. First words

d. Toilet trained

5. Parental Care

a. Do you think that your parents found it difficult or easy to care for you as a child? Explain.

6. Social/Emotional Aspects

a. What were your peer relationships like during childhood?

b. How would you have described yourself as a child (e.g., outgoing; shy; bright)?

c. What types of play, activities, and hobbies did you participate in as a child?

d. How would you describe your childhood (e.g., happy; uneventful; turbulent)?

e. Were there any events that occurred during childhood that you feel significantly affected you? If so, describe the events and their effects.

7. Other

Is there any other information about your childhood that is important?

C. School History

1. Schools attended (names, dates, and locations)

2. Current school status (e.g., high school graduate; college sophomore)

3. Academic progress in schools (was school difficult for you?)

4. Attendance

5. Courses taken

6. Participation in school-related activities

7. Peer relationships (e.g., did you have friends in school? Did you feel liked by your classmates?)

8. Parental involvement with schools

9. Vocational history (special non-college job training)-type of training, dates, jobs, work record

D. Military Service

If applicable, describe the branch, rank dates of service, duties, and type of discharge.

E. Employment History

1. Place, types, and dates of employment

2. Primary job responsibilities

3. Likes and dislikes about each job

4. Attendance record

5. Are you happy with your current employment? Explain.

F. Current Social/Emotional Elements

1. What are your social relationships like now? Would you say you are the type of person who has many friends or only a select few? Would you call yourself a lonely person?

2. Do you have any special relationships (e.g., girl/boyfriend; spouse)? If so, describe them. If married, elaborate under the following section, "Family History."

3. What are your major interests, activities, and hobbies? Describe them.

4. In summary, how would you describe your overall "fit" into a social context?

(e.g., generally popular; shy except with close friends)?

G. Self-Description

1. What do you like about yourself? What are your strengths?

2. What do you dislike about yourself?

3. Describe your current fears or worries.

4. What do you see as your personal accomplishments?

5. What is the most difficult thing you have accomplished? Why do you think this is?

6. Describe the most painful event in your life.

7. What things would you like to change in your life and about yourself?

III. Family History

A. Family of Origin

1. Describe each family member in your family of origin. Include the information:

a. Relationship and name

b. Date of birth and age

c. Occupation

d. Education

e. Vocation and employment

f. Current marital status

g. Any major medical/psychological problems

h. Brief description of physical appearance, personality, and how the person relates to other family members

2. Use the following format:

Mother: (continue with above information)

Father:

Sister:

Brother:

Etc.

3. Family Function

a. What are marriage dates and status (e.g., married; divorced)?

b. Describe your parents' relationship.

c. What types of family planning/birth control did your parents use?

d. How does each of the other family members feel toward you?

e. How do you get along with and relate to each of the other family members?

f. Are there any problems currently operating within the family? Were there any in the past? If so, explain.

g. Describe the socioeconomic (overall financial/living) conditions of your family now and during your childhood.

h. Did you have any special care situations during childhood (e.g., adoption; foster care)? If so, when did they occur and what were they like?

i. Did any significant stressful event occur in your family during your, childhood? These might include deaths, domestic violence, and drug/alcohol: abuse, physical abuse, job loss, or other traumas. If so, explain. '

j. How would you summarize the quality of your family life during your childhood?

k. Is there anything else about your family life during your childhood that you would like to add?

4. Extended family

a. Briefly describe all people living or dead who are or were related to you. Include more detail for those relatives who are especially meaningful or significant to you.

b. Use the following format:

Maternal Grandmother:

Maternal Grandfather:

Paternal Aunt:

Etc.

B. Current Family Relationships

1. Marital status

a. Married, separated, single, widow/widower, divorced

b. Length of present marriage

c. How would you describe the quality of your present marriage (e.g., bad communication; enjoyable; full of conflict)?

d. Were you or your spouse married before?

e. If so, what were the dates, lengths of marriages, and reasons for terminating the marriage?

f. What are your socioeconomic (overall financial/living) conditions currently like?

2. Children

a. Names

b. Ages

c. Grade in school

d. Brief description of physical appearance and personality

e. How would you describe each child's behavior? How easy or difficult is each child to manage?

f. Relationships with peers and siblings.

IV. Summary Impression

In a few words, summarize the essentials of this history. If you had to describe this person and his/her life in a few words, what would you say?

V. Research Applications

This is not part of a regular social history. Please refer to Step 2 in the Procedures for instructions about completing this section.

3. Write a paper that summarizes the information you have gathered. The paper should be typewritten, double-spaced; one-inch margins and eight to twelve pages in length. Use an outline form for topic headings followed by a narrative presentation of information for each heading. Make sure each underlined topic heading is included in your paper.

4. The following provides an example of what your final social history might look like:

SOCIAL HISTORY EXAMPLE

I. Basic Data:

Client: Prudence Dill

Nickname: Pickles

Chronological Age: 18

Date of birth: August 31, 2004

Race: Caucasian

Religion: Roman Catholic

School: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Grade: Freshman

Place of Employment: Buster's Burger Palace

Address: 709 Main Street, Apt. 4

Nomansland, Wisconsin

Telephone: (414) 208-0009

II. Individual Client Profile:

A. Brief Physical-Personality Picture:

Prudence is a tall, thin, attractive young woman who has an energetic and responsive manner. She seemed interested in the interview and eager to provide information.

B. Gestation, Delivery, and Post-Natal Period:

Prudence is the third born in a family of five children. To her knowledge, her delivery was without any complications. She had no physical problems at birth or shortly thereafter. As far as she knows, her parents had planned for her. Both parents had indicated they always wanted a large family. She felt they were very happy with her when she was born.

C. Development:

1. Medical:

Prudence was a consistently healthy child. She never had any serious diseases, allergies, accidents, or broken bones. She is up-to-date on her immunizations and has no sensory impairments. She avoids engaging in health hazards such as smoking, drugs, or unhealthy eating habits. However, she does engage in some moderate drinking. She lifts weights three times a week in addition to participating in other sports. These sports include wrestling and ice hockey. In summary, Prudence appears to be a healthy individual.

5. Following are some suggestions you might consider for improving the writing of professional reports such as social histories. They are in no particular order of importance or priority.

Use paragraphs to divide content into different topics/points/issues (avoid one-sentence paragraphs).

Avoid slang. Slang does not sound very professional. Do not use "guys." Use "young men" or "boys." Do not use "mom." Use "mother." Do not use "fizzled out." Use "didn't succeed" or something similar.

Avoid using words such as "always," "average," "perfect," or "all." (Who is "average"? Are you? What is perfect? Is someone "always" a happy person even after getting a D­ on an exam for this course?)

Avoid sexist language. Use "Ms." instead of "Mrs." Use "woman" instead of "lady." Use "homemaker" or "woman who does not work outside of the home" instead of "housewife." Do not call adult women "girls."

Avoid using acronyms. Some people may not understand them. Spell the term out the first time and put the acronym in parentheses right after it. Thereafter, you can use just the acronym. For example, "The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the major professional organization for social work practitioners. NASW is a good organization to join."

Be as concise as possible. Look at a sentence and see if you could use fewer words. Consider dividing giant sentences into two or more smaller ones.

Distinguish between fact and your impression of what is going on. Ways to phrase your impressions include "My impression is . . .," "It appears that . . .," or "It seems that . . .".

Use apostrophes to indicate possession. For example, "Ronald's pet monkey is named Bonzo," or "Freddy's girlfriend jilted him when he was age 11."

It is shorter to state ages by saying, "Matilda, 108, . . ." instead of "Matilda was a woman who was 108 years old."

Spell correctly.

Avoid labeling people with terms like "low-life dirtball," "Mongoloid," "sleazy," or "abnormal."

Stress confidentiality. Do not use real names in this practice interview. Change some minor facts such as the specific community the person comes from if they are too revealing of her/his identity.

If you take notes during the interview, ask the client's permission first.

When you begin the interview, review its purpose and generally what you plan to do.

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