Social Science help ASAP

Submit a 9-page paper that focuses on an adolescent from one of the case studies presented in this course. For this Project, complete a bio-psycho-social assessment and provide an analysis of the assessment. This Project is divided into two parts:

Part A: 

· Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment: The assessment should be written in professional language and include sections on each of the following:

· Presenting issue (including referral source)

· Demographic information

· Current living situation

· Birth and developmental history

· School and social relationships

· Family members and relationships

· Health and medical issues (including psychological and psychiatric functioning, substance abuse)

· Spiritual development

· Social, community, and recreational activities

· Client strengths, capacities, and resources

Part B:

· Analysis of Assessment. Address each of the following:

· Explain the challenges faced by the client(s)—for example, drug addiction, lack of basic needs, victim of abuse, new school environment, etc.

· Analyze how the social environment affects the client.

· Identify which human behavior or social theories may guide your practice with this individual and explain how these theories inform your assessment.

· Explain how you would use this assessment to develop mutually agreed-upon goals to be met in order to address the presenting issue and challenges face by the client.

· Explain how you would use the identified strengths of the client(s) in a treatment plan.

· Explain how you would use evidence-based practice when working with this client and recommend specific intervention strategies (skills, knowledge, etc.) to address the presenting issue.

· Analyze the ethical issues present in the case. Explain how will you address them.

· Describe the issues will you need to address around cultural competence.

THIS IS THE CASE

Working With the Homeless Population: The Case of Diane

Diane is a 15-year-old, Caucasian female. She is a freshman at a new high school where she began 3 weeks into the semester. Her current residence is the homeless shelter in a local church. Diane’s teachers felt she was having difficulty adjusting to the new school because she sat with her head down and was very quiet, so they referred her to me. I am a school social worker, part of the child study team, and I regularly do social assessments on students to evaluate how they are functioning from a biopsychosocial perspective.

Upon first meeting with Diane, I noticed that her clothes were wrinkled and her hair seemed as if it had not been washed in some time. Eager to develop rapport, I introduced myself and explained my role at the school. Diane was quiet, with her eyes downcast and provided one-word answers to my questions. When I realized I was not building rapport, I gently asked how she was feeling, and she replied, “Awful.” I asked what was causing this feeling and she began to cry and inventoried what was upsetting her. She told me it was too difficult for her to shower at the shelter as there was a limited amount of time and some people took too long. She also reported that she felt so embarrassed about her appearance, she didn’t have any friends, she was lost in her classes, and her mother cried all the time. She explained that she had seen her mother abused many times, and they finally escaped and found “this church to help us.”

I was grateful that she opened up and realized that there were many issues to address. Recognizing that some of these were basic needs, I decided to first tackle her physiological needs to provide some relief, and then later I would address some of the other concerns, such as safety, her sense of belonging, and academic issues.

After learning Diane did not have lunch due to a lack of money, I got her some food from the cafeteria, and we began to develop a plan together. We drew a large circle and placed her name in the circle along with all the presenting problems she had named. We began with physiological needs. I gave her information about the free lunch program, explaining to her that other students would not know she was enrolled in it because she would have a cafeteria swipe card identical to everyone else’s. I also said that I would try to coordinate for her to shower in the girl’s locker room after school. This, however, would require interacting with other entities such as the shelter, school administration, and, of course, her mother. We drew circles around the large circle so I could show her all the interactions that needed to take place. We decided to check things off as we made progress. We set up weekly meetings for the next month to address and fine-tune these issues.

As the month progressed, Diane was coming to our meetings much more relaxed. She was enrolled in the free lunch program and was showering after gym class during her study hall. Once her physiological needs were being met, I noticed that her grades began to improve. I felt we could begin to address some of her social and emotional needs, such as developing friendships and healing from the abuse she witnessed.

Diane expressed interest in painting, and I mentioned the after-school art club that worked in the school studio and went to museums and galleries. Diane was interested in attending, and I thought that this was a good place for meeting potential friends. When I gently broached the subject about counseling, Diane became anxious. I gave her the hotline number and the location for the local domestic violence agency and told her that they offered free counseling services and had creative arts therapies, which would allow her to use her painting as an expression for her healing. I encouraged her to connect with the agency to see what it was like and to see the art therapy room.

Diane stops by my office less frequently now. Recently she informed me that after 6 months of counseling at the agency I recommended, she feels excited and empowered to make a difference for others. She signed up for the volunteer training at the domestic violence agency, and she wants to paint murals in the art therapy room. She recruited a friend from the art club to join in the training.

I WROTE A PAPER ON THE CASE. IT IS ATTACHED BELOW

INTRODUCTION

As social workers, when working with clients, we need to ensure we complete a thorough assessment of our clients, in order to be able to decipher the client’s presenting problems and as well as their main goals, which they would like to focus on. In this paper, I will be discussing the case of Diane, which will be the focus of my final project.

PRESENTING PROBLEM

In the case of Diane, we meet Diane, a fifteen-year old high school student, living in shelter at a church (Plummer & Brocksen, 2014). When Diane was first presented to the social worker at her school, she appeared withdrawn and her teachers were worried that Diane was having difficulty adjusting to her new school because she always sat with her head down and was very quiet (Plummer & Brocksen, 2014). During the assessment phase, the social worker was able to learn of Diane’s exposure to seeing her mother getting abused, her lack of availability to basic needs like a daily shower and money for lunch (Plummer & Brocksen, 2014). All these circumstances in Diane’s life led to a decreased low self-esteem in Diane.

CLIENT’S GOALS

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943, it states that physiological needs comes before any other psychological needs, such as safety, love and belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization (Mcleod, 2018). Based on this theory, one of the first and main goals I would want to work with Diane would focus on getting her physiological needs met. To get Diane’s physiological needs met, I would try to work with Diane to help her find a more permanent and safer housing with her mother. Diane stated that she felt “awful” because she did not have the ability to shower everyday due to the time restraints on the shower time at the shelter. This goal will not only focus on Diane’s physiological needs, it will also indirectly focus on her psychological need of self-esteem. The second goal I would want to focus on with Diane is to ensure she has access to her basic needs, especially food. In working with Diane, she revealed that she is unable to get lunch for herself, and this begs to bring up the question if she is also not able to get access to either breakfast or dinner on a regular basis, placing her at risk for malnutrition. Ensuring Diane has access to safer, more permanent housing and also basic needs such as food, will meet Diane’s physiological needs. After Diane’s physiological needs have been met, then I would work on other goals with her to meet her psychological needs.

PEER-REVIEW

When working with a client like Diane, I believe it is best to make use of the biopsychosocial approach, which will help in understanding the problem, developing goals and interventions or treatment plan. According to Nooe & Patterson, the biopsychosocial approach utilizes a range of factors such as an individual’s biology and development and circumstances such as poverty, social support or lack thereof, family conflict and violence to determine a client’s risk for homelessness (2010). In the case of Diane, during the assessment phase, the social worker can utilize the biopsychosocial approach, and identify Diane’s exposure to family conflict and violence as a contributing factor to violence. This will then help the social worker to develop a goal to ensure the Diane is not exposed to any such violence, by involving her mother in one of the treatment plans.

ETHNOCENTRISM AND RACISM

Ethnocentrism is the strong feeling that almost every ethnic group has and is characterized by the belief that one’s own group is superior. This belief leads members of an ethnic group to view their culture as the best (Understanding human behavior and the social environment, Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). While racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities and traits and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race (Understanding human behavior and the social environment, Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). This idea of ethnocentrism and racism can lead individuals to obtaining the beliefs that they are entitled to certain things, while others are not. Ethnocentrism and racism can have an influence on this case with Diane because she is a Caucasian female and the idea of white privilege, which ultimately stems from ethnocentrism and racism can impact how she or her mother may want to accept certain referrals to assist them. According to Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, one of the privileges attached to white privilege is that “White people can be sure that their race will not count against them if they need legal or medical help”, and may I add social help (2016). This idea can affect services because, in the event that a certain social service is not provided to Diane and maybe her mother, they both can begin to behave in a hostile manner, because they expected to have access to any help they needed.

CONCLUSION

Cases like that of Diane, are one of many unfortunate situations, we as social workers come into contact with almost daily. However, through thorough assessment and the utilization of the biopsychosocial approach, clients like Diane can be provided the assistance they need to be active and successful member of their community.

References:

NOOE, R. M., & PATTERSON, D. A. (2010). The Ecology of Homelessness. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 20(2), 105–152. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/10911350903269757

Mcleod, S. (2018, May 21). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

Working with the Homeless Population: The Case of Diane

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

CONNECTING KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH

Ethnocentrism and Racism