Welcome to Unit 4: Social Problems: Community and Individual

Craig Owens (Craig or Prof C)

Seminar Agenda

Review last week; apply the learning!

Social Problems – Key Concepts Case Study – Time to Practice! Questions?

We discussed our role as outreach workers with a family facing multiple economic and substance issues and children at risk of being removed from the home. Briefly describe one new thing you learned in that discussion that you plan to apply in your career.

Unit 4

No project! Discussion and

Seminar!

Key Concepts

In your past courses, you studied the relationship between people and their immediate environment (their homes, their town/city). If many individuals in a town suffer from the same problem, it is more likely that other social problems will emerge. For example, if a car manufacturer closes a plant in a town, the unemployment rate of the town increases quite a bit.

Key Concepts cont..

Social problems often occur as a result of any one or combination of national, local, family, and individual factors. Assessing each one of these potential influences allows human service professionals to create individualized intervention plans to help clients solve resource or behavioral problems that stem from these influences.

Key Concepts cont.. To provide appropriate services, human service

professionals must understand the most common problems of that city or town to help clients best. For example; smaller towns located in rural settings are less likely to have a significant homeless population than bigger cities. Thus, there are unlikely to be homeless shelters in those towns. Therefore, the recommended intervention for a homeless client who is in a small town is to find friends or family members to provide temporary shelter. If this is not possible, usually a local church can assist. It is important to understand the local environment in order to create appropriate intervention plans.

Key Concepts cont. Clients never have only one simple problem that is

complicating their lives. Often, clients face problems that seem so insurmountable that they develop strong emotions such as fear, anger, and/or sadness in response to the situation. These emotions lead to the development of behaviors that keep the client feeling stuck in the situation. Human service professionals help clients to identify these barriers and help them to create intervention plans with the goal of helping them to become self-sufficient.

The Case of Teresa and her six children You listen to the clock tick on your desk – two more hours and you are free

for the weekend. It has been a slow Friday because the weather is nice and it is the middle of the month (no government checks are due out this week). You rifle through the files on your desk as you recheck your paperwork for each client when a mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

The Case of Teresa and her six children A mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that

her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

What are the presenting problems in this client’s life?

The Case of Teresa and her six children A mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that

her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

What other questions would you ask her to determine what resources might be available to help solve the problem?

The Case of Teresa and her six children A mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that

her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

What would the three main goals for her be that could be used to help her to become self-sufficient?

The Case of Teresa and her six children A mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that

her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

What are some strategies that can be used to help to motivate this client towards working on these goals?

The Case of Teresa and her six children A mother appears at your door with her six children in tow. She tells you that

her name is Teresa and introduces you to her children one at a time, but they are wiggling too much for you to connect any names to their faces. During her assessment, her children sit on your lap, pull books off of your bookshelf, cry, and demand their mother’s attention. She reveals that she is a single parent and has been evicted from her home. Everything that she could get out of the house is in her van in the parking lot. She tried to get into a homeless shelter but discovered that there was a limit on the number of children allowed per parent and she has too many children. Then she asks you if you have any food in your office; she and her children are hungry because they have not eaten for two days.

What barriers might exist?

Questions?