Reflections On The Experience Of A Family Accessing Services - Case Study Example

The writer will discuss the theoretical concepts, models, policies , procedures and legislation that relate to social work practice in relation to the case scenario given about the Lane family (please see appendix 1). An intervention plan will be suggested withut disregarding the feelings of Annie, Patrick and the children. Moreover the writer will explore how discrimination may have adverse impacts on the lives of the Lane family. A referral was made by the children’s school to the Education Social Worker named Donna; Donna is working within Children and Families services in a locality team which is a tier 3 service. Annie and Patrick were worried about the consequences of social services being involved with the family. Cree and Davis (2007) suggest that social work in Children and Families has received a great deal of negative press. This is the same thing Donna reassured the couple of to establish a rapport quickly with Annie and Patrick. She was able to offer reassurance that further support may help the family. Donna discussed her role as an Education Social Worker with Annie and Patrick and explained how education welfare operates in terms in monitoring the children’s attendance at school. Donna advised Annie and Patrick about their responsibility to ensure the children attend school regularly and punctually she explained the law in particular section 7 of the Education Act 1996 (Brammer 2007). Donna advised Annie and Patrick that they may be guilty of an offence under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 if the children do not attend regularly and punctually (Horner and Krawczyk 2007). Annie was very concerned about the possibility of prosecution and became very tearful. Patrick became more and more withdrawn. Donna reassured Annie and Patrick that she will be working to help them discipline their children and enable them to regularly attend school. The culture of poverty theory is the first theory I can suggest a social work practitioner use in studying the condition of Annie Lane and her family. This theory is defined as follows: “suggested that the norms and behaviors of the poor can be distinguished as a subculture of larger society and characterized by a distinct way of life, including an atypical worldview and low aspirations (Lewis, 1968; Moynihan, 1965)”(Curley, 2005). The concept of this theory is evident in the way Annie did not have any aspirations to work and earn, instead of being only contented in struggling with the difficulties she and her family encounters. She has still potential to find employment as she was able to obtain a high school diploma. She feels the difficulties of making ends meet for her children since her domestic partner’s sources of livelihood are not stable. If she also has more descent aspirations for herself and family, she would realise the “at risk” tendencies living in a place provided by the welfare program of the government are quite common. These tendencies are not good places to live in by people, especially children. This theory may also be applied to the situation of Annie’s domestic partner, Patrick. It would not be good if in reality, he is not exerting enough efforts in looking for a stable job. There are times when people get lazy working hands on and full time. If they think they can rely on sources for funding they would do so, even if it means having to bear with menial standards of living. As long as they do not get pushed to living in the streets without any financial resources within their reach, they mostly become contented with relying on minimal financial resources to live, without having the determination to seek sources of livelihood. Massey and Denton have theorised racism as among the leading causes of urban poverty (Curley, 2005). Due to the employers’ racist views, they mostly disqualify reviewing the job applications of applicants belonging to racial and cultural groups the employers hold biased views upon (Curley, 2005). Examples of these minority groups being discriminated upon by employers include job seekers of African/black descent and cultural backgrounds (Curley, 2005). When job seekers experience being turned down numerous times in getting employed, all the more they undergo poverty, as financial resources are becoming more difficult to be available. Since employment racial hiring discriminations have become common in societies, causes of poverty in relation unemployment continue to grow as time goes by. This theory can be partially applied to Annie and her family’s situation. In the companies Patrick has applied jobs for he may have applied to organisations that favour black or other minority groups in the United Kingdom to hire in their establishments. If Patrick had chanced upon applying to numerous of these establishments for a position, he may have likely not able to have the opportunity to be formally employed due to the discrimination he suffered from being hired bestowed upon him by these companies. Residential segregation Annie and her family were placed in caused them to become all the more socially displaced or suffer from urban poverty (Curley, 2005). Because the government placed them in a neighbourhood where poverty is on the rise, she and her family did not have the opportunity to find career explorations which would help them get out of poverty. More likely, the people who live in their neighbourhoods only have minimal opportunities to work on careers that pay considerably good. Most of the people who live in these places are prone to obtain jobs or money making opportunities that allow them to earn only small amounts of income due to the surrounding areas being similar to the neighbourhoods they live in. Experts have looked into school dropouts these recent times to correlate urban poverty with the existence of out of school youths (Curley, 2005). When more youths do not even get to graduate high school, their potentials to find employment in the work force decrease despite the efforts they exert in being able to earn a livelihood. Most positions today require job seekers to at least obtain a high school diploma in order for their applications be reviewed by human resources manager. Most youths who drop out of school tend to not have determination to hold stable jobs when they become adults. Because they get to only learn being committed to do something due to necessity when they were capable to not finish school, when they become adults they likewise begin to feel being committed to be employed on jobs to support themselves in surviving in this world become discouraging to do. Annie may have been discouraged to try to obtain employment, and opts to stay at home attending to her family and her children’s needs due to her encountering an incident of being on the verge of dropping out. This happened to Annie when she got pregnant at 16 years old. At her teens, she was struggling to be able to graduate college and rear her child at a young age. She almost gave up in being determined to pursue her high school education because of the difficulty of the situation. Fortunately, with the encouragement of her mother, she realised it was very important for her to have at least a high school diploma. This diploma is a very basic requirement for her to earn a livelihood. This time, Annie’s instability of committing to stick to a responsibility might have been occurring again. This tends to reoccur despite the fact her urges to be this way have last been felt at least 10 years ago. Crimes are huge influences of urban poverty anywhere in the UK and the world (Curley, 2005). People are pushed to become criminals due to severe poverty they experience (Curley, 2005). If the government puts in more effort in containing poverty by making efforts in enhancing the benefits people in severe crisis receive, crimes are more likely to significantly go down. In the case of the Lane family, it may be feared by others who hear their story that they have huge potential to commit crimes in order to get by in life. These crimes include stealing, robbing, etc. Teen pregnancy contributes to Annie’s inability to make a commitment in working steadily on a job. She had a difficult time committing herself to hold a stable determination to pursue her high school education when she got pregnant. This surfaced again once she reaches adulthood. A collective efficacy model theory relates that the neighbourhood people revolve in influence them to become criminals and delinquents (Curley, 2005). This scenario is not highly unlikely to not be experienced by the Lane family. It is very well easy for them to be influenced by their neighbours to commit uncalled for and unlawful acts. This theory is called collective efficacy due to its concentration on the overall effects of the neighbours of people on their tendencies to become involved in criminal activities and early, unprepared pregnancy. The theory aims to suggest ways for people to avoid such overall negative influences their neighbours may cause them to get involved in. It has been known through recent decades that nuclear families are main proponents of delinquency and other social problems, Juvenile Delinquency- Family Structure (Anon., 2010). Nuclear families consist of single parent households and the non biological parents and siblings of children such as stepparents and step siblings, Juvenile Delinquency- Family Structure (Anon., 2010). For example, a teenage boy who lacks the presence of a father while growing would more likely prone to act excessively masculine by getting involved in crimes, Juvenile Delinquency- Family Structure (Anon., 2010). This may be due to the fact that growing up, teens such as this boy did not have the opportunity to be guided by a father to be able to know the proper masculinity ways they need to possess. They have not been taught masculinity is exhibited towards aggression and commitment of unlawful actions. Teenage girls may also become delinquent due to being raised in a single parent household. They may become rebels and blame the world that they suffer being placed in broken homes. As a result, these girls may resort to committing crimes such as stealing, physical and emotional aggression, among others in order to express their anger to the world. This is one of the main reasons that is why it is very important for children growing up in single parent households to receive extra guidance whenever they can get it. Delinquent teenage girls usually do not commit crimes as harsh as their male counterparts. However, there are still a lot of instances girls commit crimes due to household background. Annie’s children becomes at risk of being delinquent as they get older. These children may begin to think that committing crimes are acceptable as they would not have been told that much crime only cause trouble growing up in a nuclear family household. It is very advisable for parents to be extra observant in their children’s behaviour if their children grow up in single parent households. Sometimes what is dismissed as a situation in which no big deal is present, it turns out real problem is actually present which needs to be dealt with. This is especially true for Annie and Patrick. They need to avoid shrugging everything their children do as if it was nothing. Another factor which enables single parent households to cause delinquency is the lack of complete parental guidance when disciplining teenage children. This happens due to the fact that not both biological parents are present to be able to give the wisdom the children need. Zoe may have been getting the discipline she needs when she was even younger considering the fact that Annie initially raised her in a single parent household. Even though she is also part of a nuclear family, it would be difficult for her to abide by the parents’ disciplinary ways considering the fact that the other parent, Patrick, is not her biological father. Zoe may argue Patrick would not have the best intentions at heart when he disciplines her. Therefore, she may feel there is no use for her to consider his disciplinary ways. On the other hand, numerous people are aware that broken homes are mostly found among the poor, Juvenile Delinquency- Family Structure (Anon., 2010). Therefore, broken homes can not directly be attributed as the causes of delinquency, Juvenile Delinquency- Family Structure (Anon., 2010). Poverty is among the direct causes of crimes being committed in the society, Juvenile Delinquency-Family Structure (Anon., 2010). Annie is more likely to feel when she was in her teens her parents could not provide a lot of stuff for her she could use to engage in hobbies for fun. Therefore, this caused her to having a baby too early. Getting pregnant and being a mother too early insinuate Annie to become unstable in holding a committed relationship. As a result, she and Zoe’s father eventually parted ways. Raising Zoe alone initially became a financial struggle for Annie. This may have caused her to experience poverty as well at that time. This poverty situation extended until she had her two other kids and cohabitated with Patrick. At this point, broken homes have definitely played huge roles in causing poverty. The high incidence of crimes prevailing in broken home families that live in poverty is associated with the ethnicities of the family, Juvenile Delinquency-Family Structure (Anon., 2010). Most often, broken families in poverty but still maintain close ties prevent delinquencies among their children, In most Asian cultures, like those of the Filipino and Chinese, close family ties are highly valued that is why divorce or annulment rates are low. When the families in these cultures do get broken at times, family members still make efforts to give their children the lives they would have been able to enjoy as well living in a complete family household. In the case of the Lane family, more likely they are not practicing this custom since they are of European descent. Because of this, delinquency in the Lane household may have more potential in occurring. Annie’s children are prone to become delinquents due to the fact they are frequently exposed to parental conflicts whenever Annie and Patrick get into arguments over the financial difficulties they are experiencing, Juvenile Delinquency-Family Structure (Anon., 2010). The kids become more acquainted with aggression when they hear their parents’ constant arguing. They begin to think the most effective way of resolving conflicts is through constant arguing. Likewise, they hold opinions constant arguing is the acceptable way to handle dilemmas. It is highly encouraged government agencies detect early ineffective and minimally effective parenting skills before youth become pushed to becoming delinquents, Juvenile Delinquency: Contributing Factors, Current Research And Intervention (Anon., 2004). Annie and her partner seem to not be equipped in exhibiting the effective parenting skills necessary to discipline their children and prevent them from skipping school numerous times. It shows Annie and Patrick refuse to acknowledge this weakness they possess in child rearing. They seek to have the problem solved, but seem unwilling to put in efforts to have the problem actually solved. The social worker trying to help them in resolving the dilemma of disciplining their children would definitely help in modifying their child rearing ways, if not change their ways completely for the better. However, Annie and Patrick must put in the efforts expected from them to put forth in order to become successful in being helped by the social worker. The first step Annie and Patrick are recommended to take so they can put forth those efforts they need to exert is to acknowledge they do need to take the necessary action in order for their parenting skills to be enhanced. They need to realise that failure to do so would put their kids at risk continuously. Once they are able to do this, the succeeding steps would follow through in being successfully achieved. Home based treatment program provided for delinquents is proven to be successful in reducing delinquents, Juvenile Delinquency: Contributing Factors, Current Research And Intervention (Anon., 2004). This program is based on nurturing closer family ties at home to provide emotional support and guidance to the youth who are at risk of turning into delinquents, Juvenile Delinquency: Contributing Factors, Current Research And Intervention (Anon., 2004). Annie’s children would definitely benefit from this program as early as the present time in order to avoid having them turn into delinquents in the future. They would learn a lot of wisdom from Annie and her partner which can help them turn into better individuals as they grow older. On the other hand, they would feel they are actually loved and cared for by their parents when they experience closer family ties. They would realise when they get older there would not be any reason for them to become rebels or break the law just to express their anger of not being loved and cared for by their parents. The realisation that they do not need to attract unwanted attention may also dawn on them, making them realise their parents’ care is enough to make them feel contented. It would take a lot of work and effort for Annie and Patrick to implement this program in their household. In initial times this program is implemented, the parents may have to undergo severe struggles of having it successfully implemented. Donna, the social worker assisting the parents with their dilemma would be able to be of great help to Annie and Patrick in having this program successfully aid in preventing future delinquency behaviour among the children. However, Annie and Patrick need to have confidence this program can be a success. Without belief, it would be difficult for the parents to cooperate in utilising the program. Discrimination of people in the United Kingdom on the basis of poverty is contrary to “the spirit and the terms of the Universal Declaration On Human Rights,” Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). The poor people in the country are regarded of lesser value than the wealthy ones due to the few assets the poor possess, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). This poverty discrimination is highly evident in the UK government’s refusal to redistribute the country’s wealth in order to decrease poverty, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). The government is doing this as they are not concerned in the plight of their people suffering in poverty. They look down on these people and make them feel they deserve being stuck in poverty. The government of the United Kingdom has constantly refused pressure imposed on them by the United Nations to legalise International Covenant On Economic, Social, Social And Cultural Rights into UK legislation in 1998, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). This action on the part of the UK government runs in violation of the Joint Committee On Human Rights Of The House Of Lords and the House Of commons, Is Poverty In The UK A Denials of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). In a similar situation, in 2007, the UK government refused to accept proposals from the European Union that the country include the European Charter Of Fundamental Rights in United Kingdom legislation, Is Poverty In The UK A Denials Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). Denying of human rights privilege to the nation’s people is a huge contributor to the increasing poverty in the country. The Equality And Human Rights Commission is a UK agency that is tasked to safeguard and implement human rights lawfully in the country, Is Poverty In The UK A Denials Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). This commission does not include economic, social and cultural rights to benefit individuals needing them in the United Kingdom, Is Poverty In The UK A Denials Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). Thus, the poverty dilemma in the UK has not decreased at all. The Lane family is suffering from poverty mainly due to the unwillingness of the UK government to modify its legislations to accommodate the needs of the poor who are in poverty due to circumstances beyond their control. Donna can only help the Lane family in this aspect by campaigning to the government agency she works in to submit a request to the UK’s central government assigned in disseminating human rights benefits to the country’s people to make efforts to see through the plights of the poor. The Lane family could only hope for the best to turn out if Donna was to help them resolve this legal issue. However, they should put their trust on her that she would put in as much effort as she can in order to provide any assistance the family would need in regards to this legal issue. Doubts can lead the situation to have negative vibes. Negative vibes are the last resorts the Lane family needs right now. Therefore, the members of the family need to be optimistic as much as they can in order to attract positive results. Another downside on the efforts made by the UK’s commission is currently its legislation that covers the UK equality law does not protect the residents and citizens against discrimination they face on poverty, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). This runs in contrary to its ability to protect its people against discrimination on other cases in the country, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). Because of these factors, it looks like Annie and her family would have to bear living in poverty for a long time. This would be the situation unless somewhere along the way, the UK government begins to realise the importance of being concerned with the welfare of the poor and actually make efforts in improving their situation. It would greatly depend on Annie and Patrick to exert the much needed efforts they can put forth in order to improve their situation. Obviously, at the present time they would not be able to rely on any much needed assistance from their government. Considering their government is not budging in any way to be considerate of the crisis the poor go through as of the present time, it looks like they would not be able to see any changes of this scenario for a long time. Annie and Patrick need not be passive in making efforts to save themselves from severe economic hardships. At this point, they only have themselves to save them off their demise. Therefore, they should constantly think of this factor in their minds so they would become more determined to be the best they can be in trying to resolve these economic dilemmas they are having. It is strongly recommended the UK government do the following in order to reduce human right violations and poverty discriminations, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008): -The formulation of human rights in the UK government should be based on the lawful dissemination of the privileges of the people, which include aiding people who are in crisis beyond their control attributed to poverty, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). -The UK government should realise that their refusal to incorporate appropriate human rights privileges is making numerous people in their country to suffer, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). -The UK government should be punished at some point in time if they continue to refuse cooperating in adopting the provisions in the Universal Human Rights Convention, Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? (Anon., 2008). My Suggested Intervention Plan With Justifications I suggest Annie and Patrick work cooperatively with Donna in order to obtain the best advice with regards to the good option they can take to eliminate financial and parental troubles. They need not feel there is nothing they can do in their situation to get out of the dilemma they are in. They need to be open-minded for better changes and have the self-confidence things would improve. It would also be helpful for them to regularly talk to loved ones so they would not feel so down despite the situation they are in. By doing so, they would feel the care and concern their loved ones bestow on them as well. If this option does not work out for them despite their efforts to make them work, I would suggest they attend parenting classes and personal counseling sessions. These sessions would definitely help them to discern the best parenting techniques to use in disciplining their children to make the children see their points of view, and would not make the children feel they are being unreasonably controlled. Most probably Annie’s children do not get disciplined properly because the parents fail in making the children see they are not being unreasonably controlled. The children are failing to see their parents are seeking the best welfare of their children while the children are still in their early years. Personal counseling may help Annie and Patrick have the determination to work harder in order to provide for the children. The counselor may help the two of them see the fruits of labour hard work and higher aspirations may bring to their family. At the same time, they would be able to have more positive outlooks in succeeding through hard work and obtain the encouragement they need by benefiting from personal counseling. The children would eventually benefit in the long run once things get better for their parents. Ways Discrimination Have Impacted Ms. Lane And Her Family Ms. Lane and her family may have suffered from having the feelings of low self-esteem due to the constant discrimination they face in society. They are looked down upon because of their lifestyle. Things for them may become better if only their government adheres to proper human rights legislation and be more proactive in crusading for the rights of the poor. At the same time, Ms. Lane and her family suffer regular stress related symptoms due to the financial and parenting struggles they face. These struggles cause them to have emotional pains and unhealthy state of minds and physical conditions as well. They lose any energy and hope to look forward to each day’s events and activities because of the challenges they face every day. References: Curley, A. 2005. Theories Of Urban Poverty And Implications For Public Housing Policy. Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare, [Print]. Net Industries And Its Licensors. 2010.Juvenile Delinquency-Family Structure [Online] Available at: http://family.jrank.org/pages/1006/Juvenile-Delinquency-Family-Structure.html [Accessed 18 May 2010]. Wow Essays. 2004. Juvenile Delinquency: Contributing Factors, Current Research And Intervention [Online] Available at: http://www.wowessays.com/dbase/af4/lvw152.shtml [Accessed 18 May 2010]. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Inc. 2008. Is Poverty In The UK A Denial Of People’s Human Rights? Journal Of Joseph Rowntree Foundation, [Print]. Read More

She feels the difficulties of making ends meet for her children since her domestic partner’s sources of livelihood are not stable. If she also has more descent aspirations for herself and family, she would realise the “at risk” tendencies living in a place provided by the welfare program of the government are quite common. These tendencies are not good places to live in by people, especially children. This theory may also be applied to the situation of Annie’s domestic partner, Patrick.

It would not be good if in reality, he is not exerting enough efforts in looking for a stable job. There are times when people get lazy working hands on and full time. If they think they can rely on sources for funding they would do so, even if it means having to bear with menial standards of living. As long as they do not get pushed to living in the streets without any financial resources within their reach, they mostly become contented with relying on minimal financial resources to live, without having the determination to seek sources of livelihood.

Massey and Denton have theorised racism as among the leading causes of urban poverty (Curley, 2005). Due to the employers’ racist views, they mostly disqualify reviewing the job applications of applicants belonging to racial and cultural groups the employers hold biased views upon (Curley, 2005). Examples of these minority groups being discriminated upon by employers include job seekers of African/black descent and cultural backgrounds (Curley, 2005). When job seekers experience being turned down numerous times in getting employed, all the more they undergo poverty, as financial resources are becoming more difficult to be available.

Since employment racial hiring discriminations have become common in societies, causes of poverty in relation unemployment continue to grow as time goes by. This theory can be partially applied to Annie and her family’s situation. In the companies Patrick has applied jobs for he may have applied to organisations that favour black or other minority groups in the United Kingdom to hire in their establishments. If Patrick had chanced upon applying to numerous of these establishments for a position, he may have likely not able to have the opportunity to be formally employed due to the discrimination he suffered from being hired bestowed upon him by these companies.

Residential segregation Annie and her family were placed in caused them to become all the more socially displaced or suffer from urban poverty (Curley, 2005). Because the government placed them in a neighbourhood where poverty is on the rise, she and her family did not have the opportunity to find career explorations which would help them get out of poverty. More likely, the people who live in their neighbourhoods only have minimal opportunities to work on careers that pay considerably good.

Most of the people who live in these places are prone to obtain jobs or money making opportunities that allow them to earn only small amounts of income due to the surrounding areas being similar to the neighbourhoods they live in. Experts have looked into school dropouts these recent times to correlate urban poverty with the existence of out of school youths (Curley, 2005). When more youths do not even get to graduate high school, their potentials to find employment in the work force decrease despite the efforts they exert in being able to earn a livelihood.

Most positions today require job seekers to at least obtain a high school diploma in order for their applications be reviewed by human resources manager. Most youths who drop out of school tend to not have determination to hold stable jobs when they become adults. Because they get to only learn being committed to do something due to necessity when they were capable to not finish school, when they become adults they likewise begin to feel being committed to be employed on jobs to support themselves in surviving in this world become discouraging to do.

Annie may have been discouraged to try to obtain employment, and opts to stay at home attending to her family and her children’s needs due to her encountering an incident of being on the verge of dropping out.

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