Developing Your Communication Skills in Social Work by Paula Beesley Melanie Watts Mary Harrison

Author:Paula Beesley, Melanie Watts, Mary Harrison [Paula Beesley, Melanie Watts, Mary Harrison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473975866
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2017-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Case study 7.1

Maria Cain (33) is a single carer to her three children, Mark (14), David (11) and Megan (8). The children’s father, Michael, left the family home three years ago due to concerns about domestic abuse. He has intermittent contact with the children and often promises to spend time with them but fails to show up for family visits. This is the source of family conflict between the children and their mother, as Maria often criticises Michael to the boys, which leads to significant arguments between Maria and Mark, as he idolises his absent father. Mark displays angry and aggressive behaviour, shouts at Maria and has physically pushed her during these disputes. On one occasion, the neighbours called the police and this resulted in the family being referred to social care for family support. During the early sessions of this work, Maria is very vocal about Mark’s attitude and clearly blames him for the arguments. She reports that Mark is out of control, that she can no longer get him up for school as he refuses to go, and she believes it would be better if he lived with his Dad. Mark attends the session, but sits in silence, refusing to talk about how he feels about his relationships. He leaves abruptly when his mother begins to share her feelings.

Thinking about the dynamics of this family, what signs of resistant behaviour can you identify for Maria and Mark?

How might you approach working with this family?

What can you suggest to attempt to alleviate this level of conflict?

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