Ben Matthews Family Case Study Essay

For my book report project I choose to read a memoir by Jeannette Walls titled The Glass Castle. This book takes the reader through the painful years of Jeannette’s childhood while she and her three siblings struggle to survive due to their irresponsible and self-centered parents. At the beginning of the book, the family was living in California moving frequently from town to town. Jeannette’s father, Rex was a major alcoholic. Because of his alcoholism, he found it very hard to maintain a job. He would become violent in fits of rage, sometimes injuring his own wife and children. The family had to be particularly cautious in what they did or said as to not set him off or avoid beatings. They would “skedaddle” or spontaneously relocate

Reporter see the children everyday. Reporter cooks enough for the children to eat. They were eating bologna sandwiches and cold cuts. The children are being clothed. They have clothes at other people homesdown the street. A woman put them out because the mother and grandmother curse and beat on the children. The children curse back at the mother and grandmother. The mother tells the grandmother don't hit my damn children. Mom tells the grandmother she will buss her in her face. This happens everyday. The grandmother is sickly. Per reporter, if it wasn't for the grandmother, welfare would have been got the children. Reporter stated Larry is not in school anymore because he was kicked out for fighting. Larry cursed the bus driver out and he can't ride the bus anymore. Per reporter, the family has no where to stay. They are living in an abandoned house. Reporter has discused the concerns with the mother. Mom was told the police would be called. Mom said it's her damn children and she do what she wants. A man calls the children his grandchildren. He use to go with the grandmother. He said they could live with him at Sawmill Quarter. He doesn't want to see the children on the street. The children don't need immediate

The life of Joan was anything far from normal. Weighing less than 100 pounds for more than five years, she has found herself suffering from something far worse than the tribulations of a typical middle-aged woman. Starting at a young age, Joan strove for perfection in order to please her parents, but there were a number of things that prevented her from completely doing so, including being overweight. Joan also suffered a huge loss when her brother’s life was taken by a car incident that happened under her supervision. This led her parents to be overprotective and probably led to an unhealthy relationship between Joan and them. Eventually, Joan got married and became pregnant, gaining 80 pounds in the process. Due to relational apathy and discord, her and her husband opted for a divorce, which drove her and her son back to living with her parents. Months later, Joan and her son were involved in a

Incidents of Child Maltreatment/Family Violence Samaya experienced emotional neglect and abuse in her foster placement. The family was struggling financially, due to substance use, and because of this, stress grew in the home. Thus, increasing the conflict. This left Samaya feeling emotionally unwell. In chapter 4, Sylar, Samaya, and Maria begin to live with Joseph.

Adrian, who is a 14-year-old Caucasian and African American of Hispanic descent, was referred from the social worker at his middle school due to behavioral and emotional issues. He demonstrates “excessive absences/truancy, refusal to participate in classroom activities and complete work, disrespect of authority figures, physical assaults on teachers and peers, and verbal assault his family members as well”. Adrian has a complicated family history. Adrian’s biological parents, Virgina and Gerald lived together for no more than 2 years, and they did not marry. Also, both sides have family histories about mental illness and substance abuse. Adrian was put in foster care from 5-8 year-old because of parental neglect, and he backed to his biological mother after 8 years old. His biological mother has two older children, and they have their own issues. His biological mother does not have job because of health issues, and his biological father does not give them child support except giving money to them to buy necessities occasionally. Adrian’s mother has a couple of relationships, and has children with different fathers. Adrian does not have safe and comfortable environment to live, and he does not have good

Lupe is 45 year old Mexican Americans woman, and she has two adult children, which are both adults. Lupe has a mother in her late 60s, and the mother expects Lupe to visit her. Lupe has started attending numerous church social function in hopes she might meet someone; furthermore, she does not want to end up like her mother, alone. Her husband left and never helped support his children 16 years ago, and they were never married. Lupe’s daughter, Lucia, moved in with her own daughter named Eva, and Lucia left her boyfriend due to the same financial problems. It appears history is repeating itself again with her daughter; consequently, Lupe was injured on the job, and she needs physical therapy. Lupe appeared depressed refers, and her doctor referred her to a counselor. Lupe has an enormous amount of problems, and it is no wonder she is suffering from depression.

John and Jane were married 3 years after her early discharge from the military. Soon after they married Jane begins to experience PTSD symptoms and she over used her prescribe medication, along with the use of cocaine. As a result, the family’s relationship has been unstable throughout the 15 years of marriage. At this time the children are stable due to father and grandparents’ emotional support. Also, Jane and her parent’s relationship have been negatively affected since she returned home from the

Parents experiencing poverty may struggle to provide for their children and can become very stressed from dealing with the monotonous monetary requirements. Within poverty stricken households extreme variations of parenting and guidance can be observed, from little to no presence or direction, all the way to the other side of the spectrum with severe overreactions. “Higher levels of stress negatively affect parenting style, and these parents tend to be more authoritarian or inconsistent.” (Katz, 18) Family structures, living environments, mental health, personalities, and educational backgrounds are all likely to be contributing factor to both parenting

Wilner was laid off from his employment after a year and a half of working. She indicated that he began caring for the children, he would get them ready for school. She stated that he was responsible for taking the children to and from school and helping the children with their homework. She stated that the parents continued have problems in the marriage. She reported that he called himself the “stay at home parent” however, she stated that he did not maintain the home. The mother reported that she could not give him money because he would not use it for what it was for (buying grocery, paying bills for the home) she reported that historically she would clean the home on the weekends and go food shopping. However, it became too much for her to handle and she felt that he was home he should be able to handle the responsibilities. The mother stated that she did not understand what he did all day. She indicated that the parents were constantly fighting over money. Ms. Leavitt stated that she suggested meeting with a marriage counselor to work on the marriage. Consequently, Mr. Wilner did not want to continue with the sessions and they were unable to resolve any issues that were facing in the marriage. She reported that the father did not want to work and did not attempt to find

Every year, over 1 million American children suffer die to their parents’ divorce (“Causes”). However, not all children are affected negatively from their parents divorce. In some cases, children see it as two bedrooms, two allowances, and two vacations. In other cases, however, children become depressed, have nervous breakdowns, and/or turn to drugs or bad things. Support from parents and a healthy home is very important in a child’s life.

Megan is a member of a single parent household following her parent 's divorce when she was young. As Megan grew more comfortable with me throughout the semester, I was able to gain insight from her about the characteristics of a family who has gone through the divorce and remarriage process. In class, we spent a great deal of time discussing the topic of a change in

I'd had a rocky beginning as a single parent. My oldest child had certainly felt the brunt of my first divorce as well as my short-lived second marriage. I'd never had any trouble with my children; yet, suddenly, for the first time in his life, my son had trouble in school as well as at home. I'd sought counseling for him, but the older he got, the more he rebelled.

There are instances where divorce is essential. In cases such as verbal or physical abuse of a spouse or child, divorce may be the only solution. However, the negative effects of divorce have a large impact on family structure. Divorce can be very stressful for young adult children, with a sense of increased responsibility to their parents and a vulnerability to loyalty conflicts with both parents. In addition, this article proclaims that young adults may experience a sense of loss of their family home, abandonment by their parents, and a concern

Marc Mauer starts his lecture with a story about two different teenagers. One of the teenage seemed to come from a middle to upper class family, and when he was found shoplifting the family was able to obtain a social worker to help them solve the underlining issues that their child had (Marc Mauer lecture). The parents then spoke to the police, and prosecutor to let them know what they were doing in order to resolve their child’s issues, and the prosecutor decided to drop the case, do to the steps that the family was already taken (Marc Mauer lecture). In the second scenario another teenager was found shoplifting, but his family did not have the resources to get a social worker, so the teen was given

Child maltreatment is a widespread issue that affects thousands of children every year. There are four common types of child maltreatment; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. All of these types of abuse are very serious and can have many consequences for the children and families. The most common consequence of severe child maltreatment is the removal of that child from their home (Benbenishty, Segev, Surkis, and Elias, 2002). Most social workers trying to determine the likelihood of removal evaluate the type and severity of abuse, as well as the child’s relationship with their parents (Benbenishty et al., 2002). When children are removed from their homes there are many options of alternative housing. The