The medical (Mental Health and Substance-Use) context we saw where Jamar’s mother is stating that her son maybe suffering from mental illness because there is a history on his father side. However, in order for us to determine if that is true, we will have to refer him to a clinical psychologist who will do an assessment to determine his mental state. Jamar is also smoking at a tender age which is not good for his brain at this stage in his development. Smoking at his age is highly addictive and can slow his brain development memory, concentrating, learning, self-control, attention and mood (Teens Health, 2020) and we can see where he is already displaying some of these signs. The medical aspect of the case can be viewed from the cognitive development lenses which states that cognitive development is a process that occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment (McLeod, 2018).
The family context shows that Jamar’s family is a dysfunctional one because there is no father figure in the home, they have to keep moving from to home to home because his mother was being abused by the stepfather. He was also being teased by his siblings which would have broken his self-confidence. Every child needs support from their family because the family is responsible for caring and nurturing them, the family acts as role model and how to experience the world around them (Smart Beginnings, n.d). This case can be viewed from the Family Systems Theory which views the family as and emotional unit (Kerr, 2000).
On some occasion persons may feel distant or disconnected from their families (Kerr, 2000) but it is more a felling than fact Jamar was feeling this way because he said his mother did not understand what he is going through. The theory highlights that families are affect their members thoughts, feelings and actions you would think they are in the same skin (Kerr, 2000). Also, we can use the systems theory to view the case it states that behaviour is influenced by a variety of factors that work together as a system. A person’s parents, friends, school, and home environment impact how a person thinks and acts (Campbellsville University, 2017), in terms of Jamar not having his father or a role model in his life to seeing his mother being abuse. This would have led him to be acting the way he is.
From the school context we can see where Jamar is failing in school and is lashing out on his teachers. Jamar is unable to focus on his school because of the problems he is facing in his home environment and he is not coping well with the challenges. His coach does not understand the problems he is going through and in return he said to him he is not good enough to be on the team and what Jamar did was to boost his ID and try and prove that he is good enough so he stole money from his neighbour to buy football gears. He does not have any friends who he can communicate with and this is also challenging for him. We can view this case from the lenses of the Psychodynamic perspective which seeks to understand the reasons why people behave the way they behave (Campbellsville University, 2017).
In the social context the psychosocial theory would be best because we can see where Jamar is a bit antisocial, and he rather to hang out with himself. At his age he should be socializing with his peers and expanding his social network. The psychosocial theory proposes that throughout their life they encounter certain crises that help us with their development. Also, Jamar was feeling inferior which is the psychosocial crises he is feeling because he was told by his football coach that he was not good enough to do things his peers was doing (Campbellsville University, 2017).
In addition, the environmental context shows that Jamar environment is not a stable one because his mother keeps moving from one place to another. He may be depressed because as soon as he tries to settle in and get acquainted and made friends, he has to move. His immediate environment was not a safe haven because there was no love and affection, so he is angry most of the time. The systems theory would fit best when looking at the environmental context because the theory states that a person’s behaviour is influenced by several factors that work together as a whole and how one interact with their environment (Campbellsville University, 2017). Jamar is faced with a lot of challenges from his parents, school and his home environment and as a result he is not thinking or acting straight. So, we will have to correct the ineffective parts of his system that can help him to change his behaviour to a more positive one. His mother will also need counselling to learn better parenting skills so his home environment will be healthy and positive.
Lastly, the psychological context we are seeing where Jamar has a low esteem. His immediate family adds to his frustration because his mother does not know how to speak to him and his other siblings are stripping his of his self-confidence by saying he is ugly like his father and seeing that he wish he had a good dad around these negative comments affect his emotional, cognitive and social development (Alfred, 2011). He does not have a male role model in his life because the males he looks to for support keeps disappointing him. Psychodynamic theory focuses on the internal processes and emotions that cause individuals to behave in a unique way and can be attributed to childhood experiences and traumas (Tomar, 2019).
Yes, these different contexts do matter because it not only looks at the persons situation it looks at the person as well. The context also gives a holistic view which helps to treat the causes as well. In addition, the context helps the social worker to breakdown the problem on a smaller scale and properly asses and treat the root of the problem.
I would view this case through the psychodynamic and systems theory lenses. Psychodynamic theory assumes that experience in our earlier years can affect our emotions, attitudes and behaviour in later years without our knowledge (McLeod, 2017). The theory also states that the unconscious minds is the main source of human behaviour (Freud, 1915). This theory can be seen in the case of Jamar when his mother keeps moving from one place to another, his stepfather being abusive to his mother which led him to be stealing money from the neighbour and that is also his Id, ego and superego coming out. The id comprises the primal drive to seek pleasure and avoid pain; the superego consists of societal expectations, social mores and conscience; and the ego tries to find realistic ways to seek pleasure and avoid pain, balancing the two (Campbellsville University, 2017).
The systems theory states that behaviour is influenced by a variety of factors that work together as a system (Campbellsville University, 2017). A person’s school, parents, friends, home environment and others influence how a person thinks and acts. This could be the reason why Jamar started smoking and lashing out because he always saw his mom arguing either with him or his stepdad and this can lead persons to self-medicate with drugs. Communication was poor in his household which provided a poor social model for his relationship with his siblings and teachers, he had little to no emotional support. Jamar’s family is broken, and his environment was not healthy because he felt no love from his mother or siblings who were emotionally abusing him and being that his family is broken it affected his school life which causes him to fail in school. Also, because of constant moving from one place to another Jamar had to keep readjusting to his new environment and this can be a lot for a child to bear.
We can maintain focus on the social context by using the ecological systems theory which states that human development is influenced by the different types of environmental systems (Sincero, 2012). This theory helps us to understand why Jamar behave differently when he is at school and when he is at home (Sincero, 2012). The ecological systems theory says that a person encounters different environment throughout their life’s, and this may shape one’s behaviour. When we look at Jamar’s case, we have to look at the environment that he exists in which includes his family, school and his community that he is constantly interacting with. Jamar’s relationship with his family is not a great one from him being teased by other siblings to him seeing his mother being abuse and not having a father figure or a mentor to look to. Socialization plays a vital part in children growing up and becoming fully functional being. In addition, Jamar is self-isolated because he has no relationship with his peers, and this is not healthy for a teenager.
At the micro level practice, we will see where the social worker will be having one on one interaction with Jamar by assessing him and his situation trying to get to the root cause (Peck, 2018). The social worker will also be helping Jamar by counselling and helping him to move pass the psychosocial crises that he is experiencing at his age.
The mezzo system teaches that your family experience may be related to your school experience (Sincero, 2012) it also involves intervention with small to medium groups for example school and community (Peck, 2017). We can see where this comes out in the case study because Jamar is having problems at home he then lashes out on his teacher and even started stealing. This can have a negative impact to the community or the country at large because if a social worker does not intervene his situation will get worst he may continue to steal or worst case scenario he might join a gang and gets in trouble with the law, he may even end up with a record. This is where the macro level comes into play by introducing Jamar to the different programs and intervention strategies that can assist him and help to reintegrate him back into society and to cope with his environment. Marco level handles issues on a much larger scale regarding policy changes and interventions and advocacy affecting the country (Peck, 2018).
Reference
- Alfred, P. (2011). Effect of Negative Language on Children. Retrieved from: https://eftforpeace.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/effect-of-negative-language-on-children/#:~:text=Slowly%20as%20children%20grow%20older,the%20areas%20of%20children’s%20lives.
- Campbellsville (2017) Retrieved from: https://online.campbellsville.edu/social-work/social-work-theories/
- Daworak-Peck, S. (2018). Retrieved from: https://dworakpeck.usc.edu/news/do-you-know-the-difference-between-micro-mezzo-and-macro-level-social-work#:~:text=The%20practice%20is%20typically%20categorized,at%20each%20level%20is%20imperative
- Kerr, Michael E. “One Family’s Story: A Primer on Bowen Theory.” The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. 2000. Retrieved from: http://www.thebowencenter.org.
- McLeod, S. (2018) Stages of Cognitive Development. Retrieved from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
- Teens Health (2020) Effects of smoking. Retrieved from: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/e-cigarettes.html
- Tomar, D. (2019). Social Work Theory. Retrieved from: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/common-social-work-theories-and-practice models/#:~:text=feeling%20of%20belonging.-Application%20to%20Social%20Work, according%20to%20these%20internal%20processes
- Sincero, S. (2012). Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved from: https://explorable.com/ecological-systems-theory
- Smart Beginnings (n.d). Why is family important. Retrieved from: http://www.smartbeginningsmhc.org/Why-is-family-support-important-.html
