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17499533

Session 4

Session Plan Four

Date: 3.12.99 (Home visit)

Objective:

 

Summary Recording of Case Interview 4 (Home visit)

I. Identifying Data

Name of Client:  CWL

Date:  3.12.99 (Friday) (Session 4)

Time:  11:00-12:00

Place:  CWL's home

Worker in Charge: Student social worker R

 

II. Introduction

In the last session, CWL had talked a lot about how she felt about her mother. In this session, the social worker would explore how the mother thought about CWL.

 

III. Objectives:

 

IV.      Summary of Content:

I told CWL that I would mainly talk to her mother. Then I invited her mother to talk with me in the bedroom. I told CWL's mother (Mrs. C) that I would talk about CWL with her. I told her that I had already interviewed CWL several times but she said that she did not know that. Then, I told her that CWL cared very much about how other family members treated her because she cried when she talked about the family members last time. She told me that CWL seldom cried at home. I tried to invite her to share her feelings about CWL, her daily living, her communication pattern with the family members and so on.

I explored CWL's relationship with her siblings first. Mrs. C said that all the siblings were afraid of her because if any of them used her things she would lose her temper. Once her younger sister wanted to eat the ice cream in the fridge and Mrs. C told the younger sister that the ice cream was CWL's. The younger sister said, "I won't eat her ice cream. Otherwise, she will scold me!"  Recently, her younger sister teased her about the promise that she had made in the letter she had sent while being remanded. CWL promised to do the housework when she came back but now she had not kept the promise. Mrs. C said that CWL was very selfish and impolite to the siblings.

Then, I tried to explore if the parents would be fond of some children. Mrs.C said that she treated her daughters equally. In fact, she loved CWL most. She worried very much about CWL because she created many problems. She hoped that she would really change this time and she had reminded CWL that she would be jailed if she attempted theft again. I tried to know if anybody in the family had attempted theft. She replied "no". I asked if she knew why CWL attempted theft? She said she did not know. I tried to tell Mrs. C the irrational belief of CWL. Mrs. C said that she explained it to her many times but she still did it repeatedly. She was disappointed with CWL. She was really very angry last time and she scolded her in front of her P.O. She did not expect that the outcome was so serious. Then she started to cry. I gave her some tissue papers and I told her that CWL promised us that she would not attempt theft again. I told her that I understood that she was under great pressure as she had to look after six daughters. If any of them had problem, she would worry very much. It showed that she was a responsible mother. I gave positive regards to Mrs. C. She also hoped this was a meaningful lesson to CWL.

Mrs. C said that all three thefts committed by CWL were very similar. CWL went out in early morning and her father asked her why she went out so early. She just replied that she wanted to have a walk and then Mrs. C received the call from the police station. I tried to explore more information about CWL's theft. Mrs. C said that the first event was when CWL stole a box of colored pens in Jusco with her secondary school classmate, who was also her present classmate in design. All these events happened in department stores and so now Mrs. C would not let her go to the department stores in Causeway Bay, Mongkok and so on. Mrs. C was afraid that CWL would suddenly become greedy and could not control herself and attempt theft again. She said that CWL was not like that before.

Then, I tried to ask when was the turning point of CWL. She replied that it was after CWL was promoted to form one. I tried to explore CWL's life before form one. Mrs. C said that when they lived in the temporary housing area, she would not let CWL go outside to play because she was afraid that she would learn some bad behaviors and it was very dangerous. She was very talkative and her father would bring her to the park. However, after form one, she started to give them the cold shoulder and was not willing to go out with them anymore. In fact, her father loved her very much. In her last birthday, her father promised to give her a gift and she wanted to buy an electronic dictionary. Her father bought it for her immediately. Besides, when she said that she wanted to listen to CDs, her father also bought a hi-fi for her at once. Her mother said that she gave her about $300 to $400 per week. However, Mrs. C said that she could not support CWL to buy all the things that she wanted. Mrs. C said that CWL would never be satisfied.

Mrs. C complained that CWL would not take the initiative to report to her the things that had happened to her. Every time, she needed to ask. Otherwise, she did not know what had happened to CWL. She said that CWL always came home very late recently. I explained to her that CWL was now studying in a tertiary institution and the timetable was not fixed. She said that CWL had not told her about her timetable and she worried about her when she returned home late. She told me that CWL always requested to go out to do the homework. She said that she did not trust her very much because she bought a lot of new clothes every time. But she could not prove that if she had done her homework or not. She insisted that she would not let her go out to play. I told Mrs. C not to worry so much because she could not watch and control CWL forever. CWL should take her own responsibility to control herself. I told Mrs. C about CWL's school life and let her know more about why CWL always went home late. Then I showed my understanding about her worry but invited her to be aware of the fact that her daughter had grown up and she might need to adapt to the changes of the daughter. As it was the time for her to send her youngest daughter to school so I stopped our interview so that she could get dressed.

Then I talked with CWL. She was interested in my conversation with her mother. I explained to her what her mother thought about her. She said that her mother's present attitude was fine. At this moment, Mrs. C came in to hang a shirt and said the following to CWL in a rude manner, "" I stopped Mrs. C. I said that CWL would change after the last event and I asked CWL "yes or no?" CWL replied "yes". I told Mrs. C that I would leave with CWL because she needed to go back to school.  When I left her home, I asked about CWL's feeling for her mother's blame. She said, for her, it was not ¥blame' because it always happened. I told her that if she wanted to rebuild a trustful relationship with other people, she should work harder ¡V to help her mother to do housework so as to keep her promise. Besides, she needed to take her own responsibility for her wrong behavior. In the MTR, I told her that I would leave the agency soon and I would transfer her case to Mr. To. She accepted.       

 

V.         Assessment

From the last session to this session, it was apparent that CWL and Mrs. C maintained a good relationship in their hearts but they had not expressed it to each other. It was because they did not disclose their feelings easily. The crying reflected the care and love. They cared about each other but both of them did not know. They were unwilling to admit their love to each other because they of the `save face' issue. I tried to tell CWL that Mrs. C said she loved her most she is most worried about her. Would CWL then deliberately do some anti-social behavior to seek attention from her mother and father because she wanted her parents to love her more. However, it was apparent that the communication pattern between CWL and CWL's mother was not good. Therefore, there were many misunderstandings between the daughter and the mother. In fact, CWL 's cool and impolite attitude was possibly modeled from the rude manner of Mrs. C's. She would use foul language to scold her daughters. In fact, it is an unhealthy model for the children. It was suggested that more family meetings would be needed for CWL and her mother so as to let them understand more about each other. In fact, it was uneasy for Mrs. C, with her deep-rooted socialization, to change her thinking and values at once. Therefore, the social worker could assign more communication training exercises (similar to the communication homework in the last session) for CWL. With her co-operation, it was believed that the intervention would be more effective.

 

Her mother said that all the siblings were afraid of CWL because she was spoiled and she lost her temper easily. In the eyes of her mother, she was selfish and had no concern for her siblings. However, due to her role as the spoilt child, her parents would pay special attention to her. Therefore, her selfish manner to her siblings might be reinforced. However, she was very afraid of her mother. She would not refuse to follow her mother's instructions. She would use excuses to go out rather than argue with her mother. She had taken up the "big sister" role at home. She seldom did the housework and was used to instructing her siblings.

 

VI. The social worker's performance

I thought that it was a good arrangement to interview Mrs. C in the bedroom because in this session I mainly explore Mr. C's view toward CWL. No other family members needed to be involved. Therefore, I deliberately let the children remain in the sitting room so as to prevent them from overhearing the negative comment that their mother had towards their sister.

As I lacked the experience of family meeting, I could not respond promptly when Mrs. C scolded CWL. I just played the role of mediator to stop Mrs. C from blaming CWL. In fact, it was a good chance for both parties to share their feelings after I talked to Mrs. C. However, I had no time to do so and I did not know how to handle it properly as it happened suddenly. Then I decided to stop the conflict. I found that it was very important to set a contract between the family members in the family meeting. Otherwise, it would not be easy for me to control what they would say. (Comment: One can appreciate that such encounter of hostility amongst family members can be rather nerve wrecking for the placement student. The placement student feels the need to control the situation and the natural response is to step in and stop the conflict. One can also appreciate why the placement student has decided to see the mother and the client independently. The readiness of the placement student to take on a family interview is a major consideration as well as a learning focus in supervision. Having said that, the student needs to be aware of the limitation of working with the clients in this manner especially from a structural family therapy perspective. What are these limitations and how are they manifesting themselves? For instance, how do the student interpret the so-called rude comments from the mother? Is there a feeling of suspicion as to what CWL is telling the worker? Is there a concern (of the mother) that the worker has not acquired a fuller picture of their family situation? How can the placement student be helped to work on conducting a family interview if the ultimate aim is to facilitate such family meetings? This ought to be reflected upon and discussed with the fieldwork supervisor in order to further student's learning about the skills of working with families.)

 

Written and revised by: 17499533 (Student)

Instructor: K S To

Copy Edited by: Phyllis Chee

Commented by: Phyllis Chee

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