Lorena Ruiz
SW 405
Family Assessment and Plan
Family Composition
The Case by Rachelle A. Dorfman is based on the Shore family. The family consists of
Nancy, who is 43 years old. She is married to her husband Charley, who is 51 years old. Nancy
and Charley adopted Rena when she was a baby. Rena is currently 18 years old and living on her
own. Their youngest son Michael is 12 years old. The family has presenting issues of
unemployment, illness, and worrisome behavior of children. Charley has been chronically
unemployed for 4 years. Therefore, the Shore family has been dependent on the disability checks
Nancy has been receiving for the past ten years. Overall, the Shore family has received frequent
help from social services, but problems continue to never get resolved. The family is facing
several of emotional distresses and crises. They are currently living in a two-unit duplex home,
and are now renting their downstairs room. Some presenting problems that have arise for the
family is due to miscommunication, health related issues, financial costs, and other factors
causing the family to disintegrate.
System Theory
As mentioned previously, the family has received social services, but there has not been a
positive affect on the family. To understand the family and issues affecting their relationship we
can use the social system theory. Social work is a complex practice involving one person, or the
whole family (System Theory, 2016). The system theory helps organized a theoretical
framework to help understand the dynamics among the systems. System is defined as “a whole
consisting of interacting parts (Systems Theory, 2016). In the Shore family, one person or an
issue can affect the family as a whole, rather than just the individual. Nancy recognizes herself as
a large woman. She is constantly pointing out her flaws of her appearance and actions. She
explains that ever since she married all she has been doing is “fixing everything” in her family.
Nancy has daily anxiety attacks, which for her seem normal and has accepted this matter in her
life. Nancy and Charley will be renting out the downstairs, but Nancy worries about the outcome.
She worries about being a landlord, and has projected already a crisis to potentially occur
because the tenants live downstairs. Nancy, head of the family is facing several emotional
stresses. Her worriedness has affected the family in terms of assuming the worse in everything.
The Shore family has been faced with several challenges that have limited their
relationships to work. According to systems theory, “the human body is an example of a
biological system…family constitutes a certain type of social system, a whole consisting of
interacting parts, so that while its from may vary, family members know who belongs and who
does not” (System Theory, 2016). As mentioned before Rena was adopted, which has brought
some worry to Nancy in regards to her moving out of the duplex. When Rena was 16 years old
she lunged forward to hit her mother during an argument. During the occurrence, Charley in
frustration pulled Rena away from her mother and ended up beating her. After this incident,
Charley and Nancy asked Rena to move out. However, there have been moments where Nancy
fears that Rena may feel that she was removed from the house. Since Rena was adopted Nancy
felt some sensitive thoughts would arise in Rena. In the reading of System Theories, when
considering a human family, changes affect all not just one part. Rena was asked to leave which
affected the family as a whole. Nancy is now worried about Rena’s well being. Michael on the
other hand may see it differently. He is uncertain of his feelings of Rena leaving the house, but
he assures that it is more peaceful at home. The whole family has been affected with Rena
leaving and as demonstrated in the system theory family members respond in some way when
people join or withdraw from the family (System Theory, 2016). This response can be either
positive or negative, but there will be a response for the change occurring.
Circumplex Model
The Circumplex Model is use to critically understand the dynamics in a family. The
model includes three dimensions cohesion, flexibility, and communication. The listed three
dimensions are commonly used when working with family therapy. To evaluate the Shore family
we could look at their engagement towards one another. The family falls under cohesion in terms
of their relationships. Charley and Nancy do not have the best relationship. Nancy does not trust
Charley for the important aspects of the family. Since Charley has been unemployed for a long
period of time Nancy believes that he is not capable of having responsibility. They have also
been in frequent fights because of Charley’s compulsive lying. In some cases, the Shore family
can be classified under the unbalanced systems in the area of rigid or chaotic. There is no
clarification of the roles of Nancy and Charley, which defines their relation as “chaotic
relationship has erratic or limited leadership. Decisions are impulsive and not well thought out.
Roles are unclear and often shift from individual to individual” (Olson, 1999). Within the case
we can state that Nancy has taken the leadership role. During their session, Charley expresses his
feelings that he wants to be a role model for his family. Charley says he doesn’t feel like the man
of the house because Nancy does most of the care at home (The Case, Dorfman). There is
miscommunication occurring within the marriage.
Another relationship we can assess is between Charley and Michael. There relationship,
as described by Nancy and the clinician is not that of a father-to-son relationship. Reflecting to
the Circumplex model we can classify their relationship as “disengaged relationship often has
extreme emotional separateness” (Olson, 1999). In terms of Charley and Michael their bonding
time is never a great one. Nancy states that every time they go out to do something they come
home angry at one another. They are demonstrating the little involvement among family
members and there is a great deal of personal separateness and independence (Olson, 1999).
Charley does not seem to have a good connection with Michael because Charley is not acting as
role model to his son. If he is constantly arguing about small issues, he is not teaching Michael
how to cooperate in certain situations. Nancy in the assessment explains how Charley is not the
best father because he does not know how to properly parent Michael in a mature way. This
statement makes it hard for Charley to feel support from Nancy. She is constantly saying the
negative things Charley does instead of the positive words. The family members are unable to
turn to one another for support and problem solve, which in conclusion makes it hard to work
together as a family. The Shore family should focus on the positive things that have happened in
the family, instead of always arguing or discussing the negative ones.
Conclusion
In the end after assessing the Shore Family we can conclude that there is
miscommunication, and unclear of the roles within the family. Reflecting to the case there can be
discomfort of how Rena feels with her family. Nancy’s emotional stress can be classified as
normal because of the variety of presenting issues that occur. In terms of her worrisome of Rena
feelings as if she was removed from the family is normal to be stress or worried about. As an
adoptive child, Rena can go through sensitive thoughts. Couples and families with problems
often have difficulty balancing stability and change. The Shore family, in reference to the
Circumplex model can benefit from learning and using more democratic decision-making and
better problem-solving skills. If the family starts by first learning and using these skills, the
family then can improve their communication skills. As the system theory states the connection
between the individual and the family as whole can help be used in terms of these improvements.
If one individual of the family practices these skills, the change can reflect back to the whole
family.
Figure 1: Shore Family Case Plan Family Case Plan
Client ID#:
Family Name: Shore Family
Date:
Staff:
Write in the name of the categories and family objectives below
Client/s: Shore Family
Category: Relationships (Family)
Category: Parental Subsystem (Health)
Category: Spousal Subsystem (Finances)
What the individual/ family will work on in the next 6 months to accomplish goal and objectives
Goal: Develop better family and friend relationships. Objectives: a. Learn to accept
advice from others, and possibly take it into consideration.
Goal: Address health concerns.Objectives: a. Go to a doctor, and have
Nancy and Charley be tested for any illness.
b. Mandate a doctor’s appointment, and from there doctor decides how often a check up should be.
c. Attend counseling for depression/anxiety for the family
d. Ensure Michael’s asthma is manageable.
Goal: Learn to control money. Objectives: a. Attend financial
management classes.
b. Use disability checks wisely.
c. If Nancy decides on renting downstairs family must manage they money well.
What the program/social worker will do in the next 6 months in order to help the individual/family reach goals and objectives
SW will: a. Refer to them to a
family counselor or therapist.
b. Provide resources where daughter and mother can interact.
SW will: a. Provide additional health
officials to check up on the family health.
b. Work with counselors to keep behavioral health stabled.
c. Refer to Children’s Behavior Department for Michael.
SW will: a. Refer the family to a
bookkeeper to be in charge of the money.
b. Refer them to local job opportunities for husband.
What the informal support resources can do to help the individual/family (extended family, community, etc.)
a. Attending family counseling will help improve family relationship.
b. Giving each other support.
c. Doctors will inform the family on health, and ways to change health behaviors.
d. Therapist can help work with behavioral patterns.
a. Nancy learning to trust Charley with some of the bigger tasks.
Ecomap/Genogram:ShoreFamily
Review Date: Parent signature: Staff signature: Supervisor signature:
SW405:SocialWorkPracticeFamilyAssessmentandPlanAssignment:GradingCriteria
Assignmentpurposeandinstructionsarelocatedinthecoursesyllabusandshouldbefollowedclosely.This5-7page(double-spaced)paperisintendedtobeafamilyassessment(analysis)sodonotjustrepeatcaseinformation.Theassignmentisworth20%ofthecoursegradeandwillutilizethefollowingcriteria:
I. BriefDescriptionofFamily(1page) 10pointso Familycompositiono Relationshipstatuso Employmentandincomesource/so Ethnicity/cultureo Presentingissues
II. ApplicationofSystemsandEcologicalTheoriestoCase(1page) 15
points o Descriptionofrelationships/boundarieso Impactofindividualchangeonfamilyasawholeo Open/closedsystemo Othersystems/ecologicaltheoryconcepts
III. ApplicationofCircumplexModel(1-2pages) 25
pointso Value/purposeofmodelinfamilyassessmento Applicationofthethreecentraldimensionsofthemodelo Applicationtoentirefamilyo Applicationtoidentifiedsubsystems
IV. CasePlanwithMeasurableGoals&Objectives(1-2pages) 20
pointso Onecleargoalwithmeasureableobjectivesforfamilyasawhole,o Onegoalandobjectivesfortwodifferentsubsystemso UseofCasePlanformoniLearn
V. Eco-MapandGenogram(1page) 20points
o Eco-mapshowingfamilyinthesocialenvironmento Genogramincenterofeco-map
VI. QualityofWriting 10
pointso Paperisfreeofspelling/grammaticalerrors,iswellorganized,hasbeen
properlyedited/proofread,andincludesappropriateAPAstylecitations.Comments:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Totalpoints/grade:_______
References
Conyne K. Robert. (2004). Ecological Counseling: An innovative approach to conceptualizing
person-environment interaction. American Counseling Association. Retrieved from:
www.counseling.org.
Dorfamn. A. Rachelle (2016). The Case. Retrieved from:
https://ilearn.csumb.edu/pluginfile.php/188936/mod_resource/content/1/The_Case.pdf
Murphy, B. C., & Dillon, C. (2015). Interviewing in action in a multicultural world (5th ed).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole – Cengage Learning.
System Theory Handout. Retrieved from: Ilearn
Olson, David H. (1999). Empirical Approaches to Family Assessment. Retrieved from:
www.lifeinnovations.com
Zastrow, C. H. (2015). Social work with groups: A comprehensive workbook (9th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Brooks/Cole – Cengage Learning.