Portrait Of A Single Father Assignment Help

For this assignment you will bereading a case scenario in your text and responding to some questions relatedto the impact of the environment on behavior and choices, the impact of theclient-human services professional relationship, and how identifying potentialethical issues and the National Organization for Human Services (NOHS) EthicalStandards can help guide you in working with clients.

CASE SENERIO Portraitof a Single Father

Gary didn’t know what to do. Linda had just ruined hisday and probably his life. She had just told him that she was pregnant. Howcould this happen? What could he do?

Gary, a 17-year-old high school sophomore, had neverdone very well in school and had even flunked sixth grade once. Ever sincethen, he’d been taking special ed classes and was just barely squeaking by.

He had always considered himself a freak. He liked todo a lot of drugs—that is, whenever he had the money to get them. He also likedto listen to booming hip-hop and was intimately familiar with radio stationWROK’s top-ten hits. His uniform included well-patched blue jeans,construction-worker boots, and 18-inch-long, somewhat scraggly, greasy hair.

Beneath this exterior, Gary was an extremely sensitiveperson. He really cared about other people, although sometimes he had troubleshowing it. This thing about Linda and a baby had really shaken him up. Hereally loved Linda. In fact, she was the best thing that had ever happened tohim. She actually cared about him. It seemed like nobody had ever done thatbefore. Gary really didn’t have much self-confidence. The fact that Linda caredsimply amazed him.

Gary lived in Chicago with his mother and youngersister, Hillary, age 11. He cared about Hillary, but they really didn’t havemuch in common. There was too much of an age difference. Sometimes they stuckup for each other, though, when their mother went out with some new boyfriendand came home drunk. That happened pretty often. His mother was reallysomething else. It seemed like she loved him, but she had always had a horribleproblem accepting responsibility. A lot of times he felt like he had to takecare of her, instead of vice versa. No, she wasn’t one to depend on much.

Another problem was that they were dirt poor. He couldnever remember having a lot of things. For years he had wanted to learn how toplay the guitar. He picked one up two years ago at a sleazy neighborhoodauction, but it never 290291really sounded like much. The other problem, ofcourse, was that he felt he had absolutely no talent. He often thought theguitar looked good, though, sitting on an old peach crate in his basement room,his place of retreat.

Sometimes Gary thought about his father out in Utah.Although he had only seen him once in the last 10 years, he talked to himsometimes on the phone on holidays. His big dream was to go out and live withhis dad and his dad’s new family. Gary liked nature and camping. He thoughtthat Utah would be the perfect place to go to and get away. In his more sombermoments, he realized this was only a dream. His dad was pleasant enough on thephone, but he knew he really didn’t care. It was fun to think about sometimesthough. Sometimes when he got a better batch of drugs, he’d just sit in hisroom and think. He dreamed of all the wonderful things he’d do in Utah. That’swhat it was, though, just a dream.

Gary dreamed a lot. He didn’t have much hope for thefuture. He thought that was pretty hopeless. One of his teachers asked him onceif he ever thought about going to college. College, hah! How could he everafford to go to college. He couldn’t even afford a Super Big Kmart guitar. Theother problem was how poorly he always did in school. He stopped reallystudying years ago. Now he was so far behind he knew he’d never catch up. Hedidn’t like to think much about the future. There was no future in it.

But now Gary’s problem was Linda—Linda and the baby.It’s funny how he already thought of it as a baby even though it wasn’t bornyet. He liked the thought of having something that was really his. He likedLinda, too, and he didn’t want to lose her. She was crying when she told himshe was pregnant. He bet she’d like it if they lived together, or maybe evengot married. Then he could move out of his mother’s apartment. He could be freeand on his own. He could drop out of school. School wasn’t much anyhow. Maybehe could get that second-shift job slinging burgers at the local hamburgershack. That wouldn’t be too bad. He could see his friends there. They couldhave a good time.

Yeah, that’s what he’d do. He’d do a good thing foronce in his life. He’d marry Linda and be a father. Maybe everything would beall right then. Maybe they’d all live happily ever after.

Epilogue

Gary and Linda did get married 10 months later. Bythen, Linda had given birth to a 6-pound, 8-ounce baby boy whom they namedBilly. The problem was that things really didn’t get any better. They didn’tchange much at all. Gary was still poor. Now, however, he was poor but withadult responsibilities. He still couldn’t afford a guitar. He had to go to workat the hamburger shack every day at 5:00 p.m. just like he used to have to goto school every morning. There wasn’t much money for him and Linda to have any funwith. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t much money to do anything much at all.Their small apartment was pretty cramped. Sometimes the baby’s crying drove himalmost crazy. He and Linda weren’t doing too well either. When they weren’tfighting, they weren’t talking. Things hadn’t changed much at all; he stilldidn’t have much hope for the future.

Commentary

This case example isn’t meant to portray the thoughtsof a typical teenage father. For example, Gary was very poor. In realityteenage parents originate in all socioeconomic levels. However, this example isintended to illustrate the lack of experience and information adolescents oftenhave available to them. Without information, it’s difficult to make insightful,well-founded decisions. A major job of a social worker is to help young peoplein a situation like this rationally think through the alternatives available tothem. Potential services need to be talked about, and plans need to be made.Young people often need both support and suggestions regarding how to proceed.They need to examine their expectations about the future and make certain thatthey’re being realistic

Next go to www.nationalhumanservices.org website andreview the NOHS Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals.

Afterreading the case study and NOHS Ethical Standards, reflect on the situationGary finds himself in, his environment, and possible ethical considerations inthe case and that the worker may need to consider as part of an ethicalapproach to the client and his family. Answerthe following:

1. Discuss how Gary’senvironment has influenced his behavior and decision-making during hisadolescence.

2. Discuss how working witha Human Service Professional (HSP) in a reciprocal relationship may help Garychange his behavior and decision-making to address his current life challenges.

3. Considering the casestudy details and the NOHS Ethical Standards, identify one ethical concern youwould have when working with Gary and/or his family. Provide one NOHS EthicalStandard that you believe would be important to apply in this case to ensurethis ethical issue is addressed within the client and HSP relationship. Referto the specific NOHS Ethical Standard in your response.

4. Discuss one specific wayusing ethical standards impacts the behavior of a HSP when working with clientssuch as Gary.

5. Provide the name andcontact information for one human service agency you believe a HSP could referGary to in order to provide assistance with his current issues. Explain how youbelieve this agency could specifically assist Gary.

6. Considering yourresponses to the assignment questions, explain how Gary’s case outcome mightchange from the ending offered in the case study epilogue. Discuss howfamiliarity with ethical standards and available resources strengthened therelationship between the Human Service Professional and Gary in your response.

   Your paper should be 6 complete paragraphs,resulting in approximately 2 pages of text in addition to the cover page andthe final reference page. It also should be free of spelling and grammaticalerrors. Your Assignment should be double-spaced, using a 12 point Times NewRoman font. APA FORMAT.

   Your Assignment should include a cover page anda final reference page where you cite your course text and any other sourcesyou choose to include in the paper. The only required sources are your text andNOHS Ethical Standards of Human Service Professionals.

   Citing Sources

   It isimportant to always attribute credit to the proper sources when relying on thetext, articles, websites, or other sources. You must credit your work when you:

• Summarize concepts andtheories that you learned in the text, articles, or internet sources.

• Use others’ ideas,theories, and concepts in constructing Discussion topic responses or completingAssignments.

• Use direct quotes in thecontext of your paper (when quoting directly, you must use quotation marks).