Case Study: Anthony Bryan
Anthony Bryan is a smart young boy who has demonstrated unfavorable school behaviors because of the lack of attention he is getting at home. Given the provided information, I believe that it is imperative to focus on Anthony’s family dynamic and how they interact with each other. Based on Anthony’s upbringing and his family’s history, he will most likely have issues with emotional development, and social development. Even though Anthony seemed cognitively ready for school, he was not emotionally prepared to cope with the stressors that come with entering school. Anthony is misbehaving in school, starting fights with his classmates, and not listening to his teacher. This may be because Anthony is unable to regulate his emotions. Hutchison (2014),
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suggests that positive conditions and interactions must exist in a child’s life in order for optimal emotional and social competencies to develop. Anthony’s parents used physical force to punish him whenever he did something bad. Both of Anthony’s parents had difficult childhoods, thus never really learned how to cope with stress. The way they disciplined Anthony did not help him learn how to develop vital emotional competencies such as impulse control, and the ability to manage feelings of anxiety and anger. Anthony is also at risk for social developmental issues because he does not have an economically and socially just support system. Hutchison (2014) explains that “as children move toward adolescence and early adulthood, the amount of emotional, social, spiritual, and economic capital, or resources, acquired determines the likelihood of socioeconomic and other types of success as well as feelings of competence to succeed” (p. 193). Anthony’s mother is not well educated and has only worked in the fast food industry. Anthony’s grandmother whom they live with is on social security disability and is living on a fixed income. Furthermore, Anthony’s father’s only reference to any work is drug dealing. His family has a long history of being involved in the local drug game. Due to these financial implications Anthony has essentially been set up for failure in that economically he does not have a sense of competence. Anthony’s parents are also lacking in the social support department. The passage stated that they encourage him to be tough and not to cry, yet they physically punish him when he is too energetic, breaking things, and makes messes around the house. His parents are not showing him support or how to persevere in life thus making it hard for him to succeed.
As a social worker, it would be important to build a stronger family foundation for Anthony. My goal would be to put interventions in place that will improve Anthony’s emotional and social development I would suggest that both of his parents attend parenting classes. They need to learn how to effectively intervene and correct Anthony when he is doing something wrong, rather than just beating him and locking him in his room. Famed psychologist B.F. Skinner always preferred positive and negative reinforcements over punishments. Punishment does not always guide toward desired behaviors, it simple suppresses the behavior and could lead to increased aggression and creates fear that can cause undesirable behaviors. “Family, peer, and community support may enhance a child’s growing sense of self competence; lack of such support undermines this sense” (Hutchison, 2014, p. 192). The passage stated that Anthony’s teacher expressed how advanced he is school, however by the spring semester of kindergarten his emotional and behavioral issues have started to overshadow his intelligence causing Sephora to become disengaged in his school life. As a social worker, my main goal would be to help build a stronger family foundation for Anthony. His parents are young and did not have the best role models in their life, thus they are struggling with how to meet Anthony’s needs both emotionally and socially. I would definitely suggest the parents attend parenting classes in the hopes of them learning how to effectively deal with the issues that arise during parenthood. I would also suggest that Anthony see a therapist, middle childhood is an impressionable time for children and it is important that they have a great support system behind them. Clearly, he is presenting unfavorable behaviors in school. A therapist would help to get to the root cause of the problem and make suggestions accordingly. Anthony’s teacher has also suggested that he see the school psychologist. I would suggest that he be assessed for ADHD. Children with ADHD are very smart but have a hard time paying attention and following the rules. Anthony’s presenting behaviors are similar to those who suffer from this disorder. Proper medical attention could definitely increase his success in school.
Section #2
Daniel Goleman (2006), defined emotional intelligence as the ability to “motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations, to control impulse and delay gratification, swamping the ability to think, to empathize and to hope” (p.
34). Emotional intelligence theory focuses on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. Goleman explains that the more you are in control and are able to manage each of these elements, the higher your emotional intelligence will be. Anthony is acting out in school for seemingly no reason at all, which leads me to believe he is not able to understand and control his emotions which means he is lacking self-awareness. Anthony’s fighting in school may be due to his inability of self-management. His parents encouraged him to be rough and tough his whole life. They only punished him when he was getting on their nerves. They did not teach him right from wrong but rather scared him into not breaking things or making messes. This parenting style essentially made Anthony not be able to hold himself accountable for his actions. Anthony is unable to get along with his classmates, getting into fights and continuously does not follow the school rules. This suggests that he is lacking in social awareness. Lastly, Anthony exhibits negative social skills. He is bad at effective communication and would rather endure threats of punishment instead of discussing his issues in a reasonable manor. Goleman suggests that social and emotional intelligence are key components of both moral reasoning and moral conduct (Hutchison, 2014). Implications for social work practice include teaching Anthony how to articulate his emotional experiences and become accountable for his actions. It is crucial that Anthony not internalize his feelings but rather express them to others in ways that do not result in acting out in school. Hutchison (2014) supports this notion by stating, children need to be taught that their emotions are linked to the
way they think and enables productive healthy ways of interpreting events and viewing themselves.
Section #3
Gaining a sense of self is fundamental for positive social development during middle childhood. Erik Erikson discussed this idea of industry vs. inferiority in his theory on psychosocial development. “Industry refers to a drive to acquire new skills and do meaningful work” (Hutchison, 2014 p. 192). At this age children are usually acquiring a sense of mastery in new skills and self-efficacy. However, this is only successful if a child has a competent support system who teaches them perseverance and pushes them to succeed. Anthony does not come from a family that inhabits characteristics such as drive or motivation. “Children’s identity development is highly dependent on social networks of privilege and exclusion” (Hutchison, 2014 p. 192). Anthony has not acquired a sense of personal competence and his family has not encouraged him to behave better in school. Anthony’s mother has become frustrated with his behavior at school which has caused her to disengage and lose interest in helping facilitate his academic success. This theory is similar to the one I discussed in section 2 in that families play a huge role in whether or not a child successfully masters their developmental tasks. Both emotional and social development is formed based on a child’s interaction with their family unit. Depending on how strong or weak, and how positive or negative this interaction is determines whether or not the child will be able to successfully adapt to their environments. In order to stabilize Anthony’s home environment, I would suggest that his parents attend parenting class. I would build on this family’s strengths instead of pointing out everything that they are doing wrong, supporting his parents so that they will internalize that and support Anthony. In comparison to the social work implications that I mentioned in question one, I would recommend that Anthony have an assessment done. Since Anthony seems to primarily be misbehaving at school, I would work with his teachers to form a plan of action on how to successfully redirect his behavior and help him regulate his emotions when something in certain social situations.
Section #4
Practice skills that I would like to develop in order to further optimize my practice with clients facing the focal issues in Anthony’s case would be problem solving and critical thinking. There are underlying issues that cause Anthony to react to social situation negatively that are not so noticeable to his teachers and those he interacts with on a daily basis. As a social worker, it is my job to figure out what the underlying issues are that are manifesting this behavior. I would then have to help my clients work through these challenges by finding a solution to the problem whether it be family therapy, individual therapy, parenting classes, mental health assessments, etc. This is when critical thinking would come in. A good social worker needs to be able to find the proper interventions that would be beneficial for clients in their particular situation. It is important to keep an open mind and to remember that what works for one client may not necessarily work for another. I am very interested in continuing my field experience to enhance my ability to critically think and form good problem skills because I believe that you can only gain these skills by being submerged into the field. Field experience is the best way to strengthen your problem-solving skills, thus forcing you to have to think critically. Having such skills allows you to help your clients get the best support that they need in order to succeed in life. I believe that problem solving and critical thinking skills cannot be learned from a book, but are tools that you gain from your experience and interactions with clients.
suggests that positive conditions and interactions must exist in a child’s life in order for optimal emotional and social competencies to develop. Anthony’s parents used physical force to punish him whenever he did something bad. Both of Anthony’s parents had difficult childhoods, thus never really learned how to cope with stress. The way they disciplined Anthony did not help him learn how to develop vital emotional competencies such as impulse control, and the ability to manage feelings of anxiety and anger. Anthony is also at risk for social developmental issues because he does not have an economically and socially just support system. Hutchison (2014) explains that “as children move toward adolescence and early adulthood, the amount of emotional, social, spiritual, and economic capital, or resources, acquired determines the likelihood of socioeconomic and other types of success as well as feelings of competence to succeed” (p. 193). Anthony’s mother is not well educated and has only worked in the fast food industry. Anthony’s grandmother whom they live with is on social security disability and is living on a fixed income. Furthermore, Anthony’s father’s only reference to any work is drug dealing. His family has a long history of being involved in the local drug game. Due to these financial implications Anthony has essentially been set up for failure in that economically he does not have a sense of competence. Anthony’s parents are also lacking in the social support department. The passage stated that they encourage him to be tough and not to cry, yet they physically punish him when he is too energetic, breaking things, and makes messes around the house. His parents are not showing him support or how to persevere in life thus making it hard for him to succeed.
As a social worker, it would be important to build a stronger family foundation for Anthony. My goal would be to put interventions in place that will improve Anthony’s emotional and social development I would suggest that both of his parents attend parenting classes. They need to learn how to effectively intervene and correct Anthony when he is doing something wrong, rather than just beating him and locking him in his room. Famed psychologist B.F. Skinner always preferred positive and negative reinforcements over punishments. Punishment does not always guide toward desired behaviors, it simple suppresses the behavior and could lead to increased aggression and creates fear that can cause undesirable behaviors. “Family, peer, and community support may enhance a child’s growing sense of self competence; lack of such support undermines this sense” (Hutchison, 2014, p. 192). The passage stated that Anthony’s teacher expressed how advanced he is school, however by the spring semester of kindergarten his emotional and behavioral issues have started to overshadow his intelligence causing Sephora to become disengaged in his school life. As a social worker, my main goal would be to help build a stronger family foundation for Anthony. His parents are young and did not have the best role models in their life, thus they are struggling with how to meet Anthony’s needs both emotionally and socially. I would definitely suggest the parents attend parenting classes in the hopes of them learning how to effectively deal with the issues that arise during parenthood. I would also suggest that Anthony see a therapist, middle childhood is an impressionable time for children and it is important that they have a great support system behind them. Clearly, he is presenting unfavorable behaviors in school. A therapist would help to get to the root cause of the problem and make suggestions accordingly. Anthony’s teacher has also suggested that he see the school psychologist. I would suggest that he be assessed for ADHD. Children with ADHD are very smart but have a hard time paying attention and following the rules. Anthony’s presenting behaviors are similar to those who suffer from this disorder. Proper medical attention could definitely increase his success in school.
Section #2
Daniel Goleman (2006), defined emotional intelligence as the ability to “motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations, to control impulse and delay gratification, swamping the ability to think, to empathize and to hope” (p.
34). Emotional intelligence theory focuses on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. Goleman explains that the more you are in control and are able to manage each of these elements, the higher your emotional intelligence will be. Anthony is acting out in school for seemingly no reason at all, which leads me to believe he is not able to understand and control his emotions which means he is lacking self-awareness. Anthony’s fighting in school may be due to his inability of self-management. His parents encouraged him to be rough and tough his whole life. They only punished him when he was getting on their nerves. They did not teach him right from wrong but rather scared him into not breaking things or making messes. This parenting style essentially made Anthony not be able to hold himself accountable for his actions. Anthony is unable to get along with his classmates, getting into fights and continuously does not follow the school rules. This suggests that he is lacking in social awareness. Lastly, Anthony exhibits negative social skills. He is bad at effective communication and would rather endure threats of punishment instead of discussing his issues in a reasonable manor. Goleman suggests that social and emotional intelligence are key components of both moral reasoning and moral conduct (Hutchison, 2014). Implications for social work practice include teaching Anthony how to articulate his emotional experiences and become accountable for his actions. It is crucial that Anthony not internalize his feelings but rather express them to others in ways that do not result in acting out in school. Hutchison (2014) supports this notion by stating, children need to be taught that their emotions are linked to the
way they think and enables productive healthy ways of interpreting events and viewing themselves.
Section #3
Gaining a sense of self is fundamental for positive social development during middle childhood. Erik Erikson discussed this idea of industry vs. inferiority in his theory on psychosocial development. “Industry refers to a drive to acquire new skills and do meaningful work” (Hutchison, 2014 p. 192). At this age children are usually acquiring a sense of mastery in new skills and self-efficacy. However, this is only successful if a child has a competent support system who teaches them perseverance and pushes them to succeed. Anthony does not come from a family that inhabits characteristics such as drive or motivation. “Children’s identity development is highly dependent on social networks of privilege and exclusion” (Hutchison, 2014 p. 192). Anthony has not acquired a sense of personal competence and his family has not encouraged him to behave better in school. Anthony’s mother has become frustrated with his behavior at school which has caused her to disengage and lose interest in helping facilitate his academic success. This theory is similar to the one I discussed in section 2 in that families play a huge role in whether or not a child successfully masters their developmental tasks. Both emotional and social development is formed based on a child’s interaction with their family unit. Depending on how strong or weak, and how positive or negative this interaction is determines whether or not the child will be able to successfully adapt to their environments. In order to stabilize Anthony’s home environment, I would suggest that his parents attend parenting class. I would build on this family’s strengths instead of pointing out everything that they are doing wrong, supporting his parents so that they will internalize that and support Anthony. In comparison to the social work implications that I mentioned in question one, I would recommend that Anthony have an assessment done. Since Anthony seems to primarily be misbehaving at school, I would work with his teachers to form a plan of action on how to successfully redirect his behavior and help him regulate his emotions when something in certain social situations.
Section #4
Practice skills that I would like to develop in order to further optimize my practice with clients facing the focal issues in Anthony’s case would be problem solving and critical thinking. There are underlying issues that cause Anthony to react to social situation negatively that are not so noticeable to his teachers and those he interacts with on a daily basis. As a social worker, it is my job to figure out what the underlying issues are that are manifesting this behavior. I would then have to help my clients work through these challenges by finding a solution to the problem whether it be family therapy, individual therapy, parenting classes, mental health assessments, etc. This is when critical thinking would come in. A good social worker needs to be able to find the proper interventions that would be beneficial for clients in their particular situation. It is important to keep an open mind and to remember that what works for one client may not necessarily work for another. I am very interested in continuing my field experience to enhance my ability to critically think and form good problem skills because I believe that you can only gain these skills by being submerged into the field. Field experience is the best way to strengthen your problem-solving skills, thus forcing you to have to think critically. Having such skills allows you to help your clients get the best support that they need in order to succeed in life. I believe that problem solving and critical thinking skills cannot be learned from a book, but are tools that you gain from your experience and interactions with clients.