The Case Study of Soren
1. Define the problem (from student’s perspective) 2. Ensure safety (including assessing potential for self-harm) 3. Provide support 4. Examine alternatives 5. Make a plan 6. Obtain a commitment (including no-harm agreement where applicable)
Tragedy struck a small west Texas town Saturday when beloved Lubbock Christian School (LCU) superintendent, Peter Dahlstrom, accidentally shot and killed his nine year old granddaughter, Soren, while rabbit hunting on the family farm. The entire community has been shocked by this tragedy and the effects of the incident will be felt in the community for some time. Many people in the community will benefit from crisis intervention techniques during this time. I have applied Robinson’s Crisis Response Model for successful crisis intervention to develop a plan of action to help teachers, students, and faculty through this difficult time. The model suggests the following six steps: 1) Define the problem; 2) Ensure safety, including assessing potential for self-harm; 3) Provide support; 4) Examine alternatives; 5) Make a plan; and 6) Obtain a commitment, including a no-harm agreement where applicable. The first phase of the crisis intervention plan is to inform as many people of the issue as quickly as possible. To quickly reach as many people as possible, the crisis team sent out an email to inform parents as immediately after the accident occurred. It would be best if the children are not blind-sided by the information at school on Monday morning. I expect several of the students and faculty members to go through the 5 classic stages of grief identified by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1969), which are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Sometimes this can be a slow process, so I think some students and teachers will require on-going help to process this tragic loss of life. My plan involves the following crisis intervention steps:
1. Have a Staff Pre-meeting first thing Monday morning: a.
Tragedy struck a small west Texas town Saturday when beloved Lubbock Christian School (LCU) superintendent, Peter Dahlstrom, accidentally shot and killed his nine year old granddaughter, Soren, while rabbit hunting on the family farm. The entire community has been shocked by this tragedy and the effects of the incident will be felt in the community for some time. Many people in the community will benefit from crisis intervention techniques during this time. I have applied Robinson’s Crisis Response Model for successful crisis intervention to develop a plan of action to help teachers, students, and faculty through this difficult time. The model suggests the following six steps: 1) Define the problem; 2) Ensure safety, including assessing potential for self-harm; 3) Provide support; 4) Examine alternatives; 5) Make a plan; and 6) Obtain a commitment, including a no-harm agreement where applicable. The first phase of the crisis intervention plan is to inform as many people of the issue as quickly as possible. To quickly reach as many people as possible, the crisis team sent out an email to inform parents as immediately after the accident occurred. It would be best if the children are not blind-sided by the information at school on Monday morning. I expect several of the students and faculty members to go through the 5 classic stages of grief identified by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1969), which are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Sometimes this can be a slow process, so I think some students and teachers will require on-going help to process this tragic loss of life. My plan involves the following crisis intervention steps:
1. Have a Staff Pre-meeting first thing Monday morning: a.