Case Study on Rose Mary Wall from The Glass Castle Movie

This case study analyzes the character of Rose Mary Wall from the movie The Glass Castle, her strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and barriers to achieving her goals and aspirations.

Running head: CASE STUDY 1
Case Study
Name
Institution Affiliation

CASE STUDY 2
Case Study
Movie: The Glass Castle
Character: Rose Mary Wall
Comprehensive Assessment /Summary
 Who is this person? Rose, wife to Wall, appears to be the main actor in the movie The
Glass Castle as everything in the film seems to revolve around her or her relationships
with either the family or the outsiders. She has four children.
 What has he/she done in his/her life? She has been a lackluster mother and wife, with
her main passion being painting. The father of her children was an abusive and an
irresponsible husband. Physical and psychological abuse is correlated with the likelihood
of a person to becoming neglectful of his or her responsibilities (Browne, 2009). As a
mother, the abuse may have played a part in the mom being unable to do anything for
herself or the family. The father kept the family moving all over the country to escape
debtors, and the children were kept sane through promises from the dad that he will
one day build a glass castle for them. Rose Wall is happy to tag along the father and the
children and they run all over the country and she ends up in the streets.
 What brought him/her to this situation and service intervention? Rose Mary Wall’s
attitude of free spirit coupled with prolonged abuse may have contributed to her
current state of being homeless (Browne, 2009). She has convinced herself that living in
the streets and eating leftovers is the only life worth living.
 What are the opportunities for these goals and aspirations to be achieved? She still
has a chance to achieve all her aspirations as long as she can overcome the

CASE STUDY 3
disillusionment. Mary Wall as her heart at the right place in that she believes it is
immoral to waste all that food. If she could be helped thinking widely for instance as she
deals with her life she thinks on how to organize a bigger group to go to hotels and
convince the management to offer them the food remains to feed a bigger group of
homeless people, she would find satisfaction (Kottler, Carlson, & Englar-Carlson, 2013).
When her daughter, Jeanette takes her to a big hotel so that they can have a meal, she
eats comfortably meaning that she is not averse to people eating in big hotels. However,
she believes it is not right for people to eat and waste so much food when the same can
be put to better use in feeding the less fortunate.
 What are the barriers to these goals and aspirations? The family forms the largest
barrier to Jeanette’s achievement of her goals and aspirations. Jeanette has been the
bedrock of her family since she realized that her mother was so harassed by the
husband that she could barely function and escaped from reality through painting. Also,
she took over the role of the father in the family as the dad proved to be irresponsible
and only good at drinking, lying and running away from debtors. The family. The family
will prevent her from achieving her goals and aspirations in two ways. First, they might
feel that they still need her and that she does not need to have her own family as she
already has one. Secondly, she is so disillusioned with life, and it is serving as a blockage
that she is psychologically not able to push through and pursue her goals and
aspirations.

CASE STUDY 4
 Who are the critical people and social networks in this person’s life? The critical people
and social network in her life are the immediate family and friends, especially the
painters.
 Who are the professionals involved in this person’s situation?” Mom Rose does not
routinely interact with many professionals but the professionals involved in Jeanette’s
life are Jeanette’s life will come to play once Jeanette tells the world the matter.
Rose Mary Wall’s strengths and Weaknesses
In case management, assessment is one of the most important undertakings as it
enables the social worker to leverage on the existing strengths to help and support the
individual (Laws & O'Donohue, 2016). She has strong convictions about what she considers
right living which essentially implies self-reliance. Mary wall does not seem to have a problem
with living in house like any other person, but she has made a decision to live a life of self
relaince with little attachment. Secondly Rose is a “free spirit” meaning that she does not like
getting attached to places or people "I'm such an excitement addict!" (Walls, 2017, p. 20). The
free-spirit character allows her to go past disappointments easily and hurts in life and enjoy life
the best way she knows how. The third clear strength is that she believes that the individual has
the power to shape his or her destiny by the decisions and actions they take and that people
can decide on the kind of life they want to live. She does not take kindly the pessimistic views of
people who are always complaining about their situations and life in general.
Jeanett’s mother has notable weaknesses most of which are the flip side of her
strengths. She is a positivist and a realist to the point of being delusional. She sees everything as
good to the point that she justifies neglecting her duties as a mother to her children. Secondly,

CASE STUDY 5
her being a free-spirit makes her feel tied down by the family, and literary abandon them to
their own devices. She is not very good at a painting which is her first love, but her optimistic
and delusional mind has convinced her that she is the best thing to happen to painting since
Pablo Picasso.
Reflection
While watching the movie in the light of case management studies, I was struck by how
different the movie looked like when I last watched it. The differences arise out of the
knowledge I possess after got through the course. Previously I watched this movie intent on
identifying the main actors, and once identified, I sat back and waited for the person to win,
despite the challenges placed along the route of achieving the objective. After Case
Management studies, I watched the movie, which I had earlier seen with new eyes. I would look
at the character and analyse the underlying problems he or she might be facing, strengths and
weaknesses and even think about possible interventions on the person’s case. The story of the
mother arrested my attention as she had all the hallmarks of a candidate for homeless case
management (Gaetz, 2014).
In Rose’s case, she is on the street by choice as well as due to the tough economic times
she is going through. Any person trying to rehabilitee Rose will face headwinds, especially if she
is set in her mind that living a settled life is akin to being denied freedom of movement. Also,
she has strong convictions that throwing away food remains is immoral and eating in big hotels
is decadence. Before a case manager develops a case management plan, he needs to ensure
that the person is willing to be helped as the case manager should not be seen to be making
decisions for the client (Holosko, 2018). The most effective engagement with the homeless is

CASE STUDY 6
through the application of client-centred case management approach in which the client has a
major input in the decisions affecting him or her life. (News From the National Case
Management Network of Canada NCMN Hopes to Partner With Veterans Affairs Canada, 2012).

CASE STUDY 7
References
Browne, M. A. (2009). Raising thinking children and teens: Guiding mental and moral
development. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
Gaetz, S. (2014). Coming of Age - Reimagining the Response to Youth Homelessness in Canada.
Homeless Hub Research Report Series.
Holosko, M. J. (2018). Social work case management: Case studies from the frontline. Los
Angeles : SAGE
Kottler, J. A., Carlson, J., & Englar-Carlson, M. (2013). Helping beyond the fifty minute hour:
Therapists involved in meaningful social action. New York: Routledge.
Laws, D. R., & O'Donohue, W. T. (2016). Treatment of Sex Offenders: Strengths and Weaknesses
in Assessment and Intervention.
LeCroy, C. W. (2014). Case studies in social work practice. Hoboken, New Jersey
News From the National Case Management Network of Canada NCMN Hopes to Partner With
Veterans Affairs Canada. (January 01, 2012). Professional Case Management, 17, 6, 256-
257.
Walls, J. (2017). The glass castle: A memoir. New York : Scribner.