Social Work Across Lifespan.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK ACROSS LIFESPAN
SOCIAL WORK ACROSS LIFESPAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Social work assessment
Amanda’s recovery is a story that begins before she involved herself with drugs and alcohol. Her
family had a history of addiction and she had learnt a lesson by seeing her father suffer through
same addiction problems as he had also served jail time. This had happened when she was a
teenager and that had made easier for her to make a decision. When applying the
multidimensional approach of social work, then it can be seen that Amanda’s recovery started at
the family level1. She had suffered through anxiety and depression when her father committed
suicide. Therefore, in order to numb her pain from the trauma of losing her father, she resorted to
alcohol and drugs. All her college life was spent like this and she had to use the drugs just to go
through a normal day. She tried to come clean however, all her attempts failed. She then attended
a residential treatment program that would help her stay sober. She had been hospitalized. She
had scary encounters with drug dealers too2. Amanda had tried to get detoxed herself however,
her body did not respond and it was close to a complete shutdown. In another instance of the
support from the family level, it was her step father that forced her to get professional help
otherwise he would report her to police and her drug use. Amanda finally agreed to her step-
father’s terms and resorted to get help. She checked herself into a detox program after she was
released from the hospital. She gained sobriety and then waited for her acceptance in the county
funded program. There she attended an outpatient and then an inpatient program.
1 Harms, Louise, and Kirstie Innes-Will. Understanding human development: A multidimensional approach. Oxford
University Press, 2010.
2AttitudeLive. 2020. Amanda's Recovery. Video.
https://live.scu.edu.au/Mediasite/Play/1572f6f288d547808a31007c8fe3dc161d.

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It was a difficult phase for Amanda and she found it extremely scary to handle her
emotions as the process was complex. She went into another relapse due to her lack of
commitment. It was rock bottom for her and she found herself again looking for help. The most
difficult problem was that she had lost the support from her family. However, a friend of hers
recommended New Roads Behavioural Health and she got checked herself into the program after
a few phone calls. She found herself to be comfortable where the staff was caring, warm and she
felt connected to them on a personal level. The medical staff of the program was concerned
about her health and the detox process. In the absence of the support from her family, it was all
the more a scary process. In the process, Amanda found a new source of life where she liked the
new version of herself. She liked the sober Amanda and therefore she put more effort in
becoming a sober person and committed fully to the program. She was sober for a particular
period of time. While she was at this particular sobriety program, she got introduced to the
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Meetings and attended them without applying for the program.
The multidimensional approach of social work says that life span development is influenced by a
series of biological, cognitive and socio-emotional dimensions that govern the aspect of each
individual’s life3. Social work has been recognized as a human behaviour that is a way of
interaction between person and the environment4. Amanda had the full support from social
workers that helped her go through the process in a comfortable way that ultimately helped her
become sober and come back to her normal way of life. When she relapsed again, she continued
the usage of alcohol and drugs to cover up her guilt of failing again. She found her step-father by
her side again who offered her to stay in another state for a change in scenery. However, after
3 Harms, Louise. Understanding human development: A multidimensional approach. South Melbourne, Australia:
Oxford University Press, 2005.
4 Parrott, Lester. Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters, 2014.

3SOCIAL WORK ACROSS LIFESPAN
some consideration, she decided upon returning to New Roads and solve her issues with
emotional pain that was creating problems for her for proper recovery. Amanda in her video
describes her second round of treatment at New Roads as a relief. Her recovery was due to the
intense therapy that was provided to her in her program. Therapy was helpful in resolving her
family relationships and helping her cope with her father’s death. Therapy enabled her to talk
about his suicide for the very first time that she had so far been unable to come to terms with.
The use of social work really helped her get sober. She was offered a position in vocational
training and because of that she could now be independent and be responsible. She bought a car,
an apartment and has a family now too.
Social work intervention
Social work theory is an importance practice in the realm of social work. It is a way that
professionalises the field of social work and differentiates it from all kinds of non-scientific
methods of help. The social work theory provides the social workers with all the tools and
conceptual framework to be competent in their approach. Social work theory lays down the
guidelines of social work practice5. The theory helps the social workers in developing a
foundation point for the treatment and the goals. They are able to assess as well as understand the
client’s situation and feelings that helps them predict their behaviours. In Amanda’s case too, the
social workers in the program understood Amanda’s emotional problems related to the death of
her father and after a thorough analysis they provided her with therapy that ultimately helped her
gain sobriety. Social work theory helps the social worker formulate a treatment plan. They help
5 Healy, Karen. Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Macmillan International Higher
Education, 2014.

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keep therapeutic work focused and also goal oriented6. They are able to organize the work for
daily practice and take clear steps and interventions if the therapy process creates any kind of
problem and become chaotic. Social workers get all the frameworks for treatment and they are
also held accountable for their actions. In the case of Amanda’s recovery, the social workers took
an active approach to help her maintain her sobriety. Importance should not be only given to the
staff workers in New Roads but due credit should also be given to her step-father and family that
stood by her side and help her gain control over her life. They were scared of her and also feared
for her life at the same time and that love, warmth and care can only be given by family. They
were active partners in application of this theory to help her gain sobriety. Social work
intervention strategy that was used in the case of Amanda were the therapeutic programs and
social support. Social learning theory by Albert Bandura is an approach wherein the social
workers are involved in addressing the destructive behaviours and habits of individuals7. This is
an approach that uses behavior modifications, helping clients experience and use the modelling
approach to improve the behaviours of the individuals. Cognitive therapies are particularly useful
while treating behavioural disorders. Amanda found herself in the midst of such social workers
who were fully dedicate to treat her with all the warmth and care that they had. This is the reason
why Amanda felt extremely comfortable and found herself putting more effort in become sober.
She loved the new sober Amanda and that was the reason for her active participation in the
therapy process. Multidimensional approach shows the relationship between life-span and
person-environment transactions. The use of social work method with individuals, families,
6 Michailakis, Dimitris, and Werner Schirmer. "Social work and social problems: A contribution from systems
theory and constructionism." International journal of social welfare 23, no. 4 (2014): 431-442.
7 Akers, Ronald L., and Wesley G. Jennings. "Social learning theory." Wiley Handbooks in Criminology and
Criminal Justice (2016): 230-240.

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groups, organisations, communities, culture and society is beneficial in helping an individual
deal with his daily life problems and be an active member of the society8. Amanda found herself
newly born after she took therapy. Though she relapsed many times, lost the strength and support
from her family during such hard times, the effort from her step-father was moral boost for her
that helped her go through the procedure. The staff workers support and the families support
helped her gain sobriety and she is now thankful that she left drugs and alcohol and is now
enjoying being in the main stream of life. Her internal struggles that were emotional in nature
where she was trying so hard to cope up with the suicide of her father had made her life
extremely difficult. She simply could not accept that her father was no more and she resorted to
alcohol and drugs. Her external struggle was the lack of support from her family at times where
even her family tried to help her; she would not take their help and refuse to take any kind of
therapy. However, from constant effort and forcefulness from her stepfather, she gained the
courage to seek help from programs. Therapy proved to be the apt solution for Amanda as that
cleared all of her emotional struggles and trauma and transformed her into new self who loved
life and enjoy it the most. Amanda’s recovery is a true inspiration for those who are still stuck at
the clutches of alcoholism and drug abuse and it is a proof that with proper support and care of
the family and social workers anybody can achieve full recovery and gain a sense of meaning
into their lives.
8 Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn, Haiping Chen, Issac Karikari, and Crystal Barnett. "Social Work Theory and Application
to Practice: The Students' Perspectives." (2014).

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References
Akers, Ronald L., and Wesley G. Jennings. "Social learning theory." Wiley Handbooks in
Criminology and Criminal Justice (2016): 230-240.
AttitudeLive. 2020. Amanda's Recovery. Video.
https://live.scu.edu.au/Mediasite/Play/1572f6f288d547808a31007c8fe3dc161d.
Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn, Haiping Chen, Issac Karikari, and Crystal Barnett. "Social Work
Theory and Application to Practice: The Students' Perspectives." (2014).
Harms, Louise, and Kirstie Innes-Will. Understanding human development: A multidimensional
approach. Oxford University Press, 2010.
Harms, Louise. Understanding human development: A multidimensional approach. South
Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Healy, Karen. Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Macmillan
International Higher Education, 2014.
Michailakis, Dimitris, and Werner Schirmer. "Social work and social problems: A contribution
from systems theory and constructionism." International journal of social welfare 23, no. 4
(2014): 431-442.
Parrott, Lester. Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters, 2014.