Social Work with Children, Young People and Families: A Case Study Analysis

This essay analyzes the case study of the Askin family using the ecological systems theory and suggests approaches to manage Justin's behavior and academic performance. The essay provides an overview of the family's strengths and weaknesses and highlights the impact of the separation of the parents on Justin's upbringing. The essay also suggests approaches to manage Justin's behavior and academic performance. Subject: Social Work, Course Code: N/A, Course Name: N/A, College/University: N/A

Running Head: SOCIAL WORK WITH THE CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE FAMILIES
SOCIAL WORK WITH THE CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE FAMILIES
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR’S NOTE

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The essay deals with the case study of the Askin family and how they are coping up with
the poor performance of Justin in his school as well as his aggressive behavi8or at school as well
as home. The issue of the separation of the parents is not easy for the children and in the case of
Justin, he was not ready for the separation considering his early age. Justin has been a victim of
his situation as he has not been provided the care and support which he so thoroughly deserved.
The essay analyses the situation of the Askin family using the ecological systems theory and in
doing so assumes the environment of the Askin family and measures the systems from different
perspectives. The essay also provides analysis, strengths as well as suggest approaches so that
Justin might be managed properly and efficiently, and the mistakes of the past can be rectified.
Fred and Gill also need to focus more on the things needed to improve the situation for Justin so
that Justin at least manages to make a living for himself.
The case study of the Askin family is done based on the Ecological Systems theory. The
overall evaluation of the ecosystem within the Askin family reveals that there have been some
unwanted errors which were committed while raising Justin. Fred and Gill were relatively young
when Gill got impregnated and she was not prepared for abortion due to her inherent belief that
every child has a right to life. They both decided to marry and after Justin was conceived, Gill
suffered from postpartum depression. Then after, Gill gave birth to Hannah and Philip. These
incidents made Justin feel more lonely and miserable. Justin was also placed under childcare
from a very early age. Gill contemplates that Justin needed more quality time from both Gill and
Fred but was unable to receive the attention which he thoroughly deserved. The final blow came
when Fred decided to walk away from Gill and entered a relationship with Susie. Justin was very
close to Fred and was considered a daddy’s boy. These chronosystems reveal that Justin was a
victim of the external circumstances and he was craving for care and attention in his childhood

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years (Cumming & Allen, 2017). Even though the in laws of both the parents have been
supportive towards the upbringing of the children, especially the parents of Gill but there is no
denying the fact that Justin was in more need of the parent’s care and support in his early years.
The reciprocal transactions or the cyclical interactions wherein the systems interact, and which
have an influence upon each other reveals that the turbulent relationship of Gill and Fred took a
heavy toll upon Justin. Justin was unable to cope with his studies as well and his school report
card reveals that he is lagging in math and reading abilities as compared to his peers (Allen &
Garmestani, 2015). He has behavioral issues and indulges in bullying and is unmanageable in
school. His younger sibling, Hannah, though is a model student. Philip is still in his early days
and is becoming acquainted with being outside his home and away from his mother. The turmoil
at home negatively affected the adapting ability of Justin and he has a serious problem coping up
with new environments and situations. The microsystem or the people closest to Justin includes
his father Fred and his football coach. Due to his physical built and him being stronger than his
peers, he is an asset in his football and cricket teams. Justin’s homeostasis or his ability to be
resilient in an external situation is on the weaker side and his aggressive behavior suggests that
he is intimidated and fearful of other people (Valentinov & Chatalova, 2016). The disturbances
in the macrosystems of an individual can force the person to be aggressive and violent like Justin
(Virapongse et al., 2016). As for the health aspects of the Askin family, everybody is healthy and
fit except Sarah who is Gill’s younger sister and who is suffering from breast cancer and
undergoing chemotherapy. Gill has asthma, but it is under control.
The strengths of the Askin family can be enumerated based on the following aspects
based on the ecological systems theory. From the microsystem basis which is the home and the
family, Justin is supported by his mother Gill as well as his maternal grandparents, Jim Lucey

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and Betty Lucey. Justin’s father Fred is also supportive of Justin and Fred is interested in shifting
Justin and make him stay with him although Susie does not support this idea of Fred. From the
Microsystem perspective which is the community and the neighborhood, Justin is residing with
his mother Gill and his siblings Hannah and Philip in a relatively well-to-do part of the town
(Sprout & Sprout, 2015). The house where they are residing has not underwent the property
settlement yet and Gill is concerned regarding the possession of the house in the future. The
father of Justin is also planning on shifting Justin to his home where he and his wife Susie stays.
The perspective of Mesosystem which is the Institutions reveal that Justin is doing well in the
sports such as football and cricket and the football coach is one of the few persons whom Justin
trusts completely (Espelage, 2014). Although in the academics, Justin is lagging still he manages
to perform better in sports (Faulkner, Brown & Quinn, 2018). On the macrosystem perspective
which is the policy changes, the Government has many policies which help single mothers raise
their children. The 2005 welfare to work reforms in Australia aids single mothers to help manage
the upbringing of the children (Ushioda, 2015). Apart from these factors, Fred also provides
money to Gill for the expenses incurred on the children’s educational needs. The parents of Gill
are also supportive and have helped Gill raise the children especially after the tough situation
when Fred walked out of the relationship. The strength of Gill’s family lies in the fact that they
are a family with firm conviction in the values and principles of Protestantism. Gill’s parents are
of the view that had Fred been firm in his values, he would have never walked out of the
relationship and place Gill in such a difficult situation. There is evidence that Gill can manage
the upbringing of the children quite efficiently. Apart from Justin, the other two children namely
Hannah and Philip are doing good in their academics and school performance. Hannah being a
model student. Gill was a studious and bright student herself emphasizes the fact that the Askin

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family value education and knowledge as topmost priorities. Gill can return to teaching
profession which can make her self-reliant and, in the process, brighten up the financial aspects
of the Askin family. Jack, who is Gill’s younger brother, has achieved the most success in the
Askin family and is currently working in the academics in Sydney. These aspects highlight the
fact that the Askin family have the resource of knowledge and education. The possibility of the
children of Gill gaining from these educational resources are immense. These strengths and
resources need to be utilized by the Askin family.
The possible approaches in the future should be to undo the errors of the past and to
reconcile Justin so that the issue of his estrangement can be addressed in a proper manner. Justin
needs to be properly managed and trained so that he understands the demands of the present
world and how to fit properly in the school as well as in other areas of life. The necessary
training required for Justin includes family support skills and knowledge gaining procedures
(Coll, Bearer & Lerner, 2014). The issue of Justin being isolated in the peer group needs to be
managed and for this, Justin needs to be given training as to how to undergo peer network and
his social interactive skills need to be enhanced and developed so that he manages to engage in
conversation with his peers (King & Travers, 2017). The barriers in Justin’s education need to be
overcome by giving him proper training in learning and grasping of information, especially in
language and mathematics which are his weak areas. Justin needs to be given constant support by
both Gill and Fred to enable him to overcome the trauma which he underwent when he was a
child (Barth, 2017). The feeling of being neglected can be overcome by making Justin feel
comfortable with his siblings, Hannah and Philip and to do this, Gill needs to make sure that the
siblings are interacting properly and that the younger siblings are not getting intimidated by the
elder brother. The feeling of brotherhood needs to be fostered amongst the siblings and this

5SOCIAL WORK WITH THE CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE FAMILIES
brotherhood can act as a bond to allow Justin to overcome his issue of getting isolated. Justin
also needs to be supported in the school especially in the academics (Thompson, 2017). The
teachers and faculty members of his school need to take extra care in making Justin understand
the concepts of the subjects where Justin is not able to perform better. This requires the patience
of both the teachers as well as Justin and in due course of time, this will be possible with the
efforts of both the teacher as well as Justin. There is immense potential in Justin in his sports
activities and these talents need to be polished to allow Justin to make up for his lagging
performance in the academics. The relationship which he shares with the Football coach suggests
that Justin can make an impact in the sport of football. For this, the talent of Justin need to be
focused upon and given due support.
From the above analysis, Justin has been a victim of the harsh situation his family has
endured since his birth. The separation of his parents has come as a traumatic experience for
Justin. It was not easy for Justin when his mother conceived his two younger siblings. He needed
more care and attention during those years of his life. His mother, Gill has went through a lot
while raising up the three children. There has been support from the parents of Gill and Fred
sends the monetary allowance to bear the expense of the children’s education. The case study is
done using the ecological systems theory and from the analysis the separation of the parents
takes a toll on the upbringing of the children. The situations which entailed after Justin was born
was inevitable and Gill suffered from postpartum depression due to which her parents took care
of Justin in the early years. After that he was placed in a child care which Gill feels was a
mistake as it made Justin isolated.

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