Engaging With Individual And Assessment Answer

Family: Jessica lives with her partner Jim and two children Jemima (12) and Isaac (3). Jim works full time in the building industry and the family relocated from interstate 8 months ago so he could take up a new job opportunity. Jessica works part time in retail, in a shop that is close to her home and this allows her to pick up the children from school when needed.

Presenting Issues: Jessica has self-referred to the local community centre on the advice of a friend. Soon after arriving in town, Jessica's partner was charged by the police for driving under the influence of alcohol and his driver’s licence was suspended for 12 months following a court appearance. She recently discovered Jim is having difficulty at work. Jessica said she was angry with Jim as they couldn’t afford for him to lose his job and he has been spending a lot of the family budget on alcohol, going out on the weekends to drink. She has noticed Jim is often angry and frustrated with the kids. Jessica did not really want to tell anyone, but lately it had started to get her down and she has agreed to this referral to talk to someone about her situation.

Assessment 1: Module 1

Imagine you are a social worker/counsellor/support worker in a local community centre and you have been asked to see Jessica (your ‘client’) for her first appointment.

• What are your impressions of Jessica's situation from this referral? Why?

•Using the professional Code of Ethics relevant to your chosen Discipline (e.g. AASW or ACWA), briefly outline the main ethical principles you might need to consider when working with Jessica and her family. Why is this important?

•As a social worker/human service worker, what is your understanding of working in partnership’ with clients? How would this guide your practice with Jessica in this initial session and what could you say/ask or do during this first meeting to reflect this approach?

Presentation:        All learning activities should be presented in a typed Word document and submitted to the relevant Module Learning Activity Submission point.

Assessment criteria: 

Assessments will be based on the following:

• Understanding and application of theoretical frameworks relevant to the task
• Critical analysis
• Adherence to academic writing conventions (with at least two academic references within original piece of work)