Parenting

Assignment Description:

Another best practice for learning about parenting is developing the ability to apply theory (i.e. what you learned) to solve real life problems facing families. In this assignment, you will be given a family case to analyze and then, apply your knowledge of a theory or theories you have learned in this course to help the family find solutions to the problems they are facing. IMPORTANT: Note that this assignment might require you go back and review the lectures and chapters about child growth theories (Chapter 3 and 4 in your text). If you have mastered your theories very well, there is no need to review. Checkout the list of some of the theories we learned in this course at the end

The “Dang” Family Case

Dang is a thirteen-year old Vietnamese American boy. Dang’s mother and younger sister were killed in Vietnam when he was an infant. Following this tragedy, Dang and his father (Mr. Jon) moved to live near their extended family in a large, urban city on the West Coast of the United States. A year ago, Dang ran away from the downtown hotel where him and his father Jon lived saying “I don’t like him.” He just lays around and gets drunk all the time. He steals from me and hits me.” The Department of child welfare subsequently placed Dang in a foster home with three adolescent boys and Mr. Ken, one of the county’s most experienced and reputable foster parents. Mr. Ken’s home is in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in the hills. The house itself is spacious and lovely. Books and art from around the world adorn the walls. As Mr. Ken says, “They’re there for storytelling and knowledge that there are other worlds out there to explore.”

Mr. Ken bought big, comfortable furniture, for the four adolescent boys in his care to enjoy spending time in the house’s common spaces, as well as their private bedrooms. Mr. Ken clearly strives for a healthy home atmosphere and in his efforts to achieve that goal, he regularly solicits support from social workers, family therapists, and volunteer mentors for his boys. During one of the sessions, Dang reported that he didn’t like Mr. Ken because “he talks too much and thinks he knows everything.” Dang said that he feels like Mr. Ken has consistently low expectations for his future, while Dang himself believes that he will finish high school, go to college, have a job when he’s older, and generally stay out of trouble. Despite his criticisms of Mr. Ken, Dang said that he likes the people with whom he lives and is proud of his new home. When asked if he wants Mr. Ken’s home to be his permanent home, Dang replied, “Yes, my bio father can’t get at me here, and there’s nowhere else to go for me.” Prior to the session, Mr. Ken told the therapist that Dang stole from the other three boys and regularly beats up on one of them, the 15-year-old who has developmental problems. Mr. Ken also told the therapist that Dang was frequently involved in physical fights with other children outside of the home.

The Department of Social Services and Juvenile Probation Department are currently conducting two separate investigations into Dang’s behavior. During one of the therapy sessions, Dang reported that physical fighting, stealing, drug deals, and arrests frequently occur in Mr. Ken’s home, but Dang did not identify himself as the perpetrator. Dang also said that although he feels safer in Mr. Ken’s home than in his biological father’s (Jon’s) home, he still feels “not at all safe” in Mr. Ken’s home. Out of any place in the world, he feels most safe in church. At the conclusion of the therapy session with Dang, the therapist asked, “If you were in charge here, what is one thing you would change around here to keep kids safe?” Dang replied by recommending that Mr. Ken should give personal keys to the boys for their bedrooms, install metal bars on the windows, and purchase an alarm system for the house.

Questions for Your Essay

Write a 2-4 paged paper responding to the following questions,

Question# 1. (30 points). This question assess how well you apply a parenting/Growth theory across contexts to this case. Chose a preferred theory from the ones you have learned in this course and use the theory to assess the nature of the Mr. Ken’s and Dang’s relationship.

1. Identity and briefly explain the parenting/growth theory you have chosen to apply (10 points). You MUST cite the original developer (s) of the theory and not the class instructor
2. Using your chosen theory, identify and discuss what you perceive as problematic (5 points) (e.g. do you think it’s the relationship between Mr. Ken and dang that’s problematic? Dang’s behaviors? His history of trauma? Or other systemic contextual factors) in this family?
3. Discuss the protective factors in Dang’s life (5 points)e., what things do you see in this case that have kept Dang resilient and living life despite his challenging life circumstances as a 13-year-old boy.
4. Imagine you were assigned this family case as the therapist or social worker; discuss how you would use your theory to understand and help this family develop solutions to their problems (10 points). Focus primarily, on how you would help Mr. Ken as Dang’s foster parent to navigate Dang’s behavioral problems and build positive relationships in this family

Question#2. (30 points). This question requires you to discuss clearly how the theory you utilized in Question #1 can be integrated with contextual and intersectional issues such as culture, immigration, ethnicity, race, social economic statues etc.. that are at play in this case. In this part, focus primarily on Dang’s biological father’s (Mr. Jon) context (not the foster father Mr. Ken). For example,

• Consider and state the specific social-cultural and economic challenges of Mr. Jon. How do you think these are affecting his son, Dang, now in foster care? (15 points)

• Utilizing the theory, you chose above, identify, and discuss what you see as strengths areas, as well as areas of growth for Mr. Jon (5 points)

• Again, imagine you are the therapist in this case, write about how you would create work to create positive changes for Mr. Jon and him reconnect with his biological son in more safe, positive, and healthy ways (10 points).

IMPORTANT NOTE: I highly recommend you choose 1 theory for this case. All the theories we learned in this course can be applied in this case. You are free to choose/integrate 2 or 3 theories to utilize in this case BUT keep in mind that the more theories you have, the more difficult it will be for you to develop an integrative and coherent essay. If you can find a way to integrate all the 2-3 theories you chose, that’s fine. I am looking for coherence and proper flow of analysis and thought in your essay.

Paper Structure (10 points). The application paper must follow the following instructions to earn the remaining 10 points,

• Must include an introduction (2 points). The purpose of the introduction is to give a clear idea of what your essay will cover. Your intro should provide some background information on the specific problem or issue you are planning to address, and the main points you will address in your essay.
• Must be between 2-4 pages (2 points). Your title page and your reference page do not count towards the page limit. Essays that do not meet this page requirement will lose points
• Must include a reference page (2 points). You must provide a full reference of any of the in-text citations or resources you use. They will be multiple for this paper. There are no limits on how many citations you can use. Just be sure you have more than 2 citations from different sources. I have uploaded REALLY good journal articles in this assignment’s folder that you can use and cite.
• Include a title page (2 points). In APA, a title page includes the title for your paper, your name, usually name of the school/course. You do not need to include the instructor’s name
• Double‐spaced (2 points), 12-point font, Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, APA format (for HDFS, psych, education, and social science majors).
• Other formats e.g. MLA, Chicago are acceptable but APA is the primary format for assignments in this course.
• For details on how to format/write in APA format, please visit Purdue University’s online writing lab (Owl); https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

• Citing information from Class Materials. If you cite anything from the lectures or videos watched for this course, indicate in parenthesis (Asiimwe, 2020; lecture from Ch. 5) or (from Dr. Siegel’s inside the teenage brain video) so that we know where you pulled the info. You should follow the following format style to include information from the lectures/Power points onto the reference page list; Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation[Lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, etc]. Publisher. That said, I expect you to cite me less in this case analysis.

List of Some of the Theories we Have Learned This Semester (this is not an exhaustive list)

Best of Luck!!