Assignment task:
Social worker who works for Adult Protective Services has been called to the home of an elderly man by a neighbor who suspects that he is being abused in his home. She frequently hears yelling and has seen the man with bruises on his face and arms.
The man confesses he met a homeless young woman in the park where he sits in the afternoons. Feeling sorry for her, he has given her a key to his apartment. She has stolen money from him and, when confronted, she has beaten him and left with his cash. She returns remorseful, but the pattern continues.
Concerned about the abuse, the social worker arranges to have the locks changed on his apartment in order to keep the woman away from the elderly gentleman.
When she returns two weeks later to check in on him, she notices the apartment is in shambles and that the man has fresh bruises. Perplexed, she questions him about the state of the apartment and his bruises. He once again confesses that he has seen her in the park again and agreed to give her a set of the new keys. The social worker is left confused and does not understand how this could have happened. The intervention was meant to keep the woman away and it failed.
For your original post, answer the following questions:
Q1. Was there a mistaken use of values instead of knowledge or knowledge instead of values? Was there a dysfunctional outcome? Why?
Q2. If so, why did this take place? What other interventions could have been explored? Where would you begin the work with this client, and why?
Q3. Use your knowledge of human behavior and the life stages to help inform your understanding and planned intervention.
Q4. Share your conceptualization of a useful intervention and ground it in literature.