Young People in Focus

IYPP PROJECT

6. Case Studies

• Case Study 1: Family Smith
• Case Study 1: Family Jones

Names and other details changed to preserve anonymity.

Case Study 1: Family Smith

Mother and Daughter

Problems in this family were very recent. The daughter had got in with ‘the wrong crowd’ including those already involved in criminal activity and was displaying difficult behaviour at home and school and not abiding by previous parenting boundaries.

The programme worked well with this family in our opinion because:

1. The problems had occurred fairly recently, meaning investment in wanting to change was still evident for both mother and daughter.
2. Only small changes were needed in expectations of each other.
3. It was easy for mum to encourage a more suitable peer group, by encouraging her daughter to pursue a part time job which gave her new friends.  Ms Smith was also able to encourage her daughter to re engage with activities that she used to participate in with other friends but had dropped out of and to become more involved with her extended family.
4. We worked mostly on communication between mother and daughter and we mediated for a while until more positive lines of communication were re-established.

Changes made:

• Daughter settled at school
• Communication improved between mother and daughter at home
• Daughter sustained part time employment
• Daughter rebuilt her network of friends

Case Study 2: Family Jones

Mother, Father, and two sons.

Problems in this family had been happening for a long period of time, and both parents felt they had asked for help many times before and had not been given what they had requested. One son was struggling at school both socially and academically. The other son was compounding this problem by bullying his brother at home and he was also very verbally and physically intimidating towards his parents, particularly his mother.

This programme worked well for this family because:

1. All family members took part, also all members were exhausted at how family life had become and all accepted that they needed to make their own individual changes in order for this to be a success.
2. Parents and young people very quickly became trusting of us as workers and this meant there was honesty regarding difficulties and an openness in relation to their feelings.
3. Unresolved issues from bereavement were uncovered and this previously had been a huge barrier/ root cause of misunderstandings and arguments for three of the family members in some shape or form. Once acknowledged and shared with others the family members were able to seek separate counselling for this issue and move on.
4. Strict boundaries and consequences were put in place, which both parents supported to deal with the aggressive/threatening behaviour of one son, which at one point had led to police involvement.
5. Because we are part of a multi agency team, issues that arose could be dealt with more efficiently. For instance, we could make use of the internal referral system to the education representative within the YOT to address school issues.

Changes made:

• Family able to deal with issues of bereavement
• Level of aggression/intimidation from one son decreased
• Parents, particularly mum, able to see changes which increased her self-confidence
• Parents worked more together as a unit once they were honest with each other regarding feelings etc
• Small practical changes made in family home which addressed many of the problems raised by the young people (including separate bedrooms for privacy/less bullying opportunity etc.)

On leaving the last session with this family Mrs Jones said to the parenting worker:

Thank you so much for helping me to get my family back

« Previous | Next: Summary of Achievements »