Social Work Practice: Individuals and Families

Social Work Practice - Working with Clients and their Families.
Min. number of words = 2500 words.
References: APA format.
Min. 5 references.
Textbook: Direct Practice In Social Work. Boyle, S.W., Hull, Jr., G.H., Mather, J.H., Smith, L.L. & Farley, O.W. (2009). Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Pearson.
Answer all the questions in the assignment.
Case study.
The family comprises of Francis TAY, 40, his wife, Elsie, 38 and their two boys, Luke, 12 and
Lewis, 1 month old. Francis runs his own family business with his only younger sibling,
Frannie TAY, a single. They deal mainly with the import of timber from Indonesia. Francis is
required to be out of his home country most of the time.
Elsie is a homemaker. She used to work as a childcare teacher but decided to quit after she
found out that she was pregnant with Lewis. Her poor relationship with her new workplace
supervisor also expedited her decision to quit her job. The family resides in a average apartment flat.
Francis was overseas when Elsie’s water bag burst and she had to go through an emergency
C-section. Lewis was born premature weighing a mere 2 kg. Francis was only able to join the
family after 2 weeks due to the travel restrictions of Covid-19. Hence the first 2 weeks of the
birth of Lewis was a rather stressful period for Elsie. Fortunately, Elsie’s good friend, Nellie
was a good source of support to her during this period.
Francis and Elsie are secondary school sweethearts. They got married when Francis was 28
and Elsie was 26 years of age. Initially, they enjoyed a very good relationship. Francis adored
Luke and made special efforts to stay in Singapore during his first year. Elsie was very happy.
However, this did not last for long. He once again started to travel often. Elsie started
feeling lonely. She felt that Francis valued money more than his family. Hence, Elsie was
overjoyed when she found out that she was pregnant with Lewis after trying to conceive
again for many years. She felt this would force Francis to spend more time with her family as
was the case with Luke. She only mentioned about her pregnancy to Francis when she was 3
months pregnant. Francis was not very keen to keep the baby. He suggested that she goes for
an abortion as he felt that he may have some challenges raising the new-born due to his
failing business. However, Francis grudgingly agreed to keep the child after Elsie threatened
to kill herself.
Elsie’s parents have both passed on. Francis’ both parents, aged 70 are still around. However,
they do not share a close relationship with him or his family. They feel that Francis’ poor
business outcomes may be a result of his poor decision making. Also, they do not see Elsie
on par with their family either in education or social status. They tend to support his sister,
Frannie more. They only visit their grandchildren occasionally.
Luke is currently studying in a primary school, and he will be sitting for a very important examination at the end of this year.
He used to be close with Elsie till she became pregnant and started exhibiting negative mood swings.
Luke is currently only close to the family’s domestic helper, Marisa and his teacher-in-charge, Ms LIU.
Ms LIU dropped by your family service centre with Elsie last week. They shared their
concerns regarding Luke. Ms LIU is concerned that he appears to be losing interest in his
studies and has not been submitting his homework on time. Elsie feels that he is very rude to
her lately and has been unkind to Lewis. He had also told Marisa that he was worried about
his important exam. Elsie also added that she has been very upset that she has to manage her premature
baby single-handedly as her husband has been unsupportive. He has only been concerned
about the outstanding medical bills and his failing business due to the Covid-19 situation.
You have been assigned as the social worker for this family.
Questions (100 marks)
a) Describe the TAY family members using a detailed genogram. (11 marks).
b) Demonstrate your understanding of the TAY family’s formal and informal systems using
an ecomap. Discuss the relationships between the family and the various systems. (11 marks).
c) Analyse any FOUR (4) concerns of the family that require your attention and follow-up. (32 marks).
d) Comment on any THREE (3) judgmental tendencies that the TAY family is likely to evoke
in you as their social worker. Examine the source of these tendencies. Illustrate how would
you overcome them so as not to negatively impact your work with the family? (36 marks).
e) You will be assessed on grammar, overall organisation and use of citations. (10 marks).
THE END.