James and May originally moved to the London from Scotland in the early 1960’s.
James is now in his early 70s and he has 3 children. Nora, who is 39 years old and lives in London and, till recently, used to visit frequently. James shares his inner city, 4-bedroom housing association home with his two other children – 37-year-old daughter Kirsty and son David, who is 34. In addition Kirsty has a son William, aged 14, who also shares the home. 10 years ago David was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His mental health has been fairly stable for the past 5 years.
A year ago James’s wife May had a sudden heart attack and died and 4 months later he suffered a stroke. James has made a reasonable recovery from his stroke and has regained most of his speech but does have some mobility problems due to weakness on his right side.
The family are finding it hard to cope with May’s death and are also having problems in coping with David’s difficult behaviour related to his paranoia.
James is worried about David’s mood changes and sometimes feels threatened by him. David is treated with regular depot injections and has a good relationship with his support worker.
Kirsty used to work in a florist and often left William in the care of his grandparents James and May. Since losing her mum and with her dad becoming ill she has given up work. Kirsty is often tearful and says she is depressed and finds her caring responsibilities burdensome. Since he was 6 months old, William has had no contact with his father, Jack. However, William gets on well with his grandfather and uncle but has recently started falling behind in his school work.
Kirsty has a good relationship with her older sister Nora who was very supportive to her and her son William. However William now has his own problems following a fall over 2 years ago when he had a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for a week then had rehabilitation and although he has made a good physical recovery, his family have noticed changes in his personality.
At the time of his accident, James and May met Noor, Nora’s partner of seven years, for the first time. Although Kirsty had been aware that Nora was in a same sex relationship, this was the first time that her parents got to know that she was gay and in a relationship with Noor. May from the beginning was accepting of the relationship, but James refused to speak to his daughter or Noor. Since her mother’s death Nora has not visited as frequently as in the past, although Noor does try to encourage her. Kirsty misses the support and company of her older sister.
The answers to the case study must be written in prose not bullet points, and it should include references to a service user perspective. There are 2 questions each answer should be approximately 1000 words in length, all questions should be answered. 2000 words in total
1. How useful is Erickson Stage theory to understanding the case study?
Choose one adults: Nora, James, Kirsty or David) and explore the following question:
2. As a social worker reflect on how understanding bereavement and loss may help you identify what services and resources may be required to meet the needs of the service user?
