Family Violence And Criminal Justice

Case Details

Discuss about the Family Violence and Criminal Justice.

For this particular case, my role was mental health social worker practitioner at a private counseling practice. This service is now referred to as assessing authority of specialist mental health expertise. Apparently, this was after the Federal Government recognized it as the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) (Medicare & mental health descriptions – AASW – Australian Association of Social Workers, 2018). Members of the AASW are allowed to file an application for an assessment (Hyde, Bowles, & Pawar, 2014)).

Primarily, mental health social worker practitioners are tasked with helping people fix particular psychological problems presented to them, associated social and environmental challenges, and improving their overall quality of life. These activities may sometimes have to involve family and individual counseling as well as group therapy (Briskman & Zion, 2014). The work of a social worker is to recognize varied implications of a particular person who experiences mental illness and the overall impact on their friends, family, work, and education (Bennett, 2015). They use a range of interventions just like other professionals such as the psychologist. The approved interventions which can be applied by these workers include cognitive behavioral therapy, social skills, behavioral interventions, relaxation strategies, and narrative therapy. 

Shirley is a 40-year woman who was being referred to the private counseling practice center through “Better Access to Mental Health Care” program after being admitted for a mental health problem (Cussen & Bryant, 2015). My work was to provide a six-session counseling practice to her. Apparently, she has been going through nightmares, panic, and anxiety during most of her night. Both her parents had passed away about two years ago. It has been suspected that her nightmares are as a result if her parents demise something that her sister 38 years now has overcome.

Shirley has had a difficult time with her past relationships particularly with Con who is the father of her eight years old son, Bill. Shirley is an aboriginal given the fact that her father was too. She had reported to the hospital that Con had been so violent to her and on many occasion caused her chronic injuries. However, Con has never been charged with any offenses. This is what caused her to move on to have a relationship with Dale who is a father to her six-year-old son Fred who has been supportive all through. In the past, the Department Of Health and Human Services Child Protection had been involved with her family. In essence, this was because she had reported that Con had been harassing her regarding the custody of Billy.

Desired Outcome

Although Shirley had part ways with Con she presented herself reluctant particularly in involving the necessary authority regarding harassment in her past relationship. This was not something unique given the fact the t the aboriginal women are fearful of men especially given the fact that most of their men are known to be harassing their women. On her current relationship, she described her husband as being supportive and hardworking.

Through working with Shirley, my main goal was to come up with a rather supporting and safe environment that was not judgmental in identifying her goals as well as her needs. My aim was to make sure I inquire about Shirley’s situation and then provide the necessary directions on what she had to do to overcome mental illness. However, she appeared to have little interest in openness to the acknowledgment of culture.  Moreover, I was to help her on various occasions proofing her warmth and empathy regarding her emotions. I wanted to make sure that there was a good rapport between me and Shirley I also wanted to obtain information on the cultural sensitivity of harassment in light with the risk that Shirley and her kids had experience. Noteworthy, I was as well aiming at looking deeply on how the Australian authorities handled cases of harassment in a relationship. I organized the case plan by starting with the inquiries about the client’s situation, give some sort of directions, acknowledge the presented problem as well as the precipitating factors and the entire context of the event, and demonstrate the cultural competence of the client.  

• Raise some concern regarding the unjust cultural alignment
• The raised concern of little knowledge on cultural alignment

Desired Outcome: Shirley will be in a position to restore her normal mental status and respond to the violence she gets as well as receiving the necessary justice.

Critical Reflection On How You Mediated Power And Other Differences Between You And The Client In Terms Of Gender, Age, Sexuality, Class, Heritage, Religion, Place (Ie Rural/Urban), Family Type And Dis/Ability

In essence, Shirley’s situation is somehow complex and seems to have gotten out of hand given her mental health situation. Apparently, given her past harassment by Con and her present health condition, it is likely that her children and husband are affected. Additionally, her situation has worsened as a result of little support from other social factors having lost both parents. During the interview, her presentation was in a view of a woman who has little knowledge of the cultural alignment and beliefs especially of her origin, the Aboriginal. Given the fact that Shirley’s sister had gone through the tough experience regarding their parents, death it shades some lights that Shirley had other issues disturbing her.  Additionally, she was discriminated for being an Aboriginal and never received justice after being violated by her previous partner Con. 

Goals and Activities

One of the most important elements of skilled cross-cultural practices remains to be the awareness as well as the ongoing reflection of the available privileges, social and geographical locations. Despite all this, I was well aware the kind of difference that lied between Shirley and me particularly in terms of our cultural alignment, life experience, education, and religion. Shirley was an Aboriginal with limited cultural awareness, a mother to two children, as well as limited support especially socially. Apparently, the only support she received was from her sister and current husband Dale who is supportive. In most cases, the Aboriginal valued their family ties.in this light, most of where families are separated after following government policies, the situation is often heartbreaking for those people who are involved (Practice Implications: Family and Kinship: Working with Indigenous Australians, 2018). Additionally, this was known to be a hindrance to the passing of culture from one generation to another (Carson & Kerr, 2017). Despite the fact the fact that we both come from the same geographical environment, I did not experience what she was going through. Notably, this was because I was non-Aboriginal, and separation was not taken to be a strong belief which could cause stress. Moreover, I have only been in one marriage relationship and never experience violence in my entire married life as Shirley has had and a broader range of knowledge regarding my cultural heritage. Reflecting on our similarities and differences, I realize that various people have had different life scenarios that in some ways reflect on what people take from life. In regards to my privileges, there have been a lot of things that make me reflect on my own personal life particularly because I have an African origin and come from Eastern Europe. I have a lot of cruel experience of violence in terms of racism and although I acquired Australian citizenship a long time ago, I can recall how life was as a little kid. The overall experience that my parents had to undergo to settle down was traumatic and certainly, I can relate to Shirley’s experience how cultural differences can sometimes be cruel.

During the overall preparation for the interview as well as the analysis, I had to reflect on how it feels to be a woman and experience violence and emotional upset. I had to reflect on how a woman can be judged unjustly. Australian discrimination on the Aboriginal particularly women is not a new thing (Gair et al., 2015). Despite the fact that Shirley is supported by her husband Dale, her previous relationship might have had a negative impact on her having not received any justice after being violated by Con. Despite the enactment of the Australian Family Amendments Violence and Cross Examination Act Bill of 2017, there was little which was done concerning the harassment that Shirley was put through by Con (Briskman, 2014). Additionally, there is nothing much which has been done regarding the cultural beliefs regarding separation of families and children among the aboriginals. The entire reflections gave me a good glimpse or rather the understanding of how cultural beliefs can dictate an individual lifestyle as well as how women are treated regarding broken relationships and marginalization in justice delivery (Espelage et al., 2014).

Collaborative Relationship

In the first session of the interview, Shirley was very reluctant and appeared not to have knowledge of her cultural alignment. Despite showing a rather mental illness that was almost out of hands, she insisted that everything was fine and that she was doing well. At one particular moment, Shirley had to explain to me how different we were given the fact that she was an Aboriginal and I from Eastern Europe with an African origin (Burford, 2017). I had to explain to Shirley although we came from different cultural alignment, my parent and I had to undergo challenges particularly trying to settle down and acquiring citizenship. I explained to her how racism made me go through mental torture while I was young. Through my self-experience, Shirley changed her mind from the feedback; there was a clear indication that she was able to relate her story to mine.   While it is not always allowed to share personal information with clients, there is a positive impact of self-disclosure in case there are used correctly and carefully (Dowling et al., 2014).

Before I decided to share my story with her, she had insisted that she knew nothing regarding her culture and whether the real cause of her mental health was her parent’s death or not. I tried to use gentle tone when talking to her.

Me: …perhaps you may want to share with me something about your culture and how they take on the effect of separation particularly regarding the upkeep of children.

As part of my entire preparation for the interview, I realized that there are many people that might be going through similar situation yet they are afraid of sharing their cultural beliefs on various issues (Phillips & Vandenbroek, 2014). However, there have been clear barriers that prevent these people from accessing the necessary help some which include lack of the necessary education on the cultural alignment, lack of confidence with the Australian Federal authority and judiciary for administering justice, and lack of enough support to overcome psychological traumas. While there was a clear innocence in Shirley’s face regarding the cause of her mental downfall, it was evident that other things had added to her burden. This was because her sister had overcome the death of their parents (Zuchowski et al., 2014).  All along, Shirley was reluctant of sharing anything with me until I changed my entire question and decided to ask something else. “What happens in case your current partner decides to harass you and this time hurt you badly, who will be taking care of your children?” I told her that I would provide the necessary direction and make sure she receives justice. 

Mental Health and Family Violence

Throughout the interview, I realized that I was using gentle tone given the fact that Shirley needed a lot of support to overcome her mental illness. I used my experience from previous clients to handle Shirley’s situation. I gave her the courage an the necessary strength when I told her that I would provide the necessary directions towards her justice and that she should not let cultural alignment undermine the love she has to her children. 

I decided to include a collaborative work experience between me and Shirley to pave way for the discussion and education on the cultural beliefs of the Aboriginal particularly on the separation of parents and the effect it has on the couples. Considering the fact that the Aboriginal value their families a lot, separation causes a heartbreaking experience to the people who are involved (Cripps & Adams, 2014).

Understanding that Shirley came from Aboriginal cultural heritage, it was very important for me to assess the impact of her separation with Con and the damage that the violence she had with him had caused to her rather than her parent’s death (Drake, 2014).

During the interview, I realized that it was important to give Shirley psychological support and ensured that I was gentle with her feelings given the fact that she was going through tough times. The likely and preferred outcome would be to give a follow up regarding her previous case where Con was not charged with anything even after harassing her. Additionally, would be important for Shirley to overcome the cultural barrier that believes separation cause heartbreaks and make sure she is aware of the importance of putting her children first.  I believe it would important for me to carry out more research on how unjust the Aboriginal culture is.

The Feedback from the Field Educators about What Worked Well and What You Have You Learned and Can Do Differently

It was clear to me that I had to do better throughout the interview to get the best out of Shirley. I had assumed a lot of virtues regarding cultural heritages and violence in families. Additionally, remember using my experience to get information from her. At this point, I should have realized the importance of keeping privacy particularly from the patient and used other strategies to acquire information.  

It is not an easy thing to sit down with client’s ad share painful information. However, I realized that I had developed a rather pause and silent skills that assisted me to create a good rapport with Shirley. Through working with this kind of clients I have come to realize it is important to closely hear all the clients and the issue they raise while helping them to come out of their hard moments successfully. Moreover, I have learned that despite the differences that lie between people be it cultural or geographical, we share that hard moment that we all need someone to uplift us and back to our feet. Waddell (1989) articulates in her personal reflection that the only difference that lies between those who give the services and those that receive it as a ‘standby, “non-action may at times be the most helpful approach not, as has been said, as a bystander, but somebody who ‘standby.’”

I did find the whole interview experience helpful and a perfect opportunity for employing different strengths based on the techniques. Having had little experience on the aspect of family violence and cultural alignments, this was an important chance for me to showcase what I can do especially since I have been yearning to do something on this topic. 

I, therefore, believe that I have developed my skills from the experience I have had through this interview. Based on the situation of Shirley, I have been in a position to come to conclusion having used non-judgmental approach. I have an expanded the interest of coming up with a definite program that would educate people on the cultural issues, family violence, and the right procedure to make sure they get justice without discrimination.

References

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