SOWK 506: Fall 2016
QUIZ 1
(100 points; 20% of Course Grade)
Relates to student learning outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 7
Quiz 1 posts at 8:00pm Pacific on the Sunday of Week 6
Quiz 1 is due by 7:59pm Pacific on the Sunday of Week 7
This assignment is a take home, short answer essay quiz. It is intended to be an assessment of your understanding of the content in Units 4 through 6 (Early childhood development, Personality theories) through critical application of theoretical concepts to a case vignette.
Please use the attached case to answer 5 questions from the list below. Be sure to follow the directions carefully and clearly indicate which questions you are answering. You may “fill in” details about the case that are not directly stated. If you do this, please be sure to state your assumptions so that the instructor can follow the logic of your argument.
Provide responses that are thoughtful and directly relevant to the question, supporting your answers with specific examples from the case and scholarly source material. In your responses, you must go beyond simply identifying, listing and/or defining concepts, terms, or ideas. Demonstrate your knowledge of these theories and how they can be applied to understand the behavior of the child in the vignette.
FORMAT
This is a short answer essay quiz, not an academic paper. As such, simply indicate the number of the question you are answering and then write your response. Please use complete sentences, not bullet points or outlines. The completed quiz should be 5-7 pages in length (approximately 1 page per question; page limit does not include title page and reference list), double-spaced, with 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Provide scholarly references in each response to support your arguments. You are required to cite in APA style a minimum of 4 academic and/or professional works from the syllabus and a minimum of 2 outside references in the quiz overall. Please note: The Robbins et al (2011) textbook will count as 1 reference source, regardless of the number of chapters you cite. Please minimize the use of direct quotes from source material. The title page should be formatted as follows:
SOWK 506 – Fall 2016 Quiz 1
Student Name
Date
Course Instructor
GRADING
The evaluation of the quiz will be based on whether you addressed all aspects of the assignment, the appropriate use of theoretical concepts, the strength of your analysis, correct APA referencing format, and graduate level writing quality. A grade sheet will be posted so that you know exactly how the points are distributed.
Abide by the academic integrity guidelines. It is expected that students will work independently on the quiz and submit their own work. Please note: Turnitin automatically scans all papers upon submission to the platform. Students found to be in violation of the academic integrity guidelines may be referred for judicial review. An overview of the University’s guidelines on academic integrity can be found at the following URL: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/student-conduct/grad_ai.htm
Submit the quiz on time. As this assignment is administered under take-home testing conditions, late submission will be heavily penalized. Students will lose 10 points for each day the quiz is late.
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QUIZ 1 QUESTIONS
Directions: Please read the attached case vignette and follow the directions in bold below. You should respond to a total of 5 questions.
Part A: Answer any 3 of the following questions:
1) Discuss 2 defense mechanisms that the child uses, and whether each appears to be adaptive or maladaptive.
2) Discuss how Winnicott’s concept of “the good enough mother” can be applied to this case.
3) Apply Mahler’s model of separation-individuation to explain the child’s behavior.
4) Apply Erikson’s model of psychosocial development to explain the child’s behavior.
5) Apply Freud’s structural theory of the mind to explain the child’s behavior.
Part B: Answer 1 of the following questions:
1) What is the child’s attachment style? How does the neurobiology of attachment help to explain the child’s behavior?
2) How does stress affect the brain? How might the neurobiology of stress help to explain
the child’s behavior?
Part C: Answer the following question:
1) Which theory from Units 5 and 6 do you find the most helpful for assessing this child’s case and which theory do you find the least helpful? Please explain your answer.
Quiz 1: Case Vignette
Five year old Susana lives at home with her 19 yr old mom, Jacquie, her maternal grandparents, and her 10 yr old aunt and 12 yr old uncle. The family is part of a large extended family network with various aunts and uncles living within a one mile radius and with regular family contacts on weekends. Susana has several cousins who are similar in age, as well as other young children in this family network with whom she visits quite regularly. She is a curious energetic 5 yr old who stays at home with her grandmother Lucia while Jacquie participates in a job training program at a local community college every day from 8am til 4pm. Susana does not and has never attended pre school or any other early childhood programs. She is due to start kindergarten next academic year. When Jacquie gets home, grandmother Lucia gets ready for work since she works a late shift at a local Subway sandwich franchise, not far from home. Jacquie then attends to her younger siblings (Susana’s aunt and uncle) by following up on their homework, bedtime routines and is also responsible for the evening meal preparation. Susana’s grandfather Mike is a truck driver, often gone for days and engages minimally with Susana.
Susana’s father Jessie visits occasionally, but his visits are unpredictable and recently have become less frequent, which means that Susana visits with her paternal grandparents only sporadically. When she was an infant and toddler, her paternal grandparents were very involved with her since her parents’ relationship conflicts led to protective services involvement which required a stay with paternal grandparents due to allegations of domestic violence in her parents’ relationship. Her maternal grandparents were unable to care for her at that time due to the maternal grandfather Mike’s domestic violence history two years prior which led to his arrest and brief incarceration. While in the care of her paternal grandparents, Susana and Jacquie visited daily, and Jacquie described them as loving and supportive of Jacquie’s efforts to reunify with Susana. The grandparents lived in their own home, the grandfather worked as a firefighter for the city while the grandmother worked a few hours a week at the local school. Jacquie described them as having a comfortable lifestyle and as “just great people, you know?”
Susana is asleep when Jacquie leaves for the job training program every day and is always eager to see Jacquie when she gets home, often waiting by the front window in anticipation of her arrival. Jacquie is loving and playful with Susana and they both sleep together, as has been the case since Susana’s birth. Jacquie however quickly has to attend to other tasks at home and often encourages Susana to “watch TV” or to play with her toys while Jacquie moves on to attending to the other family responsibilities she assumes as part of this extended family household. Jacquie, however, worries that Susana “doesn’t use her words like other kids I know”, and that she is not yet fully toilet trained since, Jacquie shares, “that’s gonna be a problem when she goes to school, I know.”
Two months ago, Jacquie started dating someone new, and this has triggered some tension with Lucia, since Jacquie has begun to go out on Friday and Saturday nights, has been staying out til late and Lucia reports that Susana now has difficulties falling asleep when Jacquie is gone. Lucia is concerned since “I know my daughter and she doesn’t know how to pick wisely when she dates”, citing Susana’s father as an example since he was both emotionally and physically abusive of Jacquie while they dated and while Jacquie was pregnant with Susana. The tension has led to some angry exchanges between Jacquie and Lucia, to Jacquie’s tearful retreats to the bedroom she shares with Susana and to Jacquie’s at times abrupt departures from the home on weekends and, as Lucia complains, “leaving me stuck with all the kids, with the laundry and all the other tasks I have to do, which are also her (Jacquie’s) responsibility!”.
When Lucia and Jacquie have arguments, Susana often begins to cry and is difficult to console. Susana has also recently become more aggressive with her young cousins, tantrums frequently and has become “more finicky” at meal times. Lucia says “sometimes I don’t know what she wants, she doesn’t seem to like the food that I know she used to like, she throws down her bowl of cereal, and she cries for no reason”. Jacquie also reports that Susana has become more clingy with her, while at other times hitting and scratching Jacquie when Jacquie attempts to redirect her away from problematic behaviors. Jacquie at times reflects that “I know she [Susana] has been through a lot, since I was 14 when I had her, and it hasn’t been easy for her, what with my problems with her dad. I want to do what’s right for her but I have to say I don’t know why she has changed so much in the last few months. I mean I know a lot of girls my age who date other people, so I think some of me doing that is normal, right? Maybe it would be better if I asked her dad’s parents [paternal grandparents] to take her again, because they were so good with her and with me, and that way she won’t have to see me and my mom fighting so much.”
