Family Issues

win Behavior: Intervening

• • Amee and Aaron are 6-year-old twins of Josh and Lacy. Josh is an alcoholic and unemployed, and Lacy works two jobs to feed the family. When Lacy arrives home late from work, Josh is drunk after spending the day managing the children. Josh picks a fight with Lacy over petty issues and starts hitting her. Amee and Aaron try to protect their mother. As they tug on their father’s leg, he stops hitting Lacy, falls to the floor, and begins to cry. This has been a nightly ritual since Josh lost his job six weeks ago. Before losing his job, Josh used to hit Lacy on a sporadic basis, usually when he had too much to drink. The children have developed a morbid fear of their father, and they are extra careful not to annoy him.

    At a parent/teacher conference, Lacy is told that her twins’ aggressive behavior on the playground at recess is becoming an issue. Their teacher expresses concern and suggests that Lacy might want to investigate early intervention for her children. Without discussing the violence being experienced in the family, Lacy agrees with the teacher to pursue intervention for the twins’ behavioral issues.

• • Identify and integrate various psychoeducational or supportive approaches that might be used at the community level, such as at community centers, schools, and social service agencies, to assist children like Amee and Aaron, who are at risk from family violence, to more effectively cope and develop resiliency.

• • Be sure to address whether there may be differences between the responses seen for Amee and Aaron and provide your reasoning.

• Explore issues of gender, diversity, and ethics within the intervention approaches