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As new family social workers get into the field, they are likely to make mistakes before they gain enough experience. These errors may be caused by inappropriate behavior of the workers or by some dysfunction within the client family. First meetings are a popular venue for such issues, and the specialists should be ready to address misbehavior appropriately. Failure to mitigate the adverse effects may lead to ineffective interventions and harm the helping process (Collins, Jordan, & Coleman, 2013). This paper presents an example of a family behavior that may be viewed as dysfunctional. It also discusses how this behavior may emerge during the first interviews and how it may be addressed to mitigate its adverse influence on effective helping.
Tolerating Drug or Alcohol Abuse
Substance or alcohol abuse is a typical dysfunctional family pattern that affects many households worldwide. However, there is an even worse behavior that not only harms the family but also poses a significant hindrance for those who want to help – being afraid to discuss the problem or pretending that there is no problem at all. Children in such families tend to grow up thinking that drug or alcohol abuse is not something abnormal.
Some parents may even physically abuse their children when they are under alcohol influence (Venta, Velez, & Lau, 2016). When the partner witnesses such misbehavior and does not object, children may assume blame and develop a weak personality (Venta et al., 2016). Therefore, it is imperative that families do not tolerate such dysfunctional behavior and take immediate steps to resolve the problem.
How It May Emerge During the First Meeting
Initial interviews are critical because family social workers mostly engage in diagnostic activities and collecting required information for the development of appropriate intervention strategies. Disrupting this process may have a negative impact on the outcomes. The mentioned dysfunctional behavior may manifest itself in the unwillingness of the partner and children to share accurate information that may be valuable for the social worker. The specialist may even draw incorrect conclusions based on inaccurate and incomplete data. After witnessing that the affected family members are not inclined to discuss the problem with others, the misbehaving parent may start imposing even more significant harm. The social worker should be prepared for such situations and utilize various techniques to address the issue.
How Social Workers Should Address It
The social worker should establish mutual trust and effective communication with the family members. As the communication process in family social work is deliberate, one should not avoid sharing information (Collins et al., 2013). The specialist may use general principles suggested by Collins et al. (2013) to facilitate productive communication. All parties should agree on the concrete problems that need to be discussed. The social worker should be transparent when talking about the potential consequences of tolerating alcohol and physical abuse. The professional should also describe the potential adverse impacts on children’s mental health and future well-being.
Conclusion
Among the many factors that can adversely affect the interview and intervention process are dysfunctional behaviors shown by a social worker and family members. One instance of such conduct is the unwillingness to discuss the partner’s substance or alcohol abuse problem that often transforms into physical abuse of children. When the affected family members do not want to share any information about the issue, the social worker should apply the principles of effective communication to elicit the necessary data from the clients.
References
Collins, D., Jordan, C., & Coleman, H. (2013). An introduction to family social work (4th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Venta, A., Velez, L., & Lau, J. (2016). The role of parental depressive symptoms in predicting dysfunctional discipline among parents at high-risk for child maltreatment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(10), 3076-3082.
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