Film Analysis: Cook County

Cook County a raw metaphor of rural America in the thralls of poverty, peril and destitute that rural America faces. If the quote "Drug addiction indicates the condition of the society and the state. It indicates the lifestyle and moral values. Drug abuse is like a thermometer showing society's temperature." Then Cook County represents a metastasis form of societal cancer. “Ongoing prescription opioid misuse and heroin abuse pose a threat to the future of rural America. As many rural and tribal communities grapple with the challenges of geographic isolation, outmigration, poverty and lack of opportunity, opioid misuse and the associated community impacts put rural families at risk. In any community, widespread drug abuse inhibits the growth

It is not until his young nephew and little girl enter the scene shortly after that the viewer realizes there are more than just one man’s addiction going on. I think this is what addiction looks like from a quick glance. At first it seems to be just one person and their problem but what you’re seeing is the outside layer of a sick call of disease and dysfunction. Bump is the first layer and his nephew and young daughter and their ruined innocent lives are the part society seems to forget. When looking at this movie it is evident that rural poverty is everywhere. From the run down store to the isolated dirty roads and no signs of school this county is represents the very poor of America. Cook County seemed unforgotten. In Michael R. Daley’s text called “Rural Social Work in the 21st Century he explains “For most of the 1960’s interest in rural social work languished as the profession continued its urban orientation to practice. By the end of the decade, rural social work seemed almost forgotten, as little had been written about it for decades. Apathy for rural social work was such that Buxtin (1976) wrote Social Work in rural areas has been given little attention in past years. The national emphasis has been on urban problem, and skills have been developed essentially to deal with these” (Daley, 2015, p. 174). It is clear there is no one or agency around for miles that

“The structural environment relates to the distribution of resources and power across groups, and the presence of viable opportunity structures that allow disenfranchised groups access to valued resources (p. 33). Maton noted that: where large discrepancies in resources and power exist, and opportunity structures are inadequate, a debilitating sense of powerlessness, and ensuing negative social outcomes, may be expected (p. 33). Thus, increasing the access of marginalized groups to economic, political and psychological (for example, self-efficacy and self-esteem) resources is critical for achieving social transformation” (Spooner, 2004, p. 97). There were no resources for Sonny to go to get help. Knowing “Cook County” had a huge substance abuse program there should have been a program set up specifically for those who were incarcerated for substance abuse related issues. This program would be a point of access for the person with multiple people on the case. Social Workers, drug abuse counselors and job training would be a crucial part of the point of access team. If this would have been set up when Sonny came out of prison a social worker would have assessed the home he was returning too and immediately removed the children. The employment specialist could have