Theory and Client System Assessment

3079 Words7 Pages

For this client system assessment, I have chosen a client I engaged with while at work, my client’s name is Keith. Keith is 34 years old and has had many unfortunate circumstances surrounding his life, beginning with his birth. Keith’s family system consists of himself, his mother and two step siblings. Keith was unfortunately the product of a rape, witnessed repeated domestic abuse situations with his mother’s boyfriends and husbands, was abused himself and to this day, Keith continues to suffer in all domains: emotionally, mentally and physically. I will assess Keith’s family system as well as Keith as an individual utilizing Erikson’s Psychological Stages of Development, Bowman’s Family System Theory and Marcia’s Identity Status Model.
Erikson’s Psychological Stages of Development
Erik Erikson’s theory is based on eight psychological stages of development. For the purpose of Keith’s assessment, only six stages of development are appropriate for Keith and his family at this time. Trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion and intimacy vs. isolation will be addressed in this paper.
Trust vs. Mistrust
Atalay (2007) states “the amount of trust derived from earliest infantile experience does not seem to depend on absolute quantities of food or demonstrations of love, but rather on the quality of the maternal relationship” (pg. 17). Keith was born a product of rape, to a mother who was a virgin before being raped. Prewitt (2010) states “Pregnancy from rape occurs with “significant frequency.” Of the estimated 12% of adult women in the United States that have experienced at least one rape in their lifetime, 4.7% of these rapes result in pregnancy” (pg. 82...

... middle of paper ...

..., 299-306.
Howe, D. (2010). The safety of children and the parent-worker relationship in cases of child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse Review, 19(5), 330-341.
MacKay, L. (2012). Trauma and Bowen family systems theory: Working with adults who were abused as children. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 33(3),
232-241.
Prewitt, S.R. (2010). Giving birth to a “Rapist Child”: A discussion and analysis of the limited legal protections afforded to women who become mothers through rape. The
Georgetown Law Journal, 98(827), 827-862.
Rodriguez, C.M. (2003). Parental discipline and abuse potential affects on child depression, anxiety, and attributions. Journal of Marriage & Family, 65(4), 809-817.
Schwartz, S. J. (2002). Convergent validity in objective measures of identity status: implications for identity status theory. Adolescence, 37(147), 609.

Open Document