Trauma Embedded Evidence Assignment

TRAUMA INFORMED ASSESSMENT
Identifying information
My client’s name is: John, he is a 53 year old African American male, who was convicted for two set fire, that he did not do. In 1981, John was arrested at age 16, during a disturbance in the neighborhood. John was tried as an adult and sentenced to four years plus 30 years in the state penitentiary for a fire he knew nothing about. In 1981, a fire broke out in a building, 4 people died of carbon monoxide asphyxiation and smoke inhalation. However, it was later discover that members of a motorcycle gang were the ones who set the fire, in a revenge attempt to kill a gang member and drug dealing tenant who sold the gang vitamin B-12 instead of the cocaine they wanted.
John has a thirty six

years old daughter and four ground kids, who he cares about a lot; John does not have a close relationship with his family. When he was young, John and his siblings lived together with his Aunt Pat. John, his brother and 2 sisters were taken by the DCFS from their parents because of the problem they were having.
John was released in 2009. John has a 37 year history of cannabis abuse; he first used at age 13 and his last used in May of 2017. His usage was 1 blunt, while he usually smoked 100 daily. He was arrested for the violation of an order of protection from the ex-girlfriend; he had contacted her through phone and in person. John was mandated by the courts for substance abuse in a south side agency for treatment and has probation officer that he had to report to every month.
Developmental history
According to Dass-Brailsford, trauma can affect the body and the mind over the long term in many ways (p.34). John had a harsh childhood, and was taken by the state at age three from his parent with his siblings, and was later returned back to the parent, after the children had been taken out of their home. The DCSF did not provide trauma counseling for the children, for taken them often from their home which the DCSF should have.
John started working from an early age to help the aunt he lived with make ends meet. At age 10 he was delivering around 125 papers, dragging them; in the winter time, and his feet got frostbitten.
Family history
Mother and father were having problems between themselves. His father died in 2009 and was a greatly irresponsible individual, a drug addict and alcoholic who rarely worked and do not support or live with his family. When he did come by, he often ended up beating his wife and john’s brother; he also sometimes forced his wife to work the streets. His father had a trigger attitude, his mother, got cut and battered. She was hospitalized several times after beatings, she would try to keep her husband out of her life, but because he is the father of her kids, she was only so successful.
His mother was a neglectful parent; she drank and used drugs, sometimes she’d leave the children home alone in their apartment for days, and she’d be on the street getting high. According to Steele and Malchiodi, children who come from diverse backgrounds must often navigate dual cultures- their family culture and their peer culture (in school) (p. 130)
He stole candy and pops from stores at age nine, he broke into stores and came back with five packs of cigarettes and aunt Pat loved cigarettes, and he was rewarded by her telling him to do again. For John to navigate dual cultures he had to go through his peers who were acting like kids in contrast to his family life whom he had to be a provider for.
At 13, he was smoking reefer daily, by age 14, the family (Aunt Pat) moved to the notorious high-rise projects where he was engulfed by violence, in the neighborhood people often shot and killed.
Trauma history for child and family: direct incidents and incidents of exposure
At young age, John witnessed violence in his family, in the community area where he lived, as well as at school. John is a high risk trauma client.
John, an African American male that was convicted for a Four-life sentence, spent 28 years in prison, for something he did not do.

John’s youth was robbed by the criminal justices system. John was allegedly beaten false confessions out of him by the white officers in the questioning room for 10 hours. For any juvenile case, the Department policy required that police should reach a parent or guardian before questioning a juvenile suspect or youth officer to sit in on the interrogation room, however none of these people were around when John was questioned and beaten(police brutality and politics). The white officer grabbed John’s privates and inflicted excruciating pain as well as him slapping his face, repeatedly; all while being chained to the

wall.
John had a daughter in 1988, while he was still in prison, and was not around to see the daughter’s first step or first word. John missed out on a few years of his daughter growing up, this impacted him because he really want to be there for his daughter.
John was still in prison when his mother died and was not allowed to go for her burial, which added more traumas to what he was still going through in the prison.
High and low magnitude events
After eight years of losing their children to the state, John’s parent had another child who John was especially fond of. John’s baby sister stayed with the mother, as the father was nowhere to be found. Anytime John’s mother went on the street for her business, the baby sister called john because the mother was not home for a few days. Despite the fact that John lives with his Aunt Pat, he would still come to his mother’s house to take care of his baby sister.
He became a father the month after the death of his Aunt Pat. John’s girlfriend was a year older than him; they did not get along but he took care of his daughter. After the death of his Aunt Pat, they were placed with his Aunt Ann, who took in foster children.
After John was released from the prison, John was stressed about his relationship with his significant other. His feelings hurt when she refused to take her medication for diabetes or go to the hospital for a checkup. He sometimes feared that if he yelled, that may escalate to violence or calling the police and he do not want to go back to jail.
Primary attachment relationship
John has great relationship with his daughter and grandchildren. John called to check on his daughter and his grandchildren every day. Every holiday was spent with his daughter and her family. John is trying to make up the time he missed seeing her (daughter) growing up.
Involvement with outside institutions such as DCFS: history of placement
John was 3 years old when the state took custody of him and his siblings; this was off and on several times, later, they were in the care of their Aunt Pat. After the death of Aunt Pat, the children were placed in another Aunt’s, Aunt Ann’s care.
Parent/family history of physical illness, mental illness, substance abuse, violence, domestic violence, legal system (incarceration)
John was 11 years old, when his aunt was diagnosed with cancer and hospitalized off and on.

In 1980, his Aunt Pat was in a nursing home and the children lived alone without an adult. In 1981 she died. According to Steele and Malchiodi, when primary relationship is disrupted by traumatic events, children and adolescents are put at risk for a variety of symptoms behaviors, and response (p.137). Aunt Pat was a primary relationship; her death was a traumatic event, which disrupted John and his siblings’ lives. This traumatic event affected their lives by disrupting the other decisions that might have made and putting them at risk for making worse

choices.
Aunt Pat did whoop them with extension cord and sat on the children’s heads; she weighed more than 200 pounds. John was much more troublesome than the rest of the children living with Aunt Pat so he got in trouble more.
Coping skills
John felt good about helping the ones caught up in the justice system. At the agency, John was encouraged to continue to keep good contact with the program and work toward his sobriety. He got clean from cannabis in September 25, 2015, but later had a relapse and got clean again in 2017. John maintained employment to help out with family financial situations, he is also involves in a lot of community activities such as helping to advocate for the guys who are still incarcerated and working towards new changes in his life. John developed a positive self-image by keeping all negative issues out his life, and learning which tools and coping skills to use to prevent relapses and to be responsible for his consequences. John is looking towards 2019, the end of his probation.

Reference
Dass-Brailsford, P.A. (2008). A practical approach to trauma: Empowering interventions Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. (p. 34).
Steel, W. and Malchiodi, C.A. (2012). Trauma-informed practices with children and adolescents. New York: Routledge (P. 120, 130 and 137).