System Culture

System Culture

Chapter 6 of your textbook addresses the concept of multiple levels of “client” including the individual client and a system of organizations, referral sources, reporting agencies, and reviewers or billing agencies.

In your initial post to this discussion, describe what is meant by a “system culture.” What are some of the ethical dilemmas that a provider, supervisor, or manager might encounter when working with a system in relation to the needs of an “identified client?” What are some of the potential ethical dilemmas when working with issues of mandatory reporting or with managed care or third-party payment agencies? Cite references from your text or other sources to support your post.

Unit3Disc2

Ethical and Cultural Factors

Review the Riverbend City multimedia piece about the family with a Bosnian immigrant father and the article by Vojvoda, Weine, McGlashan, Becker, and Southwick (2008) about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Bosnian refugees from the studies for this unit.

Then discuss the ethical considerations that would exist in working with the family portrayed in the multimedia piece.

• What culturally sensitive factors would the human services provider need to consider in working with this family’s issues and needs?
• How would the perspectives of the children differ from the perspectives of the parents?

Support your discussion with content from the article and the course text.

Riverbend

Introduction

The real world abounds with complicated situations where ethical behavior requires careful judgment.

In this activity, you will assume the role of a case manager at Curt Swann Middle School, a public school in Riverbend City, a mid-sized city in the Midwest.

A teacher at Swann has reported that Petar Cimirot, a 13-year-old boy in their English class, came to class early this week with bruises visible on his arm.

As it happens, you know the family somewhat. Petar’s mother, Sarah Cimirot, is a key member of Swann’s Booster Club, and is well-liked by school staff for her fundraising work on behalf of the school. You are not as well-acquainted with Petar’s father, Daris, but you know that he was born in Bosnia and came to Riverbend City as an immigrant in the 1990s.

Your task in this position is to evaluate the situation and determine the best resources to help the family. The first step is to talk to Petar.

Scenario 1

Petar Cimirot

I’m not in trouble, am I?

My arms are OK. They don’t hurt. It’s no big deal. My dad kind of grabbed my arms when he was talking to me, and he’s a real strong guy. he just has strong hands.

It really wasn’t a big deal. I have an app for my ipad that’s like a drum machine. I like to mess around with it and make beats. Usually I have my headphones on when I’m messing around with beats, but the other day I didn’t have them around so I just used the speaker in the ipad. It doesn’t have very good bass, so you have to kind of crank it for the beats to sound any good.

Anyway, I should have been more careful about it. I was in the dining room and my dad was in the living room watching soccer and I guess I had my beats playing too loud. He told me to turn it down and I didn’t and then he came into the room and just kind of grabbed me by the arms and told me to knock it off. Like I said, he’s got super strong hands. I don’t know. I feel bad about it. I should have known not to be so loud- it’s always a big deal when he can watch the Bosnian national team play on TV. I guess he shook me a little. But he just wanted to get my attention.

I don’t want this to be a problem. I don’t want him to get in any kind of trouble for this! He’s just a strong guy, and he’s really into soccer. So am I! After a little while I went in and watched the rest of the game with him and we had a good time.

Scenario 2

At this point of the process, after talking to Petar, your next step as a case worker at Swann Middle School would be to contact Child protective Services to report possible abuse.

After doing that, you should interview Petar’s parents separately. Before you talk to them, it would be a good idea to review this document, which details client rights they must be aware of.

Clients’ Rights Document – Download (PDF)

Scenario 3

Daris Cimirot

I guess I’ll talk to you, but I don’t think I need to be here. I’m here because my wife asked me to be.

Look. You say that Petar has bruises on his arm? He’s a 13-year-old boy! Of course he has bruises on his arm! Boys play rough! They’re lucky if they have bruises on their arms from playing. Let me tell you – when I was 13, I had lots of bruises all over my body, and I WISH they had been from playing. Sarajevo in 1994 was a very different place from Riverbend City. Petar never understands how good he has it.

I can’t remember. I may have held his shoulders while I told him to behave. A boy needs discipline! I’m not going to apologize for teaching my boy some manners. If he is going to grow up without being a wild animal, someone has to teach him. My father taught me discipline before he died, and I’m grateful every day. Petar is a good boy, but he can be inconsiderate. I would not be a good father if I didn’t teach him manners. I may have a short temper- I know that I probably do. But I cannot feel bad about being strong when I tell my boy how to behave.

Sarah Cimirot

Thank you for inviting me in! I have to tell you that I’m compltely mortified by this. I… Look. I want us to make sure that Petar is OK. That’s the most important thing. I know his father can be a little stern, and he can snap every now and then. He’s a strong man and maybe he just doesn’t know how strong!

I do have to ask you, though… I promise you that I’ll talk to Daris, and I want to make sure everything’s OK. But after I do that… Well, would it be possible for us to keep this between ourselves at this point? I’m so grateful that you brought me into this, but I’d love it if we could keep it from getting further pulled into the formal system.

Part of what I’m worried about is the school itself! I… I hate to bring this up, but you know how much money the Booster Club brings in for the school every year. And I love my work for the Booster Club! I love helping! I’m genuinely worried about what would happen if there were allegations of… sigh abuse attached to my name. Do you know what I mean? I don’t think I could show my face at Booster Club meetings.

I don’t know if abuse is the right word anyway! Daris isn’t an abuser! he’s just, well, stern and he has a temper. It’s not his fault! Honestly, I think he just has a lot of bagagge from his childhood that he never really processed. He was in Sarajevo during the siege in the 90s, and I know he saw a lot of terrible things. His parents died there during the siege. He doesn’t like to talk about it. I… I think this temper business might be a kind of PTSD, honestly.

How about this: what if I try to get Daris to finally talk to a therapist about what happened? I’ve been wanting him to for years… I think this might finally get him there. If I can promise you that I’ll get him to talk to someone – and I’m even willing to follow up and bring you proof – can we just call this matter closed?

After talking to the members of the Cimirot family, you should reflect upon a few things.

How plausible do you find the statements made by the different members of the family? What factors into your assessment?

Your response:

This question has not been answered yet.

What resources do you think it would be appropriate to direct the members of the Cimirot family towards?

Your response:

This question has not been answered yet.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have finished this activity.