Case study

You work in an integrated youth centre that provides psychological services, legal and other advice along with practical support such as IT access, washing machines and food preparation areas for young people. We will use one of your families throughout the semester to apply some of the knowledge we have learned.

The family consists of Stan (father), Lesley (mother), Daniel (16 years, son) and Susie (13 years, daughter). They are a culturally diverse family as Stan is of Greek decent and Lesley is from India. They live in a modest home in a good suburb not far from the city.

Daniel was referred to your service by his school counsellor because she was concerned about his severe depression and behaviour issues (such as not completing work, ignoring teachers and truancy). She fears he will eventually drop out of school altogether.

Daniel claims his father, Stan, is a ‘jerk’ who only cares about himself. He said his father is obsessed with football and seems to hate him because Daniel hates football. He tells you that Stan is “psycho” and is always yelling at his Mum or ignoring her when she talks. He tells you everyone outside of home loves his father because he’s “a footy legend”. Daniel’s mother is described as really lovely and kind, but is “weak” around Stan. She is a stay at home mom who is very house proud and keeps the house really clean and tidy. She has few interests outside the home and, according to Daniel, seems a bit sad.

Daniel’s younger sister is Susie (aged 13 years). Susie is an energetic and popular student who tries to ignore the issues with her father by spending a lot of time in her room reading and listening to music. Lesley is a little concerned she may be slow developing but hasn’t spoken to a doctor yet.

Need to Discuss=

From our family, I would like you to consider Daniel’s issues. Do you think a psychologist could help Daniel? From which of the schools of thought in psychology do you think it would be most appropriate to examine Daniels problems? Please explain why this is your opinion.