Carol is a 23-year-old heterosexual Caucasian American female and the mother of a 1-
year-old baby girl. She is currently unemployed, having previously worked for a house cleaning 
company. The baby is healthy and developmentally on target, and she and the parents appear to 
be well bonded with one another. Carol lives in a rented house with her husband, Joseph. Joseph 
is a 27-year-old heterosexual Hispanic male. He was recently arrested at their home for a drug 
deal, which he asserts was a setup. Both parents were charged with child endangerment because 
weapons were found in the child's crib and drugs were found in the home. The parents assert that 
the child never sleeps in the crib but in their bed. As a result of the parents' arrest, Social 
Services was notified, and the child was temporarily placed in a kinship care arrangement with 
the maternal grandmother, who resides nearby. As a result of Joseph's arrest, he was fired from 
the cleaning company where he worked, and the family is now experiencing financial 
difficulties. 
After initial contact was made with the parents, a number of concerns were noted and the 
family was recommended for additional case management. The grandmother indicated that she 
had concerns about Carol's drinking habits and stated that Carol's father and grandfather were 
alcoholics. She and the father separated when Carol was a baby, and Carol has had only limited 
contact with him. There appears to be significant tension between the grandmother and Carol and 
Joseph. I addressed the alcohol issue with both parents, who denied there was a problem, but 
shortly after the discussion, Carol was involved in a serious car accident with the baby in the car, 
and she was determined to have been under the influence of alcohol. I advised Carol that she Social Work Case Studies for SOCW 6000 / Page 2 
could not have any unsupervised contact with her child until she completed intensive inpatient 
substance abuse treatment. I made arrangements for her placement, but after a week, she was 
discharged for noncompliance with the rules. She was then referred to an intensive outpatient 
program and began therapy there. Initially her attendance was erratic because she had lost her 
license as a result of the DUI. Eventually, however, she became engaged in the program and 
began to address her issues. She acknowledged that she had begun using drugs at a very young 
age, but said that she had only begun drinking in the previous year or so. We discussed the 
genetics of her family, and she said that she realized that she had deteriorated rapidly since 
beginning to drink and knew that she simply could not drink alcohol. 
Joseph's mother is deceased, and his father travels extensively in his job and is not 
available as a support. Joseph was very devoted to his mother and was devastated by her 
premature death. We discussed the strengths that he and Carol demonstrated in staying together 
and working out their problems. Joseph indicated that as a Hispanic man, family is very 
important to him and he wants his family to stay together. Although they have been struggling 
financially, Joseph has obtained stable employment landscaping for a large development and said 
he plans to take courses at the community college to learn the trade. He stated that he wants to 
provide a good life for his child. Carol has a lot of unresolved issues to deal with in therapy, not 
the least of which is the accident that could have killed her child and the legal ramifications that 
resulted from this incident. Although angry and hostile at the beginning, through the 
implementation of person-centered therapy we were able to establish agreed-upon goals that 
showed respect for the client and encouraged her to find solutions to her problems. Although our 
relationship was tenuous at times, providing encouragement to her rather than judgment enabled 
her to forgive herself and take corrective action.

Read the passage. Select among the following issues related to social and economic injustice: education, housing, or healthcare.

Describe the social or economic justice issue in the case study, describeing how this issue influences the subject of the case study.

Identify at least 2 strategies you could use to address the issue when you encounter it among clients.

describe how the strategies would contribute to positive outcomes for clients.