Assignment: Child Abuse and Neglect

Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse can have a devastating impact on a child and his or her family members. Social workers need to understand how to recognize and respond to cases of abuse expertly and efficiently. With an empathetic and helpful social worker, victims/survivors of abuse can take their first step onto the long road toward healing. For this Assignment, read the case study Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case of Brandon and then consider what you would do if you were a social worker and had to report a parent of suspected child abuse.

2 to 4 page paper in which you review the approach taken by the social worker in Brandon's case. Identify how the social worker might have used the ecological model to understand Brandon's situation based on a person-in-environment perspective. Explain the use of the ecological model in this case on micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Describe strengths the social worker may have missed in assessing Brandon and his mother. Review the challenges that the social worker identifies and explain the impact the abuse could have had on Brandon had his strengths not been identified and addressed.