Herman Case Paper

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The social worker did the basics of her job. She provided Herman with food, attempted to appeal the prohibition of food being delivered to his home, and attempted to transport him to the senior center for meals. She respected and promoted the client’s rights of self-determination and the right to bear arms. On the other hand, however, she failed to take some actions into consideration for further evaluation. No psychological evaluation was conducted on Herman, even though he was isolated from society and showed signs of depression. When problems occurred and she was not sure on how to handle them effectively, she failed to obtain appropriate supervision and/or consultation with colleagues.

When in the position of the senior center director, her actions were justified. Her worker was potentially at risk of harm and danger by delivering meals to a man with a loaded gun. Her guidelines and protocol were presumably to terminate the visits. The center’s liability of the aide possibly getting injured was too high to ignore the facts of the situation. Even though Herman was only practicing his rights as an American citizen, he was a potential danger to the workers assigned to him. He could have had psychological problems, which could impair judgement in some situations. This could lead to an aide being shot, causing injury and/or death.

The proper supervision and/or consultation of the social worker could have allowed the case’s situation to be handled correctly and effectively. Supervision would mean that a supervisor became familiar with the case and the situations that presumed. He/she would then walk through the best action in order to resolve the conflict with the social worker. The supervisor would carefully monitor the social worker and the progress within the case. Consultation involves discussing a case with a colleague and receiving feedback. The amount of information exchanged varies, and the feedback is merely a suggestion that the social worker can choose to follow or ignore.

The Herman case could have and should have been handled differently and more efficiently. The social worker did not handle the case correctly or completely. Herman obviously had some social issues, and showed signs of psychological problems. No action was taken on account of those possible problems. No supervision or consultation was exercised in this case, even though the social worker did not know precisely what should have been done. Though the senior center director seemed to care more about her job than about Herman, she was simply following protocol that comes with her occupation. The aide did her job, addressed a possible issue to her administrator, and followed rules set by that administrator. Herman suffered the most. He was lonely, sad, and felt unsafe. He was a war veteran and an elderly man. Although not positive, he could have had PTSD and depression, which could have been evaluated and assessed if it had been acted upon. His suicide is what determined this a failed case on the end of the social worker and her inability to receive help or assess a possible situation.

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References

Segal, E. A.(2014). An Introduction to the Profession of Social Work: Becoming a Change Agent. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Alpass, F. M., and Neville, S. (2010). Loneliness, health and depression in older males. Aging and Mental Health, Volume 7, Issue 3, 212-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360786031000101193

Alban, A.D., and Frankel, A.S. (2007). Supervision vs. Consultation: What you need to know. The California Psychologist, volume unavailable, issue number unavailable, page range unavailable. http://clinicallawyer.com/2007/07/supervision-vs-consultation-what-you-need-to-know/