1. demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the causes and impact of family and community violence within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
2. demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical and practical approaches to interventions in family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
Task:
Read the following case study:
You work as a counsellor in private practice in Sydney. Judy, a 32 year old Aboriginal woman has been referred to you by her GP. The referral notes that Judy is suffering from anxiety, depression and a recent increase in alcohol consumption. The request from the GP is to provide Judy with relaxation training in order to manage her symptoms and to assist her to better cope with stress.
On presentation, you learn that Judy is the mother of three children under the age of 12. Judy trained as a teacher , but stopped working after she married to raise her children. Her youngest child has behavioural problems and she has had many complaints from the school about his behaviour. He has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. Judy reported that her husband is very controlling. She noted that sometimes he “drinks too much” and gets very verbally aggressive. After a number of sessions, Judy admitted that at times her husband becomes physically violent toward her and also to the children, particularly her youngest.
Judy reported that last year, after a particularly violent argument, police were contacted by a neighbour. Police attended but were reassured by the husband that the argument was “just a misunderstanding”. However, they contacted the relevant child protection agency. Judy felt it unsafe to be honest about the domestic situation with the case worker from child protection and the case was quickly dismissed. Judy then decided to leave her husband. However, she was unable to find housing for her and her children and they all ended up living in a car for 3 months. She eventually returned to home to her husband. She reported that when she returned things were “really good” but recently she has noticed that her husband is drinking again and starting to become nasty.
Respond to the following questions:
1. From the material studied in this unit, what do you understand Judy’s issues to be? Are they the same or different to the understanding presented in the referral?
What strengths do you see in Judy? What forms of violence was she experiencing? (12 marks)
2. A number of agencies were involved with Judy and her family. Were they helpful? If not, why not? Discuss your answer in reference to the SafeTogether Model. (13 marks)
3. Discuss the barriers to addressing violence in First Nation Families and Communities such as Judy’s. Describe how in your role as a counsellor you might better be able to address Judy’s needs (15 marks).