Teen Pregnancy
Early pioneers and researchers in the field of social work recognized the role the environment plays in the functioning of human beings. The circumstances or people surrounding us influence the decisions we make in life. If one is surrounded by an unpleasant environment, then they are most likely to make unpleasant judgments. To better understand and envision how clients are affected by the environments they live in, the ecological framework is useful.
The agency taking care of Katharine’s teenage pregnancy case is the Family and Children’s Services specifically the Unmarried Parents Service in Lakesford. The referral date for this case is March 15, 1995. The source of the referral is Katharine Westley, a young woman, who through a telephone conversation stated that she is 17 and is three months pregnant. The reason for her reaching out is because she would like to discuss plans for adoption with the agency. Katharine comes from an evidently humble background and she still has not completed secondary school. She was impregnated by her boyfriend Jim Koslik who is 19 and in the final year of high school. He lives at home with his parents while his sister and brother work far away from home.
Katharine’s parents are Arthur Westley of age 35, and her mother Caroline Westley aged 33. She is the firstborn of three brothers, Douglas aged 15, Robert aged 14, and Christopher aged 10. Jim’s parents are Walter Koslik aged 53 and Maria Koslik aged 50. He has an elder sister Sarah aged 30 who works away from home and Stephen who is 28 years old is a professional engineer who also works away from home. The two families have been brought together by the unborn child of Katharine and Jim. Katharine and Jim are both under immense pressure from their parents to get married and bring up the child. Mr Koslik believes that this is a family matter and as such, they should all be addressed in regards to the coming baby. He keeps insisting that the baby is their own flesh and blood and there is no other choice other than to raise the child.
Kathy describes her family as being chaotic with her mother being absent from them for the most part of their childhood. She goes on to say that her mother became pregnant with Kathy when she was sixteen and they had to get married to her father. Her mother left when she was five and left behind her two younger brothers and she went away for almost a year. The children were then placed in a farm family they knew and they would only see their dad once in a month. During this time they did not see their mother even once. She then returned home and the family was reunited and she gave birth six months later to another baby boy. His name was Christopher and he was accepted into the family. Shortly after, fights between her mother and dad ensued and Kathy’s dad was mostly quiet because her mother would out yell him every time they fought. From that time her mother started leaving their home occasionally with Christopher. This happened when Kathy was seven, ten, and again when she was fourteen. The children had lived with aunt and uncle during the last separation and they were very happy there. Kathy admits to loving her dad but despises him for taking in her mother every time she came back.
The relationship between Kathy’s parents rules that of a happily married couple. Kathy’s mother appears to be controlling and authoritative without letting Kathy who is the concerned party speak. This is also the same for Mr Kosnik. He appears to be very controlling and intimidating to a point where both Jim and his mother are afraid to disagree with him and have to offer affirmation in everything he says. The economic status of both Jim and Katharine is not good since they are still both in school but their parents insist that they will offer financial aid and in helping them bring up the child.
Kathy feels that together with her brothers, they would have been better off staying with their aunt until they were grown up. Due to the many changes they went through in their childhood, they also had to keep changing schools. She is rather frustrated that they are all behind in school and the boys have even started experiencing trouble with the law. She asserts that all this happened because as children they whether they were coming or going. At the moment, she does not feel as though she can even like or respect her mother. Her mother keeps trying to tell her that they are more than sisters especially in the presence of friends and relatives but Kathy feels that her only goal is to stay young. Sometimes they go shopping together and laugh at the same things but Kathy’s mother quickly switches to her condescending and downgrading behaviour.
Kathy’s thoughts on her career are that she could handle college work and her teachers have also told her so. She is a year behind where she should be and is still two years away from completing secondary school. Her view is that if she did not have to change schools so often she would be further ahead by now. Her future plans are to get away from the family and go live with her uncle and aunt who will let her stay throughout her pregnancy. If all goes well, she would like the baby to be placed for adoption in Townsville where her uncle and aunt live. She could then get any kind of a job and support herself to get back to school and get professional education. Her dreams are to become a travel agent.
Kathy feels that Jim is completely under his father’s thumb and her wish is that he could become more assertive. He wants to study, go to college, and become a physicist since she believes he is a real brain. She also knows that Jim is moving along with the marriage plan only because his father says it is the right thing to do. She is also frightened that agreeing to marriage will make him hold it against her all their lives for not letting him pursue the career he wants and is well suited for. Jim and Kathy have been dating for about six months now.
Kathy’s strengths are that she appears to be calm and collected most times during our interviews. Even when her mother or Mr Koslik take over the conversation, her face remained set. She was very determined on the decision she made and no amount of talks from both families would have changed that. She is also bitter at her mother for deserting them when they were still very young and causing them all the pain and struggle. She also says that she does not like her mother or respect her due to those decisions she made and because she also keeps downgrading her. Jim’s strengths are that he is very quiet and sharp basing from his ambition of wanting to be a physicist. He, however, also acts cowardly by agreeing with everything that his father says without sharing his opinion on the matter. I think that Kathy is a very assertive and determined woman and will do what she sets her mind on to. Jim on the other hand displays a lack of confidence in airing his opinions or making a stand on what he wants and says only what his father wants to be said.
I think that discrimination plays a big role in this case. The discrimination mainly stems up from the parents assuming that Kathy and Jim are still young and cannot make their own decisions. This leads to them offering all sorts of solutions about bringing up the baby without considering the opinion of the baby’s parents. Mr Koslik and Caroline are very intent on undermining Kathy and Jim and even tell them to forget about any future plans they might have in regards to their education and think about the responsibility coming for them. Mr Koslik even goes ahead to propose that he will have Jim enrolled for work at the meatpacking company where he works while Kathy will have to stay home and take care of the baby. It is clear that for Mr Koslik and Kathy’s mother, the opinions of the young parents do not matter since they cannot make decisions on such matters. According to Mr Koslik, this is a family matter and should be talked about openly by both families which appear to be mainly him and Kathy’s mother.
Some of the ethical standards I would reference when dealing with this case include confidentiality, the dignity and worth of the persons involved, integrity, competence, the great importance of human relationships, non-judgmental attitude towards the case or the clients, controlled emotional involvement, self-awareness and sensitivity to others, empathy and critical thinking skills.