ipl-logo

Alonza Thomas's Life Incarceration Case Study

2273 Words10 Pages

Alonza Thomas’s Life Incarceration Case Study SWRK 140C Social Work Practice Janice Montgomery Heidi Solorio May 17, 2024. Section 1: Generalist Assessment Alonza Thomas, a 16-year-old African American male, is embroiled in a complex web of challenges stemming from his engagement in criminal activity, including armed robbery. His story parallels the brutal realities experienced by many young people caught up in a pattern of destitution, criminal behavior, and being imprisoned as powerfully depicted in PBS Frontline's documentary "Stickup Kid". Alonza desires help to negotiate the complexities of his situation and forge a path for reconciliation and societal reintegration. Client Profile Alonza's adolescence takes place in urban Oakland, California, …show more content…

By exploring these facets, we hope to expose routes to empowerment and resilience that are consistent with social work principles and address dynamics at the micro, meso, and macro levels. When evaluating resources, Alonzo shows promise for development in spite of difficult conditions by shining as a model of tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit. Similarly, in spite of the complications arising from Alonzo's engagement in illicit activities, his family has a strong support structure, which is reinforced by unofficial networks in their community. In addition, the community supports people like Alonzo by providing essential services and cultural assets that promote resilience and group problem-solving. In the world of possibilities, Alonzo has the ability to refocus his abilities on positive endeavors with the help of outside resources. Alonzo's development and general well-being may also be supported by programs that focus on enhancing family ties and utilizing outside resources. Restorative justice ideas underpin community-based reintegration programs, which can offer job training and

Show More
Related
389 Words | 2 Pages

“From Prison to Ph.D. The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones”. Written by Elly Hager. Michelle Jones was released last month after two decades in an Indiana prison for the murder of her four years old son. She got pregnant at 14 after not consensual sex with a high school senior, and her mother beating her in the stomach with a board, and she was placed in a series of group homes and foster families. Her son died in 1992 in uncleare circumstances and the body was never found.

Read More
616 Words | 3 Pages

The Stickup Kid “Stickup Kid” is a FRONTLINE digital exclusive on PBS. This 28 minute video is a documentary film that tells Alonza Thomas’ stories of living in a California State Prison, and then follows his life once he’s released. The interesting thing about Alonza is that he was tried as an adult when he was only 15 years old. Alonza Thomas had run away from home, and lived with a man for a few days. When Alonza decided to go back to his own home, the man pulled a gun on him and said, “You think you’re just gonna eat my food for free?

Read More
955 Words | 4 Pages

Another example was my 17 year old cousin who was sent to rehabilitation center because of abusing drugs. Joel was emotionally unstable and had some family issue. After going through a rehab, he became mature and responsible like Ousley. He went to college and finished a degree. Rehabilitation helps juvenile change their attitudes and give them new hope in

Read More
1033 Words | 5 Pages

The book “for the Children? Protecting innocence in a Carceral State” written by Erica R. Meiners, is a book about how youths in the communities of color are deprived of protection, and how childhood was not being made available to all children of that community. According to the book, Meiners pointed out school-to-prison pipeline, incarceration willful defiance, racial profiling and policing has been a recurring and terrifying issue among the children of color, especially among the African American children. The ideology of policing and incarceration was to ensure that American citizens, both white and black are protected from harm and violence in schools and in their different neighborhoods.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

Issues of Social and Economic Justice Throughout my experience in the Panhandle Promise Project, I had the opportunity to closely examine the injustice many of the clients experience based on their race, economic status, or in the criminal justice system. Since the starting of America’s war on drugs longer sentencing for drug offences that in violent crimes, there has been an increase of the number of minorities who are currently in prison (Wormer, Kaplan, and Juby (2012). For the children having a parent incarcerated affects them in several different ways, such as having a higher risk of being place in foster care (Andersen and Wildeman, 2014) , poor school performance (Eddy et al., 2014), food insecurity (Turney, 2014c), antisocial behavioral problems (Jarjoura et al., 2011f). For women who have been release from prison new barriers limit the assistance they will received, the ineligibility for food stamps (Travis, 2002), and in some cases the loss of their children custody (Welsh, 2014b).

Read More
1042 Words | 5 Pages

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are currently over 2.2 million individuals serving time in federal and state prison, with 95 percent of those individuals being released and returning to their perspective communities across the nation. Majority of those individuals returning have needs that was either unaddressed while incarcerated or during the reentry process, which will negatively impact their ability to live a crime free productive life while in the community. Once released from prison, inmates are faced with a myriad of challenges such as finding stable housing, maintaining employment, combating substance abuse, and addressing physical and mental health problems. However, with the help of community support, offenders would less likely return back to prison and are

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

Option 1 Exploring Life of a incarcerated juvenile, Alonza Thomas Alonza Thomas was a typical fifteen year old boy, he had no run ins with the police, his mom worked two jobs and his father was not around. His mother was trying to finish a college degree, and help get the out the slum life they were in. His entire life ruined by one mistake, he was sent to adult prison for thirteen years. He was convicted right after California “cracked down” on juvenile crime. Alonza Thomas attempted to rob a convenience store at gunpoint, when the clerks and owners tackled and stopped him.

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

During the 1930s, the Great Depression severely affected the economy of the United States as well as the majority of its citizens. This catastrophe, along with the Dust Bowl, resulted in people having their land and homes stripped away from them, their families becoming deathly ill, and having a huge lack of basic necessities for survival. In John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he strategically structured his chapters in order to correctly portray what was going on during this period in American history. Steinbeck argued that the Great Depression was a widespread struggle, and through the unification of people, it would help ease the adversities brought about by this period, and he advanced these arguments through the use of interchapters.

Read More
157 Words | 1 Pages

Should attorneys use a confession from a client use that confession to free the wrongly convicted person from prison? According to court documents on January 11, 1982 a security guard for McDonalds in Chicago, Ill by the name of Lloyd Wyckliffe was killed; later police arrested Alton Logan after acting on a tip that he was the shooter (People v. Logan, 1991). Alton was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. However, Alton was innocent and only three people knew of his innocence of murdering the security guard. The first person was the one who did the killing his name was Andrew Wilson.

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

The article “Prisoner Reentry in a Small Metropolitan Community: Obstacles and Policy Recommendations” by Brett Garland, Eric J. Wodahl, and Julie Mayfield explains how the study proves that rehabilitation services provided during imprisonment for inmates that are going to reentry society are beneficial. In the study 43 male offenders were asked to identify which programs help them or that can help them to reentry society. It is mention in the article that the main obstacles male offenders face after reentering includes employment and reconnection with their

Read More
106 Words | 1 Pages

children have a parent in jail. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone, 72,000 children have lost a parent due to incarceration (Amachi, 2016). Due to the fact that the size of the problem is growing “and its tendency to impact already vulnerable children signals a need to clarify both the unique needs and challenges shared by these children as well as the individual qualities and circumstances that mediate the effect of parental incarceration” (La Vinge, Davies, & Brazzell, 2008, p. 2). Unfortunately, children who suffer from having an incarcerated parent are too often invisible to policy makers and social service organizations. Nature and Scope of Concern

Read More
1751 Words | 8 Pages

Since African-American men are likely to be imprisoned than other men, African American kids encounter an exceptional and unique weakness (Mass imprisonment and childhood behavioral problems, 2011). Accordingly, mass imprisonment makes an arrangement of abuse for some of the society 's most helpless

Read More
1518 Words | 7 Pages

Erasmus Mundus Master in Social Work with Families and Children 4th edition - 2016-2018 1st Semester Name: Rojika Maharjan 1. Social work has evolved with different “theories in social work”; either concepts derived from other social sciences such as psychology or sociology or “theories for social work” which are the core philosophy of social work practice specified to give a professional purpose and approach to practice (Healy, 2014). a) Regarding the context of children and families, system theory and strength theory are appropriate. i)

Read More
1508 Words | 7 Pages

Empowerment theory and macro social work typically appear in the form of grassroots organizing (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Both social work students and practitioners tend to work on the mezzo or micro level with individuals, families, and/or small groups, rather than within larger communities (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Community organization is not possible if one person attempts to create change alone. A group of like-minded people must make a concentrated effort to instigate change in a community. Groups must have open communication and an understanding of the common goal.

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

1. Explain the influence of Zen Buddhism on Japanese culture. Zen Buddhism is not the natural religion of the Japanese people. Yet, it has had important inspiration on the culture of this island’s country.

Read More

More about Alonza Thomas's Life Incarceration Case Study

Open Document