Courtney's Demography

Looking at the micro-mezzo-macro approach to Courtney’s situation on an individual level, as her social worker, I would take into account that she is an African American woman in her 20s and she is recently pregnant with her first child. She works at a restaurant making minimum wage and is independent by living in her own apartment. On a mezzo level the father of Courtney’s child may or may not be in the picture long-term because of their recent fighting possibly because they cannot agree if she should choose to continue the pregnancy. She was raised by a single mother who has been supporting her emotionally and finically recently, however they were having problems with their relationship. She grew up in a low-income neighborhood. Based on

Nearly one third of African American and Hispanic women delay prenatal care until after the fourth month or they do not seek any care because of sociodemographic (lack of health insurance, low education, lower socioeconomic status, young, and not married), structural (lack of transportation and inconvenient clinic hours), psychological (lack of support and depression), and cultural struggles (dissatisfied with treatment plan) (Cunningham & Zayas, 2002). Also delayed and inadequate use of prenatal care among African Americans has been shown as a risk factor for an increase in infant mortality, low birth weight, and prematurity among infants (Lu & Halfon, 2003). Research also shows that prenatal depression is linked with single mothers, a lack of social support, unplanned pregnancies and financial difficulties, which are factors being experienced by Courtney. Infants of depressed mothers also show signs of depression (Cunningham & Zayas, 2002). Little is known about the effects of smoking during pregnancy so it is hard to say what the effects of Courtney’s smoking of marijuana would be (Lu & Halfon, 2003). Since Courtney is eight weeks pregnant it is crucial to help her obtain prenatal care. I would give her a deadline of when she should make her decision so that she can take part in prenatal care, as well as help her keep clinic appointments and get

With this theory I would look at each of his systems in his life such as family, school and community. I would see if the mother is comfortable in seeking outside help and counseling support for both her and William. Since his father seems to be having trouble with maintaining his personal space and his father role the blurring of these boundaries William lacks a good role for appropriate behavior. It seems that William is starting to respond with violence when he has an issue with his peers and takes things personally, however it does not seem to appear he is this way with his teachers and that he is able to open up with his teacher about his home life. I would explore further the patterns of his interactions with his mother and teachers. If William receives more input and positive feedback he will have more positive outputs i.e. better grades, improved interactions with peers. William seems to be headed towards entropy since he is doing worse in school and his interactions with his peers are shaky. I would provide William and his family with financial and emotional resources and I would see if William is interested in being involved with the community or if his family is religious so William can feel more growth and development and does not feel as stuck in his