Ms. Malcom’s problem is that she is wanting Ms. Kaplan to tell her whether she should take Irene from the hospital and seek an alternative treatment method based off the assumption that Irene is cursed. Using a family systems theory perspective it reveals Ms. Malcom is faced with several issues. Ms. Malcom’s Haitian-American culture would suggest that Irene is cursed. Ms. Malcom at first did not explore that option when she set out exploring other possible options for Irene’s behavior with the various agencies, but when the hospital was unable to provide a medical or mental explanation for Irene’s behavior, when she began considering cultural reasons. Ms. Malcom needs to differentiate herself from her close family to be able to think clearer. …show more content…
A disadvantage of this intervention is that the close bond that Ms. Malcom has with her family can be damaged, as everyone begins expressing their feelings on Irene’s behavior. For Ms. Malcom an emotional cut off needs to take place. The proximity of Ms. Malcom and her family to her parents is causing problems within the Malcom family. Ms. Malcom although independent is dependent on her parents for emotional support and this is clouding her judgements as her parents are of another generation and may have experienced the same problems and but the way the problems would have been resolved was differently because of generational gap. Ms. Malcom should proceed by emotionally separating herself from her parents as a physical separation may cause more undue stress on her. An advantage of the emotional cut off is that Ms. Malcom can process her thoughts and feelings without being clouded with the emotions of her parents. This will empower her to think objectively about decisions that are best for her family