Theoretical Case Analysis

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CYCA 2500 (2) – Theoretical Case Analysis
Fictional Client Scenario
David Green is 78 years old. He is currently residing in the Williams Lake Senior’s Village.
David is Inuit and Scottish – his biological mother came from Iqaluit, Nunavut and his biological father was
from Inverness, Scotland. When David was 3 years old, his parents split up and his mother gave him up for
adoption. David was adopted by Elizabeth and Alvin Green, who were originally from Toronto. They were
Caucasian of European ancestry. They had two sons of their own at the time of the adoption. The family
relocated to Williams Lake in 1950 when Alvin bought a ranch in the area. At that time, David was 8 years
old and his brothers were 13 and 15.
When David was 13, his mother passed away from cancer. She was the one person David felt accepted
and loved him. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, David felt largely isolated from his family and
his community because he felt acutely aware of his differences – he felt like he didn’t fit in anywhere, but he
had no idea where he was from. He wasn’t Caucasian, nor was he First Nations so he didn’t feel belonging
with either of those communities. His parents told him they had no family information for him other than he
was adopted from “up north”. David didn’t know about his ancestry but was very aware that he didn’t look
like anyone else he knew. Throughout David’s like, he firmly believed he was an outsider and would always
be. He believed that he didn’t belong anywhere and never would. He continuously told himself that he
would never be accepted by people and he needed to figure out how to not rely on others, so he became
very self-reliant and withdrawn.
David experienced bullying, abuse and isolation from peers growing up and he learned quickly to fightback. His father, a rancher, believed David needed to “buck up and be a man” from the time he was 6 years
old. Alvin had high expectations for his son, but he was never violent or abusive towards him. Alvin did,
however, consistently place favor on his biological sons and when he passed away, he left the ranch to
them and left David a comparatively small sum of money in his will. David was 24 when his father passed
away and at that point, he felt truly cast adrift. He believed his father had only ever seen him as free labour
for the ranch and not as a son.
David came across a letter his biological mother wrote to his parents at the time of the adoption, when they
were clearing out his late father’s belongings. She outlined her desire for them to love and care for him.
The letter was signed “Alice” and she wrote “Iqaluit” under her name.
David left the ranch and decided to go to Iqaluit to find his mother. He did locate her and, while he was
happy to have met her and some of his extended family, he didn’t feel he belonged there either. He didn’t
understand the language and everything about the Inuit culture felt foreign to him. It was another
experience of feeling like he didn’t really belong so, after that initial week-long visit, he returned to BC.
He had no further contact with his adopted brothers or his Inuit family. He drifted around central BC,
cowboying for various ranches but he never got along with the other ranch hands, so he didn’t stay in any
one place for long. Whenever anyone extended a show of friendship, David would cut them off, telling
himself they were just trying to get something from him and couldn’t be trusted. He was suspicious of
anyone who tried to connect with him. Eventually, with a small sum of money he inherited from his father
and his meager savings, he bought a small parcel of land near Tatla Lake where he subsistence-farmed
and ranched for himself. He never married nor had children of his own.
Three years ago, at age 75, David had a stroke and became unable to remain on his property. He was
placed at the Senior’s Village in Williams Lake. He says he’s a loner and he isn’t interested in making
friends. He says that most people don’t like him anyway so why bother trying at this late stage of his life. He
says he’s just there, waiting “for it to be over”. He self-isolates and remains alone in his room most of the
time. He doesn’t participate in activities or socialization.
Theoretical Case Analysis
You will be provided with a fictional client scenario. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your
ability to understand how theory relates to real life as this is what you will need to be able to do to
participate in theory informed practice in the field.
Using the three theories we covered in class (Erikson, Cognitive/Behavioural and Socio-Cultural) write a
theoretical analysis of the scenario using the three theories you’ve chosen using the following guideline:
For EACH THEORY cover the follow points (Do each theory separately please!):
• What are the parts of the scenario specifically relate to the theory (Identify the details from the scenario)
and how they relate to the theory.
• Explain the impacts of those scenario details on the client as it relates to the theory.
• Using your imagination, explain what you think the possible long-term impacts of those events might be
on that client as they continue through life?
• Give an example of how you might support that client that might benefit one aspect of their scenario.
Specifically, what would you do and tell me why you think it might be helpful, according to the theory.
You will need to write about this three times – once for each theory