An unknown assailant sexually abused Gary on his way from school. He was taken to their local child support center for treatment who applied research methodologies and evaluation techniques to undertake and monitor the treatment progress. Intervention techniques applied resulted in the gradual psychological recovery of Gary. However, the treatment plan failed to consider possible post-traumatic stress disorder, common among victims of sexual assault (Mutavi & Mathai, 2017). Although the treatment plan abided by the laid-out rules and procedures, enlisting a male professional would have promoted Gary to open up sooner, decreasing his treatment duration. The boy would readily cooperate with a male social worker in telling his brother about the assault first and not his mother.
Key Client Outcomes and How the Outcomes were Measured
In the course of the treatment, the flashbacks gradually decreased after applying intervention techniques to the treatment. The child services professional measured the intervention success through the Generalized Contentment Scale (Betty, 2014). An in-depth revisit of the particular day of Gary’s assault brought back the gory memories. The rekindling of the assault memories was measured after the police asked Gary to explain the events of his assault later. Alternatively, during the intervention and before intervention marked significant differences in the outcome of the treatment. The last outcome involved mood changes after the intervention, where Gary began participating in various activities, and his enthusiasm increased in his daily activities.
How the Social Worker Used the Empowerment Approach in Collecting Data
She empowered Gary by applying intervention techniques such as environmental manipulation, psychoeducation, empathic listening and easing his feelings, relaxation, and self-talk, and reframing Gary’s involvement in the assault by depicting him as the victim (Betty, 2014). The empowerment approach methods boosted Gary’s self-esteem and eradicated the trauma, making him feel safe and active.
Evaluation to Measure the Effectiveness of the Food Stamped Challenge
The challenge should have lasted longer than one week to account for the health difference before and after enrolling on food stamps as their diet report was only a projection (Shira & Yoav, 2010). Shira and Yoav Potash would have carried out the challenge in a typical food stamp-reliant scenario. For instance, many people relying on food stamps are homeless, and some have difficulties covering miscellaneous costs such as cooking gas and electricity bills.
References
Potash, S., Potash, Y. (2010). Food Stamped [Film]. Summit Pictures.
Blythe, B. J. (2014). Evaluating the treatment of a sexually assaulted child. In C. W. LeCroy (Ed.), Case studies in social work practice (3rd ed., pp. 341-348). Wiley.
Mutavi, T., & Mathai, M. (2017).Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in sexually abused children and educational status in Kenya: A longitudinal study. PubMed Central (PMC).