In the final project, the case of Dalia will be analyzed to investigate the effects of ethnocentrism and racism in child development, especially during the adolescent period. Teens usually experience overwhelming emotions and several changes in their relationships with parents, peers, and community members. In addition to certain physiological changes, adolescents have to deal with social pressure and biased expectations. Dalia is a 14-year-old biracial girl, the youngest in her family (two other children have already left home). Her parents demonstrate different attitudes toward her education and development: a mother chooses a strict position of control, and a father is busy at work to admit Dalia’s behavior as a problem. The girl consumes alcohol with her friends and prefers highly sexualized behavior. At home, she is impulsive and irritable and uses clear (not always respectful) arguments during communication with her parents. She is not interested in therapy and social help as she believes that her parents have problems.
However, during the first sessions, it becomes evident that Dalia has certain psychological problems, and most of them are rooted in her complex relationships within a family. Her behavior is an example of self-harm that is observed in her physical altercations with peers and poor concentration on the tasks that play an important role in her education. It is normal for the girl to miss classes and find enough arguments against authorities. As an adolescent, Dalia uses her physiological growth to develop highly sexualized behaviors with males. All these facts say about her inability to identify the correct priorities and neglect her physical and emotional state. However, adolescence is a period when sources of prejudice and discrimination are identified, and the girl uses projection and a scapegoat approach to project the trait she dislikes onto her parents and peers (Zastrow et al., 2019). The lack of contact between parents and the child, the inability to receive the required portion of parental support and understanding, and imposed restrictions and control provoke self-harming behaviors in Dalia.
The establishment of trustful relationships with a social worker requires Dalia’s attention to her problems and expectations. The goals of counseling are determined by the fact that the girl sees the problems, not in her behavior or habits but in her family, including all its members. Therefore, the first purpose for the client to solve her problems is to analyze her family relationships and enhance parent-child contact. The mother should replace her desire to control with her desire to listen and cooperate; the father needs to be involved in family affairs; children have to respect adults and stop making independent decisions. The second goal is to re-evaluate Dalia’s relationships with peers at school. Instead of being involved in irrational sexual affairs with male peers, she must focus on her education and participate in local cultural and social events. Poor physical activities and behavioral difficulties provoke racial prejudice and discrimination (Priest et al., 2013). To avoid unnecessary judgments, Dalia can remove anger and altercations and choose communication and collaboration.
Adolescents are usually free to develop their interests and relationships with peers. However, if something goes wrong in their life, the problems of self-injurious behaviors occur, provoking suicidal attempts, non-suicidal self-injury, or self-harm (Clarke et al., 2019). In their article, the authors explain self-harm as the intention to injure, without death, as an expected outcome (Clarke et al., 2019). However, this behavior is characterized by unpredictable events because the young girl is not able to comprehend the level of threat to her future. The chosen peer-reviewed article helps to realize that peer victimization, parental neglect, and personal factors like impulsive aggression and negative event prediction are the causes of the client’s problems (Clarke et al., 2019). The development of goals depends on how well Dalia cooperates with a social worker and if she is ready to accept help. A treatment plan includes increased parental monitoring and supervision (Clarke et al., 2019). Therefore, work with parents and dialectical behavior therapy are recommended. In this family, the success of interventions is predetermined by the desire of parents to cooperate and change something in their family.
The impact of ethnocentrism and racism, in this case, remains indirect but crucial. Dalia is a representative of a biracial community, of African American and Irish American descent. Her relationships with peers may be exposed to multiple judgments, and the girl is not able to ask her parents for help and support. According to Zastrow et al. (2019), human culture is full of stereotypes that challenge the life of many minority groups. Dalia’s parents fail to give clear explanations, and teachers base their opinions on her family history (the example of her oldest sister). General descriptive information about particular community groups leads to the creation of negative opinions that strengthen discrimination (Zastrow et al., 2019). Dalia has to be recognized as a unique student with her specific qualities and skills being developed. A social worker is obliged to underline her individuality and contributions as a family member, a student, and an adolescent.
In general, the case of Dalia requires certain attention and investigation. In addition to the fact that the girl is a representative of a minority group who may undergo irrational judgments and stereotypes, she experiences a lack of support in her family. The improvement of parent-child relationships, cooperation, and communication are the main elements of social work interventions to predict the negative impact of racism and ethnocentrism.
References
Clarke, S., Allerhand, L. A., & Berk, M. S. (2019). Recent advances in understanding and managing self-harm in adolescents. F1000Research, 8. Web.
Priest, N., Paradies, Y., Trenerry, B., Truong, M., Karlsen, S., & Kelly, Y. (2013). A systematic review of studies examining the relationship between reported racism and health and wellbeing for children and young people. Social Science & Medicine, 95, 115–127.
Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.