First Week

My best friend's mom used to work as a public defender for Marion County Juvenilles. She recently left due to burn-out. Since I was hard-up for an internship, she got me a job working for the person who now has her last job. Sophia and Lela are the two ladies I work most closely with. Both are loving cat owners with Bachelor degrees in Social Work.
Tuesday was my first interview. I had to pass through a metal detector the first couple days before I had a badge, and this was a huge pain in the butt. I met with Sophia, Judy, and Lela who seemed to be very excited to take me under their wings. They left everything up to me. I made my own schedule and got oriented right away. They showed me where I could use computers, phones, and workspace. Sophia took me to another office where some of the filing is done. I met about a jillion attorneys and social workers of all walks of life that day. The second day was very long. I started a day log. Wednesday consisted of making my own file for a client and getting to know the computer system a little better. In the afternoon I was prepped to visit four delinquents who were "locked-up." It was great to meet with the criminals and learn about what they went through and what's coming up for them. The last of the four youths needed some paperwork to be completed. It was all psychological background that will be sent to the children's resource group. The entire interviewing process took 4 hours. My supervisor left the two of us alone for about an hour and a half to finish all the psychological evaluations. That evening I did the same paperwork with the youth's mother over the phone. Friday I went in to do some filing for Sophia and watch a session of court. We didn't work all that hard on Friday, but I got to see some interesting aspects of her job.
Reflection/Integration: HBSE/micro: After meeting your first client, can you say what stage of development they are at, according to the theories you learned in human behavior?
I've met 3 clients so far. The setting is inside a juvenille detainment center. The security is much like that of a jail, but the delinquents were all ages 15-17. Some were murderers and others belonged to gangs or have been medicated most of their life. Lots of these kids are at the identity vs identity diffusion stage of life. Much of what they do is an expression of who they want to be seen as. They are capable of formal operations and ethical standards are becoming more clear. However, these teens are in a very transitional stage of life. Lots of them are very limited financially and are at their wits end because they have taken anti-psychotic or ADD medications all their lives.