Campbell Family Case Study

10 questions 3 to 4 sentences each

Introduction

Throughout  this course and your synchronous activities, we will be focusing on the  members of the Campbell family. Please review the following case  information to get an understanding of this family, including  demographic information, roles, and identified issues. You will use this  case study as a basis for your final treatment plan.

Meet the Campbell Family

This  family lives in Fort Lupton, a rural town in northern Colorado with a  population of almost 7,500 residents. About 55% of residents are  Hispanic and another 42% are white. The unemployment rate is 16%. The  primary industry in Fort Lupton is construction, although there is also a  growing gas and oil industry.

The family was referred to Weld  County’s Department of Health Services for assessment and evaluation  after the 15-year-old son, Jacob, was charged with grand theft auto. He  is scheduled to attend court later this week. Kali, Jacob’s 17–year–old  sister, has previously been on probation for drug use and possession of  marijuana.

Jacob and Kali’s dad, Joe, has requested a meeting. He  says, “My family is falling apart, and no one is talking about it.” He  says that Jacob is a screw–up and doesn’t seem to care, and that Kali,  who never leaves her room, is always high. “Frankly, I don’t blame her,”  he says. “My wife Karen her mother, is drinking herself to death.”

At  the intake, each family member filled out a brief entrance form. Joe is  frustrated and on edge, saying that no one wanted to come, including  his wife, and he had to bribe his daughter and son to get in the car.  Karen is sitting next to her son with her head down, avoiding any eye  contact. Kali laughs at her father and is on her phone. Jacob has his  baseball cap pulled over his eyes, slumps in his chair, and is  pretending to be asleep.

Karen Campbell

• Karen Campbell is a 34–year–old female.  Her father is Hispanic, second generation from Mexico, and her mother  was Hopi Native American. She is a stay–at–home mom who works part time  for a friend with a house cleaning business.
• Karen’s father is  55. He lives on the family ranch where Karen grew up, and Karen says she  sees him a couple of times a year. Karen’s mother passed away two years  ago at the age of 51 from heart failure.
• Karen has no siblings. Her brother committed suicide when he was 14 years old. Karen was 10 at the time.
• Karen was raised Catholic, but has not attended church in over 20 years.
• Karen is a stay at home mom that works part time for a friend who has a house cleaning business.
• Karen  says that she started dating Joe in the eighth grade. They married when  Karen got pregnant with Kali at the age of 17. They have been married  for 17 years, with two previous separations. The first separation was  when Karen was three months pregnant with Kali and Joe enlisted with the  Army. Karen says her mother made her move back home at that time,  because she didn’t trust Joe. When Joe finished his two–year commitment,  they reconciled, right after Karen delivered Jacob.
• The second  separation was two years ago, and Joe actually filed for separation.  Karen says it was because she was not coping well with her mother’s  death, that she “just fell apart.” Joe didn’t know how to handle it, so  he just left. (For his part, Joe says he left her because she was  depressed and drinking herself to death like her mother did.)
• Karen says she is anxious about obtaining help, but that she also feels guilty, and that she is a failure as a parent.
• She  says, “My kids used to like me, we used to be close. Now they never  talk to me —they avoid me, really. I’ve failed them as a mother, so now I  really have no purpose in life.”
• Karen reports one good  girlfriend whom she does not see often. She does not go out socially,  and she drinks at home to “calm her nerves.”
• Karen presents as unkempt, frazzled, and nervous. She has dark circles under her eyes and looks physically unhealthy.
• Karen reports a previous diagnosis of depression and has active diabetes. She also reports current high levels of anxiety.

Joe Campbell

• Joe  is a 35 year old Caucasian male who is estranged from his father Bob.  Joe has not talked to Bob since his father left the family over 25 years  ago. Joe’s mother is in the local nursing home, after having been  diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 57. Joe says he picks  his mom up every Sunday to attend the Lutheran church. He reports being  very close to his mother, and says he is frustrated that Karen and the  kids refuse to go to church with them.
• Joe has two older sisters  who live in the same town. He says he tries to see them, but Karen  doesn’t get along with them, so “it’s not really worth the effort.”
• Joe is an Army veteran and served for two years in Afghanistan after his high school graduation, shortly after marrying Karen.
• Joe  is a long–haul truck driver. He was once a police officer, but he was  injured on the job 10 years ago. After he left the force, he started  working for his brother–in–law’s trucking business. He says it helps his  marriage to be away from home for long periods of time, but because he  is gone so much, the kids don’t listen and “everything has fallen  apart.”
• Joe is an active member of the American Legion and he is  there most nights that he is not working, talking to the other police  officers and community members.
• Joe says Karen was his high  school girlfriend, and when she got pregnant he did the right thing by  marrying her. He says he joined the Army so he could provide a better  life for his family, and he was devastated when Karen moved out of their  home to live with her mother.. He says he had to beg her to come back,  and it was only after she became pregnant with Jacob that they  reconciled.
• Joe says he left again two years ago and moved in  with his sister and brother“in”law after Karen’s mother died. Karen had  started to drink heavily, and began to be angry and violent towards him.  He moved back home about a year ago when he realized his kids were out  of control and Karen needed some help in dealing with their behaviors.
• Joe  said in his individual intake that he wants a divorce. “I can’t stand  Karen, her drinking, and how she has given up, but I am afraid for my  kids if I leave,” he said. “They’re already a mess because of her, and  if I leave, who knows what will happen?”
• Joe smokes cigarettes on a daily basis and “drinks beers with the guys.” He denies any previous psychological diagnosis.

Kali Campbell

• Kali is a 17–year–old mixed–race teenager who presents as quiet, agitated, and disengaged.
• She  has been arrested twice for drug use and possession of marijuana. She  is still on probation for her last charge six months ago, when Kali and  her girlfriend were caught smoking marijuana at the high school football  stadium.
• Kali says that she is bisexual and her parents think  it is “a stage,” but she feels that she loves all people. She says that  she is in love with her girlfriend, who is 19 years old.
• Kali  says she doesn’t go to school because it is stupid and she doesn’t learn  anything. After her girlfriend graduated last year, there is just no  reason to attend. She says, “There is nothing my parents or the stupid  law can do about it. I am 17! They can’t make me go if I don’t want to  anymore, so mom can just get over it and stop crying about it.” Her dad  says she left school because she is embarrassed that she is gay and was  bullied by the other kids.
• When asked what her future plans are,  Kali says, “I’m just waiting to turn 18 so I can get out of this stupid  place with my girlfriend, because we are going get as far away from  here as we can.” Kali reports no desire to find a job or obtain her GED.  She says she may go to school later to become a hairdresser, but only  if she has to.
• Kali has violated her probation by testing  positive for marijuana. During her intake, she said, “Drug laws are so  stupid. It’s a natural plant! And why does it matter if I am 17 or 21?”  Kali says smoking marijuana helps her to stay calm, reduces her anxiety,  and helps her deal with her parents’ constant arguing. “Well, if you  can call it that,” she says. “Mom yells and dad just sits there and  takes it, I don’t know why.”
• Joe says, “Kali is a beautiful kid, but she takes after her mom – which sucks, because she won’t amount to anything.”
• “I  don’t know what to do with her now that she likes girls,” Karen says.  “It’s so embarrassing that she keeps getting in trouble with this girl,  but I know it will pass. It’s just hard to watch her make these bad  decisions. I don’t know what the big deal about marijuana is, it’s not  like we didn’t drink when we were her age. Why does the law have to get  involved? If it keeps her calm, what’s the problem?”
• “I think  Kali is depressed but she won’t talk about it,” Joe says. She told me  once, “I’m not a mess like mom! If I was depressed I would be like her, a  stupid mess who does nothing but drink and sleep. I am nothing like  her.”
• Kali has never had an official diagnosis, but was referred  to counseling for depression by her school counselor as well as her  probation officer.

 Jacob Campbell

• Jacob  has recently been charged with grand theft auto and is scheduled to  attend court this week. “I was bored and we had just won the regional  football playoffs,” he says. “Mom picked me up drunk at the school, and  dad was gone who knows where, maybe working, so what was I supposed to  do? My teammates needed me. So I drove her home and she passed out. I  didn’t want to take her car, so I took the neighbors’ car. They always  leave the keys in their car, and they’re old, so I didn’t think they  would ever know.”
• Kali says that Jacob has been taking the  neighbor’s car frequently, probably since he was 13, and that he was  just stupid this time and got caught.
• Jacob has many friends at  school and is on the track team as well as the football team. He wanted  to be a police officer like dad, but now that he has been arrested, he  doesn’t know what he will do. “I’ll probably have to drive a truck  because I screwed up and I won’t be able to be a cop,” he says.
• Karen  blames Joe for Jacob’s predicament, complaining that Joe is never home  to take him anywhere. “Jacob is my sweet little boy,” she says. “He  doesn’t deserve this!”
• Jacob gets decent grades at school, but  is often truant. He says he doesn’t go to school so he can take care of  his mom “on her really bad days.” Kali says, “You mean on her  hungover–and–can’t–stop–vomiting days.”
• Jacob has been suspended  from school twice over the past year for fighting. When asked about the  fights, Jacob shrugs his shoulders and doesn’t want to talk about it.  Joe says Jacob was protecting his sister when other kids said nasty  things about her. “He’ll do his duty as a brother,” Joe says with some  pride. “No matter how stupid his sister is, he sticks up for her.”
• Jacob  presents as quiet and polite. He seems to avoid conflict and doesn’t  want to answer questions directly, allowing his family to answer for  him.
• Jacob’s best friend is his cousin Tom, who is also 15 years  old. “I wish he would stop hanging out with Tom,” Karen says. “Joe’s  family is nothing but trouble.” Visibly irritated, Joe says, “My nephew  is a great kid! Karen just doesn’t want my family to see what a drunk  she is.”
• Jacob’s probation officer has sent him to see a psychiatrist for a potential diagnosis of conduct disorder.