The Rodriguez Family – “Person-in-Family”
Ana Martinez met Ramon Rodriguez in 1984 when they were both 18-year olds. Ana was from a middle class, Mexican-American family, which originally came to the United States three generations ago. Her father, Julio Martinez, was a successful businessman and her mother, Maria Martinez, was a fulltime homemaker, raising Ana and her four brothers and sisters. As a U.S. citizen, she had never faced fears of deportation, although she had experienced discrimination and assumptions from others that she was “an illegal” because of her ethnic heritage.
Ramon Rodriquez had entered the country illegally when he was 8-years old, accompanying his mother, Gabriela Rodriquez, his father, Ernesto Rodriquez, and his two younger sisters, Carmenita and Rosa. Ramon rarely speaks of their “crossing over” experience, saying “you would not believe what we had to do to get here.” He and his sisters attended school in the U.S. and all three graduated from high school. Following graduation, Carmenita went to work in a beauty salon and planned to own her own salon one day. Ramon and Rosa continued to help run the family grocery store after they graduated, which was established by their parents after many years of hard work.
Ana Martinez and Ramon Rodriquez met one spring evening at a dance a few days after their high school graduation ceremonies – Ana from her private Catholic school and Ramon from his public high school. They were immediately drawn to one another and quickly became the focal point of one another’s lives. Ana did not tell her family about Ramon for months, fearing that they would look down on him given his family’s more humble circumstances. She was also planning to go to college in September and knew that Ramon would remain working at his family’s store. Two weeks before she was to leave for college, Ana discovered that she was pregnant and was terrified to tell her family. Ramon urged her to marry him, and it was only a hastily arranged wedding ceremony that Ana took him home to break the news to her mother and father. Her parents were very upset, and her father was particularly angry, exclaiming: “You have disgraced this family – you are no longer my daughter.”
The young couple found refuge with Ramon’s family residing above the family store, and Ana found herself living a very different life than she had ever known before. She met with her mother a few times trying to gain her parents’ forgiveness and support, but her father remained steadfast in his declarations that she was no longer part of the family. It was into this tense atmosphere that their son, Juan Rodriquez, was born. Juan was greatly celebrated by Ramon’s family but a stranger to his mother’s side of the family. Ana sent word that she had given birth, but she received no response from her family, which wounded her greatly. Although Ramon’s mother was helpful to Ana in her new role as mother, Ana longed to talk with her own mother and missed her own family. She was grief-stricken, missing her family and longing to have her own mother help her with the new baby. She often cried and had problems sleeping, even when her son was asleep. Even though she loved both her new husband and son, she wondered what her life would have been like if she had gone to college as her family had planned for her since she was a little girl. Ramon found Ana increasingly sad and withdrawn and worried about her, his young son, and their future. Ana’s obstetrician told her that she was experiencing a post-partum depression caused by hormonal changes after birth as well as the grief she felt about the loss of her own family. The doctor stressed how important it was for Ramon to be available and helpful to Ana to help her recover from her depression.
When Juan was two-months old, Ramon’s father, Ernesto, had a heart attack and died, leaving Ramon to be the head of the family and major owner of the store. He was no longer available to help Ana with the baby and her depression. The year following Ernesto’s death was very difficult for everyone in the Rodriquez family, and Ana’s post-partum depression became unrelenting. She found it increasingly difficult to care for her infant son, complaining that she didn’t know what he wanted when he cried and that he seemed restless and agitated whenever she held him. She preferred to let him lie in bed alone and sleep. Her mother-in-law, Gabriela, took on more and more of the everyday care of Juan, partly because Ana did not seem to be up to mothering and partly to escape her own grief over her husband’s death. Ramon was totally consumed with the store and his new responsibilities and was happy to leave both Ana and Juan under the direction of his mother.
Some of Ana’s depression centered on Ramon’s illegal immigration status, a reality that she found increasingly worrisome. She remembered hearing remarks from her own family about “those people” who came to the United States and how they “placed a black mark” on Mexican families who entered legally. She did not speak directly with Ramon about these feelings, but talked more and more about him “doing something” to become legal. He countered that she “worried too much” and pointed out that he and his family were model residents, paid their taxes, kept a low profile, and stayed out of trouble. He did not speak with her about his own internalized fears that he had carried with him ever since coming to the U.S. and his strong desire to become an American citizen. But no one in his family had ever tried to gain citizenship as they all feared deportation. As with most of the families in their community, the stance was just to “be good, work hard, and keep your head down.”
And then a miracle happened. In 1986, President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control (IRCA) Act, which granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and who had resided in the country continuously. This positively impacted almost 3 million undocumented workers in the United States at the time, including Ramon and his family. Ramon’s dream of becoming a United States citizen was now a possibility, although the path to citizenship was not automatic. He had to meet several requirements, including demonstrating his English-language skills and knowledge of American civics, passing a medical exam, registering for military service, and paying application fees. He also had to prove that he had not been convicted of a felony or three misdemeanors. The future looked brighter for Ramon and his young family.
These developments also brightened Ana’s mood and lowered her anxiety, but she still suffered from the cut-off with her family, and she still struggled with parenting Juan. One day as Ana was out shopping with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two-year old Juan, they encountered her mother, Maria, who had never seen Juan before that moment. Upon seeing her daughter and her first grandchild, Maria burst into tears and insisted that she needed to talk with Ana and be allowed to hold Juan. The three of them spent the afternoon together talking and crying and beginning the long process of healing. Following this meeting, Maria began to beseech her husband, Julio, to give Ana and Ramon another chance and to “claim his beautiful first grandchild.” It took several conversations between Ana and her father and one particularly difficult discussion between Ramon and Julio, but eventually the young couple and their child were welcomed back into the Martinez fold. The Martinez and Rodriguez clans had Christmas dinner together that year, and Ana seemed to find her bearings again, leaving behind the dark moods and crying spells that had visited her so frequently since Juan’s birth. Although it took awhile for Julio to begrudgingly admit that Ramon was a good husband and father, the two men eventually developed respect for one another, with Ramon appreciatively accepting business advice from his father-in-law.
It was in this happier and more stable atmosphere that Ana gave birth to their second child, a daughter, who they named Maria Gabriela after Ana’s and Ramon’s mothers. Maria Gabriela was a happy and easy baby, and Ana found great delight in caring for her. Ramon was very relieved at this as Ana still struggled with her parenting of Juan, now four-years old, who ran to his abuelita Gabby for comfort and support much more than to Ana. Ana complained that Juan was willful and disrespectful, but Gabriela would always come to his aid and scold Ana for being “too hard” on Juan. Even after the young family moved out on their own, Juan frequently stayed with his grandmother as a way to “help Ana out.”
Ramon was not totally happy with this situation, but he had little time to focus on it as his business grew when he and his sister, Rosa, and her husband opened a second store. All in all, he told himself that life was good – he was an American citizen, his wife and her family were united again, and Ana and he had weathered some very difficult early married years. His focus was on his business, being a good provider for his family, and saving money for his children’s future. His wife had convinced him that the children needed to go to the private Catholic school that she had attended and tuition was not cheap. But by the time Juan was ready to enter school, he had put away enough money for the first two years and had a plan for increasing this savings account once both children were enrolled.
Juan and Maria Gabriela Rodriquez & Blackwell High School
We revisit the Rodriguez family when Juan is 17-years old and Maria is 14-years old. We learn that they have had very different experiences during their school years. As Juan made his way through elementary and middle school, he consistently had difficulty both academically and behaviorally. Even as a small child, his teachers reported to his parents that he had difficulty paying attention, did not complete his homework, and was often in the middle of class disturbances. By the time he reached the third grade, he was referred for a special education evaluation and found eligible for support services for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An Individualized Educational Program (IEP) was developed to promote school success, and Juan was placed in specialized classes for part of the school day. Juan was also put on medication, taking Adderall initially and then switching to Concerta. He was placed in tutoring and study skills classes and behavior therapy to address his impulsive behavior. His academic performance and behavior did improve as he made his way through elementary school, but once in middle school, this trend reversed. Juan’s paternal grandmother, Gabriela, insists that this change is because Ramon refused to keep paying for the private Catholic school he had been attending, stating that it was “just a waste of money.” Juan was transferred to public school at the beginning of 7th grade.
It was also during middle school that Juan became resistant to taking the medication as he complained it made him “feel funny.” He became more and more reluctant to go to school, often skipping classes or whole school days, saying that “School is just a joke – I’m not going to get anywhere by going to school.” Juan often made disparaging remarks about his own intellectual capacity especially in comparison to Maria, joking that “She got the brains in the family, and I got the beauty.” In addition, he encountered a new group of middle schools kids who also were not doing well academically in school. Several of them had been involved in minor brushes with the police, and all of them voiced a disdain for school. This peer group became central to Juan, and he became more and more estranged from his family.
Now that Juan is in Blackwell Public High School, there are great concerns about whether he will actually graduate. He continues to miss many days of school just barely attending the number of days required to stay enrolled. He has not passed several state standardized tests required to graduate. His grades are mostly Ds and Fs, although he makes As and Bs in the one subject that interests him, which is art. Even when doing well in Art class, Juan quickly dismisses any praise or positive feedback, saying that “Art doesn’t count.” Throughout his public school education, he has been promoted even with low grades. The school system has pushed him to the next grade level without demonstrated proficiency at the earlier grade level. He has become a member of the Latin Kings, a local gang of Latino youth who are involved in the drug route from Miami to New York. Juan’s family is unaware of these activities although his father, Ramon, suspects it.
Ramon is constantly telling Juan that he better not get mixed up in gangs, or he’ll end up in prison. Juan sometimes thinks that, like other teens in his neighborhood, he will probably end up dead or in prison before he reaches age 21. The only reason Juan still goes to school at all is because of the urging of his grandmother, who frequently tells him, “You are such a good, bright boy – please don’t break my heart. Go to school, get your education.”
Juan feels that he is just biding his time until he can leave home. He says that none of his teachers or his family understand him or know who he “really is.” He feels like only the guys in the gang know and respect him – for his toughness, his loyalty to the gang, and his “tagging” activities, when he puts his artistic talents to use with graffiti to mark the gang’s territory. Juan believes that the Latin Kings have his back and that they are all that really stand between him and the harsh realities of his world. Just recently, the Latin Kings retaliated against a rival gang for a brutal beating of one of their members. This incident really ‘got’ to Juan, and it’s only when he is getting high that he feels any peace.
Maria Rodriquez’s history with school has been quite different. She learned to read while in kindergarten and consistently brought home mostly As on her report card. She has always loved school and was often singled out by her teachers as the “best student” in her class. Her room is filled with certificates and trophies for academic contests, like spelling bees, science fairs, and academic challenges. Early in elementary school she began to think about going to college, an aspiration especially supported by her mother, Ana, who greatly regretted not having gone to college herself. Maria is thinking she would like to go to medical school and become a pediatrician. It is because of this goal that her parents allowed her to go to Blackwell High School once she became a freshman. The school has an accelerated program in math and science that was not available at her private Catholic high school. Although her parents have misgivings about this change, Marie is delighted with her new school as she feels like it is opening up opportunities for her. She also likes being around a different group of kids, although she generally doesn’t like her brother’s friends, but they are not at school most of the time.
Even with all of her academic success, Maria secretly worries about whether she will be able to make it in college, as she will be the first one in her family to go past high school. She wonders if she will be able to meet the demanding standards of college and med school and is hoping that the special program in math and science at Blackwell will give her a “leg up” that she wouldn’t have gotten if she’d stayed in her old school.
Maria has made a lot of friends in 9th grade, mostly other girls who are also doing well in school. She was recently asked to participate in a college preparatory group being sponsored by her school, called “Pathways to Success.” Her two best friends are also in the group. It meets on Tuesdays after school, and she really enjoys it. The group leader, Ms. Sanchez, is one of her favorite teachers whom she admires a lot. She enjoys the group’s discussion of different careers and the helpful hints about getting ready for college. Because she gets anxious when she thinks about actually applying for college, she’s glad that the group is preparing her to take the SATs and complete the college application process as she doesn’t think her mother or father could help her with these tasks. She’s already trying to “round out” her resume by participating in several clubs at school and doing some community service, as she knows that it will take more than good grades and test scores to get into her top choice. She’s also planning on taking some college courses for credit before she graduates, which will put her on a faster track for medical school.
As excited as she is about her future, Maria feels pretty overwhelmed sometimes. When doubt and anxiety creep in, she reminds herself about the praise and encouragement that she’s received from her teachers over the years. She also hears her father’s and mother’s voices in her head repeatedly telling her that she’s going to be the first one in the family to graduate from college. She really doesn’t want to let them down, and she tells herself that if she continues to study hard and participate in the Pathways to Success program, she can make it.
The Rodriguez Family
As you can recall from the first case study, the nuclear family of Ana, Ramon, Juan, and Maria Gabriela Rodriguez are part of two large extended families that have had their share of various joys and sorrows inherent to family life. Ana’s nuclear family, the Martinez family, had been in the United States for several generations when she was born, and they had attained a stable, middle-class socio-economic status within the larger American culture, while holding on to some of the cultural traditions of their Mexican heritage. Her father, Julio, and her mother, Maria, displayed traditional gender roles during Ana’s childhood, with her father functioning as the breadwinner and disciplinarian, while her mother took on the role of homemaker and primary caregiver of Ana and her siblings. The parents had high expectations for all of their children, expecting them to do well in school and attend college upon graduation. It was also very important to Julio and Maria that all of their children follow their Catholic faith and raise their own children within this religion.
As you remember, Ana was estranged from her family-of-origin in late adolescence when she met Ramon Rodriquez, became pregnant, and quickly married him, which resulted in Ana not attending college as was planned by herself and her. This period of estrangement was extremely difficult for all of the members of the Martinez family and seriously impacted Ana’s ability to care for her son, Juan. Although Ana eventually reunited with her family-of-origin, this time represented a major crisis in the family and is still spoken of in hushed tones – if it is mentioned at all. In particular Ana’s mother, Maria, is still very concerned about the depression her daughter experienced when Juan was young. Maria felt very guilty for not being there for her daughter during this time due to her husband’s (Ernesto) edict to not have contact with Ana. She also worried that Ana had inherited the “curse” of the women on Maria’s side of the family. It seemed that every other generation of women suffered from “a dark melancholy” that made it difficult for them to care of their families; often with the first-born daughter stepping in to take over the mothering duties. Maria had served this role for her own mother who had been struck by this family affliction. Although Ana had not shown any signs of serious depression since Juan’s infancy, Maria continues to watch anxiously for these signs to reappear in daughter. She gets particularly anxious when Ana is in her “down times,” which seem to come in cycles.
Ramon’s family-of-origin had a very different beginning in this country. As described in the first case study, Ramon had entered the country illegally when he was 8-years old, with his mother, Gabriela, his father, Ernesto, and his two younger sisters. The “crossing over” had been traumatic for everyone in the Rodriquez family, but specific events were seldom talked about with the family preferring to focus on the future rather than the past. Ernesto and Gabriela worked very hard to establish a neighborhood grocery store with the help of their children who worked in the store after school and on weekends. Their shaky legal status and the threat of deportation was a constant companion, a burden that was particularly heavy on the shoulders of Ernesto and Gabriela as they tried to keep their worries from their children as best they could. The couple had great hopes and dreams for their new life in America and wanted their children to reap the benefits of their hard work and the opportunities available to them.
Ana’s entrance into the Rodriguez family was generally seen as a blessing, and everyone celebrated the arrival of Juan, the first grandchild. This joy was transformed into shock and sorrow when Ernesto died when Juan was just 2-months old and later into concern about Ana as she fell deeper into depression. As we learned in the first case study, Gabriela, Juan’s grandmother, essentially took over caregiving of the new baby, while dealing with the grief of losing her husband. Ramon became engrossed in trying to keep the family grocery store afloat as he found himself as head of the family almost overnight. The next two years were a struggle for the family, but 1986 brought two wonderful turn of events: the legislation that led to citizenship and the reconciliation of Ana with her own family-of-origin. Two years later, Ana gave birth to a daughter, Maria Gabriela, and the family settled into a period of relative calm and stability.
If we were able to watch the everyday patterns of the household as the children grew, we would notice the “balancing act” of the three adults (Ramon, Ana, and Gabriela) as they negotiated all of the activities of family life. Ramon balanced long hours at the store while trying to pay attention to his wife, mother, and two children. Ana focused on raising the children, helping her husband at the store, developing a relationship with her mother-in-law, and maintaining ties with her own mother and father, as well as her siblings who had their own growing families. Gabriela relished her role as abuelita to the children, while attempting to be a support to both her son and her daughter-in-law. We might also notice the different qualities of the many different intersecting relationships in the household. For example, we might observe that Ana had an easier time parenting Maria Gabriela than she did Juan, who often turned to abueilita Gabby for comfort and encouragement rather than his mother. We might notice that Ramon and Ana spent less and less time together as Ramon focused more on the store while Ana turned her attention to the children, especially her daughter, Maria Gabriela. If we could hear the prayers of Gabriela, we would hear her ask God to send both her son and Ana more patience with Juan and to end their arguments about how to raise him. We would also hear her ask for help in keeping her thoughts to herself, even though she really thought she knew what was best for the young family. And we might notice that Juan and Maria Gabriela go back and forth between being close and playing well together while other times fighting with one another, often with Maria Gabriela in tears due to some angry outburst from Juan.
One incident on a Friday evening illustrates some of the family dynamics. Juan is in the 3rd grade and Maria Gabriela is in the 1st grade; they have both brought home their report cards. As usual, Maria Gabriela has done extremely well, earning both good marks and positive comments from her teacher. Juan’s report card is also typical for him, with mostly Cs and Ds and concerns from the teacher about not turning in his homework and being disruptive in class. Ramon has just been presented the children’s report cards after a long day of work and immediately begins to argue with Ana about what his son needs. Ramon’s view is that Ana needs to be firmer with their son, indicating that she is not fulfilling her duties as a mother as she is responsible for how the children do in school – this is “her job.” Ana counters that she tries and tries with Juan, but that he does not listen to her and that Gabriela interferes when she does try to make him work harder or punish him for bad behavior. As the parents argue, Gabriela gets the children ready for bed, singing loudly to block out the sounds of their parents’ angry words. Juan becomes more fidgety as he hears his parents fighting about him, and Maria Gabriela grows quiet. Gabriela reads Juan another bedtime story to help him quiet down, while Maria Gabriela draws her mother a picture, getting her grandmother to promise to give it to Ana tonight after they’ve gone to bed. Finally, both children are in bed and Gabriela goes in search of her son and daughter-in-law. She finds Ana sitting alone, saying that Ramon has gone back to the store. Ana tearfully exclaims that she just doesn’t know what to do about Juan, pushing aside Gabriela’s attempts to point out his good qualities. She says that she hopes the upcoming special education evaluation of Juan at school will be able to provide some answers as she is “at the end of my rope.” She smiles as Gabriela hands her Maria Gabriela’s picture, saying, “At least, I have my little angel.”
It’s also important to know something about the connections that the Rodriguez family have outside of the nuclear family system. As noted, they are close with Ana’s extended family, often having shared dinners and outings together. Ana’s father, Julio, has grown close to Ramon, advising him on both business matters and how to be the head of the household. Gabriela gets along fairly well with Ana’s mother and the rest of the Martinez family, although she becomes defensive whenever anyone mentions Juan’s “problems.” She feels that no one really understands him as well as she does. Gabriela often explains that Juan has just inherited Ernesto’s (her deceased husband) “lively spirit” and that he will become a great man one day, just like his grandfather. The entire extended family regularly attends the local Catholic church, where the women are very involved in various church committees. Ramon and Ana’s brothers all play in a community soccer league, and several of the children in the extended families are involved in youth soccer. Juan began to play last year, and Ramon is proud of how his son seems to be taking to the sport, saying that he has potential to be a really good player. Ana just hopes it provides a channel for some of her son’s excessive energy. Both the children and adult soccer games are another opportunity for the extended family members to spend time together. There is also contact with various friends in the neighborhood, but there is very little engagement with others outside of their largely Latino community.
If we fast-forward in time to Juan’s and Mari Gabriela’s adolescent years, we can see that Juan’s difficulties with school have reached a critical point as his chances of graduating grow more and more doubtful. His involvement with the Latin Kings has created emotional distance between him and his family, and it has increased conflict with his father, who keeps saying that Juan is acting like “a thug who will end up in prison if he doesn’t get his act together.” Juan’s drug use is growing more frequent, too, as he relies on getting high to help him from feeling like he’s going to explode. Gabriela continues to defend Juan, while many others in the extended family have essentially given up on him. Ana barely speaks to her son, preferring to focus her attention on Maria Gabriela and the aspirations she has for her daughter’s future. Maria Gabriela works hard to please both her mother and father, both in school and at home. Maria Gabriela’s relationship with her brother is complicated. She loves him dearly, but she is both afraid for him and occasionally afraid of his hair trigger temper. She prefers to think about preparing for the upcoming SATs, which has been made more difficult by frequent headaches that she’s been having lately. She just wants everything “to be alright” – both for her and everyone else in her family.
The Rodriguez Family and La Rosa Family & Community Services
As you recall from the last case study, the Rodriguez family interacted with a number of organizations and social institutions beyond the boundaries of their family system, including schools, the Catholic church, business organizations, and recreational clubs. Some new organizations and social institutions have entered their lives as a result of a recent event.
Juan was arrested on a drug charge a few months ago, which brought him into contact with the juvenile court system. Ramon and Ana were very worried that he would be tried as an adult and have to serve jail time, but because he was under 18, the amount of drugs found on him was small, and no have a prior conviction, the case was handled in the juvenile court. Juan was placed on probation and ordered into treatment at the La Rosa Family & Community Services agency, which runs a youth substance abuse program. Juan is mandated to meet with his juvenile court probation officer monthly and attend both individual and group therapy sessions at La Rosa. After an initial assessment, the intake counselor at La Rosa also recommended six family counseling sessions.
La Rosa Family & Community Services has been serving a largely Latino community for almost twenty years. Originally developed to address the integration needs of this largely immigrant community through English learner classes, job training, and immigration issues, the agency has expanded its scope to include mental health services over the past ten years, including the substance abuse program that Juan now attends. Carlos Mendez is the founder and Executive Director of La Rosa, and he is the person who is primarily responsible for its growth and good reputation in the community and larger social services network. Dedicated to the needs of immigrant families and the larger community, Carlos has been a tireless advocate on their behalf. He has watched with distress the inroads that gangs, like the Latino Kings, have made with Latino(a) youth, accompanied with the inevitable upswing in drug use. Most troubling has been the increasing drop-out rate among the youth and the rise in gang-related violence, including several recent murders.
The agency’s substance abuse program, Respeto, was developed to address these issues. Respeto’s motto (“respect for self, respect for others, respect for the community”), reflects the goal of this program to translate traditional cultural virtues into contemporary values that young people can embrace as their own, and in their own way. Carlos knows that this has to be done within the context of the American culture or else the youth will view it as coming from the “old world” of their parents and grandparents, making it irrelevant to their current lives. He knows that these kids struggle to fit in within a dominant culture that sees them as “other” and that this marginalization is part of what fuels their anger and illegal behavior. He also knows that their parents’ demands that they “straighten up” largely fall on deaf ears as the world that these young people inhabit has complexities that their parents do not understand.
The Respeto program falls under the larger department of Mental Health Services within La Rosa, which also includes other individual, family, and group counseling services. The original manager of this department, Sophia Medina, resigned last year because her family relocated to another state. It was hard filling Sophia’s shoes, as she ran the department with efficiency and effectiveness, while maintaining good relationships with staff and clients alike. Her job had become more challenging as the Mental Health department had grown exponentially in the past few years. In particular, the positive outcomes of the Respeto substance abuse program had garnered more and more referrals from the court system and other sources. The number of staff in this program had grown from one group leader to four in the past two years. Sophia had been able to train new staff well within the philosophy of the program, allowing them to provide a balance of both acceptance and limit setting that youth in the program needed. Staff in other components of the Mental Health Services had also grown, bringing the total number of staff in this department to eighteen.
This growth in programs and staff within the Mental Health Services department had necessitated some changes in operations. As services and staff patterns had become more complex, Sophia had put in place more structure in the day-to-day operations, which she had managed to do without alienating staff. She had accomplished this by involving them in developing new procedures for work flow, communications, and accountability, valuing their input in developing new departmental processes. Although far more structured than the “fluid and free-wheeling” early days of the agency, the changes that Sophia had put in place had been working well. Because of her effective leadership, Carlos had increasingly given her more autonomy as a department manager, allowing her decision-making power in all aspects of staff hiring, promotions, etc.
Sophia’s replacement was not working out well. Carlos and his board had hired Antonio Vega with high hopes. He had a master’s degree in social work and had worked as a manager of family services for a Latino agency in California for four years before moving to DC. On paper he seemed to have the qualifications they were looking for and his interview had gone well. Although he had only supervised three staff in his former position, Carlos had thought he was ready to manage a larger staff in a larger department. Unfortunately, this assessment was not proving true. Things seemed to go well at first, but within the first few months, Carlos began receiving complaints from staff about their new manager. These complaints centered on what they perceived as Antonio’s “acting superior” and “being controlling.” They also said that Antonio seemed to care more about “the data” than the clients, referring to statistics kept by the agency, such as the number of clients served, the number of hours of services provided, and the number of reports made to referral sources.
Meanwhile, Carlos was also hearing from Antonio about the “poor performance” of various staff members. He stated that several of them were “sloppy” with record-keeping and not following protocols for treatment that he had developed. Furthermore, he believed that some of them were “disrespectful” to him as manager, a situation that he was finding hard to tolerate. He asked Carlos for more power in making decisions related to staff, including the authority to fire two staff members. Carlos disagreed with Antonio’s assessment of departmental staff, especially the two employees that he wanted to fire. These staff members had been with La Rosa for over ten years and, from Carlos’ viewpoint, exemplified the kind of people he wanted working in his agency. Carlos was beginning to think that the person who should be fired was Antonio.
Carlos knew he needed someone who would be able to run the Mental Health Department of the agency in an autonomous and effective manner, while adhering to the overall vision and philosophy of La Rosa. As Executive Director, Carlos was too busy focusing on creating new revenue streams for the overall agency’s programs to be intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of any of the departments. Maintaining the fiscal health of the agency had become increasingly challenging as the political/economic context of the agency was going through a lot of changes. Competition with other social service agencies for funding dollars was intense as both public and private sources of support were shrinking. He still believed that La Rosa’s situation was solid, but he also knew he needed a manager that he could rely on – not one that created additional worries.
The Latino Community and the United States
Latinos are the fastest-growing major population group in the United States, passing 50 million in 2010 and comprising 15.5% percent of the overall population. They have moved ahead of African-Americans as the largest minority in the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s projections, Latinos will account for one in four of the American population by 2050. Locally, Latinos are the second-largest minority group in Washington, DC, after African Americans. As of 2009, 54,757 Latinos (9.1% of the total population) were living in the region. This figure represents over a twofold increase in the number residing in the area since 1990. Much of this growth has been related to the rise in immigration. Among all Latinos living in the region in 2009, 55% were foreign born.
As an ethnic minority group largely composed of immigrants, Latinos have specific social, economic, language, and cultural needs. In 2010, the Latino population’s poverty rate in the Washington, D.C., region was 14.7%, compared with 8.5% for non-Latino Whites.http://www.urban.org/publications/411647.html – 3 Further, because substantial numbers of Latinos in the nation’s capital area are not citizens, they have limited or no access to various benefits including voting, employment-related programs (such as unemployment insurance and Social Security), and social welfare programs (such as food stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).
In the DC neighborhood where the Rodrigues family lives, the effects of this marginalized position within the larger society are numerous, especially in this time of economic downturn. Compared to White communities in DC, the Latino community has higher rates of unemployment, school dropouts, and incidents of violence with lower rates of health care coverage. Recently, a small group of residents in their community, including both Ramon and Ana Rodriguez, have been meeting to discuss what they can do to change their neighborhood. The group is meeting this week with a staff member from Somos Mayfair, a community-based program in San Jose, California, that could serve as an exemplar for social change efforts within the Latino community in Washington, DC.
Somos Mayfair (“We Are Mayfair”)
Somos Mayfair began in 1996 as a small community improvement initiative designed to address various neighborhood issues. The organization has grown both in size and resources since then and now has a major focus on social change, using an interconnected program strategy of peer-to-peer social services, cultural activism, and community organizing. Director, Jaime Alvarado, and his staff envisioned a community-based organization that engaged residents not as recipients but as actors in their own community. Resident involvement, responsibility, and ownership are important elements for transforming the community through its own voice and power. As the current mission statement states: Somos Mayfair cultivates the dreams and power of the people through cultural activism, social services, and community organizing. We are generations of immigrants, rooted in a vibrant community, who nurture healthy families and speak out for justice in Silicon Valley.
Using a series of popular education workshops, community residents have participated in group dialogue and power-analysis exercises to identify modes of inequality and root causes of oppression. Through this process of acknowledging both the legacy and possibility for social justice and social change in their community, residents worked with the staff of Somos Mayfair to identify three core program areas: Community Engagement, Family Support, and Civic Action. “Everything is geared for people to take action for themselves, their families, and ultimately for the whole community,” says Associate Director Rebecca Bauen. Theater work, story-telling, support groups, and participatory action research are all examples of approaches based on popular education and reflected in Somos’ three program areas. Bauen explains, “Our approach is to start where people are and then build on their sense of power and skills. We’ve developed our departments to get at the psychological barriers to change as well as the structural barriers. Ultimately, it’s actually very spiritual – we try to integrate all of these things through relationships and through tradition, celebration, and ritual.”
Seeding Change: The Promotores Model of Family Support
Somos’ direct service Family Support Program is named Siembra, meaning planting seeds. Rebecca describes Siembra as a pathway to the other programs: “The work of the Family Support Program is to prepare people to be engaged and active in the other two areas of cultural activism and civic engagement. The approach of peer support, building on assets, is consistent with our overall values. Participants see that they are part of something bigger than themselves and increasingly understand what the organization is about.” The work of the Siembra program is carried out by staff promotores. In Spanish, promotor/a refers to someone who advances a cause. The promotor model of peer-to-peer community health advisement originated in Latin America and was first popularized in the United States after it showed success in improving health status within migrant and Navajo communities in the 1950s and 1960s. Promotores with Somos Mayfair typically act as much more than educators or advisors. As trusted community members engaging in culturally and linguistically relevant outreach, promotores break isolation and reinforce existing social networks, reaching populations missed by traditional service delivery. Oftentimes, promotores have spurred organizing efforts around health access and other community issues.
Pamela Gudiño, the Family Support Program Director, explains that the promotores act on an expansive view of health, going beyond illness and disease. “We look at the social determinants of health,” explains Pamela, “which are mental, spiritual, environmental, and economic. Health is an area that is as broad as you want to make it. Our work involves the whole person, the family, and the community. The direct service component helps stabilize parents and families so that they can move from a day-to-day experience toward their longer-term hopes and dreams.” Pamela explains that service and justice efforts in the organization are mutually reinforcing: “We can incorporate questions of systems and structures into our support groups. We don’t need to be doing a specific civic action project to talk about systemic issues; we can do that within our promotor work.” One of the opportunities presented by the promotores to families during their goal-setting process is to become involved in Somos cultural activities and civic action campaigns.
Uniting Families through Community Engagement
Staff of the Somos’ Community Engagement and Civic Action programs also focus on integrating a micro and macro approach to community issues. The theater and civic action work must balance individual participant needs with collective efforts aimed at wider community education and action. Staff recently piloted a new approach to community education through popular theater. The first production, ¡Hasta La Vista Baby! (See You Later, Baby!), depicted the relentless daily struggles of many immigrants, such as not having a driver’s license and facing job loss, evictions, and language barriers. The production’s popularity attested to the audience members’ identification with the stories. When the community saw their own struggles reflected back to them, trust was developed, and they began to share their experiences in public dialogues. This process led to the recruitment of community residents as actors, dissolving the barriers between actor and audience, between educator and resident. Community engagement through theater became formalized as one of three Somos program areas. (See last page for example of theater program.)
Since the start-up of the theater program, community residents have become the leaders of the Community Engagement Program’s theater ensemble, Familias Unidas de Mayfair (Mayfair Families United). Participants developed theater pieces based on their own stories, evoking powerful life issues and repressed emotions through the creative process. The participants act not only as cultural activists but also as a support group for one another. Arturo Gómez, who spearheaded Somos’ theater work, describes the goals of the program. “While one of the objectives is to educate people about their rights, it is fundamentally about opening a process for change in the individual as well as about group connection through community dialogue.”
The cultural engagement work brings together a large number of community residents in dialogue and analysis around issues such as school readiness, immigration, obesity, diabetes, and domestic violence. Arturo explains, “The theater is reflecting people’s lives as they are, reflecting problems as they are….The purpose is not to give answers or tell people what to do, but to use the stories to generate dialogue and analysis so that people can come up with their own solutions. It is ultimately more empowering and transformative. Based on the principles of popular education, we have a series of questions that we ask the audience following a skit: What did you see? How do you relate to it personally? What are the causes of this problem? And, what can we do about it?” Often the performances are followed by workshops around the issue.
The Community Engagement Program is also part of Somos’ commitment to preserving cultural traditions that are in danger of being lost to the pressures of assimilation. It supports the members of Familias Unidas who organize annual community celebrations, including La Posada (Christmas) and Mother’s Day. In 2008, Somos organized its first Day of the Dead celebration (a traditional holiday primarily in Mexico) with a five-hour cultural program of music, poetry, and theater performances. The community and staff built a collective altar and shared food, song, and stories to honor their ancestors. The social and cultural bonds developed through such events build community and help establish relationships of shared values and mutual trust that are the basis for organizing around social justice and social change.
Widening the Frame through Civic Action
Somos’ Civic Action Program holds the greatest prospect of touching the lives of the greatest number of residents because of its emphasis on systemic change. The program’s grassroots leadership group, Madres Activas de Mayfair (Active Mayfair Mothers), began in 2007 when 16 women conducted a participatory action research project to identify community barriers to health, with a focus on the structural causes of diabetes, a disease that is a concern of participants in other Somos’ activities. Somos now provides direct services to increase health access for Latino families, organizes wellness activities, and tours a theater piece to raise awareness about diabetes prevention. With the launch of Madres Activas and a participatory action research process, the organization extended and deepened its approach to address the issue not only as an individual concern but as a community problem with community solutions. The action research participants divided into two groups to explore the environmental issues that contribute to diabetes in the Mayfair neighborhood.
Half of the action research participants used photography to document and analyze aspects of the community that represent both opportunities and obstacles to safe exercise. The other half surveyed 100 parents at four elementary schools about the quality of school lunches. Teresa, a participant in both the Family Support and Community Engagement programs, who also joined the Madres Activas leadership group, explains, “I know that my daughters aren’t always getting nutritious food at school. A lot of people talked about that… In my family we don’t eat junk food anymore. I try to make healthier meals. I wanted the [Madres Activas] group to work around the school nutrition issue. But the issue of safe places in the community for exercise also came up.” Their efforts eventually resulted in the establishment of the Mayfair Community Center, which provided a space for exercise as well as numerous other community activities.
Evangelina Nevárez is Somos’ Program Director for Civic Action. She states, “Madres Activas participants learned to support one another and are creating a cohesive group,” she explains. “Now they’re evolving more into an organizing model. They’re using all of that sadness and hurt about what’s happening in our lives and trying to transform that into the coraje or anger that makes us turn our feelings into action.” While continuing the Madres Activas campaign for health and wellness programs in the Mayfair Community Center, the Civic Action Program also launched a very different form of organizing in the fall of 2008—a voter registration campaign, aimed at increasing registration and voting in the community. Evangelina says that the first step in the electoral work was to create a bigger leadership pool for registration outreach. Somos trained community members to do door knocking and used posters linking the organization’s name with voter education.
The campaign also took a unique twist. With help from the Community Engagement Program, community leaders in the voter campaign geared up for November 4th by transforming themselves into “Super Amigos” (Super Friends). Depicting Mexican wrestler action figures, community residents dressed as Super Mamá, Super Inmigrante, Super Voto Latino, Super Voto Juveníl, and Super Futuro. They acted out the fight against the forces of apathy, poverty, and discrimination—the villains that try to keep them out of the civic process. The team traveled to community gatherings to perform and distributed voter information to passing traffic, encouraging people to register to vote. Somos views electoral work not as an end itself but as a means to build an active base of resident leaders and broaden its networks with local and regional allies. Through the voter campaign, the organization has involved young activists, including adult children of immigrants and more established residents from the community and from the surrounding neighborhoods. According to Evangelina, “A large percentage of our community cannot vote, so we’re reaching out to those who can but with the message, ‘Be my voice.’ You are not just voting for yourself but for many more who can’t vote in the community.”
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Example of Somos Mayfair Community Theatre Program
Change, everything changes. The lyrics repeat and crescendo as members of the theater group Familias Unidas de Mayfair (Mayfair Families United), a project of the nonprofit Somos Mayfair, complete their rehearsal of ¡Somos Mujeres, Somos Vida! (We Are Women, We Are Life!). In this original piece, the ten-woman community ensemble brings the audience across borders, exploring broken relationships, the violence of poverty, and the isolation of raising children in a foreign country. Each woman steps forward and performs a part of her own story, which forms a shared narrative of the Familias Unidas members. One member, Velia, states, “I remember my country, which is so very poor. I remember the causes of the injustice, of the oppression. I remember the poverty and the sacrifice of mothers…living many times without food or clothing to cover their children. That’s why so many of us migrated, to give our children a better life.” In Velia’s closing scene she tells the audience, “Everything changed in my life when I realized that I have a voice. I have the power to change.” The lines resonate not as performance but as a living claim to the individuals’ collective experiences, strengths, and hopes. There are tears at the end, making clear that the members’ participation in the theater has become a powerful journey itself and that their stories deeply resonate.
Case Study: The Rodriguez Family
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The selected family member who will be the client of focus is Juan Rodriguez, the son of Ana and Ramon Rodriguez. The purpose of this paper is to examine the diagnoses present for Juan and to provide their rationale based on the diagnostic criteria. The paper will also address strengths, risk factors, and examples of resilience as demonstrated by Juan. Moreover, the life course perspective will be described and applied to one person in the case study.
Mental Health Diagnoses
Juan was diagnosed with attention deficiency hyperactive disorder (ADHD) as a child and substance use disorder as an adult. As per Cabral et al. (2020), the diagnostic criteria for ADHD in the DSM-5 include showing persistent hyperactivity, impulsivity, or inattention. Impulsivity and hyperactivity may be demonstrated by frequent fidgeting, inability to remain still or restlessness, inability to quietly engage in leisure activities, excessive talking, and constantly interrupting others. Inattention is demonstrated by difficulty paying attention or making careless mistakes especially with regard to schoolwork, difficulty holding attention when engaging in play activities, being unable to follow instructions or completing tasks, forgetfulness, and being easily distracted. Children as young as age 5 can be diagnosed if the symptoms persist for at least six months. The rationale for the ADHD diagnosis for Juan’s case was that he experienced difficulty paying attention in class and often caused disturbances. Additionally, he demonstrated impulsive behavior and often did not complete his homework. Juan was initially placed on Adderall as the main medication and later switched to Concerta. He was also placed in behavior therapy and tutoring and study skills classes. Although the treatment resulted in significant improvement, the trend reversed when he was in middle school. Juan also stopped taking medication in middle school and the ADHD symptoms persisted. He began skipping school and his academic performance became poorer. Juan’s behavior also had a negative impact on his relationship with his family members. His mother often complained that he did not listen to her and as a result, she paid more attention to his sister, Maria. Juan became more isolated from his family when he joined a gang.
The DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorder include hazardous use that leads to interpersonal problems, neglecting personal responsibilities, tolerance, and withdrawal. The individual should also use large amounts of the drug for long time periods and may have made unsuccessful attempts to stop (De Micheli et al., 2021). Juan came in contact with drugs when he joined a gang that was involved in the drug route between New York and Miami. His drug use became more frequent as the emotional distance between him and his family grew. He also depended on drugs to help him feel better after the conflicts he had with his father. Juan was later arrested for drug possession and was placed in the juvenile court system. The amount of drugs he was found with was small indicating that it was for personal use and he was placed into treatment at a youth substance abuse program run by the La Rosa Family & Community Services agency. Family therapy services were also recommended for the entire Rodriguez family.
Risk Factors
Risk factors include family, community, or personal factors that increase the risk of negative outcomes for clients (Cabiati et al., 2018). The main risk factors for poor mental health in Juan’s case include the emotional distance between him and his family and being part of a gang. Since he was a baby, Juan and his mother, Ana, never developed a close relationship because his mother suffered from severe post-partum depression caused by Ramon’s immigration status and being estranged from her own family. Additionally, Juan’s father, Ramon, was very busy working and was not involved in Juan’s care when he was younger. On the other hand, Juan’s sister, Maria, was born when the family was in a more stable financial state and Ramon and his family had finally become American citizens. Therefore, it was easier for Ana to bond with Maria. Juan was also at risk of poor mental health because he did not feel like he was as intelligent as his sister. Juan also got agitated because his parents’ arguments were mostly centered on his behavioral issues and poor academic performance.
Juan became a member of one of the local gangs as a teenager. The gang activities put him at risk of poor mental health. Initially, Juan believed that the gang members knew him more than his family and he finally got the chance to express his artistic talent through graffiti. However, he witnessed a retaliation incident against a rival gang that got to him and pushed him to use drugs to feel at peace.
Strengths
The main strength that Juan has is having a stable family that would provide him support as he got substance abuse treatment especially his grandmother, Gabriela who always took care of him since he was a child and understood him more than the other family members. Juan can also access resources from the external community to help him deal with his issues. An example is the La Rosa Family & Community Services agency which provided mental health services and other interventions useful to the Latino community such as job training. Moreover, Juan is also part of a community soccer group where he can channel his energy. Apart from support and access to services, Juan also has individual strengths. Despite poor academic performance, Juan is a talented artist and he could make use of this ability once he finishes high school. Juan also demonstrated resilience when faced by some problems. For instance, despite performing poorly, he still went to school because of his grandmother’s encouragement. He is also keen on finding ways of coping with the issues at home and looks forward to being an independent person after he completes high school.
Life Course Perspective
The life course perspective posits that human lives are interdependent and relationships control and support individual behavior. The life course includes the path of an individual from birth to death through transitions and life events (Hutchison, 2019). In the case study, Ana’s life course can be used to understand her behavior and provide an effective intervention that would improve her relationship with her son, Juan. Ana came from a middle-class family and discovered that she was pregnant with Juan just before she joined college. She quickly transitioned from teenage years to motherhood and had difficulty coping because her husband’s family members were illegal immigrants and she was estranged from her own family. As a result, Ana did not bond well with Juan and this went on to adulthood. Using the life course perspective can help understand the impact of the transition to motherhood on Ana’s mental health and find ways of facilitating better communication between her and Juan.
References
Cabiati, E., Raineri, M., & Folgheraiter, F. (2018). Risk and protective factors among child protection social workers: a quantitative study. European Journal of Social Work, 23(2), 353-366. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2018.1540972
Cabral, M., Liu, S., & Soares, N. (2020). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, risk factors and evaluation in youth. Translational Pediatrics, 9(S1), S104-S113. https://doi.org/10.21037/tp.2019.09.08
De Micheli, D., Andrade, A., & Galduróz, J. (2021). Limitations of DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder in adolescents: what have we learned after using these criteria for several years? Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 43(4), 349-350. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-1151
Hutchison, E. (2019). An Update on the Relevance of the Life Course Perspective for Social Work. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 100(4), 351-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389419873240