Attachment Theory
Primarily, Antwone’s traumas began after he was born: his mother was incarcerated, which did not let her take care of Antwone. Moreover, Fisher could never meet his biological father because his ex-girlfriend murdered him (Fisher & Rivas, 2002). It implies that the attachment between Antwone and his parents was disrupted at a very early stage (Fonagy, 2018). The attachment disturbance led Antwone to self-doubts and numerous concerns about the future. His insecurities also appeared on the basis of constant emotional and physical abuse in foster homes. Antwone was never able to build create a bond with foster parents due to lack of trust and attachment.
It is also necessary to state that all the traumas Antwone received root from the foster homes where he experienced physical, emotional, sexual abuse, and other forms of violence. Even though his foster parents humiliated him, social workers did not rescue him. Nonetheless, Fisher had thirteen of them by his side throughout the childhood, and they still had a positive impact on him. Three social workers have significantly influenced Fisher’s worldview and helped to strengthen his character.
Interventions
Most prominently, social support services impacted Fisher’s behavior when he entered the Navy. At the beginning of his journey as a sailor, Antwone was prone to ferocious outbursts. Under threat of being expelled for fighting, he was sent to the psychiatrist Dr. Davenport. Although it was difficult for Fisher to reveal his feeling, the doctor made him talk. The sessions boosted Antwone’s progress and prompted him to reconnect with his biological family to face the past and turn his life around. Perhaps, the psychotherapists implemented the trust-based relational therapy which helped Fisher reconnect with his biological parents. The primary support provided was emotional encouragement that contributed to his development. It also proves that the role of social support was vital for Antwone on his way to recovery.
There are numerous similar cases that occur on a daily basis across the world. However, social support is key to solving these issues. First, the community recognized Fisher problem’s acuteness, but never checked foster homes. It was also vital to conduct Dyadic development psychotherapy with Fisher while he was residing in foster families to tackle his behavioral changes and identify any threats to his physical and mental health. Creating a safe space between a child and a social worker would help establish trustworthy communication, which would further encourage Fisher to be more open about his life in a foster home. The social support services must have protected Fisher’s interests and place him into another family, remembering to track their behavior and ensure psychological recovery. Therefore, these steps would have been vital to guarantee emotional and physical health of Fisher when he lived in foster families.
Social Support Strategies
The Social Support Strategies toolkit could be applied to Fisher’s case. The first step helps to define what kind of support a child needs. Consequently, it can be identified that Fisher received social support from social workers, foster homes, and the psychologist. However, he was never comfortable, neither physically nor emotionally. The second step presumes the availability to the child (Gardenhire et al., 2019). Fisher did not receive any help from his mother or his peers. The only available option for him was a social worker who sent him to foster homes several times. Yet, there were barriers to receiving proper support from social services. Namely, Fisher worried about the abandonment since he became homeless at the age of 16. Moreover, he felt rejected and had multiple negative reminders about his past.
Many people could hypothetically help Fisher get through tough times: teachers, peers, health professionals, ad others. Nevertheless, the only option he chose was social workers and himself. The guy considered his views and intentions to be powerful enough to become an independent person. The most important connection to Fisher was social workers who supported him throughout his childhood. Their role was to find decent foster parents for the boy; yet, the attempts were unsuccessful: the child still suffered from emotional and physical abuse. As per the sixth step, it is necessary to emphasize that social workers’ main strength was building trustful relations with Antwone, yet, their vulnerability was a poor foster family choice. In turn, Antwone’s weakness related to sticking to the past, while his strength was persistence. Finally, there was no action plan in Fisher’s situation because he never settled in a foster family and never asked others for assistance.
References
Fisher, A., & Rivas, M. (2002). Finding Fish: A memoir. HarperTorch.
Fonagy, P. (2018). Attachment theory and psychoanalysis. Routledge.
Gardenhire, J., Schleiden, C., & Brown, C. C. (2019). Attachment as a tool in the treatment of children within foster care. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 41(2), 191–200.