BCC Chronic Stress and Diffusion of Responsibility Discussion

Dolores Jones had been described by former social workers as a disgusting hunk of humanity. Everyone agreed there was little that could be accomplished and that her prospects were poor for keeping her children given the conditions they were living in and her neglect of herself and them.

Dolores is a mixed race 22 year old woman who had dropped out of school in the sixth grade. She had become pregnant twice by men old enough to be her father and was receiving public assistance for her two children; Angela, aged 5 and Johnny, aged 3. Dolores lives in a small apartment adjacent to her aunt’s home, in Addamsville, an urban center 5 miles south of the center of the city.Upon arriving at Dolores’s apartment, a partially converted garage, you notice that the windows are shut tight, the shades drawn, the immediate grounds are strewn with garbage, the grass overgrown, and the paint was peeling around the doorframe. You knock several times as there is no doorbell, but she does not answer. You are getting ready to leave when you notice an older woman coming towards the apartment and you ask if she knows if the tenant is home. She responds angrily, “She’s in there. Just keep pounding loudly.”Dolores eventually comes to the door; she is unkempt, obese, in a dirty bathrobe and looks much older than 22 years. You immediately notice she is covered with unsightly sores and she seems barely awake, even though it is past noon. She warmly invites you into her home as the older woman leaves with a snide comment. The main room of the apartment is both a living room and a bedroom for Dolores; small, dirty, and dark, even though it is over 80 degrees outside and the sun is shining, the heat is going full blast.You introduce yourself to Dolores as the new social worker and she smiles sweetly at you, pleased to see you and delighted to introduce you to her children, who were currently being watched by her aunt, the older woman you encountered.Dolores goes to retrieve the children and explains that she had been sleeping, and that her aunt frequently helps out when she cannot be available. The children are quite lovely; Angela is a sweet little girl, very alert, yet shy and Johnny is warm and outgoing, but does not appear to be fully engaged.