Debby L. Schnitzer
SWK 423
Workbook Assignment V

A. Continuous Goal

1. George was able to make some forward process in his continuous goal. (George will be able to keep his temper and tongue when threatened.) He walks away more often, he has less incidents in house according to staff, and very few incidents of fighting reported by his teachers. The goal as originally stated was probably unrealistic, in that controlling his temper, verbally and physically will be a life long struggle and process for George. It will most likely get easier, but will no doubt be an issue George will always have to be aware of.

2. George is mostly proud of his improvement in controlling his temper. Once in a while George fears that he will be taken advantage of or labeled soft if he does not fight. It is often very uncomfortable for George not to "blow up" when it seems like that is what he should do. Behaving in new ways takes time to get used to, and even changes for the better are difficult and awkward. George is upset that very often, even when he is not involved in a fight a few staff members and one of his teachers automatically assume he is at fault. These are unintended "bad results."

Some unintended good changes are that George's grades improved. as he is not removed from class so often; most teachers are very impressed be his obvious effort and have mentioned their appreciation and pride on more than one occasion and (George is able to remain at a higher "freedom - level" for longer periods of time.

3. Teacher and counselor records have been reviewed to determine when and if George was reported fighting physically or verbally with others. This worker completed a time series group noting his behavior in both settings (school and Harbour House). Initially the baseline data showed that George was involved in13 incidents for the first week in both settings. His behavior worsened during the second week, but has improved steadily since then so that presently he loses his temper less than 5 times during the past 3 weeks; however he still has difficulty with other residents at Harbour House.

Number Of Times George Loses His Temper


At----
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
School
5
4
3
3
2
1
0
0
Harbour
8
7
5
6
5
4
3
2
Total
13
11
8
9
7
5
3
2

GEORGE'S FREQUENCY OF TEMPER LOSS OVER 8 WEEKS
(Line with circles depicts his temper at Harbour House; the other line shows his temper at school.)
4. The least effective part of the intervention with George has been his controlling his temper and getting along with other residents at Harbour House. He is easily drawn into fights to "defend his self-respect". The most effective part has been his progress in school. George claims that not being with the other student all the time and having time to think about his actions makes it easier for him to control his actions at school.