Case Study 2
The Petersen family resides in Lavender Hill. Lavender Hill is an area in Cape
Town confined
Within the ‘claws’ of gangsterism, drug abuse and increasing levels of child
abuse. The
Petersen family experienced different levels of trauma during the past 20
years. Some of the
Traumas that the family endured are child sexual abuse of the youngest
daughter of the
Family, gang involvement and threats imposed by gang members in the
community, and
Several muggings of both the mother and the eldest son. The youngest
daughter, Sam, has
Been enduring ongoing sexual abuse for the past 10 years and has disclosed
the abuse to
Her teacher as she could no longer withstand the pain. She has been referred
to Child-line
(an organisation specialising in working with sexual abuse of children and
their families). The
Manager at Child-line informed the teacher that she has to go onto a long
waiting list to
Receive the individual counselling she needs. Cheryl, made an immediate
referral to you as
The community psychologist to start a family therapy process with the family
to allow them
A therapeutic safe space.
The family household is run by the mother, called Sadie. Sadie adopted her
sister’s three
Children after a dying wish from her sister was imposed on her. She is the
legal guardian of
The three children and recently lost her husband due to a TIK overdose.
Sadie has three
Children of her own. Her mother, Luanda, is living with the family in a Wendy
house in the yard. Her mother has been involved with gangsterism and drugs
for the past 2 years and she
became involved with the leader of the 26 numbers gang. This allowed the
family to be
exposed to drugs, inappropriate sexual behaviour and ongoing gang
shootings in the
community. The family has been, on several occasions, threatened by gang
members. The
children have been exposed to this fear for the past 2 years. The eldest son,
the biological
son of Sadie is a hard-working student and wants to go to school. The
negative
circumstances are inhibiting him from living his life to his full potential. On
his way to the
shop one day, he was confronted by one of the gang members wanting his
money. He is a
top student and would like to exceed academically as he aspires to become a
paramedic, but
his learning is hindered by the amount of ongoing danger he is exposed to
daily. The
involvement of his grandmother with the gangs in the area is part of the
problem in thriving
and living his life to his full potential.
The family members are all accepting of each other, irrespective of their
different families of
origin, backgrounds and influences. The family members are trying their best
to help and
support Sadie, as she is a full-time working mother and the sole breadwinner
of the
household. The grandmother receives her pension from the government
monthly, but it is
barely enough to sustain herself, let alone, add financial support to the rest
of the family
household.
Finances are a great stressor in the family system, as Sadie gets frustrated
and despondent
most of the time and shares feelings of incompetence in caring for all the
children the way
she intends to. She shares feelings of guilt for not being able to care
adequately for her
sister’s three children, especially since it is a dying wish that her sister had
shared. Sadie
tends to take out her frustration on her children, as she is reluctant to do so
with her sister’s
children. This has an impact on the role division within the household.
Sadie’s biological
children expressed that they are unhappy about the unfair treatment in
having to do all the
house chores and take more responsibility for supporting the family. The fact
that Sam, her
sister’s youngest daughter is a victim of child sexual abuse and recently
disclosed the abuse,
she needs more attention and containment, compared to the other children
who are also in
great need of emotional support, seeing that they are still grieving the loss of
their mother.
It is clear that the three children are experiencing a sense of loss and have to
adjust to their
new family system, which causes a rift between them and Sadie’s children.
Sadie expresses
feelings of hopelessness as she feels that she is failing in providing an
adequate amount of
support to the three children and feels that she is constantly putting her own
children’s needs
last, which she describes as unfair towards them. That causes great conflict
within the
household, which gets out of hand most of the time.
The fact that all six children are of varying ages, poses more pressure on
Sadie, as each one
of the children has different emotional and social needs. Three of a total of
six children are
entering adolescence, which causes more emotional pressure and
uncontrollable emotional
behaviour. The other three are under the age of 10. Sadie feels that she is
experiencing a
different life than what she is supposed to and her mother being dependent
on her, makes it
hard for her to accept her position in life, compared to most of her friends.
Sadie is also still grieving the loss of her husband and the fact that he only
started using TIK
in the latter 2 years of their marriage. Before him being introduced to TIK, he
was a very
supportive husband. She is struggling to accept the loss and the fact that he
‘betrayed’ her
by choosing drugs over her and the children
