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History
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Current
Issues
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Anthropology
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Joe
and Sylvia Davis have lived in their old farm house for the
last 58 years. They have raised their grandson, Jeffrey, since
he was 6 years old.
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Joe
is 73 years old and his health is failing. Jeffrey is 21 years
old and
continues to live with his grandparents. Jeffrey seems to have
no ambition
for the future.
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Biology
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Jeffrey's
father's origin is unknown to him. As a child Jeffrey was dyslexic
and was diagnosed with hyperactivity attention deficit disorder.
Joe and Sylvia were never able to keep up with this, frustrating,
high energy boy. But they have no regrets, and will do whatever
it takes at any cost to help him to become a healthy, productive
person.
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Jeffrey
is still very angry and hostile toward his mother who was never
there for him and allowed his stepfather to be abusive toward
him. Jeffrey now believes that his stepfather is abusing his
mother. Ironically, he is just as indifferent toward her situation
as she seemed to be toward his.
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Child
Development
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Jeffrey's
mother, Anne, was on drugs when she conceived him. Until age
3 Jeffrey was neglected and physically abused before the courts
took him away from his mother. Jeffrey then bounced around foster
care for several years. Jeffrey still remembers the Baker family
that wanted to adopt him when he was 5, he liked them allot.
Living with the Baker's was one of the happiest memories of
his childhood. Joe and Sylvia consequently sought for custody
so that Jeffrey would not be adopted out to strangers. They
also broke off all ties with the Bakers so as not to confuse
Jeffrey
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When
Jeffrey was age 9 his mother was able to get her act together
enough to prove to the court that she could provide a safe home
for her son. But soon after custody was reestablished his stepfather
moved back in and returned to his old ways of jealousy, anger
and abuse. Possibly because of such abuse, Jeffrey developed
a very bad temper. Also, he did not develop well socially, he
has some friends, but none of them are very close. When it comes
to dating, Jeffrey is distrustful of intimate relationships,
disrespectful of women, and when he does date it is never with
the kind of nice girls that Sylvia wants him to be with.
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Counseling
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Anne
had been receiving counseling when Jeffrey was a boy as part
of the conditions to regain custody. Also Jeffrey had counseling
as a teenager after his grandparents regained custody the second
time.
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Neither
Anne nor Jeffrey followed through with their counseling enough
to help make a lasting difference in their lives.
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Demography
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Anne
had lived in a trailer court with her alcoholic, unemployed
husband until about 12 years ago. Joe and Sylvia, her parents
lived across the state in their cozy farm house with a dog,
two cats, a duck and a dozen or so chickens.
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Anne
attempted to clean up her life about 12 years ago. She left
her husband, moving closer to her parents and found a job as
a waitress. She rented a small apartment in town where she continues
to live today. Later she reconciled with her husband who also
continues to be in and out of her life.
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Economics
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Anne and her husband were completely dependent on welfare when
Jeffrey was a boy. Sylvia took early retirement from teaching
elementary school so that she could take care of her grandson
full time. And Joe was an electrician.
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Joe
and Sylvia are on a tight budget now that grandpa retired about
7 years ago. Jeffrey is unemployed but recognizes that his grandparents
are in need of more and more care as they are getting older.
He states that he is afraid a job will interfere with his ability
to look after them.
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Education
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Joe
went to trade school and Sylvia went to a teacher's college.
Anne flunked out of college. She got mixed up in the wrong crowd
and the downward spiral continued till she reached rock bottom.
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Jeffrey
struggled in school. He was placed in special education classes
all the way until he graduated from high school. In the sheltered
environment of his grandparents and with his poor self esteem
and lack of self confidence he has never entered the workforce.
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English
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Proper
English has always been strictly enforced in the home by Sylvia.
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Same
now as then
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Gerontology
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Joe
and Sylvia are very strong minded and very set in their ways.
They had very strict rules for their daughter. But they were
much more relaxed with their grandson because of his fragile
childhood.
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Because
Jeffrey was an outsider in school he seems to better relate
to the older people than to young people his own age.
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History
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When
Anne was a young child she was an overindulged, spoiled, only-child.
When she was a teenager her parents decided she needed more
structure in her life because she seemed so irresponsible. To
this Anne reacted with increased rebellion against Joe and Sylvia's
ways. Until her parents were at their wits end and caved into
her.
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Anne
continues to be angry and resentful at her parents especially
after they took custody of Jeffrey the second time when he was
11. This second time Joe and Sylvia had to fight their daughter
in court and prove she was an unfit mother which was a traumatic
and heart wrenching event for all parties involved.
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Home Economics
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Although
Sylvia could bake and cook like a wizard in the kitchen, Anne
had no interest in being taught homemaking skills.
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Although
Joe was a skilled electrician, Jeffrey had been taught nothing
about his trade.
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Law
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Anne
by virtue of her ability to create a child remained supreme
in the courts of this land for many years in opposition to her
parents. It didn't seem to matter that she abused Jeffrey and
neglected him for years. All that she had to do was go into
a courtroom and tell a judge that she wants her child back and
show that she was able to be a good parent again. For too many
years her rights as a parent superseded those of her child and
his grandparents.
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Is
it any wonder that Jeffrey is as angry as he is? The laws are
designed to makes losers out of everyone. The law could not
provide Jeffrey with a safe and secure home. So the grandparents
had to irrevocably destroy their own daughter's love for them
by publicly maligning her in court in such a way that the courts
would permanently terminate her parental rights once and for
all.
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Psychology
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Sylvia
had secretly suspected that Anne had a mental illness such as
schizophrenia or bi polar or both, but it would have been too
humiliating to have know for sure. So she always just wondered
to herself.
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Jeffrey
has had a tendency to have fits of intense fury and rage. Sometimes
his anger even frightens him, but he does not know how to control
it.
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Public
Health
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Joe
and Sylvia believe that Anne's previous poor living conditions
and lack of proper nutrition for Jeffrey had contributed to
his poor grades in school, health problems and stunted growth.
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Joe
developed heart and lung disease as well as high blood pressure
following retirement and now has significant increased medical
expenses related to lack of sufficient insurance coverage for
his medicines.
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Religion
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Joe
and Sylvia made Jeffrey go to church every week just like they
took Anne when she was a little girl.
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Because
Anne and Jeffrey had no faith of their own they never applied
the things they heard in church personally. They never made
a meaningful connection to Joe and Sylvia's religion.
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Sociology
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When
Jeffrey was a boy Joe was torn between the role of being a parent
and grandparent. On one hand Jeffrey needed the firm parental
guidance of a father, but on the other hand Joe felt cheated
out of the joys of grandparenting.
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Joe
and Sylvia want to push Jeffrey into a life of his own. They
long to see him find a life for himself; to find his life calling
and to discover his life partner. But Jeffrey is too emotionally
confused to find anything right now.
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