RUNNING HEAD: PARENT-INTERVIEW CHILD ASSESSEMENT

Parent Interview-Child Assessment

Tartiana Harrison
Northwestern State University
SOWK 3030

Abstract

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I conducted a parent-interview child assessment with a teenage single parent mother and her two
toddlers. She has a daughter age 18 months and a son age 9 months. I interviewed the parent and
child with regard to parenting and environmental stresses, child rearing practices, and parenting
styles.

Parent-Interview Child Assessment

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My parent interview child assessment was conducted with an 18 year old single African
American mother named Susan Smith(DOB 12-22-1996). She is the mother of a 19 month old
daughter named Mckenzie (DOB 07-10-2013) and a 9 month old son named Michael.(DOB 6-12014) (See Genogram Appendix A). This family resides in the same home Susan was raised in.
Susan and her mother Mary (DOB 05-24-1964) and her two younger sister have lived in this
same house for over 8 years. The house is located in the southern part of the city, it is neatly kept
outside. There were some toys in the yard situated to the side neatly placed near the side of the
house. The family have a friendly, little puppy named Laila. When I arrived at the home the
mother was feeding her two kids while watching the evening news. The house was very quiet
and no one else was home with them. The home was well maintained and there were a few toys
in a corner in the living room. Everything else was in its proper place. I found this to be strange
with having two toddler of this age.
The home was located in a low income neighborhood that appears to be very quiet. Susan
and her two kids share a room. The room appears quite small for the three of them but the seem
to adapt to the environment well. There is a queen size bed and a baby bed located in the room.
They are situated on one side of the 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house. Her mother has two other
daughters that also live in the house a set of 16 year old twins Carla and Kayla. (DOB 9-181998) Her mothers home is not paid for, but she is currently renting to own. Susan had dated her
kids father Jacob Doe (DOB 09-22-1994) for 3 years and they recently separated about 9
months ago around the same time as the birth of her son. She is in the process of getting her own
low income apartment about 10 miles from her mother. She does not have any transportation so
her mother takes her to doctors appointment and to the store when she needs anything for the
kids. She dropped out of school because she had no one to watch her daughter, but while

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pregnant she did take night classes to get her GED. She explained, This was tone of he biggest
moments in my life besides my kids I had aspiration to be a high school and college nursing
graduate before I had any kids. Then she went on to say, I will fulfill my dreams it may not be
at the moment but in time I will, I owe this to myself and to my kids.
Susan has been on her job at Burger King now for about 4 months. She is making
minimum wage of $7.45 per hour and she usually works about 30-35 hour per week. She
currently utilizes the government for food stamps, Medicaid and child assistance. She also
receives $500 a month in child support from her kids father. She stated that having her kids at an
early age was a big transition from what she was used to. Instead getting up every morning for
school now she has to wake up at all times of the night to see about her kids. She has to prepare
clothes, bottles and snacks for the kids at night to go to daycare. It is located about 2 miles from
the family home. She has to be at work every morning at 7:30, and this has become an issue
because her mother works at night and sometime finding a ride to work can be hard. Her mother
has arranged for a family friend to drop the kids off at daycare and to bring her to work. Awaking
at all times of the night has really taken a toll on Susan, being well rested for work. Susan said,
"My main priority is to cherish, protect and nurture my kids." She also stated that her most
important goal is to raise her children to be productive members of society and ensure they are
ready to face this cruel world. She also stated she grew up in poverty, her mother utilized the
government for the same services when she was younger, her mother now has a good job at a
local casino where she is making $13.00 hour. She said, I look up to my mother she did what she
had to do tp provide for me and my sister and I will strive to ensure my kids will not have to
experience the same type of lifestyle.

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She also stated Being a full time mom is very stressful because when I am not at work I
am with my kids all the time. I do not get much help or time away from them, except when I
work. I cant afford to bring them to daycare because I have to pay a portion and I really can not
afford to pay anything at all, but I have to do what I have to do. Her mother still hold her to the
same standards as her sister, yes chores are still a part of her daily routine, while she still has to
take care of the needs of her kids. Her defense mechanism for dealing with this stress is
Intellectualization because she is unhappy that her kids father does not even try to reach out to
help with the care of the kids, but at the same time she is smiling while saying this. (Hutchinson
2013, pp. 141) Although there was no emotional evidence of her sadness, she does not have any
Me time, she said. She also suffers from biological stress, because she is juggling the kids,
chores, full time job and preparing to take some college courses classes online, and she is
beginning to get restless taking on all of this. (Hutchinson 2013, pp. 135) Her relationship with
her kids father is very rocky he may pass this week and not pass the next. She appears happy
with motherhood, but she just wish she had more time for herself. Susan stated I did not want to
have kids at such an early age but I will do what is best for them at all cost." Religion is a big
tradition in their household. They attend church every Sunday and bible study every Thursday.
She states, This is the only free time I get from my kids and work, because they are sent to the
children section at church." This allows her time to cope with her emotions and problems. She
states I have so many tears built up in me this is when I can let it out with no one asking me
whats wrong.
Susan states, I carried both of my babies to term with no complication at all. Both
babies were born healthy with no deformities. Susan stayed in labor a long, painful 26 hours with
her baby girl McKenzie, she weighed 5 pounds and 8 ounces at birth she was 24 inches long. She

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was healthy and showed no signs of distress at birth. Her APGAR score was 7 because of weak
cry but after a slap on the bottom she belted it out and all was fine. She bottle fed McKenzie until
the age of 11 months, but now she currently eats by her self in a highchair. She takes a two hour
nap every day around 2 pm and she sleeps throughout the night. She has to have her favorite
teddy bear "Whitey" to go to sleep. She is a not a needy child she is able to entertain herself with
toys and blocks while mommy tends to her baby brother. Some cognitive milestone stated by
Piaget that she have reached are; she is able to respond with simple one word answers like yes,
no and head shakes. She is able to put two-three words together to tell mom what she wants. She
follow simple commands and directions from mom. (Hutchinson 2013, pp. 433) Upon departure
she waves bye and and blows a kiss to me. She currently wears a pull-up her mom states she
know when she need to go but there are time when she forgets and after she has wet herself she
come to me and say, "O OOOOOO mommy I wet." She has begin to explore books and colors
mommy says. She started walking around her first birthday which is within one of her milestone
achievements, and she was able to sit alone around 7 months and crawl around five in a half
months. (Hutchinson 2013, pp. 431) She plays well with her brother and she tries very hard to
show him how the toys work. She has a good appetite, but mom is trying to cut out too much
sweet. After 4 months she did not want the pacifier anymore. She likes to play in the tub with her
bath toys. She is very attentive to the tv and the bright colors on Dora the Explorer. According to
Ainsworth, McKenzie is avoidantly-attached, it does not even matter if her mother is present or
not she is in her own little zone with her toys and the t.v.(Hutchinson 2013, pp. 442) From
observation her right hand seems to be her dominant hand. According to Erickson, McKenzie is
in Stage 1 the Infancy stage and she displays trust. She is able to see mom come and go in the

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house and her bond with mom lets her know she will be held when she cries and and fed when
when says she is hungry.
Susan was in labor for 14 hours with her 6 pound 2 ounce baby boy Michael. The labor
went off without a hitch. There were no complications throughout this pregnancy, therefore she
was able to carry Michael to term. Michael experienced no complications had a 8 for his APGAR
score. He is still sucks a pacifier to go to sleep at night, he is currently bottle fed. He tries to feed
himself with a spoon but he is able to finger feed himself. He is able to suck from a sippy cup.
He still wakes up throughout the night for a bottle. He too take a two hour nap at 2pm with his
sister. Mom take their nap time to straighten up the house and get their bed clothes ready and
supper prepared. Michael is securely-attached to mom he is very needy and cling to her.
(Hutchinson 2013, pp.442) She cannot move around the house with him not on her hip. He likes
to put everything in his mouth. He is teething mommy says. He babbles a lot and mumble DaDa.
(Hutchinson 2013, pp. 433) He started crawling around 6 months and was able to sit
independently a few weeks later. He is able to pull himself up on the coffee table and move
around by holding on to it. He crawls around at a slow pace. He does respond to his name when
called. He plays well with his sister but want to boss all the toys. He does not share freely if she
picks up something and he wants it he cries for it. He looks like he will be right handed also. He
is soothed by his mothers touch. He did not display tantrum with me but mom say he does throw
tantrums. According to Erickson, Michael is also in Stage 1 Infancy and he displays mistrust, he
clings to mom and does not try to form relationships with anyone when I tried to hold him to
give mom a break he pulled away and got even closer to mom. (Hutchinson 2013, pp. 437)
There were no signs of maltreatment, negligence, or malnutrition. Based on my
assessment Susan seem to have an authoritative parenting style. according to the work of Diana

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Baumriad, she is very flexible with the rules of the house. (Hutchinson 2013, pp. 490) Her
parenting style is warm and nurturing, that allow her kids to see how much she loves them. She
does a great job in praising her kids when they display good behavior. She seems to repeat a lot
of what she says and I think this is important at this stage in her young kids lives. This
strengthens their vocabulary and comprehension. All of her time is spent one-on-one with her
kids because they rarely go any where. She displays a lot of affection towards her kids. Overall
I think Susan is a very good mother. She stated to me that she has been approved for her own
apartment, but she is not sure how all of this will workout without no transportation. The
apartment will be located 10 miles from her mothers home. She is worrying about the burden
this will on her mother and the family friend who helps he with transportation. She hopes to be
able to get her a care next year with her income tax check. Her mother is going to help her
furnish the house with some of her hand me down furniture for now. Susan is just so happy about
getting her the apartment. She stated, I am tired being cramped up in that small room with all
our stuff and all the kids toys There is a local daycare who picks up the kids and drops them off
at the end of the day. There is also a grocery store located in walking distance of her her new
apartment. Hopefully within the next few weeks she will be able to get settled in and enjoy her
new home.
All of the kids needs appears to be met. Her mothers house is considered safe and I did
not spot any unsafe conditions in the house. Mom does not have any concerns for her kids and
she think she is doing a great job. She is concerned about transportation, and involvement from
the kids father. She could use more help from the kids father and her own family, but she state
they are her kids and she will do everything possible to make sure they are safe and well taken
care of.

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References
Hutchinson, E. D. (2013) Essential of Human Behavior, Integrating Person, Environment
and the Life Course. SAGE Publications, Inc.

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Appendix A
Genogram
Mary Smith
05-24-1964Mother of three
daughters and grandmother
of two infants whom she Susan Smith
12-22provide with a safe clean
1996Mother of
place to stay.
two infants and,
full time
employee.
Somewhat
overwhelmed
with this new
experience of

No Mention of
her DAD

Jacob Doe
09-22-1994
Father of two
infants who
spend no time
with his
kids.Supports
them through
Child Support.

Kayla Smith Karla Smith

09-18-1998 09-18-1998
Student in High
Student in high
School
school

Parent-Interview Child Assessment

Mckenzie Smith
07-10-2013 avoidantlyattached first born who
tends to keep herself
entertained.

Michael Smith
06-01-2014
second born of two
very needs and
securely attached to
mom

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