HEC101V – Case Study

Oscar lived with his alcoholic parents and spent most of his free time caring for his
four younger siblings. At 15, Oscar was out of school more than he attended it.
Repeated calls to the parents did not seem to remedy the problem. Oscar began
sleeping at friends’ houses. Often, when the school called to find out why Oscar was
not there, his mother had not seen him for several days. She seemed angrier that her
10-year-old child was complaining about taking care of the younger children than
whether Oscar appeared to be missing. Finally, the boy disappeared and only rumors
from some of the other students in his school gave any indication about his
whereabouts.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. How would you describe Oscar’s situation? Motivate your answer (5)
2. As a teacher from the school where Oscar and his siblings attend school,
explain what steps you will take to:

• Report this case (5)

• Support/assist the abused children (5)

3. Differentiate between emotional abuse, medical neglect, physical neglect

and educational neglect providing own examples. (12)

4. Would you classify Oscar’s as an abusive adult? Discuss ways in which an

abuser can be identified citing examples from the case study. (8)

While focusing on the main concept in a case study, one can bring in other related
concept. For example, drug abuse (alcoholism is included in the case study)

How to respond to a case study

1. Analyze and interpret the question carefully. Look for command words and any
specific focus(es). The best way is to underline key words.
2. Skim read the scenario to get the big picture.
3. Read the question asked
4. Decide on the concept it described (which can be found in your study
materials).
5. Read again slowly, underlining words or numbers that relate to course
concepts or indicate a particular kind of problem.