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Final Case Study On The Movie Precious

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Final Case Study On The Film- Precious

The precious film is based on the novel push by sapphire. It is based on the life of

Precious Jones, an illiterate 16-year old African American girl struggling to survive in an abusive

and poverty-stricken environment. Precious faces abuse both at home and from her peers.

Precious becomes pregnant with two children through rape by her father and suffers neglect and

abuse from her mother. Precious faces bullying from her peers (Hennessee, 2010).

Physical Abuse

Precious Jones faces physical abuse at the hands of her parents. Precious's mother, Mary,

frequently hits and throws things at her if she does not listen to her commands. In one scene, her

moody mother hits her with a frying pan on her head and hurls a television downstairs at her.

Mary bullies her daughter into cooking oily, fatty foods for her. She forces Precious to eat even

when she is not hungry because she believes making her daughter fat ensures that other people

will reject her. Mary, Precious's mother, Prevents her from regulating her hunger as another way

of abusing Precious's body and violating her boundaries.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse or sexual assault is any sexual activity that occurs without the consent of a

person. Precious was raped by her father from the age of 3 and later impregnated her at the age

of 12. She later gets pregnant with her second child at the age of 16, also from rape by her father.

She's also sexually abused by her jealous mother through genital fingering. Sexual abuse changes

a precious's body and affects her sexual feelings. The sexual abuse that Precious faces from her

father lead to her being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Precious has sexual desires as an average
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person, but she is overweight and less attractive because of her eating disorder, leaving her with

nobody to satisfy her needs.

Psychological Maltreatment

Precious faces psychological abuse from her mother, who continuously throw violent and

demeaning words meant to put her down. Because of her overweight, she is vulnerable to boys'

insults on the streets, classmates, and mother. Negative remarks about her weight affect her

psychologically, making her angry with herself and at others. Precious' mother tells her how

foolish and stupid she is and how she will never achieve anything in life. Her mother hates her

because she beliefs Precious stole her boyfriend, Precious's dad, from her, which is not valid.

Because of the constant negative comments about how fat and ugly she is, Precious feels socially

distanced from her classmates and peers.

Neglect

A parent's most important role is taking care of their children and protecting them from any form

of abuse, but this is not true in the film Precious. Precious Jones experience neglect from her

mother, who should be protecting her from rape by her father. Her father neglects her by failing

to respect her body and the father-daughter relationship. He rapes her and infects her with

HIV/AIDS. Mary, Precious's mother, neglects her failing to give her emotional and

psychological support. She is toxic and abuses her physically and mentally. She tells her she is

dumb and stupid and will never become anything good in life.

Violent Scenarios

There are many scenarios of violence in the film precious. Precious's mother is a witness

to the rape of her daughter by the father. She tolerates sexual abuse on Precious not because she

objects to incest, but due to the jealousy that Precious gave her father two children while Mary
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has only one child. Precious's mother requires her to clean, cook, and go to the store. Mary

spends most of her time sitting in a chair watching TV. Mary usually beats Precious for minor

mistakes or no reason at all. Mary frequently hits her daughter and throws things at her if she

fails to listen to her commands.

Red Flags

A variety of signs of abuse, including emotional symptoms and physical signs, can be

identified in the film Precious. Precious starts losing control of her body; she starts overeating to

feed her physical hunger. Precious becoming pregnant twice by the age of 16 was a red flag that

could have led to discovering the abuse precious was going through. Some other red flags to

show that Precious Jones was going through abuse included: being illiterate at the age of 16,

obesity, and lack of parental involvement in her school affairs.

Specific Home-Life Concerns

Precious Jones's life at home is filled with physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual

abuse. It is expected that a child will find peace and comfort at home, but this is contrary to what

happens to Precious. Precious is raped and impregnated twice by her father, who also infects her

with HIV/AIDS. The biggest concern is that her mother knows about the rape but only resents

her and blames her for the sexual abuse. Her mother fails to give her emotional support even

when the whole world seems to be against her. She only scolds her and tells her how stupid and

dumb she is. Precious never had a motherly support system aside from being belittled and abused

by her. Precious's mother never believed that undergoing school was important. She wanted

Precious to continue bringing more money into their home by collecting welfare.
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Support Mechanisms Present

Precious's social worker is more unhelpful than she is helpful. Although she attempts to

help Precious, her attempts seem to be worthless and even more harmful. During one of the

counseling sessions with Mary, Precious Jones's mother, the social worker displays poor social

work practice that could damage the results. The social welfare worker takes a long time to

discover the abuse that precious is going through, but the welfare worker still makes an effort to

help Precious. She partners with Precious's headteacher, who allows her to get admitted to

another school.

Formal Supports

Formal supports usually consist of organizations, private and government agencies set up

to assist people with special needs in the community. Formal supports in Precious' consist of

Teachers, Welfare worker, and Nurse John. School is one proper support place that has both

negative and positive impacts on Precious. Schools are among the institutions responsible for

safeguarding vulnerable individuals' rights. The school fails to uncover the abuse that Precious is

going through regardless of the many evident indicators. When Precious gets pregnant with her

second child, the school discontinues her education. It is not until Precious gets the second when

the school decides to help her. After joining an alternative school, Precious meets a caring and

encouraging educator. The teacher, Ms. Rain, helps Precious with a place to live and spends

Christmas with her after Precious runs away from home.

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Informal Supports

Informal supports consist of family and friends. Precious Jones does not have many

informal supports in her life. The students who become her friends at her alternative school

represent the informal support in her life. Precious Jones' new classmates are also more friendly

than her former schoolmates. The new relationships that Precious builds in her new school

strengthen her, giving her the courage to stand up to people who abused her, including her

mother.

Strengths Within the Precious Case

Precious is a survivor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuses. She demonstrates

impressive strength, both mentally and physically. She learns how to dissociate herself when

raped by her father. Precious Jones's strong will and determination rise above everything keeps

her going even when beat by people in her life. Precious sees beyond her present situation and

focuses on the future and how she wants her future to be. Even with all the abuse, Precious

dreams of graduating, going to college, and becoming a good mother to her children. She desires

to create a better life and never gives up on life even with all the abuses.

Multidisciplinary Team Response

I chose Precious Jones's teacher, Ms. Rain, as the multidisciplinary team member. Ms.

Rain becomes not only a teacher to Precious but also becomes a mother figure that Precious

lacks. Ms. Rain empowers Precious through learning, making Precious start gaining self-esteem

by empowering her through education. Through the Journal writings, Mrs. Rain becomes a
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trustworthy friend, which allows Precious to start to come to terms with the things she has faced

in the past. She becomes her protector and protects her from going back to her abusive mother.

I feel Ms. Rain should have been more proactive in her response to Precious's situation.

As a teacher, I would hope that I would have noticed and responded earlier to the apparent red

flags, e.g., why would a 16-year-old girl be illiterate? Why is this girl obese? Is it an eating

disorder, or what is the cause? Why and How can a 16-year-old girl get pregnant at such a tender

age? If I were Ms. Rain, I would have wanted to answer these questions and know that this was

not an ordinary city teenager struggling with poverty and issues common in society. As a

teacher, I must report child abuse cases and notify the relevant authorities when such crimes get

committed against a child. I would have written to the child services and demanding answers.
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References

Hennessee, D. (2010). Some Thoughts on Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.

Moebius, 8(1), 35.

Kakutani, M. (1996). A cruel world, endless until a teacher steps in. Rev. of Push, by

Sapphire.New York Times, 14