Tata Institute of Social Science (Tuljapur)

Assignment 1: To develop a Casework Engagement Plan

Course Name: Social Work Methods Working with

Individuals, Groups and Communities.

MA Social Work in Rural Development

Name: Amitesh B. Tamhane

Enrolment No.: T2021RD031

Email: t2021rd031@stud.tiss.edu

Phone: 8693016559

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 Table of Contents

SR TOPIC PAGE 
no NO.
.
1 Introduction 03

2 Case Profile 04

3 Case Narrative 05

4 Family Structure Visualised: 06-07

Genogram and Ecomap
5 References 08

6 Annexure -1 09-10

7 Annexure – 2 11

8 Annexure – 3 12

Introduction

Being a student of MASW – RD, I got the opportunity to enhance my social skills by this
assignment of developing a casework engagement plan.. The assignmet, as it required a

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casework practice and engagement plan to be made was done by me in the following
methodology:

1. I identified a suitable client who had undergone a psycho-social distress in his recent
years.
2. I referred to the life span interview tool (Annexure 3) provided on TISSOL website
employed by the course teacher for the ease of practice of students.
3. Further by gathering information of the case and client participating in the casework
interview, I have prepared and used a genogram and an ecomap as additional tools for
better understanding of the family dynamics of the client.
4. I conducted this interview on 1st November 2021 with client’s own request at the
client’s house. The interview conducted has been trascripted in text format and
presented in this assignment (Annexure 1).
5. While conducting the entire assignment, a consent form was also consciously signed
by the participating client (Annexure 2).
6. I have also provided a summarised version of the transcript in a narrative alongwith
my understanding and observations in the interview.
7. A peer review of my assignment was conducted by 6 or my coursemates and I have
taken their suggestions sincerely under considertation while doing the final drafting of
the document.

Case Profile:

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The client selected for the assignment is a 21 year old male youth born in in the year
2000. He is pursuing his graduation in law. He belongs to a nuclear family of three
members currently. Client’s father is a senior official in CIDCO, a government agency
that looks after the various infrastructure projects in the state of Maharashtra. Client’s
mother is a housewife. The clientocassionaly works in a law firm as an intern and
sometimes commissions from his hobby of artwork. Thus prominently he is economically
dependent on his parents. He likes doing artworks in various formats from stipple work to
mandala art. Not much information of the extended family was provided, although the
client did mention about a cousin sister who, as said by the client, is the only one who
frequently maintains a contact with the client’s family.

Case Narrative :

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The interview has details of the client's overall life span till date and elements of his life that
had been causing emotional and mental stress. The client and his family have gone through a
lot of emotional setbacks. The client had an elder brother who was almost like the centre of
attention and an important pillar of the family. He died an accidental death, and that is a very
traumatised event in the family’s life. The client had a carefree and immature personality and
the client being the youngest, relied upon his elder brother regarding all his family
responsibilities. His parents experienced various symptoms of depression, like lethargy, loss
of sleep and loss of appetite. They had an emotionally severe phase to cope up from. Over the
months and years after the incident, the client and his parents started to seek help
professionally and consulted a counsellor with the help of a cousin of the client. To prove his
self-worth and gain trust from his parents, the client got sincere to his efforts of studies and
responsibilities in life and began to work for his parents' financial and mental betterment. He
got admission is a well-recognised institution and has since then led a happier and actively
engaging life. The parents have worked hard on moving on and are now more caring and
affectionate towards their younger child. Thus the client feels satisfied with the growth his
family is making from the setbacks. Overall we can see he has gained a more vital trust and
closer bond towards his parents since the client have realised the importance of each
member’s well being in their nuclear family.

Family Structure Visualised:

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Genogram
The tool used here is a genogram of the client’s family prepared with the
help of the information provided by the client. In the genogram we can
observe the various dynamics like the age wise comparison, year of birth,
year of death and chronology in the siblings. A legend has been provided
to understand the signs and symbols of the genogram.

Ecomap
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In the below mentioned eco-map, The relations between the family and
the peers of the client. We can see the bond the he shares with his family
due to the size of his family being small. The legend given below
provides the understanding of the color and style of lines used to display
the bond type.

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References:
1. Mathew, Grace (1992), An Introduction to Social Casework. Tata Institute of
Social Sciences, Bombay.

2. Life Span interview toolkit provided on TISSOL.

https://tissol.tiss.edu/pluginfile.php/58501/mod_resource/content/2/Life%20Span
%20Interview.pdf

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Annexure 1: Transcript of the Interview

Caseworker: Hello, thanks a lot for agreeing to participate in this interview which will be a
part of the academic studies in our course. For the record, would you please share some of the
basic personal details like your age, gender, ethnicity, etc.?

Client: Yes, I'm (Name Confidential). I was born in January 2000, and I'm 21 now. Man,
male by gender, and I am a Gujarati-Marathi Hindu. Right now, I'm pursuing my graduation
in Law from GLC Mumbai.

Caseworker: That’s good enough , would you please share the similar details about your
parents as well? 

Client: Yeah, my mother was born in 1977, belonged to a Marathi family from Alibag and
came here to the city for her graduation during the early '90s. She met my father during her
college years, and they got married in '95. My father, a Gujarati, was born in 1977 too and has
lived in Mumbai since his childhood. He did an Industrial training course and found his way
in the CIDCO, and now works as a supervisor in industrial projects in the state. I'm the second
child. I had an elder brother born in 1997; unfortunately… he died in a bike accident in 2016.

Caseworker: I'm sorry to hear that, and I understand what possibly you could be going
through. Would you like to share your memories with your brother and the years he had in
your family?  

Client: He was a very bright kid since his childhood. Good in studies, better at sports. He
pursued culinary arts and became a chef. My parents used to encourage me by comparing
myself to his achievements. Even though I was irritated by habitually listening to all this, I
was kind of carefree about my responsibilities towards my family because I knew my brother
would be more successful financially since he was going to get a job overseas soon us. Even
in a passive manner, my parents believed that. He had only one bad habit and that was riding
the bike very rash. Who knew a single lousy habit might cost the life of such an organised
person.

Caseworker: If I may ask, how were the next few months for your family after this grief-
stricken incident ?

Client: For the next few months, my father had stopped going to work, nobody in the house
talked with anyone. There was no topic to discuss. We barely stepped out of the house. I had
started believing that I had lost my family bond forever. I got very serious and strict in life
and avoided much socialising. Almost a year later, my cousin sister consulted a counsellor
and motivated my parents to visit the counsellor. Since then, it's been five years now, and
there have been many positive changes that I had never thought I would be seeing in my
family.

Caseworker: Would you please care to elaborate on those changes?

Client: Yes, why not? Well, it took time for my parents to heal mentally, but they eventually
decided to start over in life and focus on what they have. They started to pamper me and never
restricted me from anything. I found this a bit uncomfortable because now I felt the love was

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more out of fear of losing me. I felt the emptiness behind the pampering. Dad used to sleep
less and eat lesser. He lost a lot of weight, and his mother also had stopped going out with her
residential society friends. But after the therapy sessions, they started to take positive steps
and changed all this routine that I mentioned. I also began to do things that would make them
happy. I studied hard and cracked the CLAT exam for law studies, got admitted to the most
prestigious college for law studies. I also stopped my lazy lifestyle and made it a point to
organise my schedule the way my brother used to have. Although I found it a bit difficult to
adjust so drastically to a new routine from my old careless one, the only thing that kept me
going was the thought of why I was doing this. I'm doing this because I want my parents to
feel good and proud of me, just like they respected and loved my brother. Now I think that we
have all his memories with us, but we have moved on from all the sadness and sorrow
attached to it.

Caseworker: That is very great to hear. I wish you find peace and happiness in whatever plan
you have for life, and thanks a lot for sparing your time your vital information with me.

Client: You're welcome.

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Annexure 2: Consent Form

Objective:  To develop a casework engagement plan.

Casework interviewer: Amitesh Tamhane

Casework Participants name: Confidential

 This consent form is proof that I am voluntarily participating in the interview, and I
understand that the caseworker may quote my words directly. With regards to
being mentioned, please initial next to any of the statements that you agree with:

✓ I wish to review the notes, transcripts, or other data collected during the research of
my participation.

I agree to be quoted directly.

✓ I agree to be quoted directly if my name is not published and used by a made-up

name (pseudonym).

✓ I agree that the researchers may publish documents that contain quotations by me.

By signing this form, I agree that;

1. I am voluntarily taking element on this project.
2. The transcribed interview or extracts from it is able to be used as defined above;
3. I can request a replica of the transcript of my interview and might make edits.
4. I sense important to make certain the effectiveness of any settlement made
approximately confidentiality;
5.. I had been capable of ask any questions I may have, and I recognize that I am loose
to touch the interviewer with any questions I may also have withinside the future.

Name: Confidential

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 Date: 1/11/2021  

Annexure 3: Interview Tool – Life Span interview employed.

1. What is your date of birth?

  2. What is your gender? 

3. What is your ethnicity? 

4. Give a brief history about you parents.

5. When were they born ?

6. Where were they born ?

7. How did they meet ?

8. What are their educational details ?

9. What are their professional details ?

10. Do you have a sibling ?

11. When was your sibling born ?

12. What are his educational details ?

13. How was your relationship with your sibling ?

14. Did you have any friends, did you have any problem making friends ?

15. Do you play sports or have any hobbies ?

16. Did you have any dreams to achieve in your childhood ?

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