Reference no: EM133567827

Case Study: Tiffany is a 40-year-old divorced mother of three, Matt (17), Joey (10), and Pamela (3), of whom she has full legal and physical custody. The children see their father only on holidays and sometimes during the summers because he lives and works inconsistently in another state. Tiffany works as a custodian 40-hours per week on the third shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.). She prefers the third shift because it allows her to send off the older two children to school in the mornings and be at home in the afternoons when they return. She also has a second, part-time job on weekends, just to afford necessities. Tiffany's family is currently living in a mobile home that she is purchasing because their previous mobile home was destroyed by a flood during an extended rain storm. At the time of the flood, Tiffany and her family had to flee their home and lost most of their belongings. Tiffany often feels exhausted and overwhelmed by the accumulation of her many responsibilities, including being a single parent who has primary responsibility to provide financially for her family. Fortunately, she is able to rely on her oldest son, Matt, to care for the two younger children on the weekends when she works. Also, her great aunt is a retired special education teacher who loves to spend time with Tiffany's children and usually comes over during the day to watch Pamela (who was diagnosed with autism recently), while Tiffany sleeps in preparation for her night shift. Tiffany has a very busy and stressful life in which she must have a lot of stamina, patience, and be very resourceful to cope with it all.

Questions:

• What are some of Tiffany's possible interpretations of the events unfolding around her?
• What elements of her situation might make it less stressful for her?
• Why might her predicament be so stressful?
• Why is her predicament a crisis?
• What strengths do they have as a family or as an individual that might help them weather this storm?