Brenna Case

Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The case of Brenna
Marissa Bowman
Walden University

In the case of Brenna social and economic injustice was present in the areas of housing, education and healthcare. Brenna became a victim of sexual assault at the age of 15 by her mother’s boyfriend. When she disclosed to her mother about the sexual assault Brenna was asked to move out. There was an immediate lack of concern for Brenna’s well-being by her mother virtually kicking her out with no regard to how she would survive or continue going to school. Freud’s theory regarding the ego and psychosexual development states that: “perceiving welfare recipients as victims of psychologically abusive histories can result in character disorders…show more content…
By addressing Brenna’s abusive history through therapy she was able to validate and process through feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, loneliness, and powerlessness. Instead focusing and becoming victim of her abuse Brenna’s resiliency, self-sufficiency, and dedication to providing a healthy life for her unborn child gave her the motivation to set difficult goals, and she used her time at the shelter to attain them rather than remain in poverty. The social worker had a comprehensive view of the impacts of poverty in that she provided Brenna access to social services that would provide housing, food assistance and free education as described by Mantle and Backwith (2010).

References
Mantle, G., & Backwith, D. (2010). Poverty and social work. British Journal of Social Work, 40(8), 2380–2397. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Working with survivors of sexual abuse and trauma: The case of Brenna. In Social work case studies: Foundation year. Retrieved from http://www.vitalsource.com
Turner, K., & Lehning, A. (2007). Psychological theories of poverty. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 16(1/2), 57–72. Retrieved from the Walden Library