Case Study
You are a support worker. It is lunchtime and you spot that there is some hostility between two young adults in your care, Matthew and Timothy. The young men share a room and have had an argument because Matthew was playing a CD that Timothy did not like.
Timothy is now behaving inappropriately towards Matthew because he is irritated with him for not turning it off straight away. He is ignoring Matthew and pushing his dinner plate and coffee mug repeatedly to annoy him. Matthew asks Timothy to stop pushing his things, stating that something might spill over. Timothy ignores the requests and pushes the plate harder.
You sit at the table with them and ask if there is a problem. At first he does not want to talk about what has upset him, but finally Timothy admits that his friend has upset him by playing a song he did not like. He is upset and angry. The two young men are usually good friends but Timothy does get easily frustrated when he does not get his own way.
- How would you help the two men to sort out this problem?
- Should Matthew be allowed to play music that his friend does not like?
- Should they continue to share a room?
- What measures can be put in place to try and prevent further issues occurring?
It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the responses you have to the above scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague or friend and ask them to tell you whether they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your assessor.
