urpose: This assignment is designed to assist you to begin to think from a
perso
urpose: This assignment is designed to assist you to begin to think from a person/system-
in-environment, bio-psycho-social-spiritual-cultural, and systems perspectives, with an
awareness of the impact of diversity on your own human behavior and social work practice.
In addition, you will also begin to understand different definitions of family, apply
theoretical knowledge about families as systems that develop and change in relation to their
environments, and gain critical self-awareness about the impact one’s own family has on
one’s development and identity.Description: In a five-page paper, describe yourself by
succinctly answering the question “Who are you?” in light of the knowledge you have gained
studying human biology, sociology, psychology, and religion. Consider yourself as biological
(stage of physical development, sex, sexual orientation, relationship to the natural world),
as social (roles, ethnicity, socialization, class, gender), as psychological (stages of
psychological development), and as spiritual/religious (moral development). Incorporate
material you have studied in other related liberal arts courses, with reference to course
readings or speakers. You will also assess your own family as a social system using the
information on applied systems theory and the ideas discussed in the Hutchison text
(Chapter 7) and in-class about family development, sustainability, and the impact of
diversity and discrimination. In the family assessment section of your paper, you must
include a-f in paragraph format:a) How do you define your family and who are its
members?b) Describe a systems model illustration of your family (chapter 7).c) Create an
Ecomap of your current family in relation to its environment, including one element in the
natural environment (air, water, land, plants).d) How does racism, classism, sexism,
ableism, religious discrimination, or heterosexism (choose one) affect your family?e) How
your assessment might be different if your family were gay parented, African- or Hispanic
American, single-headed household (female or male), poor, recent immigrants, or rural
(choose one).f) How might your family system’s behavior be different if you were raised in a
different natural environment (choose one): (i) in Alaska coping with dangerous terrain and
extremely cold weather? (ii) on the edge of the Sahara Desert in North Africa? (iii) in a
neighborhood with no parks? or (iv) in a community living in a flood plain?Evaluation: Your
paper will be evaluated based on whether you addressed the bio-psycho-social-spiritual
components of yourself, addressed your family as a social system; used information on
applied systems theory, discussed any ideas from the Hutchison text (chapter 7), class

discussions about family development, sustainability, and the impact of diversity and
discrimination, the degree of depth you exhibit, and the clarity/conciseness of your writing.
Make sure to use APA style of reference, latest edition), and check for spelling, grammar,
punctuation, and sentence structure. (Note: cover page and references are not included in
the page length). The assignment is due on February 27, 2023, via the “Assignment” link
located on Canvas on/or before 11:59 pm. Assignment meets Core Competencies: (CC 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9).Chap 7 from book ( copy and paste )Bobby Sharpe’s U.S. Army National
Guard unit was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Afghanistan in 2010. Bobby suffered a
relatively minor physical injury in Iraq and still has occasional nightmares about his tour in
Afghanistan. He feels lucky, however, that he and his family have not suffered some of the
traumatic post-war aftermath he has seen in the families of some members of his Guard
unit.Bobby is a 47-year-old African American man who lives in a small southwestern town.
He has been married to Vivian for 24 years, and they have a 23-year-old daughter, Marcie,
and a 14-year-old son, Caleb, who has cerebral palsy. Back when Bobby finished high school,
he served in the army for four years. He received some good training, enjoyed making
friends with people from diverse backgrounds, and had two [Page 210]tours overseas but
never served in a war zone. After four years, he was eager to return home to be near his
close-knit family. Soon after returning home, he ran into Vivian, who had grown up in his
neighborhood, and they were soon spending a lot of time together. A year later, they were
married, and a year after that, Marcie was born.Bobby wasn’t sure what work he could do
after he left the army, but a few months after he returned home, he got in touch with a high
school friend who was working as a heating and air conditioning technician. On his friend’s
recommendation, Bobby was hired where his friend worked and quickly learned the
technical aspects of the heating and air conditioning business. When Marcie was born,
Vivian cared for her at home and cared for her sister’s small children while her sister, a
single mother, worked. When Bobby’s father had an automobile accident and had to miss
work for six months, Bobby and Vivian provided some financial aid to Bobby’s mother and
younger siblings. Finances were tight, and Bobby and Vivian were afraid they would not be
able to keep up the mortgage on their house, which was a source of great pride to them.
Bobby decided to join the Army National Guard to bring in some extra money. He also
looked forward to the type of camaraderie he had experienced in the army. He went to drills
one weekend per month and took time off from work for a two-week training each year. His
unit was mobilized on two occasions to assist with floods in the state. The extra money
helped to stabilize the family economics, and he enjoyed the friendships he developed, even
though only one other person in his unit was from his small town. When Marcie entered
public school, Vivian took a job in the cafeteria at her school, which allowed Bobby and
Vivian to start a college fund for Marcie.Bobby grew up in a close-knit family that included
his mother and father and three younger sisters, as well as a maternal grandmother who
lived with them. Several aunts, uncles, and cousins lived nearby. Both parents were
hardworking people, and they created a happy home. Bobby’s grandmother provided
childcare when the children were small and helped to keep the household running
smoothly.Vivian grew up a few blocks from Bobby. Her father died in Vietnam a few months
before she was born, and her mother moved her two daughters back to the town where she

had grown up. She struggled to raise her two daughters while working two jobs, with some
help from her mother, who lived in town but also worked two jobs. Vivian was lucky that
another neighborhood couple became her godparents and played an active role in her life.
This couple was never able to have children of their own, and they enjoyed including Vivian
in their lives. She continues to consider them family.During Bobby’s deployment to Iraq,
Vivian and Marcie were able to get along fine with the love and support of Bobby’s family;
Vivian’s mother, sister, and godparents; and Bobby’s boss. They missed Bobby and worried
about him, but Marcie was very good about picking up more responsibilities to help Vivian
with the chores usually performed by Bobby. When the furnace broke, Bobby’s boss was
generous about doing the repair. One of Bobby’s sisters helped Vivian juggle taking Marcie
to her after-school activities and picking her up. Bobby was injured by shrapnel in his last
week in Iraq and spent two weeks in the hospital in the nearest city when he returned
home. The family and friends network took care of Marcie while Vivian juggled trips to the
hospital with her work schedule.But things were more complicated when Bobby was
deployed to Afghanistan. Bobby’s beloved grandmother had had a stroke two years before
this deployment, and his mother and father were working opposite shifts at the local
nursing home so that someone was always home to care for her. Bobby’s aunts, uncles, and
cousins were taking turns providing a few hours of care so that his mom and dad could get a
break and run errands. One of Bobby’s sisters had stayed in the city after she completed
college and had a busy life there. Another sister, a single mother of a 2-year-old daughter,
was serving in the army in Iraq when Bobby left for Afghanistan. Her daughter was living
with Bobby and Vivian while she was deployed. Bobby and Vivian’s son Caleb is the joy of
the family, but he requires extra care. While Bobby was deployed, Vivian’s mother moved in
with Vivian and cared for Caleb and the 2-year-old niece during the day while Vivian
worked and then turned their care over to Vivian so that she could do a six-hour shift caring
for an older woman with dementia. To help stabilize the family finances, Vivian accepted the
offer to take a supervisory position in the school department’s lunch program. She was
excited about the new responsibilities, but the demands of the new job were often too much
during a time of great family upheaval. Vivian was especially concerned about monitoring
Marcie’s after-school activities now that she was approaching adolescence, but her
godparents were a great help with that, just as they had been for Vivian during her
adolescent years. The women’s group at the family’s church provided emotional support as
well as occasional meals and transportation for Marcie. Marcie and Caleb missed their dad,
and Marcie worried a lot about his safety, especially during the weeks when they did not
know his whereabouts.Bobby returned from Afghanistan with no physical injuries, but his
best friend from the Guard lost a leg to a roadside bomb. When Bobby came home, Vivian,
Marcie, and Caleb were thrilled and were eager to pick up life where they left off. Bobby
wanted to spend a lot of time by himself, [Page 211]however, and Vivian realized that he
was having trouble sleeping, sometimes had nightmares, and was easily startled by loud
noises. She did some research on the Internet and decided that she needed to give Bobby
time to readjust. She did her best to help Marcie and Caleb understand this also. She was
pleased, but also worried, when Bobby began to go for long walks and to spend time with a
new puppy. After four months, Bobby was able to talk about the guilt he felt about surviving

when other Guard members had died. He gradually began to be more like his old self and
was happy to get back to work. He still makes time to spend with his friend who lost a leg in
Afghanistan. His grandmother died six months after he returned from Afghanistan, and he
and the rest of the family still miss her.The Sharpe family entered a new phase when Marcie
went away to a state university on a track scholarship. Bobby and Vivian were so proud of
her decision to study for a career in occupational therapy, a decision that was influenced by
the family’s experiences with Caleb. Marcie found the transition to university to be a big
challenge. She struggled to manage her time between track practices and meets, academic
assignments, and her desire to travel home as often as she could. She missed her mom, dad,
and brother and being able to join the extended family at weekly church services. She was
also challenged by the diversity in the student body and found herself beginning to question
some of the assumptions she had held about the meaning of such issues as family, gender
expression, race, and war. By her sophomore year, she had figured out some time
management strategies and had become more comfortable with the diversity in the student
body. Bobby, Vivian, and Caleb created a new family ritual of attending some of her track
meets and bringing some of her favorite family dishes to share with friends after the meet.
Marcie is now pursuing graduate studies.my family today is my brother and my sister and
my 2 nieces .Growing up is my grandmother my mom and dad however my dad was always
working as well as my mother and there was alot of domestic violence in my house and
susbstance abuse from my fathers side so we also relied heavily on emotional support from
my grandmother . also religious discrimination affects my family as were raised in roman
catholic church and to my family it was always about sticking to that faith and that we
should not even participate with other faiths however as i grow p in such a diverse city like
newark nj I have learned from the different faith based organizations and clergy of this city
and i enjoy participating and engaging with them