Deidre is a 42-year-old woman with three children; Maria aged 15; Yuri, aged 11 and Jean, aged 10 years. She was in a relationship with Thomas since 2002 when she left Romania and came to live in Finland. They were married in 2003. Maria was born of a prior relationship in Romania. Thomas was previously married with two children from that relationship. Deidre is a medical doctor and Thomas has his own business in construction, putting insolation in buildings. Deidre has reported to the police being physically abused by Thomas and has medical evidence about this. At the time, Deidre could not speak Finnish and when questioned by authorities, her husband would answer on her behalf. On learning Finnish and reading some of the recordings, she found that Thomas misrepresented their domestic situation and accused her of being an unfit mother. The couple divorced in 2015. At that time the children were placed in the custody of Deidre. In 2016 her ex-husband took her to court with the charge being Deidre “turning the children against him”, as the children did not want to visit and spend time with him. The court found her guilty and she had to pay a fine of 10 000 Euros. The children, Yuri and Jean, were removed and placed in the custody of the father. However, they were very unhappy and the father did not provide the required care. The children were subsequently taken into care and placed in two different children’s home. The reason given for this was that Yuri would influence Jean. They are very unhappy and want to be with the mother, and the mother is desperate to have the children with her. When the father comes to visit at the children’s home, Jean hides under the bed and refuses to see him. The social workers refuse to let the children go home, saying that the mother is manipulative and responsible for alienating the children from the father, and they say that the children are “too close to the mother”. The main reason for this being that the children sometimes take turns sharing the bed with the mother. The mother has reverted to the Rumanian Embassy in Finland and the European court for assistance.
Watch this YouTube film which shows how the children were removed from their home:
Write an analysis of the above case using primarily systems theory in your assessment and interventions. How might critical, emancipatory theory assist you with enhanced understanding and intervention?
