Media Analysis: Individuals & Family Social Work In Movies/TV
When learning about social work practice, a helpful method of learning is to step outside textbooks and academic journals and engage with case studies. Having a client biography, presenting situation, and the reason for seeking care allows students to practice using theory and skills in how they would approach them.
However... It's also nice to take a step further away from academia and put on a movie or TV show that has social work practice. So here's my list of favourite examples of individual and family social work practice depicted in media. I am also going to include individuals or families who may have benefited from having social work support.
Even though it's a movie that I would more associate with aliens and a little girl bonding with a creature who she sees as the answer to her prayers, the background plot is her sister proving to an observing social worker that she is fit to take care of her younger sister following their parent's passing. It depicts child protection and the anxiety of trying to keep a family unit together underder traumatic circumstances. Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.
Based on a novel (and a true story), this film follows the journey of a family confronting their eldest son's struggle with addiction and remaining sober. What makes this movie a strong example of family social work is the intersecting factors represented in the family unit: a divorced couple who live in different cities having joint custody over their son, a father who remarried and has children with their new partner, scholarly pressure... The movie does not show social workers explicitly, but potential resources they may refer to: detox centres, AA meetings, and family support groups.
Sean Baker was recently awarded the Oscar for best director for his film Anora, a modern-day Pretty Woman. His muse is the world of sex work, with his films following the lives of street sex workers, dancers, and escorts. What makes The Florida Project unique from his catalogue is that it is from the perspective of a 6-year-old girl, Moonee, and her friends. They live in a motel with their mothers who used to or still work in the industry. The audience sees Moonee's mother struggle to make ends meet for the two of them, as she is a now out-of-work stripper. The mothers in the movie are threatened with calls to the Department of Children and Family because of their work, and they navigate systems of oppression to keep their little families together. If we were to use the movie as a case study thought experiment, what makes it unique is that it forces us to consider the situation from the child's perspective. What unique skills would we employ when speaking to a child versus a parent? How do we navigate procedures while keeping in mind vulnerability?
Some honorable mentions include..
The Bear (tv). Includes themes of substance misuse, suicide, addiction, and family system disruption.
The Sopranos (tv). Primarily a show about the Italian mob, but it has a very famous side plot of the lead character seeing a therapist.
It's Kind of a Funny Story (movie). Another personal favourite of mine, follows a teenager who admits himself into the hospital due to suicidal ideation. I think it's a good example of looking at clinical care.
