Discussion: Trauma and Adolescent Development

Order Instructions

Discussion: Trauma and Adolescent Development

Trauma encompasses such events as child abuse and neglect, sexual assault, violence, incarceration, natural disaster, sex trafficking, traumatic grief, and bullying—and can occur at any age. Even after the immediate threat has passed, the trauma can continue to influence a person’s life in negative ways.

For adolescents, trauma can interfere with typical biological, psychological, and social development occurring at this stage. Imagine the case of a teen who has been assaulted. That person may become withdrawn and avoid social interaction as a direct result of the trauma experienced, thus impacting their social development.

In this Discussion, you assess how trauma has influenced an adolescent and how you might assist as a social worker.

To Prepare

Review the Learning Resources on trauma, adolescence, and social work with adolescents. Pay particular attention to the Levenson (2020) article.

Access the Social Work Case Studies media and navigate to Brady and to Tiffani. Choose one on which to focus this Discussion.

By Day 3

Post an assessment of the trauma the adolescent has experienced and how that may impact their development. Identify the areas that should be addressed in an intervention based on their developmental stage. Finally, describe how you might address those areas as a social worker, based on the Levenson article.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two colleagues who identified a different case and provide feedback on your colleague’s trauma-informed approach.

Use the Learning Resources to support your posts. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.