Case Study

Julie gets up in the morning to get herself ready for school. As she heads from her room to get breakfast, she is stopped by her brother, who says, "Yuk, Julie, that blouse is ugly. It has stains on it and makes you look fat." Julie quickly goes back into her room and changes her shirt. She heads to the kitchen to greet her mom. "Morning, Mom. What's for breakfast?" Her mom responds somewhat frustrated, "Breakfast? Do you realize how late you are, again? You've got to get up earlier if you expect breakfast. Now get to school before you miss the bus." Julie grabs a banana and runs outside, only to see the school bus pulling away. A kid yells out the window, "Tough luck, Julie. Have a great walk to school."

Once at school, Julie remembers that she has a history test. She forgot to study. At lunchtime, she notices a group of her friends looking at her and laughing. She feels her face turn red, and she turns to leave quickly. Finally, the day is over, but not before she gets her math test back with a "D+" on it. She feels the test was very unfair as it covered material not in the book. She tries to explain this to her teacher, but he dismisses her complaints.

Julie decides to walk home. On the way home, one of the local kids begins to throw pine cones at her. One hits her in the back. Furious, she turns and chases him down. Once she catches him, Julie begins to swing her arms, hitting him numerous times. Several other students passing by pull her off. But Julie is crying, breathing heavily, and ignoring the other kids. All she wants to do is hit the "pine cone thrower."

Answer these questions:

  1. If Julie were to come to you and tell you she just "lost it," what kind of advice or explanation would you give her?

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  2. The mother has brought Julie to you for counsel. What kind of counsel would you give Julie to prevent a further occurrence?

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  3. If this had occurred at school, would you give Julie consequences?

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  4. Of what type, and how severe?

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  5. Think of the last incident of aggression or violence you saw or heard about. Were there circumstances surrounding it? If so, what were they?

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