Ice Truck Case Study

ice truck and he had poor peer connections. By early adolescence, most individuals have already experienced a friendship and they can transition and understand their feelings that relate to the opposite sex. John never accomplished the first step of maintaining a friend, so it was only natural for him to struggle. John believed that he was socially inept. He attempted speaking to this girl the way a “normal” early adolescent would, but the conversations often ended in embarrassment on his part. Despite the negativities, John was able to find joy in joining his school band. This is where his love for his saxophone developed. He was surrounded by other students who held the same admiration for music as he did. John’s band director, …show more content…
His senior year of high school comprised mostly of his girlfriend, his canary yellow Bel-Air Chevrolet, and “having a good time.” At this point in his life, John and his girlfriend were dating for about a year and he was confident that the two would wed after graduation. His life revolved around her happiness. John no longer looked for comfort from his parents or brothers. He only saw his family each night when they shared time around the dinner table. If John was not with his girlfriend, he was with his friends showing off his Bel-Air …show more content…
He said that those feelings brought him right back to his childhood where he was physically abused by his father and verbally harassed by his peers at school. John did not know how to approach his girlfriend after she had been hit in the head. She was naturally quiet, so the topic was not acknowledged after the occurrence, but John knew she felt humiliated. John did not handle conflict well at this stage in his life. He always felt attacked by others throughout his childhood and early adolescence because he was never taught how to correctly handle confrontation. He did not know how to address the incident with his girlfriend, so John wound up falling into a state of depression. John explained to me that he felt “trapped and hopeless.” He finally met the woman of his dreams and his mother created tension between everyone. John and his girlfriend still obtained a strong relationship, but there was avoidance of an important topic. It was not until two months after the family dinner that John had enough courage to ask his girlfriend how she felt. John’s delay in acknowledging his girlfriend’s feelings and his mother’s absurd behavior was not typically how the situation would have