In order to analyze a client’s behavioral trait, one has to probe into the very person’s social conditions, culture, environment, genetics, and family background. These are the main factors that constitute the biopsychosocial wellbeing of every individual. Calliope Stephanides, the protagonist in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel ‘Middle Sex’, would be a potential client for an evaluation and case plan. The character Calliope (Callie) is relevant for its socio-psychological significance, and it makes a sincere approach to intersex individuals’ emotions throughout the story.
A close analysis of the client Callie makes it clear that she undergoes severe identity crisis and emotional trauma. Callie struggles to determine her gender role and responds to her life situations in a justifiable way. She goes beyond the standards set by her family and society. She has been undergoing conflicting experiences of opposite sex in a way that has profound impact on every sphere of her life. To be precise, long pursuit of gender identity has affected my client’s (Callie) developmental process and perspectives. Severity of her emotional suffering is evident in the very opening sentence of the story; “Was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August 1974” (Eugenides, 2011, p. 3). As she becomes an adult, her state of being in the world has become a complex concern that needs clear interpretation.
With regard to her strength, Callie always tries to comprehend what she experiences around and forms a hypothesis about the world. She constantly tests her theory’s practicality as well. She (or he) shows courage by deciding gender identity despite all social challenges. Clearly, the goal for the intervention plan here is to help Callie recover from her dissociative identity disorder. There are several instances when the client experiences severe internal conflict. For instance she says, “Callie rises up inside me, wearing my skin like a loose robe. She sticks her little hands into the baggy sleeves of my arms” (p. 42). She needs great help in identity management during transformation from female to male. It is not easy for Callie to cop up with the fact that she is an intersex person, because she has been failing to be like other girls, and isolation has deteriorated her mental status. Another issue is social stigma, for Callie had already been marked by a female name and social identity. And, this will raise challenges to her gender ‘reassignment’. All these factors constitute potential barriers for the client.
The best strategy involves analyzing Callie’s personal constructs. Kelly’s theory of personal constructs can explain this situation. According to this theory, when people face with paradoxical information against their core constructs, they tend to change their constructs according to the information they received. In other words, the theory explains how people act upon their ‘core constructs’, their deeply-held ethics, and ideology in a particular situation. Callie speaks about her aspiration to be a male and the way she (he) lived with Olivia, her girl friend. “For the first time, we took off our clothes in front of each other. I was as such of a man as Olivia could bear at that point. I was her starter kit” (p. 319).
The strategy should address her acquired perspectives and inborn genetic features because these are the factors that developed her dissociative identity disorder. The strategy will be achievable as long as it comforts Callie in her conflict with assigned gender role. A person like Callie has reasons to develop dissociative identity disorder. Obviously, today society hung up about sexuality, and according to its perspective, Callie’s gender condition is an abnormality. Therefore, intervention strategies should help her form sense of self. To make it clear, case plan will also medically determine and fix the client’s gender so as to ensure Callie’s sustainability as full individual. The treatment method recommendable for Callie is cognitive behavioral therapy. The strategy will be evaluated on the basis of the client’s response and the outcome. Close monitoring is essential to determine how the person and family respond to the transformational phase. Evidently, it is not the change in physical appearance that creates problems but the mental and emotional transformation.
Intervention should cover Callie’s family also. When Callie escapes to San Francisco, the family enjoys relief, and this shows the intensity of gender perceptions in their minds. Callie who has been brought up as a girl is now concerned about how to become a grown up gentleman. The external environment demanded Callie to act as a female in every walk of life right from her birth.
In order to terminate service with the client, I will have to ensure that my client has bridged the gap between him (her) and the society. Evidently, my client has been striving to fix her identity every way possible. She says; “after college I took a trip around the world. I tried to forget my body by keeping it in motion (320). It is the moral responsibility of a social worker to make sure that the client (here Callie) is capable of leading a normal life. This responsibility involves convincing people around the client also about their valuable roles to help Callie overcome all emotional barriers. The success of the intervention lies with informing Callie that she too is an important element in the society. And, this may be possible only if the program helps the client to overcome the feeling of unworthiness and identity loss.
Follow-up is an inevitable part in every intervention program. Only and if the health practitioners give genuine follow-up, a client like Callie can demonstrate sustainable improvement in life. Being a responsible person, I will collect feedback from Callie and people interacting with him regarding his new life as a male. I will verify what extent Callie succeeds to build and maintain new social relationships. Surely, there will be situations when Callie fails to cop up with changes within and outside his family. He will be informed of such chances in advance so that he could manage them easily. It is likely that Callie becomes inefficient in certain situations. I will clearly make out such occurrences and suggest ways to overcome them. At the same time, I will make sure that my hostile would not interfere with my objectivity and limit my effectiveness as a therapist.
In total, intervention plan described above will surely achieve its goal. The program involves several phases like client evaluation, strategy formulation, therapies, medical procedures, strategy evaluation, and follow-up. The plan altogether must be a bio-psycho social one as Callie’s case involves multiple elements of unusual complexity. The plan would find positive result once implemented under strict supervision.
References
Eugenides, J. (2011). Middlesex. US: Bloomsbury Publishing.
