When I saw that we would be watching Big Mama during my first class, I immediately wondered what Big Mama's House had to do with social work.
Big Mama, Viola Dees had everything to do with social work.
Big Mama follows 18 months in the lives of Viola Dees, an African American grandmother, and Walter, her grandson, as she tries to raise him alone in South Central Los Angeles. Dees has taken care of Walter since the age of four, when his father (Viola's son) died. Walter appears in the documentary as bright and sweetly loving to his grandmother, but also profoundly troubled, affected by his mother's prenatal drug intake. In the documentary, Walter is nine, and Dees is turning 90.
Big Mama
I've never thought too much about grandparents as primary caregivers. I can't say much about the film, except that it moved me to tears. I'm beginning to learn there is no right and wrong in this field...and sometimes nothing is best. I had a feeling of hopelessness while watching the film; Walter had no where to go. His grandmother was dying, his family wasn't equipped to take him, etc. Just a stream of bads in the life of a boy so young.
I feel like the more we learn, the less answers there are. Such is life...
I just saw the film today in my MSW Practice IV class. You summarized my thoughts exactly. So many times in social work there is no 'right' answer regardless of the social theories and interventions we are taught to use.
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That thought doesn't leave me hopeless as much as it keeps me grounded.
Thanks for sharing.