Rosa Lee Cunningham Case Study

Rosa Lee Cunningham raised eight children, many grandchildren, was loved and respected by many in her community, and was full of stories from her experiences in life (Dash 2015). The strengths perspective shows how she is a strong woman who works hard to protect the people in her life. She was doing the best she could with her assets and surrounding environment from when she was young. She utilized many opportunities, like the methadone clinics in town and churches. She dropped out of school at 14 when she had her first child, but she uses those around her to complete daily tasks—like reading and dealing with bills. For her education and socioeconomic level, she tried her best to make sure everyone in her family had what they needed. I felt
She had esteem in the way she dressed.
• While she and her mother often never got along, she tried to not raise her children like her mother. Her children and grandchildren loved her and she loved them. She had motivation to love her children.
• She tried to teach her children and grandchildren how to survive in the world they were living in at the time; she also worked hard to protect them. Her community called her Mama Rose.
• While she didn’t complete high school, she was smart when it came to live in her
Even though there were always people in her apartment, she kept it tidy and clean.
• She is respectful of others; she insisted on calling Leon “Mr. Dash”, and her children did the same (p. 19). He also drew a line on how he would help them. He would buy them meals or even cigarettes, but nothing more. Even though they tried for money and never got any, they still received food from him. He was a valuable asset to Rosa Lee’s family and to other in the community.
The strengths perspective doesn’t ignore struggles and traumas experienced in life. Rosa Lee went through very difficult times. Her relationship with her mother was never easy. She had to sell herself to make money. She didn’t know how to keep a man around, and threatened to harm herself if he did not stay. No one can deny that she had a hard life. But she still tried to use her assets and environment to survive. Her mode of survival may not make sense to a lot of people, but she used what she could to live another day. Yes, her addiction to drugs was a terrible thing, but being surrounded by them and selling them cannot be easy. I have no idea what it was like to be in her shoes, and I don’t know how I would react if ever in that situation. Reframing her situation helped to understand her life and