Big Brother Case Study

Essay by waggoner76University, Master'sA, October 2014

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Big Brother

The Big Brother programs were found to "focus less on specific problems after they occur, and more on meeting youths' most basic developmental needs" (Big Brother Big Sister, 2013, p.1). The concept of Big Brothers is to attempt to provide help for boys, ages six to sixteen that do not have fathers present in the home. According to Jones (2004), scholarly article stated that: "Studies of the impact of father absence have shown that boys, who live without a father in the home, are more likely to be delinquent, use drugs and alcohol, have increased levels of psychiatric problems, and have behavioral difficulties" (p.337). A Big Brothers goal is to provide adult male companionship to the little brothers. Most of the boy had negative experiences with adult males. Sadly, some boys have never met their father, and many had witnessed family violence. "It is argued that 'cycle of violence' theories have historically influenced and still influence teenage boys" (Baker, 2009, p.438).

Thus, boys carry emotional scars resulting in poor attitudes towards men in general (Head & Grasby, 2001). Nevertheless, the majority of contacts with the Big Brother organization are mothers of these boys. The majority of families are headed by women that face economic disadvantages because their source of income is public assistance. Overall, Big Brothers primary reason for becoming a volunteer is to help others (Head & Grasby, 2001). When boys were matched with Big Brothers, they were able to see that there were men, who did not drink excessively, did not hit women and who provided an adult male influence they could hold in high esteem (Head & Grasby, 2001).

Irvin Westheimer a business man in Ohio found a young boy in 1903, digging through trash in an alley. Mr. Westheimer befriended the boy...