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Originally Posted by AngieDoogles
Uh oh, I'm a social worker in training. I hope this never happens to me!!! 
Possible positives for the defendant: She acknowledges that she's done something wrong (she pleaded guilty). She has tried several times to get clean--this shows that she WANTS to change even though she has been unsuccessful so far. She now realizes that she might lose her child which could cause her to make positive changes.
Does she have other family? A job? Education? Outside resources? Accomplishments? Is her child dressed properly? Does he/she receive adequate food? What did she do before the addiction? These kinds of questions can help you find lots of positives...
If you have any more information about the defendant, I can try to help you find more positives. We do it all the time in my social work courses so I have some practice.  We're given scenarios JUST like this one and use what is called a "strengths based perspective." It's really quite interesting.
Good luck with your case! |
Thanks Angie!!!
Ok, she has pleaded guilty buy it's not remorseful, she regrets having infected the social worker, but not for stabbing her...
her past was rough, abused as a child, taunted in school, etc (i am trying to use that) but her brother (who comes from the same background) went on to great things joining the army, and serving in Iraq...
she says that she loves the kidm but like i said she does drugs around him, so that's a point that is easy for the prosecution to rebutt...
she can't have her kid back per se, he has been adopted by her brother, but she could be around him and i think i could make a point that he can still help her in getting out of what she's into...
here's my problem, the witnesses on my side, their testimony is mostly hearsay, bc the defendant is not present in the court room... so i don't have much to make my case. they can make inferences and opinions based on what the defendant told them in their interviews, but she's lied in a couple of interviews as well...