Running head: CASE OF MARY ANN

Case of Mary Ann

Jenna Winger
November 9, 2014
SAA6630
Wright State University

CASE OF MARY ANN

2
Case of Mary Ann

In the case of Mary Ann, she is a single mother of three in her mid-thirties. Her support
system consisted of her mother, who provided shelter and food for her and her children. Now
Mary Anns mother cannot help as much as she used to because of health concerns. The barriers
keeping Mary Ann from having a continuous job that lasts longer than six months are her past of
being incarcerated, children, education (GED), and her support system is diminishing.
Using Hollands theory, Mary Ann would be realistic, conventional and investigative.
Mary Ann is realistic where she is not very social and likes to work alone rather than closely with
others. She is also realistic where she likes to work with tools, as in technological and see
physical outcomes. She is conventional in the sense that likes to work with data and again rather
work alone and works well with keeping records organized and up to date. As for investigative,
Mary Ann is a high achiever when able to work in the right environment. By being able to work
alone with the information, she will thrive in the position.
With having the Holland Code of some form of conventional, realistic, and investigative,
Mary Ann would have the CRI. Using O*Net online website, it was easier to see why she thrived
at the warehouse position. Mary Ann, is more of a conventional person as she is a practical
person who enjoys keeping records and maintaining a routine. The routine aspect could affect
why she did not last in the data entry jobs as the places may not have had routine information to
update and had a very fast pace and changing environment. During her time in prison, she would
have been held to a strict schedule with slight variations along with bookkeeping courses would
have been structured by the instructor. Also has conventional, Mary Ann, would enjoy keeping
records whether written or typed, she also likes to be practical and accurate with the data. Her
second and third codes are realistic and investigative. As a realistic person, Mary Ann is a

CASE OF MARY ANN

problem solver and likes to see the physical results to feel accomplishment. As with
conventional, realistic likes to keep things in order and accurate. With being an investigative
person, it is understandable why Mary Ann likes to work in positions that have minimal face-toface time with others and likes to work alone. She would enjoy vague tasks to where she can
determine what is needed and solve the problem.
Using Supers career development theory, Mary Ann should be in stage 3: establishment
with the task of implementation. As with any theory, a person can be in any stage and move
forward or backward depending on their circumstances. As with Mary Ann, she would be
considered in the exploration stage where she is still trying to find the field of work she wants to
be in. She also just received her GED as well as took the courses in bookkeeping. The
developmental task that Mary Ann is in instead of the implementation would be crystallization.
In crystallization, she is determining which positions are right for her and the right type of
environment she wants to work in. Mary Ann is still trying to understand the factors involved
with finding her niche in the work place. With Mary Ann being at the different stages and tasks
then what the theory specifies, she would not be considered vocationally mature as she is one
stage behind and two tasks behind from the level that she should be at 35 years old as Supers
theory specifies.
For the third concept of Supers theory, is the life roles, which is everything that you do
and you are. Some common roles include, but not everyone will be every role, are son/daughter,
worker, homemaker, spouse, parent, citizen, student, sibling, and many others. For Mary Ann,
she is a mother to three children, worker as she has held jobs in the past and is currently looking,
daughter to her mother, learner as she is continuing to learn new skills, an offender as she has
been in and out of the court system and was incarcerated, and homemaker since her mothers

CASE OF MARY ANN

illness. These roles can change over time and the intensity of the roles can change. Mary Anns
roles of mother and daughter was less intense when she was in prison, but her roles of offender
and learner was intense as she completed her GED and took courses on bookkeeping. Each role
may interact with other roles, as one person can be multiple roles throughout their whole lives.
By using these two theories to assist Mary Ann with securing a stable position to comply
with the judgment. With using her Holland code, RCI the type of career field can be found by
using the SDS Occupational finder. With using the codes RCI, CRI, CIR, IRC, ICR, and RIC,
Mary Ann can be guaranteed to figure out what type of careers interest her and go with her
personality. From her past positon working in a warehouse as the inventory clerk it is
understandable with her code being RCI that she would enjoy this position. The positions she has
held since being released from prison, are not ones that match her personality Holland code,
which is why she does not last past six months. Mary Ann needs to stay with the type of
positions where she can work independently with specific procedures and routines. She likes to
keep records precise and know what is expected of her. This type of position would exist in
warehouse or factory positions as well as any bookkeeping positons where there is not a fastpaced environment. Mary Ann is a dependable person who just has not found the right type of
career and environment to work in. Mary Ann as a conventional person she is not one who likes
to be in control, but to follow others instruction. From this she would like to have a supervisor
that lets her work independently and just tells her what is expected and what needs done.
From using Donald Supers developmental theory, it can be determined that Mary Anns
roles are changing and ones that she has not had to live in are becoming more intense. Before her
mother was the homemaker and the one who took care of the children, but now with her health
issues she cannot. This situation will make Mary Ann have the weight on her shoulders to take

CASE OF MARY ANN

care of her children, put food on the table, and make sure she has the necessary transportation to
make it to work. With being 35 years of age, the stage of vocational careers she should be in is
where she has established her career path as she was before being incarcerated while working at
the warehouse. She was productive and had successfully learned how to operate the inventory
system. While in prison, she was taken back to the exploration stage, when she decided to
receive her GED and take bookkeeping courses. It was a way for her to gain more training in a
field she is familiar with since her mother was a bookkeeper. Since not being able to completing
the task of implementation where she knows of the career field to enter and is in the
crystallization stage as she is still determining her interests and figuring out what factors affect
where she enjoys working at. After the session of having the realization of what type of
environment, she works well in and with the type of supervisor who does not micromanage and
allows her to work independently. Mary Beth is currently entering the specification stage as she
has discovered that the jobs since she has been released from prison are not the type of
environment she wants to work in. She thrived in her bookkeeping courses as well as in her
warehouse position, knowing this information will assist in determining what is her next step.
By having multiple roles along with new responsibilities that she had before but were not
as prevalent Mary Ann will need to make sure the job she takes allows her to be in the necessary
roles. She will have to take a stronger role as a daughter, mother, and homemaker as her situation
has changed. It would be helpful to find out what values are important to her in the area of her
career environment.