Case Studies

Communication Situation 2 (Negative Recommendation Letter)

The Context

Aside from teaching Abnormal Psychology in a university, Dr. Ellen Dizon is a full-time clinical
psychologist in a mental institution in the city. Although she was offered full-time position, she
decided to render her services in the said institution because of her passion in the work.

Last academic year 2009-2010, she taught the same course. As a friendly professor who is willing
to extend her time assisting her students, she became closer to a very bright student of hers Cynthia.
Her scholastic ability is impressive based on examination results, quizzes, and papers she
submitted. As a result, Dr. Dizon was attracted to her although Cynthia’s behavior is at odd with
her classmates. Usually alone and seemed to be preoccupied with her own world, the student
responded in the usual manner when Ellen approached her to ask about the progress of her paper
on Bipolar Disorder. They became close friends from then on, extending their time inside the four-
walled classroom to other places like coffee shops, malls, and even to Cynthia’s house. Their small
talks usually ended up into intellectual discussion like the philosophical foundations of behavioral
science, evolutionary psychology, and the recent research on mental processes.

However, Dr. Dizon discovered something as she continued associating with her student. She was
once caught talking to a non-existing friend. In the beginning, she just thought it was only her habit
but when she tried to interrupt her, Cynthia would ask her to leave the place the place since
somebody was bent on harming them. Cynthia was so afraid and when they reached home, she
just ran inside her room. As usual, her mother entertained the professor and told her the gravity of
Cynthia’s condition, a situation that had been a family secret- that Cynthia had been diagnosed to
have Schizophrenia. Dr.Dizon’s suspicion was confirmed after such revelation.

Cynthia’s mother, Ms. Fely is also a teacher, so her time is devoted both to Cynthia and her
schoolwork. Cynthia’s siblings, according to Ms. Fely, are also achievers like the firstborn Jerry
who is now an oncologist working abroad. Jerry is cum laude when he graduated in a university.

The second child is Resty, also an achiever but his interest is in Fine Arts. Actually, the wall is
almost covered by his paintings. Resty’s achievements in art resulted into his acceptance of
scholarship abroad, which makes him preoccupied now aside from becoming involve in art
exhibits in France.

The third child Melody took up AB in Comparative Literature because of her passion in reading
literature and her intense interest in writing. Right after her graduation last year, Melody was
invited to teach in a university and is now busy with her graduate studies. Although Melody is the
sole companion of Cynthia since the other two siblings are residing abroad, the former does not
really mingle with the youngest since Cynthia preferred being alone aside from the usual conflict
that occur between siblings.
Cynthia took up Psychology after graduating valedictorian in high school. Just like the usual
practice, valedictorians are given full scholarship.

Mrs. Fely had separated with her husband 10 years ago because of marital differences and
unfaithfulness of the latter. Mrs. Fely’s condition as a single mother is worsened by the inability
of her former husband to support the family. As a result, she took up a night schooling besides
rendering her services as a helper in a nearby place. Her toil resulted to good results. The
accomplishments of her children might be a cause for her early retirement but she did not opt for
that because, according to her, being just at home without doing anything worsens her depression.

Mrs. Fely admitted that Cynthia has been a loner since she was a child. Playing alone is not really
a bad thing but things changed when she was 12 years old when the signs and symptoms of
Schizophrenia are present. At first, she warded off the suspicion but when situation got worse, she
brought her youngest child to a clinical psychologist for check-up. The findings aggravated the
situation of Mrs, Fely since the doctor asked her to place Cynthia in a mental institution. Not really
wanting to expose her daughter to shame and to make Cynthia stigmatized as “may sapak”,
“baliw”, and other derogatory terms labelled by those who are not yet educated by the said
disorder, she preferred to treat Cynthia like any other children. Anyway, the attack is not usual. It
is sometimes aggravated by the skipping of meals, problems the patient encounter like rejection,
or other related problems. Since denial and fear were felt by Mrs. Fely, she decided not to tell
anybody about it except to Dr. Dizon, a close friend of Cynthia.

The doctor sometimes initiated her apprehension of Cynthia’s condition during their small talks
only to be discreetly warded off by the mother. The recent attack compelled her to disclose the
seriousness of Cynthia’s condition.

The Situation

Seven years had passed. Dr. Dizon finally accepted the offer of becoming the Chairperson of
Behavioral Science Department of the College of Arts and Sciences. Aside from her active
involvement in research, her performance as graduate and undergraduate professor resulted to her
acceptance of “Ulirang Guro Award”.

While preparing for another conference for her paper presentation, her secretary told her that
somebody was looking for her. After the latter mentioned Cynthia’s name, Dr. Dizon got surprised
by the unexpected visitor. Their talk started with the usual friendly chat about what happened after
they got separated. When Cynthia was a graduating student, she filed for a sabbatical leave and
was not aware that her student graduated cum laude aside from getting awards for her research
works. Cynthia’s boosting of her ego was confirmed by others. Before the end of the visit, Cynthia
admitted her real purpose- to get a recommendation of Dr. Dizon because she was applying for a
position in a non-governmental institution especially dedicated to helping sexually abused
children. Her employment as a social worker once accepted in the job would expose her to the real
world of psychology practitioners.
Although she topped the licensure examination and her academic and non-academic achievements
are beyond the expectations, the NGO director got very worry because of unusual result of her
neurological test administered by the Human Resources officers.

The director wanted to hire her but he needed somebody to attest her ability to perform the job.
Based on Cynthia’s resume, Dr. Dizon is a person to reckon with because of their four-year
friendship and her background as a clinical psychologist.

Imagine that you are Dr. Ellen Dizon. Aware of the confidentiality clause of the said condition,
you are compelled to practice caution in the unnecessary disclosure of Cynthia’s condition and the
need to be responsible to the person asking for Cynthia’s recommendation. Her possible exposure
to the realm of abused children can also worsen her mental condition so the decision to write a
negative recommendation is the best option.

Provide other necessary details like the address of Dr. Dizon’s institution and the address of the
director of the NGO. Create the name of the fictitious NGO, including the office address of the
director and his name.

Please follow the pattern suggested by Brantley and Miller in their book “Effective
Communication for Colleges, 10th Edition” on Negative Messages.

Communication Situation 3 (for Credit Rejection)

As a Bank Officer II, you know the limits of loan request especially when the one asking for it has
negative record in settling his or her financial obligations. However, you are equally more cautious
when dealing with clients since although ‘customers might not always be right, they should be
treated right’. Compelled by this mantra, you always respond in a very courteous manner even
when you decide to opt for rejection.

The recent loan request of Mr. Robert Nava made you and other bank personnel to carry out the
routine practice of investigation. That Mr. Nava’s business is only an inherited one is further
complicated by the fact that the chain of coffee shops he inherited is now on the verge of
bankruptcy. That happened after one year of managing the business.

According to their findings, Robert was not really into business. A college drop-out, Robert’s
marriage was severed seven years ago because of his gambling addiction. Aside from not
supporting his family of three children, he spent most of his time inside casinos even after losing
almost five million savings given by his father for the establishment of his business.

The unexpected demise of his father resulted to the inheritance of family business. Since all his
siblings are residing abroad, nobody wanted to continue the family business. Robert’s mother is
already 84 years old, a very frail old woman who could not do anything when her son finally
entered the very serious world of business. Without any choice, Robert’s management of the
business resulted to what most people around him expect- he squandered half of the money inside
the casino. Although he inherited his father’s knack in dealing with people and in opting for the
best brand image enhancement, his gambling vice still controls him.

After eight months, he woke up realizing that he needed to borrow money in a bank to save the
coffee shops he managed because he finally realized that his father might be saddened by his
irresponsible act. After listening to the piece of advice given by his close associate, he decided to
transact with the financial institution to borrow Php 10 million to save his father’s business, which
got affected by his very own hands.

Imagine that you are Mr. Lino Dela Cruz of Metro Pacific Bank. Write a rejection letter for
Robert’s request for a loan. Create a fictitious address of the person requesting for a loan. Follow
the pattern discussed by Brantley and Miller.
Communication Situation 4 (for Letter of Inquiries)

Ms. Mely Agustin heard that Atty. Jonathan Galvez is offering free legal services in his radio show
and daily newspaper column. His radio show aired every seven in the evening is titled “Kay
Attorney Dumulog” while his weekly column in a major daily is titled “Attorney’s Space”.

Atty. Galvez’s expertise is civil codes, which deals with marital conflicts and nuptial
arrangements. Ms. Agustin is not really into law-related concerns till her marriage was devastated
by her discovery that her husband had an illicit affair with her friend. The situation infuriated her
and was even aggravated by the unthinkable act of her husband when she once went home after a
business travel. That her husband had an affair did not immediately prodded her to sever her ties
with her because she did not want to have children without a father to guide them. But the illicit
affair even went beyond the expected demarcation of propriety when even their nuptial bed became
the place of such immorality.

She decided to be separated with her husband. After 5 long years of becoming a single parent, she
met Timothy, a business associate of hers. Their usual talk about business matters ended up into a
romantic liaison. Since Mely is only 39 years old, the flame of romance made her decide to cohabit
with him. That Timothy is still single and she is separated with her husband makes their decision
to settle down a very difficult process. Her hubby’s family is against the decision of the two
because of their affiliation with a religious organization. Unless they would get married, Timothy
will never get the approval of his parents.

Aside from that complication, Mely’s husband is now starting to come back after the latter’s
separation with his mistress. He claimed that since she is still his wife, there is no reason why he
could not reside in a house he himself owned. That the house is their conjugal property and his
children needed him not a stranger who has just starting to meddle with the family affair seems to
be the cause why he insisted to intrude the family he abandoned for almost ten years.

The recent threat of Mely’s husband resulted to a scandalous shouting and fistfight after Jonathan
gave in to his bullying, which resulted to a settlement done in the barangay level.

After reading his weekly column, Mely decided to write a letter to the practicing lawyer to clarify
what needs to be done to process annulment of marriage with her former husband. That threat and
other unnecessary bullying worsened the family also prodded her to ask for related arrangements
to stop her former husband in doing the said act.

Imagine that you are Mely. Write a letter of inquiries addressed to the said attorney, clarifying
things that need to be done. Create the fictitious address of the attorney.
Communication Situation 4 ( for Letter of Response)

Atty. Galvez received Mely’s letter after the Opinion Section Editor handed in the said letter. The
routine plea for the submission of articles on time compelled him to prioritize responding to it.
Atty. Galvez believes in the importance of tailor-fitting one’s response in accordance with the
needs of his audience.

Unlike his radio listeners, his column readers usually come from Class B of the society, which
means middle income group. However, he usually asked his staffs to dig deeper especially when
marital rows is the issue. Aside from the practical ramification of getting more clients for his
thriving law firm, his communication style is considered the best.

The staffs sent him the following information about Mrs. Mely, the problematic woman who
wanted to proceed with the annulment of marriage: She is a graduate of BS Economics in a
prestigious university. Her academic achievement made her enter a business owned by her former
husband’s friend- a fast food chain. After her appointment as supervisor at the age of 22, Mely
was offered scholarship for her to study at Asian Institute of Management. The decision was made
by Richard, the friend of her husband. After two-year schooling, she got another promotion.

In a party thrown by her boss, she got to know her husband. She did not really like her former
husband’s behavior but because her boss insisted the romance between them, she agreed out of
debt of honor. That her former husband’s reputation was boosted and enhanced by her boss
changed the way she perceived him.

Her marriage to him was really disastrous as expected. Based on the problem specified in
Communication Situation for Letter of Inquiries by offering a legal advice to her. Remember that
your response will be published in your weekly column,