Precious: A Case Study
Kristan Hughart
Wilmington University

Precious: A Case Study The move Precious (based on the novel “Push” written by Sapphire), depicts the life of a 16 year old girl named Claireece “Precious” Jones. The story is set in Harlem, NY in 1987. Precious has suffered severe abuse throughout her life by both of her parents. She has seemed to have slipped through the cracks of the system from family, the school system, child services, as well as the community as a whole. Her only saving grace is her strong will and her ability to disassociate herself and seek comfort in her own imaginary world. Precious’ abuse started as an infant when she was molested and raped by her father as her
Why is there such a lack in parental involvement? How about the fact that Precious has been pregnant twice by the age of 16. Where are the baby’s fathers? Who are the fathers? The biggest travesty of all is that even after Precious states in her journal that her father was her children’s father no outside agency was notified. As a teacher you must report child abuse and notify the appropriate authority when a crime is committed against a child, however, nothing was done to remove precious from her mother’s home until she came home from the hospital with Abdul. If I had been in Ms. Rain’s shoes I would hope that I would have wanted answers to these questions and had the instinct to know that this was not the typical inner city teenage struggling with poverty and issues common in an urban society. I hopefully would have been able to realize it was something more, something life threatening that needed immediate attention. I would have reported my concerns to child services and demanded answers. After reading about the incest in the journal I would never have allowed Precious to return home. The questions I would ask Precious and her mother would be as follows:
Precious
1. Do feel safe at home?
2. Can you describe your life and how you wish your life was?
3. Has anyone been hurting you at home?
4. What can I do to make you feel safe?
My questions would hopefully communicate general concern for Precious’ safety as well as let her know that I will