This week we read chapter’s 13-16 of “The Boys in the Bunkhouse”. If we had read about the abuse, neglect, and lack of basic rights the men in the Atalissa Bunkhouse had experienced, it all accumulated in these four chapters as the men were discovered by social workers and state authorities.

               As T.H.’s physical and mental health declined, so did the bunkhouse. By his death, the bunkhouse was falling apart, the men were getting older and not receiving proper medical treatment or hygiene, and the employees were abusive verbally and physically to the men. The retirement plan T.H. had promised the men had fallen through. When they were discovered each man had less than a hundred dollars to his name and a number of physical ailments. The signs of neglect to the bunkhouse and the men were hard to read about, full of cringe worthy descriptions of the repulsive bunkhouse and the breaking, aging, unhygienic men.

               I feel like these four chapters were just one description of abuse and neglect after another. If the men had anything good going for them before they certainly did not after T.H’s death. The description of what the state officers and social workers found in the bunkhouse creepily reminded me of descriptions I have read of when soldiers liberated concentration camps. All I could think while reading these chapters was how could this happen here, in the United States, in small town Iowa. I thought it was incredible how the social worker in charge of the case was able to provide immediately relief and necessities for these men on such short notice. She was able to think quick and even paired each of the men with a personal social worker to help them with their needs and to just be a friend in the rough transition time. I feel like these chapters not only made me very aware that bad and terrible things can happen anywhere, but it also gave me a better glimpse into how a social worker can be the first responder to these terrible instances and the impact they can have.