Child Development Case Study Help
Relationship between the adverse social circumstances and a child’s development
The relationship between the adverse social circumstances and a child’s development (Physical and psychological) has been discussed much ever since John Bowlby proposed one of the initial works on the social development of children. Bowlby established that the early experiences in a child’s social life have important and lasting impressions and are very influential on their development and behavior in the later stages of their lives (Bowlby, 1982). Several researches have established a correlation between the childhood adversity and psychological disorders appeared later in their lives. While some adversities are commonly acknowledged, Rosenman & Rodgers (2004) argue that the spectrum of adversities needs to be broadened to include some of the normal household difficulties experienced by the children. Whereas bigger adversities are important, minor adversities; co-occurring in critical contexts are equally important (Rosenman & Rodgers, 2004). Moreover, Evans (2003) concludes that mostly it is not a single risk factor, rather its a combination of several adversities that leads to the dysfunctionality of any nature in a child’s development because his/her adaptive capabilities are being overwhelmed. (Evans, 2003).
The report that follows evaluates the case in discussion in capacity of a psychologist and is a classic example of different kinds of adversities that children might face in their early childhood and their impacts on their physiological development as adolescents. In the text that follows, various themes, whether major or minor, will be identified within the case in connection to the relevant theories and literature.
The case under consideration portrays a scenario in Australia. The case revolves around two youths, J and W (guy and girl respectively). W had been living in foster care as ward of State (according to the Australian law) while J had been living as a former juvenile correctional resident in Supported Independent Accommodation. Both were young, W being 15 and J being 17 years of age. They started seeing each other and soon enough after that, the girl was pregnant with a baby boy – P. Nord, ET al. (1992) have identified the significances of teen-age parenting for the mother, the father and the child who is born. It has been discussed that these influences are further enhanced with the existence of other factors including parents’ experience with poverty and welfare (Nord, et al., 1992). One of the most integral themes identified within the case was that of teenage parenting; that may have in many ways caused several of the issues that have followed as a result of economic, social, cultural and emotional stress experienced by the parents. This can be supported by the studies conducted on teenage mothers (Lewin, et al., 2013) and on teenage fathers (Fletcher & Wolfe, 2012). Both the parents were in their teenage. At such an early stage in life, an individual is merely at the edge of getting to know the world, their surroundings and their social standings. Getting engaged and then having children on top of it, at such an early age, with adverse living conditions are the major glitches in the social standing of parenting.
P was born as a premature child, and was not completely healthy at the time of birth. He needed medication and medical supervision in order to recover completely. During this period, the child was not properly looked after by the parents as both of them were quite young themselves and neither of them took complete responsibility. There were quite a lot of quarrels between the parents on various issues and it resulted in the father – J, getting restricted from frequently visiting the hospital. Even if he was allowed to visit, he was given the entry for only a few hours and that too with a social worker or security officer. Meanwhile, the mother could not take care of the child properly and most of the times she relied on the hospital staff for this. After 9 months of birth, P was diagnosed for a respiratory illness and was consequently hospitalized for 10 days. W – the mother of the child, visited the hospital intermittently while the father (J) did not visit at all. The child was slow and had developmental issues as well.
Prugh, et al. (1953) conducted a comparative study on the effects of different modes of ward operation on the development of children. In their study, two groups of children were observed. One of the groups had experienced traditional practices in ward management whereby the parents were regulated to only two hours of visiting time each. On the other hand, parents in the second group were allowed to visit their children at any time and were also cheered on for participating in ward care. The findings of the study were that the children in the former group experienced great emotional and/or physical distress not only immediately after the discharge but also a year later (Bronfenbrenner, 1986).
A baby girl, KA was later born to W and J. J’s sister, who was taking care of the son (P), now suggested foster care for him. This was a notion strongly rejected by the mother who was determined to take care of both of her children personally at home. She had to face a lot of problems such as utilities disconnection and also a notice from the Housing Department concerning unauthorized sub-letting. She sought refuge in a local charity which was granted. More than just the motherly love towards her newly born child, W’s insistence on keeping KA with her can be attributed to her own personal background as the social setting for both W and J is based on foster homes and both teenagers belonged to poorly knit family units. The guy was a delinquent, this shows his background and then it is easy to imagine how hard his childhood would have been. Having experienced this and then having witnessed it too, W would certainly never have wanted to give away her children to the same system; regardless of how well or poorly she could look after them herself.
A critical aspect of this setting was the ‘Stolen Generations’. This was a movement in Australia whereby the children of Black Aborigines were taken away from their parents to be made wards of the State. They were raised away from their families on account of the fear of extinction of Black people from the beliefs that given their catastrophic population decline after white contact that black people would “die out”. Green (2011) discusses a number of psychological issues with the children of stolen generations. These individuals continue facing difficulties at later stages in their lives. A sense of seclusion is dominant among these individuals and they are noted to suffer extreme trauma (Green, 2011). This was an aspect deeply pressing upon the mother and her attempt to keep her children with her stemmed from these deep-rooted feelings of deprivation in family units. During the court proceedings, W’s legal representatives argued that since her parents were from the Stolen Generations, she did not want to displace her family further by letting go of her children. She was fully determined to support them in whatever way possible. J was however also resolute to gain the legal custody of his children and showed strong arguments for his ties with extended family (depicting sound financial position).
Another theme identified in the case is that of P’s and KA’s exposure to abusive behavior. Abusive behavior here concerns with its various kinds; physical, mental, sexual. There are multiple instances recorded in the case where such abuses have been witnessed. For instance, a report was filed by J (the husband) of a physical assault committed by W (the Wife), as a result of which W was taken hostage. She was released within 24 hours and then both parents filed for legal rights for P’s care and parental control. The charity also reported the poor parenting duties of W to the Child Protection Department and as a result, she was forced to return to her unit at the foster care which she refused. Some years later, the three of them (W, P and KA) were living in a rented farmhouse. In an incidence, the children were alone at home while the mother went for grocery. The daughter, wandering the streets alone, was nearly overrun by a local resident and was saved by a neighbor who later saw the mother slapping the son for not taking proper care of his sister. He was seen sleeping in the verandah at night while the mother and sister slept inside. This was reported to the Child Protection Authority and the children were taken into custody for 6 months.
Other than the physical abuse expressed in the instances from the case as above, P and KA would have also experienced mental abuse since the parenting techniques being practiced by W and J were not impressive. The couple, just teenagers when had their children, was certainly not prepared in any way to take the responsibility for them. They were socially and morally lagging behind in these aspects. Additionally, prudent and timely family support and guidance was missing from their own lives so they were in no way able to bring their children up properly. The parents were either not present most of the times or even if they were, there was no proper parental guidance from them for their children. They were ignored during the initial phases of their early development. Neglected and deprived of the love, security and support of a family, the children were growing up weak, slow, mentally thwarted and devoid of social and moral values.
Gest, et al. (1999) have claimed that troubles in parents’ lives such as conflicts, substance use or unemployment are integral reasons for childhood adversity and they can seriously hamper a child’s competency. MacMillan (2008) further notes that parent-related adversity has been claimed to be more prevalent than any other forms of adveristy. This is evident in the case at hand. Children’s lack of development was a direct impact of the emotional trauma they were facing from their parents in the form of aggression, deprivation, violence and neglect. This was in turn a vicious cycle in which the parents of the teenage couple belonged to broken family units. This did not let a profound sense of belongingness develop in the couple and hence there was no rigorous effort seen on the part of the couple to strengthen and sustain their familial ties towards their children. The offspring would be directly impacted by inter-parents conflicts, feeling depressed and maybe guilty to see their parents fight over them. Substantial stress and mayhem in their family unit was brought about by the lawsuits the two parents were filing for the custody of their children. This not only affected the mental health of the parents but more importantly of the children who were not developing mentally.
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