Analysis of Timothy's Case Study Essay

Research has revealed that there is a strong relationship between insecure attachment and a history of abuse and neglect (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010). Insecure attachments are formed due to parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior. Parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior form children’s mental schemas of how the world works based upon early interactions with caregivers. These mental schemas construct their expectations about relationships. Ultimately

Most parents and other caregivers do not intend to hurt their children, but abuse is defined by the effect on the child, not the motivation of the parents or caregiver.Tens of thousands of children each year are traumatized by physical, sexual, and emotional abusers or by caregivers who neglect them.Child abuse as common as it is shocking. Most of us can’t imagine what would make an adult use violence against a child, and the worse the behavior is, the more unimaginable it seems. But the incidence of parents and other caregivers consciously, even willfully, committing acts that harm the very children they’re supposed to be nurturing is a sad fact of human society that cuts

According to researchers, they believe this has a connection to their early environment during their first 18 months of life. This study included 40 children who lived below the federal poverty line. Out of these 40 individuals, 23 had mothers who reported that they worked full time or had two jobs in order to make ends meet during the interview portion of the study (Fearon, 2010, p. 445). When the children were interviewed, many did not directly admit to feelings of resentment towards their mother for not being there, but it was apparent in their responses. Out of the 40 children, 27 showed signs of insecure attachment to their mother based on their ability to trust others, their thoughts on relationships and their insecurity levels overall (Fearon, 2010, p.451). The parents were asked to rate their child on levels of aggression, violence, and defiant and criminal behaviors. It was found that insecure attachment predicted discernibly higher parent reported levels of externalizing behaviors such as aggression, hyperactivity and defiance than their same aged counterparts. The link between insecure attachment and externalizing behaviors is believed to exist due to feelings of neglect and disconnect (Fearon, 2010, pg. 453). These children have a sense that no one in their life cares for them so they act out. They either believe they will not get in trouble for their actions or they seek these actions as a way to gain attention from their parents since they are usually ignored. This relationship is seen more often for children in poverty since both their parents are often at work or they often come from a single parent household where the mother has to work and the parents are likely unable to afford daycare. Due to this instability in their life with their caregivers, food, housing, transportation, etc., children often feel unsafe in

Insecure-Resistant infants ( Type C attachments) : They were upset at separation but didn't easily accept comfort when their mother returned. They rejected their mother's attempts to comfort them. They appeared to expect a difficult relationship and couldn't seem to decide whether they wanted closeness or distance, alternating between both. 15% of the infants had this type of attachment.

Few people, even in today's world, are truly open-minded to the differences of others. They decide at an early age what, they believe, is the right way to live. But what happens when a truly unique boy is brought up in an environment where he is forced to believe he only has one option in life? "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather is a short story beautifully illustrating a young boy fighting to hold on to his identity in a town where his dreams are looked down upon and criticized. His struggle is displayed through characterization, setting, and symbolism.

A child’s ability to function and comply with society’s rules and regulations rely on a healthy early childhood attachment. Attachment is the biological instinct for infant to seek closeness to their caregiver. A secure attachment develops through consistent and positive, interactions between the caregiver and the child. A child’s physical development, mental development, social development, and ability to form daily living skills, all begin to develop through that secure development but continues to develop through continued nurture throughout that child’s life. Children who fail to receive a secure attachment will most likely struggle with self-regulation making it hard to control behaviors and impulses.

These children don’t seem to feel much emotion when they’re caregivers is gone or when they return they tend to ignore them. This style of attachment may cause the individual’s self-fulfillment to drive them away because avoidant children make people angry due to their rejection issues. As they grow older they might be cold and distant from people and may continue to be this way with any relationships they can have in the future. Finally secure children, which are known to have the luckiest style of attachment because their caregivers give them affection, and love, which causes confidence between the child and the caregiver. The secure attachment causes children to be loved by their parents and peers.

Securely attached infants have a good quality of relationship with their parents. In the strange situation, where parents leave their child alone or with a stranger in a room full of toys, these children are upset when their parents leave, but easily comforted when they return. The child uses the parent as a “secure base” from which to explore the environment. In the strange situation, insecure/resistant infants

Signs of an insecure attachment as a child include Avoidant behavior, ambivalent behavior and disorganized behavior. Kids in institutional care have not only lost their primary caregiver but may have lived in conditions where they cannot form a secure bond (Porter,

The attachment risk model is a single factor main effect model. The unit of analysis of the model is twofold. From the time of the child’s birth until two years of age, the unit of analysis is the mother and after two years, the child becomes the unit. The cause is seen as maternal sensitivity during the critical period. After the critical period, the cause becomes endogenous, or within the child’s foundation. The outcomes are first seen in the child’s behavior at time one. There are four behaviors that are observed: separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, exploration, and reunion behavior. These behaviors are measured by what Mary Ainsworth called the “Strange Situation,” which produces four different groups. Group A is the “avoidant and insecure” group. These children are unable to self soothe when their mother leaves, displaying strong separation anxiety. However, they avoid her when she returns. Group B children are “securely” attached. Group C children are “resistant” or “insecure and infirm.” They are unable to self soothe. Group D children are “dazed and disorganized,” displaying an inability to self soothe

Howe (2009 cited in Jowett and Spray 2012) discusses how attachment can be a feature in the ambivalent stage as children can display challenging behaviours. This was evident on my home visits as I observed the older child displaying aggressive behaviours. I also observed boundaries or routines were not a feature in the home, this caused me concern as one the children would be approaching school age and I questioned how N would cope. This may have relevance to Erikson’s trust versus mistrust stage (1959 cited in McLeod (2013). This theory implies if the care received is harsh or inconsistent the child may not develop confidence in their future abilities. Fonagy et al (1991) concludes parent’s attitudes to attachment can affect their behaviour

Child abuse and neglect have immediate and long-term consequences. In addition to negatively impacting the child, child abuse and neglect impacts the family, the school community, and even future generations. The ability to survive and be successful in the face of child abuse and neglect depends on a variety of factors, including the extent and type of abuse or neglect, whether it was continual or infrequent, the age of the child when abuse was initiated, the child’s relationship to the abuser, and how the abuse or neglect was responded to. Outcomes are also dependent on the child’s personality traits, inner strength, and the support the child receives from those around them. It is important to acknowledge that some children will not develop behavioral problems, so it cannot be assumed that a

Secure attachment give children a range of developmental advantages including safety, emotional security, adaptive behaviours and mediation of stress, and assists to give children a feeling of security (Shapiro, 2010). This stimulates adaptive development throughout our childhood (Davies, 2011).

When imagining the relationship between a parent and a child, one usually envisions a caring mother or father cradling an infant in their arms, playing games with a toddler, or even teaching a school age child to read. These caring images are one of positivity and optimism. Indeed, familial relationships of this nature are rather typical for the typical supportive family, but what can happen when the family is not of typical form? When the picture takes on a dark undertone, say a tone of physical or emotional abuse or neglect, how might the relationships between a caregiver and child be affected? This relationship is described as attachment, which is the relational pattern a child begins to develop in infancy with at least one primary caregiver (Lehman, Jegtvig 2004). Within the first example, the child develops a relatively normal, healthy attachment; however, within the second scenario where abuse or neglect is present, children may form a type of attachment know as Reactive Attachment Disorder, or RAD (Lehman, Jegtvig 2004). This disorder has profound implications for the child’s overall development.

Insecure avoidant attachment type may develop if the child’s primary caregiver is inattentive or unavailable during times of distress. This motivates the child’s belief that any communication of their needs will have no impact on their primary caregiver. As such the child then continues not to seek contact with their caregiver during further times of distress. Children with this attachment type also tend not to orientate their explorations of the world in accordance to