Intergenerational Transmission Model

Bandura’s social learning theory and Bowlby’s attachment theory. Each of these theories has similarities and distinctions regarding the mechanisms that underlie the impact of child abuse. This essay will examine these competing theories to determine which mechanisms are most strongly supported for families at high risk for child abuse and/or neglect (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010).

The Williams are an African American family. Audrey is a 45 year old female who is currently a housewife. She has a bachelor degree in English. Ronald is 47 and works with the mayor as a member of his campaign team. Ronald and Audrey have been married for 15 years. The couple has been experiencing problem because Ronald has been working a great deal lately. Ronald and Audrey have one son Michael. Michael is a 21 year old male. He attended college for one year but dropped out because he wanted to travel. The Williams are wealthy which is evident by their neighborhood and residence. According to Audrey, the family used to go on trips, vacations, and spent quality time together. The family reported no history of abuse, violence,

This report outlines the importance of Bion’s container/contained theory and Bowlby’s attachment theory in developing secure relationships. Sadly, abused infants form a disorganised attachment style which causes them as adults to adapt maladaptive parenting skills. This leads to intergenerational transmission of maltreatment. These parents tend to use fight, flight or freeze responses to cope with their traumatic past. However in saying that, if the abused parent has been able to develop a secure attachment with another individual, or access psychotherapy, the parent can learn healthy parenting behaviours, and is able to break the cycle of intergenerational transmission of trauma being passed on to future generations.

Researchers have determined that approximately one-third of individuals who have been physically abused or neglected in their childhood will later abuse their own children, lending support to theories of intergenerational abuse patterns (Kaufman & Zigler, 1987). However, there are numerous factors that can moderate the perpetration of abuse by these individuals, namely the specific aspects of their childhood maltreatment, cognitive and emotional factors, their interpersonal relationships, as well as the presence of any stressors (Egeland, 1988). One interesting influence of whether an abuse victim in turn victimizes their own child is their perception of the abuse. Many adults who were abused as children do not perceive their parents as abusers, rather thinking that they were just in their actions, and that corporal punishment is necessary to successfully raise a child. As discussed in Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough, some adult abuse victim speak openly of their plans to hit their children, having difficulty comprehending the difference between punishment and discipline. This thought process creates challenges in breaking the cycle of abuse, as the mentality has to change in order to effect change in parenting

Christina was born a healthy baby girl, her mum was in an abusive relationship and fell pregnant from the result of being raped by her partner, she felt trapped in the relationship and unable to leave fearing for her and Christina’s life. “mother-child attachment is less secure when the mother experiences domestic violence (Levendosky et al, 2011)”. Due to Christina’s mums situation she isolated herself and Christina from the outside world which meant Christina was not receiving the social interaction needed for her development. Although her mum tried to do her best with Christina she struggled as she was suffering from postnatal depression along with the continual abuse from her partner. Christina’s mum passed away when Christina

Because of the children it was hard for Katherine to let her mother know her wants and needs. They stayed with their grandmother in a small three bedroom apartment. Not large enough for a growing family, but they managed. Mary children ages were from two to fourteen year old. The grandmother worked, and father works food services who was only seen occasionally. Mary sole responsibility take care of the

It has been noted the vital role that mothers play in a child’s healthy development. Therefore if mothers are abused research done by Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Family Violence Research Program, has shown that “Children who were exposed to parental violence had many more behavioral problems, exhibited significantly more negative affect, responded less appropriately to situations, were more aggressive with peers, and had more ambivalent relationships with their caregivers than those from nonviolent families.” (Graham-Bermann, S. A., & Levendosky, A. A., 1998). Another factor that can play a negative role in a child’s development is that parents may hold unreasonable expectations from their children due to how they themselves were brought up. Seymour Rosenberg a head of the department of Psychology at The State University of New Jersey helped their study come to the conclusion that “It has also been shown that abusive parents often have unrealistic expectations for their children-expectations based on distorted perceptions of their children's needs, feelings, and abilities” (Herzog, E. P., Gara, M. A., & Rosenberg, S., 1992). Due to this it can cause the child to grow up confused and scared which may lead them to use the same maltreatment towards their kids which will only further the intergenerational abuse. However, Research has also shown that

Jennifer is a twenty-year-old Caucasian female college student living in Tallahassee, Florida. Currently, she resides in her own apartment; however, her mother, father, and younger brother live together nearby in the family 's home. Jennifer is employed as a waitress in a restaurant and is actively enrolled in college courses. Jennifer describes herself as typically having the ability to manage her school and work responsibilities, as well as having relatively positive relationships with her professors, co-workers and restaurant manager. She maintains an ongoing relationship with her father, mother, and brother. She describes her relationship with her brother as the close, her relationship with her mother as intermittently close although hindered by her father, whom Jennifer has not maintained a close relationship with due to unrealistic expectations that her father consistently has placed upon her, as well as their history of arguing. She also has a best friend; however, she has not maintained a relationship with her since she moved to North Carolina.

Baker, Amy and Maria Verrocchio. “Parental Bonding and Parental Alienation as Correlates of Psychological Maltreatment in Adults in Intact and Non-intact Families.” Journal of Child & Family Studies 24.10 (2015): 11. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2016

The breakdown of the family ensures that these young adults are not getting the support needed in order to make adequate life decisions. In the article by Fagan, he describes the five steps to violent crime. He explains how young adults are not to blame. According to Fagan, “The factors are not caused by race or poverty, and the stages are the normal tasks of growing up that every child confronts as he gets older” (7). Broderick and Blewitt maintain that “Following an explosion of studies on childhood attachment, researchers began to train their sights on attachment theorists’ suggestion that early bonds with caregivers could have a bearing on relationship building throughout the life span” (439). Fagan claims that, “In all of these stages the lack of dedication and the atmosphere of rejection or conflict within the family diminish the child 's

The importance of bringing a child into the world is to provide the child with a loving home and a loving family. Unfortunately, many children today are born to teenage parents, or parents struggling with their own personal life. The structure of the family children are born into can be a major factor influencing child abuse. Individuals deal with a large amount of stress on a daily basis which can alter how they respond to situations. Marital status, the support of the family, community, and financial problems can all add more stress to a person (Arbetter 23). Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Michael A. Skibo, and Patrick T. Davies describe in “Impact of Parental Conflict and Emotional Abuse on Children and Families,” individuals who were dealing

Child abuse is defined as any physical or emotional trauma to a child for which no reasonable explanation is found. Neglect refers to the deprivation that children suffer at the hands of parents (Deviance: Behavior that Violates Norms, p. 1). Such components that apply to these definitions are non-accidental physical injury and neglect, emotional abuse or neglect, sexual abuse, and abandonment. Over one million youth in America are subjected to abuse each year. In terms of sexual abuse, one in ten abused are boys, and one in three of them are girls. It is unknown how many cases go unreported in any area of abuse or neglect each year. From 1980 to 1986, the number of reported cases rose sixty percent. The most common reason for parents abusing their children is due to a learned function they acquired from their parents. This tendency to pass down deviant behavior through generations is a cycle of family violence (Lemert, 1972, p. 48). Parents are unable to separate childhood traumas from the relationships they have with their own kids. Another unhealthy thing to learn from a parent is the feeling of isolation from family and friends. This is more common is single parent families and lower socioeconomic classes. If a person is living in a lower class, single-parent environment, that person is at a real disadvantage. It may be because they do not feel they are good enough to belong

When humans are young, their world revolves around their parents or primary care-givers. Parents or care-givers are the primary source of safety, security, love, understanding, nurturance and support. Child abuse violates the trust at the core of a child’s relationship with the world (Walker, 1994). When the primary relationship is one of betrayal, a negative schema or set of beliefs develops. This negative core schema often affects an individual’s capacity to establish and sustain

Children who have witnessed the abuse committed by their father figure are likely to be in the same untenable situation as their mothers: isolated, threatened, perceiving no way to escape, and shown at least an occasional kindness, however small. In fact, they are likely to be even less able to escape and even more dependent on the abusive father than the battered woman who is their mother. They too, therefore, are likely to develop Stockholm Syndrome. When this happens, they are put in the position of having to bond with the abuser and may even have to abuse their mother themselves, in order to win favor with their father. Any healthy love they feel toward their mother is likely to pale in intensity and salience compared with the bond they must create and maintain with their father in order to survive. The battered woman who is also a mother is therefore likely to be abused by both the abusive partner and by her

Lyle and Autumn don’t have much money at all and they are different kids to say the less. Autumn is not like the other kids, she is albino and very tiny. But she is also very smart and is golden at English. She knows she is different and tries her hardest to fit in and find a boy that could possibly love her. I look up to her, she is always positive and just seems to be able to move right on if something doesn’t seem to go how she thought it would. Her brother Lyle is very different; he seems to keep everything bottled up inside and he finds out that he can take it out in violence. He tries very hard to protect his sister and be the big brother she needs. The whole town hates their family and Lyle wants to blame his dad, but I can see that his dad is doing everything that he can to provide and protect his family. He is doing his best to try and make his kids proud but they are young and just don’t understand yet.