Primary Caregivers Can Not Be Categorized As Adults Caring For Dependents

Cookston, Jeffrey. "Six Obstacles to Father Involvement-and How to Overcome Them." Greater Good. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. .

Many alcoholics are so preoccupied with their addictions, that issues and activities that were once of interest to them, are no longer a concern. The alcoholic then becomes oblivious to his responsibilities for his or her children. Children of alcoholics often suffer from neglect. According to the Children of Alcoholics Foundation, each year “1.2 million children are confirmed by state agencies as being victims of child neglect. Forty percent of these cases involve alcohol or drugs. This suggests that an estimated

To be a parent is a passionate business and it consists of anger as well as love. Parenting is a long-term affair. It is much longer than the majority of relationships in child care settings. Parents provide the continuity through the child’s life. Child care providers and teachers come and go in a child’s life, but parents provide the continuity that is needed.

may become unable or unwilling to adequately care for their children . Children often times experience a loss of parental availability and as a result, feel lonely and Isolated. More often

Growing up with substance abuse parents can potentially put the children at risk for developmental deficiencies. Parents who are substance dependent are oftentimes focus on themselves over their children, and this leads to neglecting the children. Without the attachment with the parents, children are lack of security and trust to explore the outside world. According to Erik Erikson, children develop at different stage. Infants are totally dependent on their parents. If parents provide the good care and support to the children, they will develop the basic trust to their parents and the world, otherwise, they will feel insecure and develop mistrust instead. This mistrust may cause problems later in life. As children begin to grow and navigate the challenges of adolescence, parental substance abuse has a direct impact on their well-being, as well as their behavior. Teenagers are eager to seek their identities. Yet, growing up with mistrust, inferiority, and shame

(slide #5) I chose Erikson’s Development Model to formulate a nursing plan of care for an adolescent that suffers from alcohol abuse. Erikson’s theory consists of eight stages and places large emphasis on adolescent growth and development, which I find appropriate for this type of patient. The first five stages cover birth to age eighteen and the last three are adult stages of growth & development. The first stage is Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 18 months). In this stage, an infant is completely dependent on the primary caregiver. If cared for appropriately, the child will learn to trust. If the child’s needs are not met the child will be left with mistrust, scared, and fearful. The second stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (18 months to age 3). This stage is a participating factor in self-esteem. During this stage a child begins exploring, walking around, touching, and tasting, anything/everything available. Criticism is sensitive to the child. A child in the second stage wants to be independent and do everything themselves. The caregiver must give some freedom to

Over the course of an individual’s life span, one is seen forming relationships with several people in whom they find their presence an important aspect to their life. However, among these relationships, parent-child relationships are the most valuable, but also very complex. These relationships are built from a foundation of interaction starting from the birth of the child to their adulthood. Unfortunately, if this involvement is not present within a child’s life, it can ultimately cause them to feel neglected causing outrageous conflicts, behavior issues and emotional disputes. Parental involvement within a child’s life allows them to gain a sense of security ultimately increasing new learning of the child

Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4

Parenting involves a lot more than just fathering or mothering a child. Often times, genetics don’t play a role in parenting at all anymore. Someone who parents is merely a person who takes on the responsibility of raising a child from a young age to adulthood. This can be through birth, adoption or foster care. Due to the large scale shift in society and offspring over time, I will be using the term “caregiver” to signify any person who consistently cares for a child throughout the rest of this paper. Regardless of the title used, each person ultimately performs the same duties involved with parenting and it is no task easily achieved.

Guilt: Children may feel they are responsible for the drinking, 2. Anxiety: Children may worry constantly about the home situation, 3. Embarrassment: Children may be ashamed of their home lives and avoid having friends to visit, 4. Unable to have close friendships: Children who have been disappointed, 5. Confusion: An alcoholic parent will switch from a loving to an angry stance quickly, confusing the child. The home schedule is also chaotic with no consistent bedtimes or mealtimes, 6. Anger: Children may be angry at the parent who is drinking and angry at the nonalcoholic parent for not supporting or protecting them, 7. Depression: Children of substance-abusing parents are lonely and feel helpless to change the situation”. These are the problems that children of alcoholic is going to experience of the course of their

The substance abuse of a parent has a lasting and apparent effect on all young children. There are a number of substances that can become a problem in people’s lives, including but not limited to; marijuana, alcohol, stimulants, depressants, narcotics, hallucinogens and inhalants. Drugs critically affect the individual taking them, but also affect the members of the household, especially children. Not only does the person’s addiction emotionally, mentally, and physically affect the individual lives of other members of the family, but it tears apart relationships between the families. Arguments, disagreements, violence, and stress can derive from the abuse of drugs because of the tension it puts on one’s other members of the family.

An estimated twenty five percent of youth under eighteen are exposed to familial alcohol abuse (Bellum). The Illinois Department of Human Services says that nearly six hundred seventy five thousand children per year suffer serious abuse or neglect as a direct result of substance abuse (‘Children”). What makes this a big problem in society?

There are several parenting styles which guide children throughout their life. These parenting styles can be either good or bad and this will have an effect on the child; either a positive or a negative one. This essay investigates the parenting styles from which emerge questions about the role of the mother and the father. It also focuses on the ways that either too much mothering or too much fathering might have an effect on the child’s identity later on in its life.

When looking at parental addiction to alcohol, Sharon Wegcheider-Cruse developed a concept of certain behavioral roles that children of alcoholics take on in order to cope with the addiction issues of the parent which can often lead to emotional harm. Wegcheider-Cruse separates the behavioral roles into four distinct categories each with a different name comprising a hero, a scapegoat, a lost child, and a mascot. When a child takes on a “hero” behavioral role, they are often referred to as the “model child” and are known to take over the family responsibilities which the parents are not addressing. Although there are many positives to a young child taking on this role in the family, including becoming independent, being responsible, and often over achieving, there are many negative impacts made on the child’s emotional state and behavior as well. These negatives consist of having a fear of rejection, having feelings of low self worth, striving for perfection, ignoring

The scope of this research is to determine the impact of individuals experience of parentification on their psychological wellbeing. First the literature review will provide a synopsis of the scope of the problem of parentification and will review and critique existing documented literature on the causes of parentification (e.g., lack of resources, parent illness), and the effects of parentification (lack of support, validation, deflated self-esteem). Similarly, literature regarding the development periods of adolescence and adulthood will be examined to discuss key tasks associated with each period. Also, a comprehensive evaluation of psychological well-being and its dimensions will be discussed, and an examination of how well-being can be implicated through the experience of parentification will be conducted using documented literature. In addition, the role of cultural differences (individualistic versus collectivist cultures) in parentification will be