Therapy through Erikson's Stages of Psychological Development

Erik Erikson’s sixth stage of psychosocial development is intimacy versus isolation. Erikson argued that young adults would be afraid of committing to a long-term relationship with another person. Young adults may also become overly dependent on the partner for their identity. To conclude a person may need a sense of who they are before they can get close to someone else. Erikson believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important for developing intimate relationships.

Child abuse and neglect is a big problem in the United States. Child abuse is sexual, physical, emotional, and even verbal maltreatment towards the children. When food, clothing, and shelter is not provided this is termed neglect. Many children in the United States are abused and neglected by parents, grandparents, guardians, and friends of the family. Many children suffer abuse such as beating, starved,

Do you know the difference between child abuse and discipline? Child Abuse is when someone physically and mentally hurts another person. Discipline is teaching someone or something to do the right thing. Child Abuse is very common in the United States. Many children suffer from bruising, swelling skin, and broken bones. Situations like this happen because of problems at home or personal problems. Parents at home abuse their children because of drinking and depression issues. In this crazy world, there are numerous types of abuses. There is sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and emotional or psychological abuse. Sexual abuse is an intentional incident that involves sexual relationship to a child using all their power and taking advantage of them. According to Family & Community Services, Physical abuse is a nonstop injury that happens more than one time. Neglect is a type of abuse you just don’t care or pay no attention to your child. Emotional or psychological harm is when you make your children think something that isn’t true. Discipline children usually do the things their parents or guardian tell them what to do because they teach them to pay attention and be polite.

Neglect trauma is a rising problem, as other forms of trauma, particularly abuse trauma, have decreased of the last couple of years, neglect trauma is rising. In 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Human Services, of all the maltreatment cases “71.1% of those were neglect” (Kazemaian, 2011). Many researchers, (Mersky and Reynolds’, Dierkhising, Kerig, Buffington, Ford, Ryan, and Maxfield) have studied the topic of neglect trauma and juvenile delinquency extensively, and have all

Physical/Emotional neglect is the failure to provide a child with basic needs, including adequate food, shelter, clothing, or necessary medical care. Neglect also exist when an adult fails to provide adequate supervision of a child as when a child is left either unsupervised or in the care of someone unable to supervise the child. Furthermore, neglect occurs when a person creates a substantial risk of physical injury to a child by other than accidental means which would be likely to cause death, disfigurement, impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any bodily function

Child abuse can be performed in many different ways. Unfortunately, abuse occurs in many households today. Neglect is a form of abuse other than physical, that can effectively harm a child. Neglection is characterized by the failure of taking proper care of a child. This form of abuse is often overlooked as we can see in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

The issue of child neglect is one of the most current forms of child maltreatment especially in the United States. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, child neglect is referred to as a kind of maltreatment which relates to the failure of a caregiver to offer the needed, age-appropriate care, despite the fact that the parent may be financially stable to do so (Conte 13). Neglect in many instances is described by an ongoing pattern that relates to lack of care and is observed by individuals in close contact with a child.

Child abuse and neglect is a significant problem in the United States that should demand direct attention. There are approximately three million child abuse reports made each year, and these reports involve more than six million children. Out of four to five children that die daily, 70 percent are under three years of age. There are 90 percent of cases involving of children who know who know their perpetrator. The main factors of child abuse are physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. In many cases involving sexual abuse, there is usually not any medical evidence to be shown, and there are usually not any witness due to the sexual acts taking place in private places. That is why it is considered the “hidden” form of abuse. Neglect is a type of maltreatment related to the failure to provide needed, age-appropriate care.

Throughout the duration of this course, we can establish that neglect is a form of child maltreatment. By definition, child neglect occurs when the child’s parent or caretaker fails to provide basic, fundamental needs to the child (e.g., physical, emotional, medical, or educational) (Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2013). It is a maltreatment that commonly begins at an early age and can be built to something more chronic in his/her life (Hildyard, 2002). Initial neglect can result in short-term consequences such as anxious or disorganized style of attachment; recognizing and distinguishing emotion in others; and intelligence and problem-solving skills (Rhoades, 2017). However, the consequences can persist and develop long-term. This paper will investigate

To conclude, the final form of abuse is neglect. Neglect is defined by the U.S. Department of Health as failure to provide, by those responsible for care, custody, and control of the child, failure to provide the proper or necessary support, education required by law, nutrition or medical, surgical, or any other care necessary for the child’s well-being. Neglect is the leading cause of child abuse and covers a broad range of acts that are seen as child maltreatment. Neglect can be in the form of physical, emotional/ psychological, medical or education. Many of these seem to overlap other forms of abuse but can be distinguished when clearly defined. Neglect is the failure to provide, causing it to be more indirect than physical or sexual abuse.

There are many forms of abuse and neglect. One that stands out to me is child abuse. There are several forms of child abuse, some rarer than others. The reasoning behind child abuse is intriguing to me. Why and how can someone abuse a child? Mental health of the abuser plays a big role in how and why people do the things they do. A mental health issue contributing to child abuse is Munchhausen syndrome by proxy. (MSpB) Munchhausen syndrome by proxy symptoms are varied, almost always characterized by a caretaker, usually the mom, creating symptoms in someone they care for. (Gross, 2008)

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is also part of the psychodynamic perspective. According to Erikson (Berk, 2007) society and culture have an influence on human development. In contrast to Freud whose theory that proposed development was complete by adolescence (Berk, 2007), Erikson’s theory argues that development is continuous throughout the lifespan and occurs in eight stages. The first stage of development, trust versus mistrust, occurs during infancy (birth to 1-year-old). During this stage if an infant’s basic needs are met by a responsive and attentive caregiver, the infant will begin to trust the caregiver, thus establishing the foundation for future trust relationships. In contrast if an infant does not receive enough or irregular care, or if caregivers are unresponsive, the infant can develop mistrust. The autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage, which occurs between the first and third years

According to Action For Children (2014) neglect is a failure to provide attention and right care to a child’s needs that include safe environment and food, emotional needs that include security, warmth and love (Action for children, 2014). Physical neglect include delay or refusal in seeking health care, inadequate supervision, abandonment and expulsion from home, and education neglect include failure for a caregiver to enrol a child in school at the right age, and not giving attention to child’s special needs. Emotional neglect entails abuse of spouse

Psychological maltreatment has two components: emotional/psychological abuse (verbal aggression, threats of harm or confinement) and emotional/psychological neglect (insufficient nurturing, insufficient love, unwillingness to offer appropriate care and/or permitting actions such as drug abuse or misconduct). Psychological maltreatment includes unwillingness to accept the young boy or girl’s value, keeping the child from their family and/or friends, verbally attacking, frightening or bullying the little one, ignoring and encouraging them to become a part of defiant and hurtful actions. In my career, I will use this knowledge to recognize when a child has been emotionally/psychologically abused and report it to the Oklahoma Child Abuse Hotline

Pennsylvania describes emotional abuse as an action or failure to act that leads to a mental injury of a child (Clark 352). It also includes refusing to give a child his/her treatment for medical illnesses. Emotional abuse interferes with a child's ability to develop at the pace of their age level. Emotional abuse victims tend to receive a limited or lack of attention or affection. They are also compared to others in a negative way, constantly bombarded with insults and humiliation. Emotional abuse also includes allowing others to verbally abuse the child (Smith and Segal 2). Pennsylvania defines neglect as the lack of parental care or supervision for long periods of time (Clark 351). It also consist of keeping a prescribed medicine from the child (Rein 11-12). Parents may fail to provide essentials of life such as: nutrition, shelter, clothing, education, safety, and medical needs (Clark 185-190). Neglect occurs within a family and often to young children not old enough to speak. Signs of neglect