Parent Abuse

Child Development In understanding the differences between childhood behaviors and adulthood behaviors in identifying problems is very important for those counselors seeking to find causes to problematic symptoms. The purpose of this report is to discuss the case study issues dealing with Maria, a 9-year-old Hispanic girl who is experiencing some behavior issues dealing with fear and anxiety. This report will offer an assessment and evaluation of Maria in determining the best way to approach and eventually solve this problem.

The text suggested that it was important to differentiate the issues of children and adults in a manner that is reasonable and understandable. There is, however, been a historical tendency to ignore this separation and treat children just like adults, perhaps misreading the situation and ultimately causing more confusion and harm.

The authors wrote " the lack of attention to developmental variations in symptoms in the DSM and its applications is a common misconception in psychopathology, the developmental uniformity myth, which holds that disorders manifest the same no matter the age of the individual." By ignoring Maria's age and treating her like an adult would be a disservice to her and her mental health. Shyness The tendency to categorize "shyness" as a disorder is troubling, especially for children.

Shyness may or may not be symptomatic of a disorder, just like happiness and sadness. The context of Maria's shyness needs to be more fully discussed and understood. Children are often exposed to many troubling things in their early life causing certain trauma. Shyness is one way of protecting themselves from the pains of the trauma. Shyness can often come in stages or waves throughout the development of any single person's life. One can be shy in childhood and mature into a very socially balanced person.

Children should not be expected to be well adjusted little adults, and what may cause a problem for a child may not have that same effect on an adult and vice versa. The importance of subjective interpretation of the individual details of any case, can help in eliminating confusing diagnosis and useless recommendations. Shyness is also not a consistent emotion that is constantly displayed. While Maria maybe showing extreme symptoms to her parents, the descriptions of her problems were in fact described by her parents.

The extreme tendency for parents to project their own self onto their children is massive problem in psychotherapy and child development. Too often ignorant parents do not recognize their children as individuals and project all their own phobias and fears on their children. As a result the child then becomes the supporter of the adult and the child begins to "parentify" their own mother and father. This is a form of emotional abuse and Maria's case suggest that the parents are in some way or another abusing Maria.

The social aspects of Maria's case need to be addressed as Hispanic families often are very large and the parents of these families work long and hard hours in manual labor intensive jobs. This no doubt has an effect on Maria if she is being neglected and therefore scared to leave the house. Legal and Ethical Issues If abuse is found to be the cause of Maria's problems counselors are often left with tough legal and ethical issues.

Sometimes the parents can be helped and sometimes it is best that the child is removed from the family. These are tough decisions and it is essential that a professional attitude is undertaken due to the severity of legally breaking up a family. The recommendations from psychologists and counselors in this instances are taken very seriously and it is important that these recommendations are thoroughly thought through in a responsible and coherent manner.

Recommendations The case of Maria's anxiety does not seem to be overly serious at this stage of her development. Children will.