A Cycle of Dysfunctional Parenting and Unsatisfactory Child Development
Category: Family Therapy
Author: Grahame Smith
Beatrice is a 40-year-old married mother of four children; she married young and over time she and her husband separated on three occasions. Her husband previously subjected her to both psychological and physical abuse. As a child she lost her mother to suicide leaving her to be raised by her father. Unable to raise his daughters and work at the same time, Beatrice was passed around to various extended family members to be cared for. Unfortunately this exposed her to ongoing physical abuse.
Joe is 43 years old and the father of the four children; he has left Beatrice on 3 occasions over a 20-year period. He was raised in very poor circumstances and was subjected to physical abuse by his parents. He became addicted to alcohol in his teen years and developed increasingly violent behaviour.
Both Beatrice and Joe had no concept of how to provide a loving and nurturing environment for children. As a consequence their children witnessed their mother being physically abused over many years; they were neglected and felt abandoned during the times their parents were separated. The dominant emotion they experienced in their home life was fear. As the children grew into adolescence Joe and Beatrice became Christians and their life changed. Both decided they wanted to restore their marriage and be better parents. They separated in order to sort out their individual issues and a positive change in the behaviour of both parents became apparent.
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