Lack of Parental Care in the US - Research Paper Example

Reflective Journal College: Reflective Journal The issue of family instability has become very common in the world today especially in the US. The development of family challenges and the complex nature of the matter often affect children psychologically inhibiting their learning process. As a psychologist endowed with the role of counseling and providing psychotherapy to children, it is common that one will be faced with these cases. Owing to the sensitivity of the matter concerning children disorientation, it becomes a challenging matter that must be handled with care. The article reflects on the case one student, Johnson, whose education had been jeopardized by family instability that existed in their homestead. Johnson is 18 years old and lives with his father in their town apartment a few kilometers away from school. After Johnson started dropping her grades in school, his class teacher became concerned and dug in the ground of the matter. Although the child was reluctant to tell her long tale, the teacher garnered enough information and on his assessment found that Johnson need psychotherapy. When her class teacher referred this student to me, I started by getting to the ground of the matter. As Johnson narrated the story, I learnt that he was the only child in the family and that his mother had passed away when he was thirteen years. Before her death, Johnson was very fond of her as he saw her more often that the father. The father was a businessman who dropped him once in a while and was rarely concerned with Johnson’s progress. The death of his mother was quite a blow that left John very lonely and disappointed. After the death of his mother, Johnson lost hope in his life and this is the time when his education was affected. He could not concentrate any more in class and was often found day dreaming in class. At night, as he reported, he received illusion of his mother and this was a scaring experience for the young boy. It became hard for him to concentrate in class and found himself thinking out of class. This was made worse by the fact that he rarely met with his father who was the only source of comfort for him. He came home rarely and was overwhelmed by the duties of his business. He paid little attention to John’s school work and seem to have assumed that John’s life was in perfect condition all this time. On the contrary, John found his life more difficult and he started dropping in his school grades. John was once pushed out of class after one of his teachers found him staring outside the class during a lesson. Additionally, Johnson showed symptoms of extreme aggressiveness and bad temper. He overreacted over everything and would resort to anger and resentment over a small issue. His anxiety went far to affect even his attitude towards his examinations. The once bright student became anxious during the exam periods and he at times avoided the exams when he felt not confident enough to face them. The class teacher reported that Johnson was about to repeat class if the trend did not change and this is what had raised the concern of all other teachers in the institution who once knew Johnson as one of the brightest students in the class. Park and Peterson (2008) note that these cases are common when children lack adequate parental care After conducting an analysis of Johnson’s case, it appeared that it was quite a sensitive matter that demanded more than just counseling (Gendes and Segal, 2011). The first issue that was clear in this matter is that Johnson was psychologically affected by the death of his mother, who was the only close person he had. After this death, he did not receive adequate comfort and this became a heavy load for him to shoulder. The lack of moral support and parental intimacy often has serious consequences, especially after such a shock (Hudson and Rapee, 2005). The fact that his father does not frequent at home makes it worse and the loneliness is likely to escalate the problem. After losing a parent, John required more attention from his father or any other close person. The daydreams in class can be associated with the fact that he has no one to share his feelings with and with such sensitive matters, he requires someone he can trust to share his story. To handle this matter, I spoke to Johnson’s father and scheduled a meeting with him. When he arrived, it was clear that he was not aware of any problem that his son was going through. He had not even noticed the school challenges that Johnson was facing as he had not inquired about. On the meeting, I disclosed to him the matter and asked if it was possible for him to avail himself at home more often at least to restore his intimacy with his son (Luthar and Zigler 2000). Although he found it quite a challenge, he accepted and decided to make a follow up of the matter quite closely. In addition, he paid for Johnson’s weekly counseling session to help him recover from his shock and reduce his anxiety in class. After three counseling sessions, Johnson was able to reduce his anxiety level and regain his concentration in class. The father played his role by spending more time with his son especially on weekends when there was no school. By the end of the term, Johnson had started to regain and his teacher had noted an improvement in his midterm exams. In the US today, lack of parental care has become a major concern due to its impact on child who suffer such a fate. Often children who lack adequate parental-care are likely to suffer from stress that if not checked will have severe consequences on their academic and social life (Royle, Smiseth and Kölliker, 2012: Worden 2000). In single parent families, lack of parental care can be severe and may have permanent impact on the life of a child. In instances where mental stress in children is not diagnosed early enough, it may cause irreversible mental effects on the life of the child and their future too may be jeopardized. As these cases continue to increase, it is crucial that the psychotherapists take a keen look at the societys problems in the effort of providing psycho-support for children faced with these challenges. References Gendes, K. and Segal, E., (2011). Importance of Empathy of Social Work: Integrating new Science. Social work, 56 (2). Hudson, L. and Rapee, M., (2005). Psychopathology and the Family. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Luthar, S., and Zigler, E, (2000). Vulnerability and competence: A review of research on resilience in childhood. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 6, 6-22. Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2008). Positive psychology and character strengths: Application to Strengths based school counseling. Professional School Counseling. Royle, J. and Per, T. (2012). Smiseth, and Mathias Kölliker. The Evolution of Parental Care. London: Elsevier. Worden, J. (2000). Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies. New York: Guilford. Read More