A Child Undergoing of Childhood Disordered - Coursework Example

Module A Critical Analysis and Evaluation of the Scenario The story in the case study is about a family whose child is undergoing a phase composed of childhood disorders, as well as disordered childhood. Katy, an eleven year old girl, is the first born in a family of three. She is born of parents who are not well of. The father is said to have lost his job eighteen months ago. The marriage of Katy’s parents, Andy and Julie, is in turmoil, probably due to the struggles involved in meeting the requirements of the family. Taking care of three children in a time of financial turmoil is not an easy task. This leads to a diagnosis of depression on Katy’s mum. Katy is an overweight child and probably suffers from obesity. This is a common disorder among children, especially in western countries. It is a disorder that occurs when there is an imbalance of calories in the body. Katy attends junior school. She however, is said to be struggling both academically, and socially. Her performance is below average. Katy has problems making friends in her class, and is said to only have a few friend. Most of the time, she isolates herself to her computer. She seems to use the computer as a means to satisfy her social need. She is withdrawn and barely lets people into her life. This is because she is suffering from social disorder. Her parents have however, not taken her to a psychologist to have her health checked. They assume that her seclusion could be a result of internet bullying. Since Katy denies it, the reason behind her behaviour cannot be fully known. Therefore, it would have been better if Katy was taken to a specialist for qualified assessment. Isolation and seclusion are not the only problems that Katy seems to have at school. She is said to be engaging in stealing. Stealing is a popular habit in children who feel that they do not have sufficiency, and need to meet their needs anyway. It is a behaviour which if not corrected moulds a person into being a kleptomaniac (Mash and Barkley 21). Katy’s poor family background could be the reason behind her behavioural disorder. It is evident that Katy is suffering from a behavioural and an emotional disorder. The head teacher would like to discuss the matter with the parents. Such a situation calls for help to the child, making means to meet her needs, as well as teaching her what is proper; for example letting her know that stealing from other pupils is wrong, and it could lead her into punishments such as confinement in correctional institutions. Taking the child to police may not help her in her growth; this is because the reason behind her behaviour is lack. Besides, her age is too young to handle prison. Katy is also said to have special education needs, together with other pupils in her school. Such children have difficulties studying and performing the usual activities performed by normal children around that age, such as socialising. This is a situation which requires special treatment as pre-organised by each school (Pervanidou and Chrousos 48). Since she is in the midst of preparing for her key stage 2 tests, extra help should be provided by the teachers in order to improve her performance. Katy’s mother on the other hand, has been diagnosed with depression and is supposed to go through counselling and take anti-depressants. The situation going on in her family could be the reason behind her poor health. The financial struggle, Katy’s disorders and her marital strains are reasons which can cause depression to Julie. Counselling can however, rectify this by helping her to learn to view everything from a different angle. Anti-depressant can also relax her mind, and help bring the situation under control. Therefore, even as Katy needs help in dealing with her disorders, her mother does too. The relevant theory and research which illuminates what is going on in Katys case A few explanations can be given to illuminate what is going on in Katy’s case. The first theory is that Katy is a child who is suffering from social disorder. Social phobia or disorder is a condition caused by excess self-consciousness. When a child’s self-esteem is too low, she finds self-worth in other things other than people. Such a child is unusually shy and excessively reserved, just like Katy is. Due to fear of being judged, she prefers to have only a few friends. The computer has become the only thing she buries into since she feels like she is in a different world in which she is the superior one there. If a social disorder is not diagnosed it can lead to depression. Symptoms of social disorders include, withdrawal, seclusion, less interactions with friends, spending too much time on technological devices such as phones and internet, as well as secretiveness. The earlier the situation is diagnosed, the better since it can be best rectifies in its initial stages (Mash and Barkley 75). Another theory illuminating what is going on in Katy’s case is that the girl is suffering from Emotional and Behavioural Disorder (EBD) (Mash and Barkley 54). Naturally children can be deviant and unruly with misconduct of all sorts. This however, takes corrective measures in order to mould the child into a responsible person. Katy is struggling with conduct disorder. Children suffering of conduct disorder can easily be declared bad children. This, however, is a situation which does not need the same correction as would an adult. At this stage, a child requires guidance and support. Medical attention would be a better solution than prison confinement. Besides, the fact that the child is from a family which has financial problems could lead to the misconduct. She is aware that her parents cannot meet her needs; hence, she ends up stealing. The parents in this case, need to seek support in order to meet the needs of their children, even if it is through getting alms from non-governmental organisations which support families living in poverty (Mash and Barkley 34). Another theory explaining Katy’s case is that children with special educations needs take longer to master their studies compared to other students who are normal (Pervanidou and Chrousos 50). This explains why Katy’s academic performance is below average. The special education needs that Katyis diagnosed with ail from her social isolation and difficulties in socialisation. Teachers should take account of such characteristics in order to help the students. In cases of special needs, different lessons could be devised to help such children to deal with this disorder. For example, Katy’s teachers could ensure that Katy’s lessons involve socialising activities, which can help Katy build up confidence. Appreciating the child and letting her know that she is a good person, and that her performance in the lesson is worth of praise can help boost the child’s esteem. The ultimate aim is to help the children realize that they are worth much more than they think of themselves; hence, help them to fit in the social circles (Mash and Barkley 117). Another theory explaining Katy’s situation is that she is undergoing stress, hence she becomes overweight. Being overweight can be cause by lack of balance in calories. When people are stressed, they seem to consume foods of high calories and lots of cholesterol. Besides, low esteem issues can also cause the young girl to have weight issues. This is a situation which needs medical attention since it could be a disease resulting from various reasons. Therefore, assessing and dealing with the situation professionally could help deal with the situation permanently (Mash and Barkley 19). The extent to which Katy should be seen as a child with childhood disorders and /or child suffering from a disordered childhood Katy is an eleven year old girl. She is therefore, a child approaching her adolescence stage. As a young teenager, she is undergoing changes which might seem confusing to her. First, the situation in her family is not something that is easy to deal with for her. Being a teenage girl, she notices her friends who come from well-off families (Pervanidou and Chrousos 49). She desires to have similar sufficiency as she sees among these children. This means she would go to the extent of stealing whatever she has to, in order to compensate for her lack. Approaching the adolescent stage might not be particularly categorised as being a child. Eleven years is an age in which one can make decisions and figure out morally correct activities. However, it is worth noting that Katy’s problems are not issues that have popped out all of a sudden. She has not had many friends growing up till she reached eleven. This means that she makes decision to isolate herself due to previous experiences in her life probably. Therefore, Katy’s situation should not be overly categorised as a situation of a child since it might be assumed that she will outgrow them, only to realise that the situations were more serious than they were handled. Alternatively, she could be treated as a child who is reaching adolescence and in need of special attention and professional attention before her disorders explodes into a larger problem. A child might not be in need of therapy, counselling, and even strict medication since growing up and getting into different environments naturally does that for them. However, the adolescent stage is a sensitive stage, whose issues need careful handling. Therefore, it is more important to handle Katy as a girl who has had a disordered childhood and in need of proper attention, rather than a child with childhood disorder (Mash and Barkley 27). Work Cited Mash, Eric, and Russell Barkley. Assessment of Childhood Disorders, Fourth Edition. 4th Ed. New York: Guilford Publications, 2009. Print. Pervanidou, Panagiota, and George Chrousos. "Emotional/ behavioural disorders and obesity in Childhood: A clinicians perspective." The European Health Psychologist 13.3 (2011): 48-51. Print. Read More