Postponing Adulthood

In almost all cases involving some sort of problematical behavior in adulthood that can be traced back to childhood, certain characteristics manifest themselves, although they are combined in innumerable ways. These characteristics include showing low selfesteem, mild to severe depression, selfpity, continual excuses for their behavior, refusal to take responsibility for their own actions, anger focused toward the world in general, a strong disposition toward not accepting any authority, a clinging financial dependency to parents or relatives, poor decision making, lack of ability to hold a job or chronic unemployment, verbal abuse of the spouse or family members, rudeness or ungrateful behavior, a sense that the world owes something to the person, the inability to make commitments, and the creation and elaboration of continual crisis situations (Stockman & Graves, 1989). Of course, these behaviors are not present in all adult children who have problems dealing with childhood parents, but they do provide a framework in which the impact of parental behaviors on adult children may be placed into perspective. This paper will concentrate on those behaviors and w

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rental behavior and postponed adulthood will be transferred into future generations as well (Littwin, 1986). Parental rejection is another strong force that impacts adult children's behaviors. Research has identified that adult children who were rejected as children for more than a brief (e.g. few hours, days) are more likely to have a noticeable slowing of the motor, intellectual, and language development skills (Evoy, 1981). Similarly, as adults they often transpire increased stages of hopelessness, mourning, and despair over seemingly minor incidents (Bowlby, 1960). These behaviors often manifest themselves without the adult child being acutely aware that it is rejection that is most feared. Instead, they often surround themselves with people in order to remove any feelings of loneliness, but are still reluctant to open themselves emotionally. These adult children have problems with trust and often lack the ability to give of themselves emotionally in any but a superficial manner (Yarrow, 1961). Adult children of alcoholics face similar problems, and care must be taken within their own lives to prevent their own addictive behavior. Children raised in alcoholic families seem to retain a pattern of codependency. That dep
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Approximate Word count = 2110
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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