The purpose of this paper is to provide existing research support (through a review of the literature) for the intervention used in the case of a 25 year-old woman with three children, one of whom was removed from the home and placed in foster care for reasons of neglect. The child is four years old. Intervention consisted of small group counseling focused on educating the client regarding parenting skills/responsibilities as well as improving her self-esteem. The presented review of the literature focuses on establishing the importance of the problem of child neglect, delineating theoretical notions as to the causes of neglect and reviewing empirical studies of various interventions used for mothers who neglect their child.
According to Campbell and Lancaster (1994), approximately 1.5 children are, yearly, subjected to abuse or neglect. The authors state that, in at least one sense, neglect is a more problematic social problem because it is more subtle than outright abuse and may, as a result, go unnoticed. Adding an even more serious dimension to the problem is the fact that cases of neglect appear to be increasing (Clark-Stewart, Friedman & Koch, 1993). Thus, examination of the literature regarding a case in which intervention was attempted to stop mother neglect is a significant and important undertaken.
As yet, there is no definitive theory of the causes of child neglect (Papalia & Olds, 1992). However, several correlates of maternal neglect have been reliably documented; these include irresponsibility, apathy, poor nurturing in mother's own childhood, highly stressful relationships in the mother's life and difficulties feeding infants who, themselves, are often smaller than norm babies delivered with complications (Papalia & Olds, 1992). In addition, these mothers often do not hug or talk to their babies and often experience relatively strong levels of resentment toward the child (Papalia & Olds, 1992).
Polan...