My essay aims to analyze in detail the perspective of childhood trauma transposed into adolescence and adulthood from the perspective of delinquent behavior, the role of the concept of power and how influences this field, rehabilitation, and a close analysis of internal and external factors influencing life course of the group I want to have my attention on. We will also talk about how the concept of power influences the course of our lives, we will analyze how biopsychosocial factors are integrated into our way of understanding health, disease, and well-being throughout life. I will also mention the history of the rate of juvenile delinquency and I will also discuss Children's Acts and their importance.
The life cycle perspective is also known as life course theory and is an important instrument in analyzing and understanding the relationship between time and human behavior. It also tracks the chronological age of the individual, his relationships, life transitions, factors of different natures (sociological, psychological, biocultural, sociohistorical, biological, environmental), as well as social life, which shapes people throughout their lives. Lifespan Development research how we change and grow from the moment we conceive until we die. According to Erikson (1963), trust underlies our development in infancy (birth to 12 months), and he also proposed the idea that personality development takes place all through the lifespan (Erickson,1963). A life course approach emphasizes the health and well-being of the individual and argues that a good functional ability throughout life can be achieved through effective environmental support.
The experiences we have early in our lives and particularly in our early childhoods have a huge impact on how we grow and develop, our physical and mental health, and our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. There are two important factors to consider when talking about our well-being and these are the quality of attachment in relationships and our experience of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences).
Attachment is the model of relationship we develop with parents or caregivers in the early years, this being a key moment in what we are going to become from a behavioral and mental point of view. The emotional relationship that the child creates with the parent from birth, the way the parent or caregiver responds to the child, all these factors have a definite impact on the child's development, and the way he will express his feelings, needs, and desires. The first emotional connections that children make, serve as a template, which later, children will reproduce. If the people who care for us instill in us positive behavior and positive feelings, we will develop a positive pattern in other relationships as well, positive feelings about ourselves and others. But it can happen that the people involved in raising a child, inspire negative behavior, and negative feelings, which will automatically offer difficulties in the child's development, in creating and maintaining positive relationships and expressing positive behavior and feelings towards themselves or those around them.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are 'highly stressful, and potentially traumatic, events or situations that occur during childhood and adolescence. They can be a single event, or prolonged threats to, and breaches of, the young person's safety, security, trust, or bodily integrity.' (Young Minds, 2018).
Studies show that a high percentage of children who experience trauma since childhood, become vulnerable and are more likely to face addictions such as alcohol, drugs, and gambling; there are also high chances for the future adult to express acts of violence in society, to experience more frequent states of anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, to behave inappropriately or even dangerously in society, potentially being a danger to themselves. and for those around them (Ainsworth, M. D. S.,1989).
The ACE's experiences are:
- Child physical abuse
- Child sexual abuse
- Child emotional abuse
- Physical neglect
- Emotional neglect
- Mentally ill, depressed, or suicidal person in the home
- The drug-addicted or alcoholic family member
- Witnessing domestic violence against the mother
- Loss of a parent to death or abandonment, including abandonment by divorce
- Incarceration of any family member
Human development is complex. Every child comes into the world with their own biological package, and unique at the same time. Its characteristics are very much influenced by the sum of the good bad experiences, positive and negative, that the child accumulates. On the one hand, there are love and limits close to age, and on the other hand, on the negative one, there is an invisible element called trauma. Trauma is not always intentional, for example, the loss of a parent is something that cannot be controlled or changed in any way. When the trauma is intentional, the consequences are even more severe.
I would like to analyze a little the word 'trauma'. Trauma is a medical term and represents a serious injury to the body, but trauma can also be psychological. What is psychological trauma and how much it can affect us during our lifespan? Emotional trauma is the result of a single experience of suffering or the result of an accumulation of overwhelming recurring events over weeks, years, or even decades, in which the person struggles to cope with immediate circumstances, leading to ultimately to serious, long-term negative consequences. It also destroys the feeling of security, leading to helplessness and the idea that we live in a very dangerous world. Although the causes and symptoms of trauma are varied, there are several basic signs that may suggest that this is the disorder you are experiencing. People who have been through traumatic events often seem agitated and disoriented or absent from the conversation. Another sign of trauma is anxiety.
Chronic psychological or emotional trauma - through repeated and prolonged exposure to traumatic events where we can mention child abuse, aggression, and domestic violence.
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Complex psychological or emotional trauma - through multiple exposures to stressful events. Secondary psychological or emotional trauma - is developed by people in contact with those who have experienced a traumatic event (Bremner, D.,2005, Kirouac, S.,2009)
Neuropsychological studies show that children who have experienced or witnessed violence, trauma, abuse, or neglect, later experience cognitive difficulties in one or more areas (McLaughlin et al., 2014).
Analyzing from a behavioral perspective, reinforcement history and faculty learning may account for differences between secure and insecure attachment. Lack of attachment behavior, trust behavior, and moral behavior can be explained by principles of reinforcement and punishment, rather than some vague, underlying, unobservable concepts called 'attachment', 'trust', or 'morality' that merely describe behavior. What appears to be a lack of emotional development may instead be the failure to experience close emotional behavior and the principles of reinforcement and punishment (Merrell, K. W.,2003, Ainsworth, M. D. S. 1989).
The feeling of security is our primary social need. The physiological changes we experience throughout life create a kind of predisposition in people to learn certain types of behavior. In the first five years, children are physically dependent on the adult who cares for them, who offers them caresses, and love, and fulfills all their needs, thus creating a feeling of trust. When children are not adequately cared for in their early years of vulnerability and dependency, then all their needs are compromised, launching in the future potential slips, failures, difficulties in integrating naturally into society, and traumas (Ainsworth, M. D. S. 1989).
Influence is a very important aspect of life in the organization and without it, no organization could function. Almost all members of organizations are based on influence and in any organization, they are subjects of influence. In organizations, influence is tested when legitimate authority or power intervenes. The term power refers to the ability of the individual to influence a person's behavior so that the result is effective to his desire. It underlies the whole spectrum of means for influencing the behavior of emulation, suggestion, persuasion, and coercion. This means that the more power a person has, the greater their chances of being effective in influencing a person or system.
The state offers a perfect focus and attention on children so: 'Looked after children deserve the best experiences in life, from excellent parenting which promotes good health and educational attainment, to a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and skills in order to have an enjoyable childhood and successful adult life. Stable investments, good health, and support during the transition are all essential elements, but children will only achieve their potential through the ambition and high expectations of all those involved in their lives. ' (The Children Act,1989). This means that local authorities and at the same time collaborating agencies are seriously involved, with the aim of fulfilling the responsibilities that lead to an adequate care plan, placements, and case reviews for looking after children and offering safeguarding and promoting welfare (The Children Act, 1989). 'The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty to which is a signatory, which grants all children and young people aged 17 and under a comprehensive set of rights. These include the right to special protection measures and assistance; access to services such as education and health care; developing their personality, abilities, and talents to the fullest potential; growing up in an environment of happiness, love, and understanding; and being informed about and participate in achieving their rights in an accessible and active manner' (Children act,1989).
This shows the influence of the concept of power in this field, which has a real and relevant importance in the growth and development of a child who lives in his own family or is in the care of someone (caregiver, placement, adopted).
I believe that these agencies, which are directly involved in the lives of young people and disadvantaged families, those with various family disabilities, or simply going through difficult times, offer the opportunity to correct, contribute to a deviation from a potential path of depravity, modifies and positively influences the life course of a child or adolescent. Of course, this aspect is the part in which the agencies involved and the local authorities have successfully fulfilled their responsibility, resulting in the rehabilitation of a child adolescent family, but as we well know, there are exceptional situations in which all their efforts are a failure, and the reasons for failure can also vary, from the lack of communication of the agencies involved, the superficial treatment of the case by the people involved to the categorical refusal of the child adolescent to cooperate with the authorities involved and its continuation on the road to depravity.
Looking back, history shows that the rate of juvenile delinquency rose considerably after 1847 and that there were several reasons such as group influence, disorganized families, race, low self-esteem, environment, and family trauma caused by family, caregivers, or other external factors or individuals. At the beginning of the 21st century, there is talk of zero tolerance for crime and antisocial behavior. But in the meantime, criminologists have attacked this 'punitive' method in exchange for forming a system that will try to solve social problems, directing the young class to work and distracting them from deviating from criminal ways, and playing a constructive role in society. The legal system introduced reform and industrial schools for the first time in 1850 and elementary education was introduced in 1970. In 1889 the 'Children's Charter' was introduced to protect children from cruelty and allowed the state to intervene in life. by family. Between 1890 and 1900, greater pressure was placed on more effective protection of young people and children. All these changes have automatically led to new ways of treating young offenders and a special court has been called upon to deal with cases involving children and young people. Their efforts proved successful, and the Children Act of 1908, which included school meals, orphanage pensions, and school medical inspections, improved the Children Act by introducing new laws such as the protection of the child's life; cruelty prevention; smoking bans on minors; improving the roles of industrial and reforming schools; creation of juvenile courts; and a 'miscellaneous' division that included provisions such as banning people under the age of fourteen from public houses. In 1948, a law was passed to rehabilitate and recover children and young people who violated the law, maintaining the 1933 law, considering the views of social workers in the slums of cities at the time (The Children Act, Justice Policy Institute, 2017).
Research has been carried out on the link between childhood trauma reflected in adolescence, in serious forms such as murder, sexual abuse, and very high levels of post-traumatic stress have been found among young people in custody, found guilty of these facts related above (Bailey, 1996; Bailey, Smith,
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