The case study analysis should be a maximum of six pages in length, including the introduction and conclusion, each of which should be approximately one half-page in length. The body of the paper should not exceed five pages.
Case Study
Angela is a White 17-year-old girl who is also the mother of a baby named Adam, now 11 months of age. Both Angela and her baby live with Angela’s mother, Sarah, in a small rented house in a semirural community in the Midwest. Sarah, a single mother herself, works as a food server in a local restaurant. Sarah has another child, David, who is 13. Angela’s father abandoned the family when she was 7 years old. Wayne, Angela’s boyfriend and Adam’s father, has also become estranged primarily because Sarah refuses to allow him in her house. She is angry that Angela became pregnant and views Wayne as incapable of, and uninterested in, taking on his share of the responsibility.
During her pregnancy, Angela continued to attend classes at her high school. She dropped out, however, when she was 7 months pregnant. She had grown increasingly depressed about the prospect of caring for an infant, and she found dealing with schoolwork and her pregnancy overwhelming. Following Adam’s birth, Angela tried hard to be a good mother to her son. She took on most of the caretaking responsibilities by herself, which gave her some measure of satisfaction. However, she also felt deeply ambivalent. Above all, she resented the restrictions that the baby placed on her life. Adam’s frequent crying for no apparent reason was particularly frustrating. According to Angela, Adam cried even when he was not hungry or wet. Sometimes she handled Adam roughly, when he wouldn’t quiet down after a feeding or around bedtime. At other times, Angela was upset that Adam didn’t seem to smile enough at her when she wanted to play with him. Sometimes, Adam paid no attention to her when she wanted interaction. At these times, she would raise her voice and hold his face in her hands to make him look at her. She was beginning to feel that she was not a very good mother to her son after all.
Sarah and Angela’s already strained relationship grew more hostile as Adam approached his first birthday. Angela felt that her mother wasn’t interested in helping her. Angela always idealized her father and believed that it was her mother’s frequent outbursts of anger that led to her father’s leaving home.
For her part, Sarah believed that her daughter wasn’t doing enough to help herself. Angela chose not to go back to school, even though she could have access to school-based child care services. All through Angela’s high school years, Sarah had expected her daughter to find a steady job after graduation and to contribute to the family financially. Instead, Sarah found herself in the role of financial provider for another child. She was very angry and hurt that Angela didn’t seem to appreciate all she had done for her over the years. Whenever the mother and daughter had an argument, Angela would say that she felt her mother never really cared about her. What was even worse for Sarah was that Angela had begun seeing Wayne again, without her mother’s permission. She made it clear to Angela that she and the baby would need to move out if she ever got pregnant again.
Discussion Questions
Comment on the quality of the attachment relationship between Angela and Adam and between Sarah and Angela. Do you think that Adam is at risk for developmental problems? Discuss.
Using the model of intergenerational transmission of attachment presented in this chapter, discuss the transmission sequence as it applies in this case.
What kinds of interventions could you suggest to help the members of this family?
How would you engage with a parent who is maltreating a child? What steps would you take to help in this circumstance?
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