A Study of Eight Surrendered Adolescents Who Were in Boarding Homes Under the Supervision of the Catholic Home Bureau as of May 1950
Abstract
Background of Study. "To be unwanted by one’s own family is one of the cruelest and devastating blows that can befall a human being, and placement to the child is the final, irrevocable proof of rejection." While this statement of Leontine Young may seem somewhat dramatized and exaggerated to those who adhere to the resiliency and innate capacity for growth of the human person, nevertheless, it does convey what could be the meaning of separation and placement to the child. The child who has been surrendered by his own parents and who has never had the opportunity of forming permanent parent-substitute affectional ties has been deprived of one of the essential, life giving components of normal growth and development. His ability to face reality with courage and confidence is dependent upon his past experiences and the security giving values which these have had for him. The child without close ties looks at his friends who have their parents and unconsciously questions why he is not like other children. Seldom - or more likely never - can he verbalize this feeling except in an outburst of anger since invariably circumstances have prevented him from experiencing that closeness to another human being which comes from sharing joys and sorrows in a relationship of understanding and genuine love.
Subject Area
Social work|Social research|Mental health|Social studies education
Recommended Citation
Butler, Catherine Teresa, "A Study of Eight Surrendered Adolescents Who Were in Boarding Homes Under the Supervision of the Catholic Home Bureau as of May 1950" (1951). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30724940.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30724940
