Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

72 Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacityin a ‘callous unconcern for others, a low threshold for frustration, a discharge of aggressionand an inability to feel remorse’ (Stroud 1997, p.158). Similarly, excessive drinkingor drug misuse can result in the parent being emotionally unavailable to the child.Mothers who have a problem with drugs are less responsive to their babies, lesswilling to engage in meaningful play and more likely to respond in a manner thatcurtails further engagement (see Kroll and Taylor 2003 for a review of the literature).Parents with learning disabilities may not readily recognise their baby’s cues norhave sufficient understanding to know how to respond appropriately to reassure thebaby and encourage further interaction (Cleaver and Nicholson 2007).High levels of parental criticism are also associated with insecure attachments.Research suggests that children living with opiate-using parents are at increased riskof harm because these mothers were observed to rely on harsh verbal responses whencommunicating with their children (Hogan 1998).I shouted at me son ... you know what I mean. I shouted at him when I wascoming down and I felt dead guilty. I went into the other room and started crying... it’s not his fault I haven’t got any speed.(Substance-misusing lone mother, quoted in Klee et al. 2002, p.154)The experience of domestic violence can significantly undermine the mother’srelationship with her children (Radford and Hester 2006; Humphreys et al. 2006).The capacity of mothers who have previously provided sensitive and competentparenting may decline rapidly with the arrival of a violent partner (Jones 2009).In an attempt to avoid further outbursts of violence, the mother may prioritiseher husband’s or partner’s needs at the expense of her children’s (Holt et al. 2008).A preoccupation with trying to control the domestic environment may resultin the mother becoming emotionally distant, unavailable or even abusive to herchildren. Belittling and insulting a woman in front of her children underminesnot only her respect for herself, but also the authority which she needs to parentconfidently. Mothers in McGee’s (2000) study describe being sexually assaulted andhumiliated in front of their children, and 10% reported having been raped with theirchildren present.All these issues pose a considerable risk to the process of attachment and moregeneral relationships between children and their parents. Insecure patterns ofattachment may mean that children develop shaky internal working models, whichcan have adverse consequences for later relationships (Howe 1995). Moreover,when children experience a degree of rejection this may have implications for thechild’s sense of connectedness. This, in turn, can affect intellectual, emotional,social and psychological functioning (Owusu-Bempah 1995; Owusu-Bempah andHowitt 1997).A further issue noted by Rutter (1989) is that depressed mothers have a tendencyto seek comfort from a daughter. Although in some cases this can result in a warmand mutually satisfying relationship, in other instances the child may be usedinappropriately for comfort, or be drawn into a behavioural style of distress and