Child Case Studies

This assignment will review the case study of a female child aged four and a half years old named Yana (appendix one). It will critically analyse the events in Yana’s life and how these may have impacted her development. The four subjects which will be discussed will be the emotional trauma Yana has experienced, the bereavement for her mother, her recent transitions and the barriers of having English as an additional language (EAL) (appendix one). Furthermore, an analysis of how practitioners could use childhood services, policies and legislations such as; the Child Care Act 1989, Every Child Matters and the Laming report to support Yana will be explained for each subject. After evaluating the case study, it is apparent that Yana has experienced

She is currently facing the bereavement of her mother (appendix one), which consequently has affected her maternal attachment. The UNCRC identifies the rights for the child to be looked after by and have contact with both parents, currently this is not possible for Yana as they are unaware where her mother is (UNICEF). A study carried out on the 1970 British cohort advised that bereavement can cause long-term effects. Research showed that children would have lower outcomes at the age of 30, as they would be less likely to attain qualifications or be employed in a skilful job (Parsons, 2011). The research suggests an effect on a child’s development as a result of their lower educational aspirations- as children’s attitude to learning affects their work, it affects the knowledge they attain. However, this may not be the case for Yana, it would depend on the type of education she receives and her personal attitude to learning. Freud (1856) suggests that an event in a child’s life, such as losing a parent can affect their social and emotional development in later life (McLeod, 2013). Contrary to this, Kubler-Ross’ (1926) model suggests that young children do not understand the concept of death, at Yana’s age she would only view this as separation. This proposes that if Yana’s mother is deceased, she

Both Harlow (1905) and Bowlby (1907) identified that the first attachment a child will form will be with their mother (McLeod, 2009). As Bowlby (1907) suggests, the separation could affect Yana’s ability to react successfully to demands she faces in adulthood because the biological need for the maternal attachment was broken- this could affect her maternal instincts and ability to form relationships (Bowlby, 1958). Similar to Spitz (1887), Rutter (1933) described this loss as maternal deprivation which he suggested may lead to lack of intellectual stimulation. Froebel’s (1782) theory supports the affect the loss of the mother has on a child’s development, particularly their emotional development, identifying that the mother plays an important role in a child’s education (Flanagan, 1999). Yana’s mother will not be involved in her education, nevertheless, it is uncertain whether her mother would have provided adequate support for Yana due to the language barrier. Harris (1998) disagrees with Bowlby’s (1907) theory, as he argues children learn through nature not nurture (Harris, 1998). So, Yana could make the same progress with the support of her father, the practitioners, her peers and the