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According to Pretorius (1972 : 50) experiences on a pathic level of feeling have the
implication ofpathic unrest. Such a child (the abused child) is usually labile, confused
and disorientated concerning the gnostic import of experiences. It inhibits the child's
desires and initiative in a number of ways.
Pretorius (1972 : 50-51) mentions the following examples (which have particular
reference to the abused child) :
• the child wishes to become someone in his own right but he is held in
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check and remains small (immature);
he is forced to adopt an expectant attitude despite the fact that as a
person he is endowed with the initiative to create relationships;
he desires to be accepted, yet feels rejected;
would like to feel worthy, and feels inferior instead;
he desires stability; seeks understanding, but regards himself as
misunderstood;
craves support to realise his full potential, but constantly seems to be
dispossessed of his potentialities; and
wishes to submit to true authority, but experiences a total absence of it.
(b) Inadequate emancipation
According to Vrey (1982) the person who the child is constantly becoming,
corresponds with his anticipated image of self (with that which he would like to
become). If this image seems dim or unattainable as in the case of the abused child,
he will eventually accept that it is in aetual fact unreachable - and will consequently
believe himself to be hopelessly "inferior". "Emancipating" essentially means that the