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well, eats well, is healthy and responsive to their care, their attachment to him is likely
to increase, and the child, in turn, will become attached to them.
On the other hand, there are those infants who do not meet their parents'
expectations, and perfectly normal behaviours, like soiling and crying, are regarded less
than favourably, hence no attachment develops. Such children may be of the wrong
sex, irritable, sickly, dark instead of fair, fat instead of thin, unresponsive, small for
age, or may resemble a hated relative, which contribute to the parents' disappointment
and consequent rejection and abuse (Call 1984 : 190).
(3) Studies pertaining to psychological aspects
A survey ofthe literature indicates extensive writings on the personality of the abusing
parents. Many researchers have attempted to produce a typology ofthe abusing parent,
these being valuable in so far as establishing predictive and preventive techniques. It
should be remembered though, that abusing parents do not fall into anyone
psychiatric type as it were, and that cognisance should be taken of the fact that child
abuse is related to a dysfunctional parent/child relationship, which can exist in
conjunction with any other psychological state (Vesterdal 1977).
(a) Characteristics of abusing parents
Prodgers (1984 : 413) has identified five personality characteristics typical of abusing
parents. These are:
(i) Arrested emotional development
Researchers have found abusing parents to be emotionally i=ature. As a result of
inadequate mothering, especially during the first two years, the individual's emotional
development does not progress, but remains fixed at the infantile level. Trojanowicz
(1978) says that the emotionally i=ature parent constantly places his own early
unfulfilled needs above those of his child and expects the child to fulfil these needs.