Child Attachment

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A child will often look towards the adult figures in his life for support and guidance, however, sometimes an adult might abused the trust of the child or fail to protect the child from harm. This might lead the child to believe that no one could be trusted and the only way to stay safe is to stay away from others. Joe described how he was part of a church group for kids from troubled families and his childhood. For example, Joe came from a trouble family and there is a possibility that he did not have a strong attachment to his family, because he mentioned that he never told anyone about his sexual orientation since it was a topic that no one talked about (Bederman & McCarthy, 2015). However, there is a possibility that Joe had an strong attachment …show more content…

Additionally, he may blame her for introducing him to Father Shanley, because she did not protect him from being forced to perform oral sex and having intercourse with him. Also, he may believe that Sister Barbara should have known that Father Shanley preyed upon the youth and done something to stopped him. Instead, she allows Father Shanley to get close to Joe and the other children in the youth group. Judith Herman explains that a child who experiences betrayal by “the other adults who are responsible for [his] care do not protect [him],” and how the child may perceive the other adult as dangerous as the abuser (Herman, 1992). This could impact the type of schemas that are created, for example, all adults cannot be trusted because they are dangerous and if he becomes close to anyone he might get …show more content…

During a consultation with Eric MacLeish, the Spotlight journalists learned that the statute of limitation is three years for cases of child molestations, and in most cases the victim only gets $20,000 in damages. But, by time a victim realized that he was a victim of sexual abuse, and consults a lawyer to press charges against the abuser, the statue of limitation has expired (Bederman & McCarthy, 2015) and then there are even less options for the victim to choose from expect to settle the case outside of the criminal justice system. But Joe did not get the recognition from the church since he did not pursue a case against the church and Father Shanley because he would receive a small portion of money. Even if Joe pursed the case against Father Shanley, the church wouldn’t allow the police to get involved but instead transfer Father Shanley to another parish. Another reason why Joe would not get any recognition and restitution for the sexally abuse is because the criminal justice system might not recognize the intercourse between Father Shanley and Joe as rape. Herman describe how the “traditional legal standards recognize a crime of rape only if the perpetrator use extreme force” (1992), however, in Joe’s case, Father Shanley did not use physical force to have intercourse with Joe, instead, Father Shanley asked

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