Enrique Montino Pineda

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Early Childhood Development and Impact of Parent/Child Separation on Development. Enrique Montino Pineda was abandoned by both parents at the age of 7. Without present parental figures, Enrique couldn’t develop adequate emotional regulation, social awareness, or self-esteem. He was a drug addict by the age of 15. Long-term parent/child separation can have many negative neurological effects on a child, and heavily and negatively impacts the way children learn to regulate emotions and perceive themselves. Children learn negative habits out of a trauma response and they feel ashamed and many of these habits remained with Enrique throughout his adulthood after he was abandoned. However, that shame is rooted in an innocent desire to be loved. When those desires are not met with …show more content…

At a young age, children cannot identify and confront these emotions and issues, leaving them unregulated and proliferating with age. After Lourdes abandons Enrique, he isn’t able to effectively identify her absence and can only desire her comfort, “Already he will not let anyone else feed or bathe him. He loves her deeply, as only a son can.” (Nazario,3). This quote displays how Enrique both requires and desires his mother’s comfort and love; as a child, he can only trust and follow his mother. Enrique’s young age and lack of awareness contributed to the abandonment trauma he endured, and with this feelings of helplessness and encumbrance emerged. The article The Effect of Separating Children From Their Parents by Meri Wallace LCSW states “The parent feeds the tiny infant when he is hungry, soothes him when he is crying, and the parent’s presence gives the fragile infant a feeling of safety. As the parent is consistently there to care for the child and protect him, the child begins to build trust in the parent and the world”. This quote demonstrates how parents contribute to an infant’s emotional regulation

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