The Boy No One Loved By Casey Watson

In The Boy No One Loved the author, Casey Watson, discusses child abuse in a boy named Justin and some of the life events that he has gone through. Justin is an example of how child abuse can be correlated with violence. Some of the forms of child abuse that Justin went through while being with his birth mother include: neglect, maltreatment, sexual abuse, and being in an unsafe environment. When these circumstances happen, though, Justin was lucky because he was able to find a family that grew to care for and love him. Finding a family (or even being a member of a family) like this is a wonderful experience that not every child gets to have.
When Justin was first placed with the Watson family, he only had one suitcase, and he also

had some behavioral problems. When Justin was just five years old, he burned down his mother’s home and her dog, taking him and his brothers outside so they would not get hurt. When Justin is more comfortable talking to Casey, his foster mother, about this event he explains that the reason he burned the house and dog down because his mother loved her dog more than him and he did not like that fact. He explained the reason he knew that his mother loved her dog more than him and his brothers was because she would buy food for the dog, but not for them. His brothers were hungry, and he felt badly about that. Justin and his brothers being without food is an example of the maltreatment that they were getting from their mother.
Not only was there maltreatment within Justin’s birth home, there was also neglect. His mother was never around and she was always gone away with a new boyfriend. Justin always wanted to be with his mother and would do anything for her, but with her being gone so much, he could not spend hardly any time with her. The time Justin was able to spend time with her was not the greatest moments of his life either. His mother was a drug addict as well, which many children who end up in foster care parents are. His mother let certain things happen to Justin that no mother should do. Since she was a drug addict, though, she could not control what she was doing because she was dependent so much on the heroin.
Heroin is an addictive drug that can essentially lead to an overdose. Justin’s mom was lucky that she did not die from an overdose because of how addicted she was to the drug. There was a moment in Justin’s life that was terrifying for him when he was just about five years old that was related to his mother’s addiction. There was a party one night at his mother’s house and Justin was invited to come downstairs. At that time, Justin was then being sexually abused by his uncle, forcing him to do things that he did not want to do, while his mother was telling Justin to keep going and that she needed her drugs. His mother did not have any money for her heroin and she was willing to let her son get sexually abused in order to get it.
Sexual abuse is something that can be traumatizing, especially to children. One of Justin’s brothers had also reported (to one of his teachers) that he had been sexually abused by one of his mom’s friends. Even though Justin’s brother was not taken from his mother and put into care under the state, it does happen to children. They do not need to be in that kind of environment and should not. Bates and Swan state that children who have either been sexually abused by their parents or their parents did not protect them from sexual abuse are likely to be placed in the dependency court. Justin was one of these children, however, social services did not know about his sexual abuse encounter until after he had already been placed in the foster care system.
When children are placed in foster care, not all of their past history is known. There might be certain life events that the child does not wish to tell other people, or will not tell others unless and until they are fully comfortable with them. It took Justin a while to talk to Casey about some of the things that had happened to him. It was not easy for him to tell her, and when he did tell her she knew that he trusted her enough to tell her these things and that she would not judge him. The only downside to Justin telling Casey these detailed life experiences was that she had to tell Justin’s caseworker and social worker about it, which Justin was not happy about at all. Justin did not take the news very well about Casey telling his caseworker and social worker about what he had told her and got very upset. He got upset to the point where he grabbed a knife in the kitchen and started yelling at Casey. Luckily, Casey thought of a good plan and tried to lighten the situation; grabbing a bigger knife while quoting a line from a movie to make Justin laugh. Justin eventually calmed down for a little while after that knife incident.
After seeing what could happen when a child feels distrusted, just like Justin did, it might make more sense to see them “act out” a little bit, especially in Justin’s case because there were never any adults that he felt he could trust. Justin finding someone that he could trust and her telling someone else what he said (even if she was obligated to) made it that much worse for him. But that makes it even more important to explain why one did what they did. For Casey, she had to explain to Justin that it is her job to make sure that he is safe, and that by telling his caseworker about what he had told her was one way to help with his safety. She had to explain to him that she had to follow certain rules with her job just like he had to follow certain rules in the home and at school.
Some of the rules that Justin had to follow included simple things like brushing his teeth and being polite. The rules he had to follow started out simple, but after he started getting used to those rules they became things that were expected of him. After that happened, he got a new set of rules; rules that if he followed, he would get points, treats, and privileges. Justin not only had to follow these rules at home, but he also had to follow rules for while he was at school. He had to be polite at school, and try to not get into trouble. There were some times where he would get into trouble and he would have to explain what happened.
There were a couple of times that Justin got in trouble at school, which made him lose some points and privileges. One time he threw a classmate down the stairs and another time he tried to burn one of his classmates. That was not the last time Justin tried to burn one of his classmates, though. Justin had a sleepover with a new friend that he made, and during this sleepover he tried to burn his friend. He melted a tea-light and poured it on his friend’s skin. He wanted to peel off the wax after it had cooled down. Justin was only curious about what would happen; he was not trying to hurt his friend. However Justin’s lack of judgment and not trying to hurt anyone, this was not the first time he has tried to burn someone, even if it was differently than the other times. He lost points and privileges for this act as well.
Justin trying to burn people was not the only thing that he did, but he never really knew exactly what he was doing either. Justin did not know how to act or how to satisfy his happiness. There was one day that the author, Casey, found Justin’s suitcase under his bed that used to have all of his belongings. She found in his suitcase a lot of food, and not only was there food in there, there was a list of all the food and the amount that he had. At first Casey assumed that he might have stolen it because none of the food in there was the kind that they kept in their house. Justin ended up explaining to her that he bought this food with his allowance. He kept it under his bed because he always felt like he was empty and there was an ache in his stomach. Casey listened to Justin as he tried to explain what was going on.
Justin said that his stomach always felt empty and there was an ache.

Justin told Casey that he kept that food in his suitcase just in case he ever needed it. He also explained that he thought that food would help ease this pain, but it never did. Justin did not understand what he was feeling. Casey tried to come up with something that would make sense to both her and Justin, then tried to explain it to him. Casey told Justin that he probably feels empty all of the time because he constantly remembers all of the bad things that had happened to him, which makes him physically ill because he does not what to remember all of those events. Casey told him to think of his bad memories as dirty clothes; to shake the dirt off and then tuck it away in the back of his mind.
When Justin said that kept food in his suitcase just in case he needed it can be a reflection of him making sure that his needs are met. Even though he is living with the author and her family, he still feels like he needs to make sure that he has the essentials, just in case. When Justin was living with his mother he did not have the food or the security that he needed. That was one of the reasons why he burned his mom’s dog and house down. He got tired of seeing his brothers and himself go without food and being

neglected.
Justin feeling like he has to watch out for and take care of himself at such a young age is something that no child should have to feel like. Justin being taken out of his mother’s care and being placed with the author and her family was the best thing that could have happened to him given the circumstances. Of course, if his mother had created a safe and loving environment for Justin and his siblings then he would not have had to be in the foster care system to begin with, but no one is perfect; people make mistakes.
Not every person will learn from their mistakes, but sometimes people do.

Justin was never released into his birth mother’s custody, but he was placed with a loving foster family after the authors’. Justin did not really create a bond with his new family like he did with the authors’, but at least he created a loving bond with someone in his life. Not every child gets the chance to create a bond like that, even with their own family. Foster care and adoption is a blessing for many people. It is hard the child at first, just like it was for Justin, but then it can essentially become easier for them. It is also a blessing for those who cannot have children but wish to have and take care of

them.
Even though foster care was a hard thing for Justin, it helped him out a lot. He learned how to love and appreciate the adults in his life. And even though Justin had a lot of hard moments, he also had a lot of happy and loving moments as well; something that a lot of people do not see unless you are a part of their lives. It is a wonderful thing to have willing people in the world like Casey and her family to help out with these children, love them, and give them a safe environment to live in. Every child deserves to live a life where they are taken care of and loved.