Programs for adolescent mothers are needed

This column reviews the article "The Door's Perinatal Program for Pregnant and Parenting Teens" [Journal of Perinatal Education, 9(2), 39-46] and acknowledges the need for innovative programs to help reduce the risks associated with adolescent pregnancy and teen births.     

A nurturing and problem-solving approach for abuse-prone mothers

This paper reports on a series of treatment programs for abuse-prone mothers. The basic premise was that abusive mothers could not nurture their children because they had never been nurtured themselves. Therefore, the first requisite was that they be given to without being asked to give back. Hairdressing was chosen as a socially acceptable way to touch, and thus physically nurture adults, as it is considered neither infantile nor sexually questionable. The first group demonstrated that this type of nurturing was helpful in creating a prosocial support network for isolated mothers. However, when problem-solving activity was substituted for nurturing in an attempt to foster the mothers' coping skills, the group disintegrated. The second group was designed to maintain the nurturing element while using group-generated crises to teach problem-solving skills. Findings from the third and fourth groups confirmed the value of this combination, as it did the importance of providing support to staff (professionals and volunteers) in their work with people whose needs are “like bottomless pits” [3]. Expert consultation on the effective use of the small group process to meet these needs was also established as necessary.     

Disciplinary choices of mothers of deaf children and mothers of normally hearing children

OBJECTIVE: To assess the disciplinary preferences of mothers of profoundly deaf children and normally hearing children in a test of the hypothesized link between child disabilities and punitive parenting. METHOD: Disciplinary preferences of mothers seeking a cochlear implant for their profoundly deaf child (n=57), mothers not seeking an implant for their deaf child (n=22), and mothers of normally hearing children (n=27) were assessed using an analog task in which subjects select discipline in response to slide images of children engaging in normative or frankly deviant behaviors that are potentially irritating. RESULTS: Results indicated that mothers of children with profound hearing impairments were more likely to select physical discipline in response to depicted child transgressions and more likely to escalate to physical discipline when the depicted child was described as persisting in the transgression. Additionally, escalation was more probable in response to scenes depicting children engaged in dangerous and destructive acts than in rule-violating acts. CONCLUSIONS: Findings were consistent with the hypothesized link between childhood disabilities and child maltreatment as well as the hypothesis that children with disabilities associated with communication problems could be at risk of physical abuse.     

Susanne and her two mothers

It is circle time at the Happy Baby Childcare Center. Little three-year-old Susanne is sharing with her class her latest visit to the zoo. “Well, Mama said that monkeys are smarter than us and Mommy said that they are very friendly.” The teacher pauses and then asks, “Susanne, did you go to the zoo with your mother and grandmother?” Susanne says, “No, I went to the zoo with Mama and Mommy!” The teacher is clearly bewildered and would like to clarify for herself who Mama and Mommy are, but the rest of the children in the group are becoming restless. She leaves her questions for another time.     

最当感怀的人

看了这两篇文章,我既自豪又感动。两篇写父爱、母爱的小文章竟引起这么多读者的关注,谁说90后缺乏爱心?他们对家庭、对父母的爱其实深埋在心底。爱,在一个眼神间,在一声问候中,