Suchergebnisse

In order to investigate the empathic development of deaf preadolescents, 21 deaf subjects, ages 9-0 and 14-2, were equally divided into three groups matched for age and mental ability. Group A (congenitally deaf), Group B (prelingually deaf), and Group C (postlingually deaf) were compared on their ability to recognize emotions. The results demonstrate that deaf preadolescents have more difficulty with empathy development than hearing children, and this ability is related to onset of deafness. The implications for social development and treatment intervention are discussed.

Linking social work practice with individuals, families, and groups and larger social systems is most often theoretical in attempt. The focus here, however, is on a natural, concrete linkage at the level of practice experience, with the synthesis of empathy skill and critical consciousness as a unifying objective.

Poverty and external stress are often emphasized as the primary precipitants of child abuse. Such a perspective does injustice to the complexity of the interactions between parent and child, to the intricacies of human behavior and to the realities of child abuse. Though social, economic and other deprivations influence, develop and exacerbate physical, mental and emotional difficulties, they do not explain sufficiently why some individuals neglect and abuse children, and others in the same situation do not. This paper will develop ideas about stress and empathy as they contribute to the problem.