Jacques Family Case Review

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The Case

The head of the Jacques family, the father, is emotionally abusing his wife and kids. Emotional abuse essentially is a form of psychological maltreatment or a collection of undesirable behaviors, ill-treatments and interactions that are a combination of acts of omission and commission (Evans, 2002). He inflicts abuse upon his children in a variety of ways but all fall under these 5 damaging categories - rejection (whereby his children & wife feel abandoned), isolation (whereby the children and his wife are prevented from participating in social interaction and other activities), terrorised (whereby the children and his are constantly threatened with severe punishment in an environment cultivated of fear), ignored (whereby the children and his wife are ignored and he becomes inaccessible to them for any form of communication or interaction), and corrupted (whereby the children and his wife are encouraged to develop the wrong social values which in turn push them to become antisocial encouraging deviance).

Of the categories, the very last, corruptive treatment is most dangerous since it encouraged his own children to become deviant and their behavior has led them to become problem children as bullies and abusive pupils in school and the neighborhood. His wife, on the other hand, is constantly rejected, isolated and ignored and constantly under verbal assault. The father feels justified in doing so as he feels that he is in charge of his family - being the only breadwinner and sole provider, he has power and control, justifying his actions quite easily because of his role as the father and putting the blame on his children and his wife for 'pushing' him. The children, while they lash out at school, are afraid of their father in their home, dreading to talk to him or to face him. His wife has become submissive and anxious, ...