Motherhood In Virginia's Childhood

Virginia’s childhood was very dysfunctional, being moved from foster home to foster home and not really connecting with a family in a loving nurturing way. The way her childhood was, for her that was the way normal families interacted, very institutional. When her daughter Laura came along, what was missing was the process of motherhood because it was never instilled in her what caring for a child involves. I empathized with Laura’s situation yet I understand her mother’s reactions. I do not agree it is right, I just feel for her because some important childhood affections were missing. Professionally and medically it appeared as a form of child abuse, but as I read more of her story, I realized it was possibly a missing learned behavior pattern. I came to that speculation from the book on (p.90), that implies that mirror neurons plays a vital role in the organization of passing on behavioral traits from mother to child. In this case a mother emotionally and physically connecting with her baby was missing in Virginia’s life so it was never able to be replicated. When Virginia started living with Mama P, she was taught life skills which was a tremendous …show more content…
His only connection with people was based around his family. I had to ask myself after reading about Leon and the Psychiatrist responses, I wander if his moral character deems him not able to be rehabilitative? Leon’s mother with her first born had extended family to help her with her child, but the second born her had no family support and her mother instinct seemed to have dissipated when her safety net was taken away. Early in Leon’s life he was detached from a nurturing environment. On p.111, his mother even admits to not being as attentive to Leon, even admitting neglect at times while focusing on her older son. I feel this was a contributing factor to behavior problems early in Leon’s life that only escalated into later