Video Summary

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Video Summary

The video, Child Full of Rage is a short documentary that was done on a severely abused child, Beth. Beth is six and a half year old who has a younger brother, John. They lived with their foster parents. Beth was suffering from child rage, because of being neglected by her father. From the documentary, it is clear that when Beth and her brother John were found, they were in an entirely sorry state. When they were younger, they barely had enough to eat. Beth would have just a small box of cereal. John was found in a diaper, the front of his head was botched. This shows that they received little or no physical care.

Beth was sexually abused and molested by her father when she was one-year-old, and she would bleed. This sexual abuse affected her behavior, and she would harm her brother’s private parts, just to hurt him. Psychologists argue that a child who has been through parental neglect tends to be very cold towards other people. They cannot love others; they are angry, mean, and have extremely aggressive and violent behavior. They also cannot trust other people and have severe emotional problems. This is caused by the attachment disorders that she developed after her mother died, and her father neglected her and sexually abused her. This breaks a child’s trust, and they start developing serious emotional issues. The pent up anger and negative emotions grew with time, and it manifested in their extremely violent behavior. For instance, in the documentary, during the session with her psychologist, Beth claims that she would like her brother and foster parents to die. She once stabbed John a couple of times during the night. One time the kitchen knives were missing, and on inspection, it was found out that she had taken them. There is an incident where she narrates how she once tried to kill John, by banging his head on the basement floor. Beth had killed baby birds by squeezing their necks.

Children that have been abused have no remorse for their actions. As observed in the documentary, Beth openly admits her actions and intentions to kill her brother and parents without any remorse. Neglect takes away the humanity of a child. Beth was angry and extremely violent to a point where the parents would lock her up at night in her room to barricade her and prevent her from killing or hurting her brother.

Children with severe emotional issues need help and separation from their families. Beth was institutionalized in a center where they were treating children with attachment disorders. Such children often feel as though they are purely evil, are not good enough, and have a low self-worth. Through counseling and therapy, they can emerge from the issues and become better people. This is possible in controlled environments that have restrictions. Beth has shown tremendous improvement in her behavior and emotional well-being. The controlled environment enabled her to distinguish right from wrong and develop a conscience and trust. She has made friends and has made for herself a normal social life. Children who have suffered from profound hurt and abuse in their early developmental stages of life often suffer from hurt throughout their lives. However, they can be counseled and taken through therapy to control their behavior and instill self-worth.