Beth Thomas Case Study

Background. Upon adoption, Beth Thomas seemed to be a normal little girl at 19 months old in 1984. She was adopted by a pastor, Tim, and his wife Julie, a Sunday school teacher, along with seven-month-old Jonathan. After a few years, Beth started showing some very aggressive behavior towards her adopted brother, her parents, and even the surrounding animals. They learned from her case worker that Beth and Jonathon were found in their home alone, with very little food to eat and in squalor. Their father was an alcoholic that had physically, verbally, and sexually abused Beth repeatedly to the point that her vagina would bleed and her mother died shortly after Jonathan was born.

Because of this early childhood abuse, Beth never experienced

She developed trust, a sense of right and wrong, and remorse when she did something wrong, unlike before. She was slowly able to bond and make relationships after many years.

Theories.

As aforementioned, Beth Thomas’s trauma was a product of violence at the beginning of her life course; child abuse. She experienced polyvictimization in the forms of physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and most prominently, sexual abuse, before she was even two years old. She was deprived of nutrition, cleanliness, and the love of her parents. Beth also partook in sibling abuse in the forms of physical abuse, beating Jonathan when possible and trying to stab him, and sexual abuse, molesting him and pinching/pulling/kicking his private areas.

Because of this maltreatment at such a pivotal part of her development, Beth developed attachment issues that prevented her from being able to create bonds with people, therefore allowing her to behave cruelly and feel no remorse. This most closely follows the Social Control theory, which explains that an individual who has experienced a lack of social connections will be more likely to participate in criminal