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Child Psychology

by Peter Emerson

Psychology is by no means only the study of adult minds and emotions. In an increasingly complex and stress-oriented world, children are just as affected by the abnormalities of daily life as adults are. The sad story of modern society speaks of child abuse, incest, family discord, drug and alcohol abuse, and other major problems.

Had child psychology been a better understood subject three or four decades ago, the present rate of juvenile crime and delinquency might not have reached such alarming proportions. It is the feelings about and reactions to the inputs during childhood that formulate a youth's policies and beliefs for future life.

In addition, there are many problems, unrelated to environmental and social circumstances that affect children in particular. Child psychology addresses clinical problems that beset children and early adolescents. These include mental retardation, autism, learning impairments such as dyslexia, behavior disorders and complications born of deafness, blindness, and the like. Many children's speech impairments can also be resolved by a trained child psychologist.

It is now well known that psychological problems that crop up in childhood can translate into serious consequences like criminality later on. At the very least, unresolved psychological complications can result in an unhappy and traumatized adulthood. These are some of the potholes along the highway of modern life that child psychologists help to fill.

Interestingly, child psychology finds decisive application in the problems faced by especially gifted children, too. Children with learning difficulties face problems with the educational and family systems. In the same manner, so-called prodigies find themselves alienated from mainstream life by virtue of their exceptional talents and capabilities. In every imbalance of early and late childhood, a child psychologist can avert serious problems.

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