Remember Maria / by John G. Howells.

  • Howells, John G.
Date:
1974
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Remember Maria / by John G. Howells. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Chapter 1 The Tragedy of Maria Colwell Maria's case is taken as an example of many emotionally deprived children because it offers an opportunity for considering some basic issues in child care. Thus it is necessary to give only the essential facts, which help us to focus on the issues of concern to us. Maria's life can be divided into three periods. The first was a brief spell, of about six months, with her natural father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Colwell; she was removed from them because of her mother's neglect. The second period, of about six years, and the happiest, was spent with her father's sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. The tliird period, of about one year three months, was spent with her natural mother and her mother's second husband, the child's step¬ father — Mr. and Mrs. Kepple. This unhappy period ended in her death at the hands of her stepfather, Mr. Kepple. We shall need to give more detailed consideration to the third period. Maria was born in the spring of 1965. Her father left her mother shortly after her birth. Thus she lived with the two parents together for a very short time. About four months after her birth, Maria's father, aged 28, died as the result of heart trouble and therefore passed out of her life. By October 1965, about six months after her birth, there was concern about the care of Maria and her three older siblings by the natural mother. An inspector of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) investigated the neglect of the children. Maria, the youngest of the children and still an infant, was placed in the 1