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Chapter 14 - Evolutionary Perspectives on Childhood Trauma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2022

By
Annie Swanepoel ,
Michael J. Reiss ,
John Launer ,
Graham Music  and
Bernadette Wren
Edited by
Riadh Abed  and
Paul St John-Smith
Riadh Abed
Affiliation:
Mental Health Tribunals, Ministry of Justice, UK
Paul St John-Smith
Affiliation:
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, UK
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Summary

Throughout human evolutionary history, infants and children have been dependent on adult caregivers for survival. The care that adults give is greatly influenced by prevailing conditions, including the availability of food and their social contacts, and also by their own experience of care. We use an evolutionary perspective to discuss possible reasons why children may suffer trauma at the hands of their parents and consider how children have adapted in response to such trauma to maximise their chances of survival in order to reach reproductive age and produce their own offspring. We examine how child maltreatment might differ at the hands of mothers, fathers and step-parents and discuss parent–offspring conflict, life history theory, attachment theory and differential susceptibility to help explain the complexity of childhood trauma. We end with recommendations for clinical practice.

Keywords

abuseattachment theorychildhood traumaevolutionary perspectiveslife history theoryparent–offspring conflict
Type
Chapter
Information
Evolutionary Psychiatry
Current Perspectives on Evolution and Mental Health
 , pp. 214 - 227
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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