ABSTRACT

Jason and his mother, Jacky, have recently moved into a women’s refuge to get away from Jason’s father, Ned, who has become increasingly violent. Jacky has always been short of money and lately Ned has been spending most of his wages on alcohol. Jacky’s depression started when she was pregnant and, although she loves Jason, she found it difficult to form a close emotional bond with him. Jason has frequent temper tantrums and has become very aggressive with other children. Jacky is finding it hard to get Jason to the new nursery since they moved and he has missed even more sessions because of chest infections. The health visitor thinks that Jason’s cough would improve if he wasn’t always in a smoky atmosphere and if he lost some weight. Jacky has been trying hard to cook healthy food but Jason will only eat burgers and chips.