ABSTRACT
To be a parent is to help the child meet those basic needs through loving care and example. It seems obvious that one of a child's basic needs is the need to be loved, and most birth parents really love their children. A large part of the re-parental task is to help a child learn self-control and to develop empathy. Parenting in part was about breaking the spirit of a child, to make the child civilized. Caring parents take care to ensure that the toddler is loved as much as the newborn. Maslow's need-based approach is a good starting point for the parental task. Self-actualization is at the top of Maslow's hierarchy. Re-parenting besides being about Ruddick's protection, nurturance and training, and Maslow's helping to meet the child's needs that were inadequately met in the birth home, is also about providing a model of empathy and self-control.
