A 20-month-old male infant is placed in an emergency department of children and family services shelter after his mother is hospitalized as the result of a car accident. Three days after the separation, the child spends almost every waking moment crying and calling and searching for his mother. The fourth day after the separation, when the mother of the child comes to the shelter to reclaim her child, he rejects her offers of affection, instead clinging to the nurse’s aide who has been his caretaker. Which of the following terms most accurately describes this infant’s reactions to a forced separation?
a. Protest
b. Despair
c. Detachment
d. Denial
e. Acting out
