The Power Struggle of Potty Training

23 year old Elizabeth Escalona superglued her 2 year old's
hands to the wall and severely beat her.

DALLAS-- In September of 2011, Elizabeth Escalona superglued her 2 year old daughter's hands to a wall and beat her so severely that her brain was bleeding. Reason? The 23 year-old mother claimed her daughter's toilet training "problems" were the motivation for her attack.

In July of 2012, Escalona pleaded guilty to her charges. She didn't about her daughter's conditions and was only informed because the officer interviewing her initiated the particular discussion.

No reason is any reason to harm a child, but what the hell was this woman thinking? This isn't the typical medicalization of a frustrated parent that the media immediately diagnoses when stories like these surface. This is power over children and the abuse of authority. We see this with many caregiver-client or patient situations. We hear about this not only with children but in retirement homes, in-home caregivers, pets, special needs individuals and so on. We see it anywhere in which one party has more power than the other.

Surely, a two year old is expected to have potty training problems. 

Perhaps Escalona made her way out of her mother's uterus and miraculously knew how to urinate in the toilet. But to the rest of us, we need to learn it. Apparently, this frustrated Escalona to the point of severe child abuse.