Tom is the oldest of five children. His parents work at low-paying, unskilled jobs. They are not in home regularly and when they are home, they verbally fight; At times, the fights escalate to physical aggression. Tom and his brothers and sisters have witnessed the violence on occasion and have also been direct victims of harsh discipline and physical abuse. Who in Tom's family has a higher likelihood of being a victim of abuse? Select one: a. Tom b. The middle child c. The youngest sibling d. All the siblings have a similar likelihood.

Answer:The middle child

Explanation:There is a syndrome called middle child syndrome which holds a belief that middle children are usually ignored or even neglected due to their position in term not broth order.

The older one is given responsibilities because they are older and tbe younger one is indulged because they are younger and then the middle child is left with no role assigned to them.

They then learn certain interpersonal skills on their own as they become more empathetic towards others hence they try to make peace at home. You may find them trying to mediate between the older and younger sibling, which will make them feel and experience more strain and stress.

The middle child

Explanation:

Most times this is how the scenario plays out, the oldest child is more like the boss and feels powerful owing to the high expectations often set by the parents. A lot of times the parent saddle them with a lot of responsibilities especially low paid parents.

While the youngest child is treated like a spoiled baby and can never rise above the other siblings. Probaly given anything they want

The middle child is even-tempered but has trouble fitting in due to being sandwiched between the younger and older siblings.

This birth order can affect someone's psychological development. Well this is all theory though.

Middle children's characteristics

Below are some common ideas about the characteristics of middle children.

Rivalry

The need to compete with both the younger and older sibling for parental attention is something the middle child goes through. They might compete for attention between siblings, as they risk being ignored by one or the other. As they find themselves in the middle of everything, they may also become the peacemaker.

Favoritism

Middle children generally don't feel that they are the favorite child of the family and most times they are not. Favoritism may exist for the oldest child who is viewed as special and their firstborn which the parents might have waited for, or for the youngest child who is viewed as the baby. The middle child falls somewhere in-between and is unable to be the favorite of either parent.