The family is one of the most important social institutions, the role and importance of which in the formation of personality can hardly be overestimated. In a family, marital, parental and child relationships are closely intertwined. Children react acutely to all changes in the family. They are especially sensitive to the assessment of an adult, to his position in relation to himself, to changes in stereotypes of everyday life, etc.
Detailed diagnostic examination of a child's mental development includes the study of parent-child contacts. To understand many marital conflicts and the cause of tension in the family, a practical psychologist must know how interpersonal communication between parents and children is built. Using methods for diagnosing parent-child relationships, he can obtain information about deviations in the child’s mental development and find out the causes of marital quarrels and conflicts. These methods are divided into two groups: some explore interpersonal relationships in the “parent-child” system through the eyes of the parent, others through the eyes of the child.
4.3.1. Methods for studying interpersonal relationships in the “parent-child” system through the eyes of a parent
The most important area of activity of a family psychologist is working with parents, because their role determines the formation of a unique developmental situation for each child.
Studying interpersonal relationships in the “parent-child” system through the eyes of a parent, a practical family psychologist pays attention to the features of family education:
Parental attitudes and reactions;
Parents' attitude towards the child and family life;
Violations of the educational process in the family;
Causes of deviations in family education;
Types of education;
Level of parental competence, etc.
These aspects of the relationship between parents and children are studied using special techniques. Test “Parent-child relationships” (PARI) Test “Parent-child relationships” (PARI - parental attitude research instrument - methodology for studying parental attitudes) (E. S. Schaefer, R. K. Bell; adapted by T. N. Neshcheret; Raigorodsky, 1999) is intended to study the attitude of parents (primarily mothers) to different aspects of family life (family role). The methodology identifies 23 different aspects of the parents’ attitude towards the child and life in the family. Of these, 8 features describe attitudes toward the family role, and 15 relate to parent-child relationships. These 15 signs are divided into the following 3 groups: 1 – optimal emotional contact, 2 – excessive emotional distance with the child, 3 – excessive concentration of attention on the child.
Attitude to family role It is described using 8 signs, their numbers in the questionnaire are 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23:
I. Limitation of a woman’s interests within the framework of the family, caring exclusively about the family (3).
II. Feeling of self-sacrifice in the role of mother (5).
III. Family conflicts (7).
V. Dissatisfaction with the role of the housewife (13).
VI. “Indifference” of the husband, his lack of involvement in family affairs (17).
VII. Mother's dominance (19).
VIII. Maternal dependence and lack of independence (23).
Attitude of parents to child Optimal emotional contact (consists of 4 signs, their numbers in the questionnaire are 1, 14, 15, 21):
I. Stimulation of verbal manifestations, verbalization (1).
II. Partnerships (14).
III. Development of child activity (15).
IV. Equal relationship between parents and child (21).
Excessive emotional distance with the child (consists of 3 signs, their numbers in the questionnaire are 8, 9, 16):
V. Irritability, hot temper (8).
VI. Severity, excessive severity (9).
VII. Avoidance of contact with the child (16).
Excessive concentration of attention on the child (described by 8 signs, their numbers in the questionnaire are 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 18, 20, 22): VIII. Excessive care, establishment of dependent relationships (2).
IX. Overcoming resistance, suppression of will (4).
X. Creating security, fear of offending (6).
XI. Elimination of extra-family influences (10).
XII. Suppression of aggressiveness (12).
XIII. Sexual suppression (18).
XIV. Excessive interference in the child’s world (20).
XV. The desire to accelerate the development of the child (20).
Each attribute is measured using 5 judgments, there are 115 in total. The judgments are arranged in a certain sequence, and the subject expresses his attitude in the form of active or partial agreement or disagreement. The scheme for converting answers into points is contained in the “key” of the methodology. The amount of digital significance determines the severity of the trait. Thus, the maximum severity of the trait is 20; minimum 5, 18, 19, 20 – high scores; respectively, 8, 7, 6, 5 are low. The questionnaire and answer sheet are attached. It makes sense to analyze high and low scores first.
Instructions:
Here are questions that will help you find out what parents think about raising children. There are no right or wrong answers here, since everyone is right in relation to their own views. Try to answer accurately and truthfully.
Some questions may seem the same to you. However, it is not. The questions are similar, but not the same. This was done in order to capture possible, even small, differences in views on raising children.
The questionnaire will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Don't think about your answer for a long time, answer quickly, trying to give the correct answer that comes to your mind.
Next to each position there are letters A a b B, they need to be selected this way:
A – if you fully agree with this provision;
a – if you rather agree with this provision than disagree;
b – if you disagree with this provision rather than agree;
B – if you completely disagree with this provision.
Questions
1. If children consider their views to be correct, they may not agree with the views of their parents.
2. A good mother should protect her children even from small difficulties and insults.
3. For a good mother, home and family are the most important things in life.
4. Some children are so bad that for their own good they need to be taught to fear adults.
5. Children should be aware that their parents do a lot for them.
6. A small child should always be held firmly in your hands while washing to prevent him from falling.
7. People who think that there can be no misunderstandings in a good family do not know life.
8. When a child grows up, he will thank his parents for their strict upbringing.
9. Staying with a child all day can lead to nervous exhaustion.
10. It is better if the child does not think about whether his parents’ views are correct.
11. Parents must instill in their children complete confidence in themselves.
12. A child should be taught to avoid fighting, regardless of the circumstances.
13. The worst thing for a mother who does housework is the feeling that it is not easy for her to free herself from her responsibilities.
14. It is easier for parents to adapt to their children than vice versa.
15. A child must learn many necessary things in life, and therefore he should not be allowed to waste valuable time.
16. If you agree once that a child is being sarcastic, he will do it all the time.
17. If fathers did not interfere in raising children, mothers would cope better with their children.
18. There is no need to talk about gender issues in the presence of a child.
19. If the mother did not manage the house, husband and children, everything would happen less organized.
20. A mother should do everything to know what her children are thinking about.
21. If parents were more interested in the affairs of their children, the children would be better and happier.
22. Most children should be able to independently cope with physiological needs from the age of 15 months.
23. The most difficult thing for a young mother is to remain alone in the first years of raising a child.
24. We must encourage children to express their opinions about life and the family, even if they believe that life in the family is wrong.
25. A mother should do everything to protect her child from the disappointments that life brings.
26. Women who lead a carefree life are not very good mothers.
27. It is imperative to eradicate manifestations of malice in children.
28. A mother must sacrifice her happiness for the happiness of her child.
29. All young mothers are afraid of their inexperience in handling a child.
30. Spouses should argue from time to time to prove their rights.
31. Strict discipline towards a child develops strong character in him.
32. Mothers are often so tormented by the presence of their children that they feel as if they cannot be with them for a minute more.
33. Parents should not appear in a bad light to their children.
34. A child should respect his parents more than others.
35. A child should always seek help from his parents or teachers instead of settling his misunderstandings by fighting.
36. Constantly staying with children convinces the mother that her educational capabilities are less than her skills and abilities (she could, but...).
37. Parents must win the favor of their children through their actions.
38. Children who do not try their hand at achieving success should know that they may encounter failures later in life.
39. Parents who talk with a child about his problems should know that it is better to leave the child alone and not get involved in his affairs.
40. Husbands, if they do not want to be selfish, should take part in family life.
41. Girls and boys should not be allowed to see each other naked.
42. If the wife is sufficiently prepared to solve problems independently, then this is better for both the children and the husband.
43. A child should not have any secrets from his parents.
44. If it is your custom that children tell you jokes, and you tell them, then many issues can be resolved calmly and without conflicts.
45. If you teach a child to walk early, this has a beneficial effect on his development.
46. It is not good when a mother alone overcomes all the difficulties associated with caring for and raising a child.
47. A child should have his own views and the opportunity to express them freely.
48. We must protect the child from hard work.
49. A woman must choose between housework and entertainment.
50. A smart father should teach his child to respect his superiors.
51. Very few women receive gratitude from their children for the work spent on raising them.
52. If a child is in trouble, in any case the mother always feels guilty.
53. Young spouses, despite the strength of their feelings, always have disagreements that cause irritation.
54. Children who are taught respect for norms of behavior become good and respected people.
55. It rarely happens that a mother who takes care of her child all day manages to be affectionate and calm.
56. Children should not learn outside the home anything that contradicts the views of their parents.
57. Children should know that there are no wiser people than their parents.
58. There is no excuse for a child who hits another child.
59. Young mothers suffer more from their confinement at home than from any other reason.
60. Forcing children to refuse and adapt is a bad method of parenting.
61. Parents should teach their children to find something to do and not waste free time.
62. Children torment their parents with minor problems if they get used to it from the very beginning.
63. When a mother poorly fulfills her responsibilities towards her children, this probably means that the father does not fulfill his responsibilities to support the family.
64. Children's games with sexual content can lead children to sexual crimes.
65. Only the mother should plan, since only she knows how to run a household.
66. An attentive mother knows what her child is thinking about.
67. Parents who listen with approval to their children's frank statements about their experiences on dates, social gatherings, dances, etc., help them develop socially faster.
68. The faster the connection between children and family weakens, the faster children will learn to resolve their problems.
69. A smart mother does everything possible to ensure that the child is in good conditions before and after birth.
70. Children should take part in solving important family issues.
71. Parents should know what to do to prevent their children from getting into difficult situations.
72. Too many women forget that their proper place is home.
73. Children need maternal care, which they sometimes lack.
74. Children should be more caring and grateful to their mother for the work invested in them.
75. Most mothers are afraid to torture their child by giving him small tasks.
76. There are many issues in family life that cannot be resolved through calm discussion.
77. Most children should be brought up more strictly than is actually the case.
78. Raising children is hard, nervous work.
79. Children should not doubt the reasonableness of their parents.
80. Children should respect their parents more than anyone else.
81. Children should not be encouraged to take up boxing or wrestling, as this can lead to serious problems.
82. It’s bad when a mother doesn’t have free time for her favorite activities.
84. When a child does what he is obliged to do, he is on the right path and will be happy.
85. We must leave a child who is sad alone and not deal with him.
86. The greatest desire of any mother is to be understood by her husband.
87. One of the most difficult moments in raising children is sexual problems.
88. If the mother runs the house and takes care of everything, the whole family feels good.
89. Since the child is part of the mother, he has the right to know everything about her life.
90. Children who are allowed to joke and laugh with their parents are more likely to accept their advice.
91. Parents should make every effort to teach their children to cope with physiological needs independently as early as possible.
92. Most women need more time to rest after giving birth than they are actually given.
93. A child should have confidence that he will not be punished if he trusts his parents with his problems.
94. A child does not need to be taught hard work at home so that he does not lose the desire for any work.
95. For a good mother, communication with her own family is enough.
96. Sometimes parents are forced to act against the will of the child.
97. Mothers sacrifice everything for the good of their children.
99. It is natural that two people with opposing views in a marriage quarrel.
100. Raising children with strict discipline makes them happier.
101. Naturally, a mother “goes crazy” if her children are selfish and too demanding.
102. A child should never listen to criticism about his parents.
104. Parents, as a rule, prefer calm children to brawlers.
105. A young mother is unhappy because many things that she would like to have are not available to her.
106. There is no reason why parents should have more rights and privileges than children.
107. The sooner a child understands that there is no point in wasting time, the better for him.
108. Children do everything possible to interest their parents in their problems.
109. Few men understand that the mother of their child also needs joy.
110. There is something wrong with a child if he asks a lot about sexual matters.
111. When getting married, a woman must be aware that she will be forced to manage family affairs.
112. It is the mother’s duty to know the secret thoughts of the child.
113. If you include a child in household chores, he can more easily trust his parents with his problems.
114. It is necessary to stop breastfeeding and bottle-feeding your child as early as possible (teach him to feed himself).
115. You cannot demand too much responsibility from a mother towards her children.
For a psychologist working in a production team, the block of scales aimed at identifying parents’ attitudes toward the family role is of greatest interest.
The technique allows you to assess the specifics of intrafamily relationships and the organization of family life.
In a family, you can isolate certain aspects of relationships:
I. Household, organization of family life (in the methodology these are scales 3, 13, 19, 23).
II. Marital, related to moral, emotional support, organization of leisure, creation of an environment for personal development, one’s own and that of a partner (in the methodology this is scale 17).
III. The relationships that ensure the upbringing of children are “pedagogical” (in the scale methodology 5, 11).
By looking at the digital data, you can create a “preliminary portrait” of the family. Scale 7 (family conflicts) is very important. High scores on this scale may indicate conflict, the transfer of family conflict to industrial relations.
High scores on scale 3 indicate the priority of family problems over production ones, the secondary nature of the interests of the “business,” the opposite can be said about scale 13. People with high scores on this attribute are characterized by dependence on the family and low consistency in the distribution of economic functions. Poor family integration is indicated by high scores on scales 17, 19, 23.
Here we can immediately draw a conclusion about the nature of parent-child contact. To do this, the average ratings for the first three groups of scales are compared: optimal contact, emotional distance, concentration.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Signs:
1) verbalization;
2) excessive care;
3) dependence on family;
4) suppression of will;
5) a feeling of self-sacrifice;
6) fear of offending;
7) family conflicts;
8) irritability;
9) excessive severity;
10) exclusion of intra-family influences;
12) suppression of aggressiveness;
13) dissatisfaction with the role of the hostess;
14) partnerships;
15) development of child activity;
16) avoidance of conflict;
17) indifference of the husband;
18) suppression of sexuality;
19) mother's dominance;
20) extreme interference in the child’s world;
21) equalized relations;
22) desire to accelerate the development of the child;
23) lack of independence of the mother.
Of particular interest is the analysis of individual scales, which often provides the key to understanding the characteristics of problematic relationships between parents and children.
Parental Attitude Test
Parental Attitude Questionnaire (PAQ)(A. Ya. Varga, V. V. Stolin) is a psychodiagnostic tool for examining people seeking psychological help on raising children and communicating with them (Raigorodsky, 1999).
Parental attitude is understood as a system of various feelings and actions of adults towards children. From a psychological point of view, parental attitude is a pedagogical social attitude towards children, which includes rational, emotional and behavioral components. All of them are assessed using a questionnaire. The 61 statements of the questionnaire cover five scales expressing different aspects of parental attitudes:
1. Acceptance - rejection of the child. This scale expresses a general emotionally positive (acceptance) or negative (rejection) attitude towards the child.
2. Cooperation. This scale expresses the desire of adults to cooperate with the child, their manifestation of sincere interest and participation in his affairs.
3. Symbiosis. The questions on this scale are aimed at finding out whether the adult strives for unity with the child or, on the contrary, tries to maintain a psychological distance between the child and himself.
4. Control. This scale characterizes how adults control the child’s behavior, how democratic or authoritarian they are in their relationships with him.
5. Attitude towards the child’s failures. This scale shows how adults feel about the child’s abilities, his strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.
Questionnaire text
The test taker must indicate his or her agreement or disagreement with the statements below using “yes” or “no” responses.
1. I always sympathize with my child.
2. I consider it my duty to know everything my child is thinking about.
3. It seems to me that my child's behavior deviates significantly from the norm.
4. It is necessary to keep the child away from real life problems longer if they traumatize him.
5. I feel sympathy for the child.
6. I respect my child.
7. Good parents protect their child from the difficulties of life.
8. My child is often unpleasant to me.
9. I always try to help my child.
10. There are times when being unkind to a child benefits him.
11. I feel annoyed towards my child.
12. My child will not achieve anything in life.
13. It seems to me that other children are making fun of my child.
14. My child often does things that deserve condemnation.
15. My child is lagging behind in psychological development and looks underdeveloped for his age.
16. My child behaves badly on purpose to annoy me.
17. My child, like a sponge, absorbs all the bad things.
18. No matter how hard I try, it is difficult to teach my child good manners.
19. A child should be kept within strict limits from childhood, only then will he grow into a good person.
20. I love it when my child’s friends come to our house.
21. I always take part in the child’s games and activities.
22. Everything bad constantly sticks to my child.
23. My child will not succeed in life.
24. When people talk about children in a company, I feel ashamed that my child is not as smart and capable as other children.
25. I feel sorry for my child.
26. When I compare my child with his peers, they seem to me more educated and smarter than my child.
27. I enjoy spending my free time with my child.
28. I often regret that my child is growing up, and I remember with tenderness the time when he was still very small.
29. I often find myself being hostile and hostile towards my child.
30. I dream that my child will achieve what I personally failed to achieve in life.
31. Parents should not only demand from the child, but also adapt to him themselves, treat him with respect as an individual.
32. I try to fulfill all the requests and wishes of my child.
33. When making decisions in the family, the child’s opinion should be taken into account.
34. I am very interested in the life of my child.
35. I often admit that the child is right in his own way in his demands and claims.
36. Children learn early that parents can make mistakes.
37. I always take my child into account.
38. I have friendly feelings towards my child.
39. The main reason for my child’s whims is selfishness, laziness and stubbornness.
40. If you spend a vacation with a child, it is impossible to have a normal rest.
41. The most important thing is that the child has a calm, carefree childhood.
42. Sometimes it seems to me that my child is not capable of anything good.
43. I share my child's hobbies.
44. My child can piss anyone off.
45. My child’s grief is always close and understandable to me.
46. My child often annoys me.
47. Raising a child is a complete hassle.
48. Strict discipline in childhood develops strong character.
49. I don't trust my child.
50. Children later thank their parents for their strict upbringing.
51. Sometimes it seems to me that I hate my child.
52. My child has more shortcomings than advantages.
53. The interests of my child are close to me, I share them.
54. My child is not able to do anything on his own, and if he does it, it always turns out wrong.
55. My child will grow up unadapted to life.
56. I like my child the way he is.
57. I carefully monitor my child’s health.
58. I admire my child.
59. A child should not have secrets from his parents.
60. I don’t have a high opinion of my child’s abilities and I don’t hide it from him.
61. A child should be friends with those children his parents like.
Processing and evaluation of results
Below are the judgment numbers for each scale.
Acceptance – rejection of a child: 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 60.
Cooperation: 21, 25, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36.
Symbiosis: 1, 4, 7, 28, 32, 41, 58.
Control: 2, 19, 30, 48, 50, 57, 59.
Attitude towards child failures: 9, 11, 13, 17, 22, 54, 61.
For each “yes” answer, the subject receives 1 point, and for each “no” answer, 0 points. High scores indicate significant development of these types of relationships, while low scores indicate that they are relatively poorly developed. Evaluation and interpretation of the obtained data are carried out as follows. High scores on the acceptance–rejection– scale from 24 to 33- they say that the subject has a positive attitude towards the child. An adult accepts the child for who he is, respects and recognizes his individuality, approves of his interests, supports his plans, spends a lot of time with him and does not regret it. Low scores on this scale – from 0 to 8 – they say that an adult experiences mainly negative feelings towards a child: irritation, anger, annoyance, hatred. Such an adult considers the child a loser, does not believe in his future, has a low opinion of his abilities and often bullies the child. It is clear that an adult with such inclinations cannot be a good teacher.
High scores on the cooperation scale – 7–8 points- a sign that an adult shows sincere interest in what interests the child, highly appreciates the child’s abilities, encourages independence and initiative, and tries to be on an equal footing with the child. Low scores on this scale – 1–2 points- they say that the adult takes the opposite position in relation to the child and cannot pretend to be a good teacher.
High scores on the symbiosis scale – 6–7 points– allow us to conclude that the adult does not establish a psychological distance between himself and the child, but always tries to be closer to him, satisfy his basic reasonable needs, and protect him from troubles. Low scores on this scale – 1–2 points- a sign that the adult, on the contrary, establishes a significant psychological distance between himself and the child and cares little about him. It is unlikely that such an adult can be a good teacher and educator for a child.
High scores on the control scale – 6–7 points– show that the adult behaves too authoritarian towards the child, demanding unconditional obedience from him and setting strict disciplinary boundaries. In almost everything, he imposes his will on the child. Such an adult cannot always be a good teacher. Low scores on this scale – 1–2 points,– on the contrary, they indicate that there is practically no control over the child’s actions on the part of the adult. This is not very good for teaching and raising children. The best option for assessing the teaching abilities of an adult on this scale is the average rating: from 3 to 5 points.
High scores on the scale of attitude towards the child’s failures – 7–8 points- a sign that an adult considers the child a little loser and treats him as an unintelligent creature. The interests, hobbies, thoughts and feelings of a child seem frivolous to such an adult, and he ignores them. It is unlikely that such an adult can become a good teacher and educator for a child. Low scores on the same scale – 1–2 points, on the contrary, indicate that the adult considers the child’s failures to be accidental and believes in him. Such an adult will most likely become a good teacher and educator.
Questionnaire for parents “Analysis of Family Relationships” (FRA) Questionnaire for parents “Analysis of Family Relationships” (FRA) in two versions - childhood and adolescent (Eidemiller, Justitskis, 1987; 1990) - allows you to study various violations of the upbringing process, identify the type of pathologizing upbringing and some psychological causes of these disorders.
Violation of the process of education in the family
Below is a description of those scales of the DIA questionnaire that are intended to diagnose parenting disorders and to identify types of inharmonious (pathologizing) family upbringing.
A. Level of protection in the educational process
We are talking about how much effort, attention, and time parents devote to raising a child. Two polar levels of protection lead to violations: excessive (hyperprotection) and insufficient (hypoprotection).
Hyperprotection(G+ scale). With hyperprotection, parents devote an enormous amount of time, effort and attention to the child, and his upbringing becomes the central task of their lives. Typical statements from such parents include: “Everything I do, I do for the sake of my child”; “My child is the most important thing in life for me”; “Caring for the child takes up most of my time,” etc.
Hypoprotection(scale G-). A situation in which a child or teenager finds himself on the periphery of a parent’s attention, “their hands do not reach them,” or the parent “does not have time for them.” The child is only approached from time to time when something serious happens.
B. Degree of satisfaction of the child's needs
We are talking about the extent to which the parents’ activities are aimed at satisfying the child’s needs, both material and everyday (food, clothing, toys, etc.) and spiritual - primarily in communication with parents, in their love and attention. This characteristic is fundamentally different from the level of protection, since it characterizes not the extent to which parents are involved in raising a child, but the degree to which the child’s own needs are met. The so-called “Spartan upbringing” is, on the one hand, an example of a high level of protection, since the parent does a lot of upbringing, but also a low level of meeting the child’s needs, on the other. Within this characteristic, two polar deviations are also possible.
Pandering(U+ scale). We talk about indulgence in cases where parents strive to satisfy any needs of a child or teenager - they “pamper” him. Any of his wishes is law for them. Explaining the need for such upbringing, parents give arguments that are typical rationalizations: “the child’s weakness,” his exclusivity, the desire to give him what they themselves were deprived of at one time, that the child is growing up without a father, etc. Typical statements are given on the U scale +. When indulging, parents often unconsciously project their unmet needs onto their children.
Ignoring the child's needs(scale U-). This parenting style is the opposite of indulgence and is characterized by the parent’s insufficient desire to satisfy the child’s needs. More often, spiritual needs suffer, especially the need for emotional contact and communication with a parent.
B. The number of demands placed on the child in the family
Requirements for a child from parents are an integral part of the educational process. They appear, firstly, in the form responsibilities child, that is, the tasks that he performs. This includes studying, caring for oneself, participating in organizing everyday life, and helping other family members. Secondly, the requirements manifest themselves as prohibitions parents establishing what the child should not do. Finally, failure by a child to comply may result in sanctions on the part of parents - from mild condemnation to severe punishment.
The forms of violations of the system of requirements for the child are different, therefore the statements of parents reflecting them are presented in a number of scales: T+, T-; Z+, Z-; C+, C-.
Excessive demands - responsibilities(T+ scale). It is this quality that underlies the pathologizing education of the “increased moral responsibility” type. In this case, the demands on the child are very great, excessive, do not correspond to his capabilities and not only do not contribute to the full development of the individual, but, on the contrary, can cause psychological trauma.
Insufficient requirements - responsibilities(T-scale). In this case, the child has minimal responsibilities in the family. This feature of upbringing is manifested in the statements of parents about how difficult it is to involve their child in any household chores.
Excessive demands - prohibitions(scale Z+). This approach may underlie pathologizing education of the “dominant hyperprotection” type. In this situation, the child “cannot do everything.” He is presented with a huge number of demands that limit freedom and independence. In sthenic children and adolescents, such upbringing accelerates the emergence of reactions of opposition and emancipation; in less sthenic ones, it predetermines the development of traits of sensitive and anxious-suspicious accentuations. Typical statements by parents reflect their fear of any manifestations of child independence. This fear manifests itself in a sharp exaggeration of the consequences that even a slight violation of prohibitions can lead to, as well as in the desire to suppress the child’s independence of thought.
Insufficient requirements - prohibitions for the child(scale Z-). In this case, the child “can do anything.” Even if there are any prohibitions, a child or teenager easily breaks them, knowing that no one will question him. He himself determines the circle of his friends, the time of meals, walks, his activities, the time of returning in the evening, the question of smoking and drinking alcohol. He never reports to his parents, who are unwilling or unable to set any boundaries for his behavior. This upbringing stimulates the development of a hyperthymic and especially unstable personality type in a teenager.
Excessiveness (severity) of sanctions (punishments) for violation of requirements by a child (scale C+). Excessive sanctions are characteristic of “cruel treatment” education. Such parents are adherents of strict punishments, reacting inadequately even to minor offenses. Typical statements reflect their belief in the benefits of strict treatment of children and adolescents (see C+ scale).
Minimum sanctions (punishments) for violation of requirements by a child (scale C-). Such parents either prefer to do without punishment at all, or use it extremely rarely. They doubt the effectiveness of punishment and rely on rewards.
D. Instability of parenting style (scale H)
By unstable upbringing (U) we mean a sharp change in educational techniques. It manifests itself as fluctuations between a strict and liberal style, between increased attention to the child and his emotional rejection.
The instability of the parenting style, according to K. Leonhard (1965), contributes to the formation of such traits as stubbornness, a tendency to resist any authority, and is often found in families of children and adolescents with character deviations. Typically, parents recognize the fact of minor fluctuations in raising a child, but underestimate the scope and frequency of these fluctuations.
Diagnosis of types of inharmonious (pathologizing) upbringing
The family education disorders we have listed can occur in different combinations. However, from the point of view of analyzing the causes of such conditions as characterological disorders, personality disorders, as well as non-psychotic psychogenic behavioral disorders and neuroses, the following stable combinations are of particular importance (Table 4.6). They form types of inharmonious (pathologizing) child upbringing in the family.
Table 4.6
Diagnosis of types of inharmonious family upbringing
Note: “+” means excessive expression of the corresponding feature; “-” – insufficient expression; “+-” means that with this type of upbringing, both excess and deficiency of this feature are possible. Pandering Overprotection(a combination of traits reflected in the G+, U+ scales at T-, Z-, C-). The child is the center of attention of the family, which strives to maximally satisfy his needs. This type of education promotes the development of demonstrative and hyperthymic personality traits in children and adolescents.
Dominant hyperprotection(G+, U+-, T+-, Z+, S+-). The child is also the center of attention of the parents, who devote a lot of effort and time to him, but at the same time deprive him of his independence, setting numerous restrictions and prohibitions. In hyperthymic adolescents, such prohibitions enhance the emancipation reaction and cause acute affective outbursts of the extrapunitive type. With anxious-suspicious and asthenic types of accentuations, dominant hyperprotection significantly enhances asthenic traits.
Increased moral responsibility(G+, U-, T+, Z+-, S+-). This type of upbringing is characterized by a combination of high demands on the child with reduced attention to his needs. Stimulates the development of traits of anxious and suspicious personality accentuation.
Emotional rejection(G-, U-, T+-, Z+-, S+-). In the extreme case, this is a “Cinderella” type of upbringing. The basis of emotional rejection is the conscious or, more often, unconscious identification by the parents of the child with any negative aspects of their own life. A child in this situation may feel like a hindrance in the life of his parents, who establish a great distance in their relationship with him. Emotional rejection forms and strengthens the features of inert-impulsive accentuation and epileptoid personality disorder, leads to decompensation and the formation of neurotic disorders in adolescents with emotionally labile and asthenic accentuation.
When parents abuse their children(G-, U-, T+-, Z+-, S+) emotional rejection comes to the fore, which manifests itself in the form of punishment: beating and torture, deprivation of pleasures, frustration of needs.
Hypoprotection(hypocustody – G-, U-, T-, Z-, S+-). The child is left to his own devices, his parents are not interested in him and do not control him. Such upbringing is especially unfavorable for accentuations of the hyperthymic and unstable types.
Psychological causes of violations in family education
The reasons for pathologizing upbringing are different. Sometimes these are certain circumstances in the life of a family that make it difficult to establish adequate interaction. In this case, increasing the psychological literacy of parents (explanatory work) and rational psychotherapy are indicated. However, often the main role in disrupting the educational process is played by the characteristics of the parents themselves. Quite often in the practice of a psychotherapist, there are two groups of reasons: personal disorders of the parents themselves and their psychological problems, which are solved at the expense of the child.
A. Personality disorders of parents
Accentuations and personality disorders of parents often predetermine violations in raising children. At unstable accentuation, the parent is more often inclined to conduct education characterized by hypoprotection, reduced satisfaction of the child’s needs and the level of demands placed on him.
Inert-impulsive accentuation most often causes dominance, abuse with baby. Domination may also be related to traits anxious suspiciousness.
Demonstrative-hypercompensatory Personality accentuation among parents often predisposes to controversial type education: demonstrated care and love for the child in front of spectators is combined with emotional rejection in the absence of such (Eidemiller, 1994).
In cases where the listed types of inharmonious upbringing are identified using the DIA questionnaire, using additional psychodiagnostic methods it is necessary to identify the personality traits of the parents in order to make sure that they play a decisive role in the occurrence of violations. Then the psychologist and psychotherapist work to make parents aware of the relationship between their personal characteristics, type of upbringing and behavioral disorders in their teenager or child.
B. Psychological (personal) problems of parents, solved at the expense of the child
In this case, the basis of inharmonious upbringing is some kind of personal problem of the parent, most often of the nature of an unconscious need. The parent tries to solve this problem (satisfy the need) by raising the child. Attempts at explanatory work and persuasion to change the style of education are ineffective here. A psychologist and psychotherapist is faced with the difficult task of identifying a psychological problem in a parent, helping him to realize it, overcoming the action of defense mechanisms.
In outlining the most common psychological problems underlying pathologizing education, we relied on the experience of practical work with parents of children and adolescents with neurotic disorders, adaptation disorders, and personality disorders (psychopathy) - 120, 60 and 80 families, respectively.
Along with the description of these personal problems, we will indicate the DIA scales intended for their diagnosis.
Expanding the sphere of parental feelings(RRF scale). The corresponding violation of upbringing is increased protection (indulging or dominant).
Such a violation of upbringing occurs most often when marital relations are destructive for some reason: the absence of a spouse (death, divorce) or the relationship with him does not satisfy the parent who plays the main role in upbringing (inconsistency of characters, emotional coldness, etc.). Often the mother, less often the father, without realizing it themselves, wants the child or teenager to become something more for them than just a child. Parents strive to ensure that he satisfies at least part of the needs that in an ordinary family are realized in the relationship of spouses - in mutual exclusive affection, partly - as erotic needs. At the same time, the mother often refuses the very real possibility of remarriage. There is a desire to give the child (teenager) – often of the opposite sex – “all the feelings”, “all the love”. In childhood, an erotic attitude towards parents is stimulated - jealousy, childhood love. When a child reaches adolescence, the parent develops a fear of his or her independence. There is a desire to keep it with the help of indulgent or dominant hyperprotection.
The desire to expand the sphere of parental feelings by including erotic needs in the relationship between mother and child is, as a rule, not recognized by the mother. This psychological attitude is manifested indirectly, in particular in statements that she does not need anyone except her son, and in the characteristic contrast of an idealized relationship with her son to an unsatisfactory relationship with her husband. Sometimes such mothers realize their jealousy of their son’s girlfriends, although more often jealousy manifests itself in the form of numerous nagging towards them.
Preference for childlike qualities in a teenager(maximum permissible concentration scale). The corresponding violation of education is pandering hyperprotection. In this case, parents tend to ignore the maturation of their children and encourage them to preserve such childish qualities as spontaneity, naivety, and playfulness. For such parents, the teenager is still “small”. They often openly admit that they generally like small children better, which is not so interesting with big ones. Fear of children growing up is sometimes associated with the characteristics of the parent’s biography (he had a younger brother or sister, to whom the love of his parents at one time shifted, and therefore he perceived his seniority as a misfortune).
Considering a teenager as “still small,” parents reduce the level of requirements for him, creating pandering hyperprotection and thereby stimulating the development of mental infantilism.
Parent's educational insecurities(VN scale). The corresponding violation of upbringing is pandering hyperprotection or simply a reduced level of demands.
Educational uncertainty can be called a “weak point” of a parent’s personality. In this case, there is a redistribution of power in the family between parents and child (teenager) in favor of the latter. The parent follows the child’s lead, concedes even in those issues in which, in his own opinion, it is impossible to concede. This happens because the teenager managed to find an approach to his parent, found his “weak spot” and achieves for himself the position of “minimum requirements - maximum rights.” A typical combination in such a family is a lively, self-confident teenager (child), who boldly makes demands, and an indecisive parent who blames himself for all his failures.
In some cases, the “weak point” is due to the anxious and suspicious personality traits of the parent. In others, this feature is formed in the relationship of the parent with his own parents. Under certain conditions, children raised by demanding, self-centered adults see the same demandingness and self-centeredness in their children and experience the same sense of “unrepayable debt” towards them that they previously experienced towards their own parents. Insecure parents typically admit that they have made a lot of mistakes in parenting. They are afraid of their children's stubbornness and resistance and find quite a few reasons to give in to them.
Phobia of losing a child(FU scale). The corresponding violation of upbringing is indulgent or dominant hyperprotection. “Weak point” – increased uncertainty, fear of making mistakes, exaggerated ideas about the “fragility” of the child, his illness, etc.
One source of such experiences can be found in the history of the birth of a child: they waited for a long time for him, made a lot of efforts to treat infertility, he was born fragile and painful, it was with great difficulty that he was delivered, etc. Another source is the serious illnesses the child suffered, if they were long and frequent. The attitude of parents towards a child or teenager was formed under the influence of fear of loss. This fear forces parents to anxiously listen to any wishes of the child and rush to satisfy them (indulging hyperprotection), in other cases - to pettly patronize him (dominant hyperprotection). Typical statements by parents reflect their hypochondriacal fear for the child: they find many painful manifestations in him, fresh memories of past experiences regarding the health of the teenager.
Underdevelopment of parental feelings(NRF scale). Corresponding violations of upbringing are hypoprotection, emotional rejection, cruel treatment.
Adequate upbringing of children and adolescents is possible only when parents are driven by sufficiently strong motives: a sense of duty, sympathy, love for the child, the need to “realize oneself in children,” “to continue oneself.” Weakness and underdevelopment of parental feelings are often found among parents of teenagers with deviations in personal development. However, this phenomenon is very rarely realized by them. Outwardly, it manifests itself in a reluctance to deal with a child (teenager), to talk to him, in a superficial interest in his affairs.
The reason for the underdevelopment of parental feelings in a person may be that he himself did not receive parental warmth at one time (rejection in childhood by his own parents). Another reason may be the personal characteristics of the parent, for example, pronounced introversion or schizoidity. It has been noticed that parental feelings are less developed in very young people, although they increase with age (the example of loving grandparents).
Under relatively favorable family living conditions, the underdevelopment of parental feelings causes hypoprotection and especially emotional rejection. When there are difficult, tense, conflictual relationships in the family, a significant share of parental responsibilities is often transferred to the child (type of education “increased moral responsibility”) or an irritable and hostile attitude arises towards the child.
Typical statements from parents include complaints about how tiresome parenting is, and regret that these responsibilities take them away from something more important and interesting. For women with an undeveloped sense of parenthood, it is quite typical to strive for emancipation and the desire to “arrange their lives” in any way.
Projection onto a child (adolescent) of one’s own undesirable qualities(PNK scale). Relevant parenting disorders are emotional rejection, abuse. The reason for such upbringing is often that the parent seems to see character traits in the child that he does not recognize in himself. These could be: aggressiveness, a tendency towards laziness, an attraction to alcohol, negativism, protest reactions, incontinence, etc. By fighting these, true or imaginary, qualities of the child, the parent (most often the father) derives emotional benefit from this for himself . Fighting an undesirable quality in someone else helps him believe that he himself is free from that quality. Parents talk a lot and willingly about the irreconcilable and constant struggle against the negative traits and weaknesses of the child, about the measures and punishments that they apply here. Their statements show disbelief in the child, often inquisitorial intonations with a characteristic desire to identify the “true”, that is, unsightly, reason in any action. This reason is most often a feature that the parent unconsciously struggles with.
Bringing the conflict between spouses into the sphere of education(VK scale). The corresponding violations are a contradictory type of upbringing - a combination of the indulgent hyperprotection of one parent with the rejection or dominant hyperprotection of the other.
Conflict in relationships between spouses is a common occurrence, even in relatively stable families. In such conditions, parenting turns into a “battlefield” for parents. Here they get the opportunity to openly express dissatisfaction with each other, guided by “concern for the welfare of the child.” At the same time, the difference in opinions is most often radical: one insists on the strictest upbringing with increased requirements, prohibitions and sanctions, while the other parent is inclined to “pity” the child and follow his lead.
A typical manifestation of conflict resolution is the expression of dissatisfaction with the educational methods of the other spouse. At the same time, it is easy to discover that everyone is interested not so much in raising a child, but in who is right in educational disputes. The VK scale reflects typical statements of the “strict” side. This is due to the fact that it is the strict party that, as a rule, initiates contacting a doctor or psychologist.
Shift in attitudes of a parent towards a child depending on the gender of the child(scale of preference for male qualities - PMC and scale of preference for female qualities - PJK). Corresponding violations of upbringing are pandering hyperprotection, emotional rejection.
Often, a parent’s attitude towards a child is determined not by the child’s real characteristics, but by the traits that the parent attributes to his gender, that is, to a boy or a girl in general. Thus, when a parent prefers feminine qualities, there is an unconscious rejection of the male child. In this case, you have to deal with stereotypical judgments about men in general: “Men are mostly rude and unkempt. They easily give in to animal urges, are aggressive and overly sexual, and are prone to alcoholism. Any person, be it a man or a woman, should strive for the opposite qualities: to be gentle, delicate, neat, restrained in feelings.” These are the qualities that a parent of this type sees in women. An example here is a father who sees a lot of shortcomings in his son and believes that all his peers are the same. At the same time, this father is crazy about the boy’s younger sister, since he finds only merits in her. Then the type of education “emotional rejection” is formed in relation to the male child. The opposite bias is possible with a pronounced anti-female attitude, disdain for the child’s mother and his sisters. Under these conditions, an upbringing of the type of “indulgent hyperprotection” can be formed towards the boy.
Rules for using the DIA questionnaire
Before the parent begins to fill out the questionnaire, it is necessary to create an atmosphere of trusting psychological contact between him and the researcher. The parent should be interested in truthful answers. Each subject receives the text of the questionnaire and a response registration form. The person conducting the research reads out the instructions at the beginning of the questionnaire and makes sure that the respondents understood it correctly. During the filling process, instructions or explanations are no longer allowed.
The results are processed as follows. On the answer registration form, their numbers are located on one line, according to a certain scale. This makes it possible to quickly calculate points on the scales: you need to add up the number of circled numbers. Behind the vertical line on the response registration form is the diagnostic value (DV) for each scale. If the number of points reaches or exceeds the DZ, this indicates a certain type of upbringing. The letters behind the vertical bar are abbreviated names of the scales. Some of them are underlined. This means that to the result on the horizontal line (the number of points scored), you must add the result on an additional scale located at the bottom of the form, under the horizontal line, and indicated by the same letters as the main one.
If there are deviations on several scales, you must refer to the table. 4.6 to determine the type of inharmonious family upbringing.
The questionnaire allows you to identify only types of pathologizing family upbringing and is not intended to study the parameters of adequate upbringing.
In cases where none of the scales are diagnosed on the test subjects’ forms, at least two conclusions should be drawn:
– possible attitudinal behavior of the subjects;
– their educational actions are more likely to be adequate than pathologizing.
DIA questionnaire for parents of children aged 3 – 10 years
Instructions: “Dear parent! The questionnaire we offer you contains statements about raising children. Statements are numbered. The same numbers are in the “Answer Form”.
Read the questionnaire statements one by one. If you generally agree with them, circle the statement number on your Answer Sheet. If you generally disagree, cross out the same number on the form. If it is very difficult to choose, then put a question mark on the number. Try to have no more than five such answers.
There are no “wrong” or “right” statements in the questionnaire. Answer the way you think. This will help the psychologist work with you.
Fathers may not respond to statements whose numbers are highlighted in bold in the questionnaire.”
2. I often don’t have enough time to work with my son (daughter) - to communicate, to play.
3. I have to allow my child things that many other parents do not allow.
5. Our child has more self-care and maintenance responsibilities than most children his age.
6. It is very difficult to force my child to do anything he does not like.
7. It is always better if children do not think about whether their parents are doing the right thing.
8. My son (daughter) easily breaks prohibitions.
9. If you want your son (daughter) to become a person, do not leave any of his (her) bad deeds unpunished.
12. I love my son (daughter) more than I love (loved) my spouse.
17. My son (daughter) has some qualities that often drive me crazy.
18. Raising my son (daughter) would have gone much better if my husband (wife) had not interfered with me.
22. It often happens that I don’t know what my child is doing at the moment.
23. If a child likes a toy, I will buy it, no matter how much it costs.
28. My son (daughter) decides for himself with whom he (she) should play.
32. My child and I understand each other better than our spouse and I.
33. It upsets me that my son (daughter) is becoming an adult too quickly.
34. If a child is stubborn due to poor health, it is better to do as he wants.
35. My child is growing weak and sickly.
37. My son (daughter) has shortcomings that cannot be corrected, although I persistently fight them.
43. I strive to ensure that my child is better off than other children.
44. If you are in the company of my son (daughter), you can get very tired.
45. I often had to give my son (daughter) tasks that were difficult for his (her) age.
46. My child never cleans up his toys.
48. My child decides for himself how much, what and when he eats.
49. The stricter the parents treat the child, the better for him.
51. If my son (daughter) needs something from me, he (s) tries to choose a moment when I am in a good mood.
52. When I think that someday my son (daughter) will grow up and he (she) will not need me, my mood deteriorates.
61. For the sake of my son (daughter), I had and still have to give up a lot in life.
62. Parents who fuss too much around their children irritate me.
68. If my child doesn’t sleep when he’s supposed to, I don’t insist.
69. I am stricter with my son (daughter) than other parents are with their children.
70. Punishments are of little use.
72. I would like my son (daughter) not to love anyone but me.
73. I like small children, so I wouldn’t want him to grow up too quickly.
75. Due to the poor health of our son (daughter), we have to allow him (her) a lot.
77. A kind word doesn’t help much with my son (daughter). The only remedy is constant severe punishment.
82. It so happened that I remember the child if he did something or something happened to him.
83. My son (daughter) knows how to get from me what he (she) wants.
85. I try to teach my child to help around the house as early as possible.
88. In our family it is customary that the child does whatever he wants.
90. Many shortcomings in my child’s behavior will go away on their own with age.
92. If my son were not my son, and I were younger, I would probably fall in love with him.
94. I myself am to blame for the shortcomings of my son (daughter), because I did not know how to raise him (her).
95. Only thanks to our enormous efforts did our son (daughter) remain alive.
96. I often envy those who live without children.
97. If my son (daughter) is given freedom, he (s) will immediately use it to harm himself or others.
98. It often happens that I tell my son (daughter) one thing, and my husband (wife) specifically says the opposite.
104. My son loves to sleep with me.
107. For the sake of my son (daughter), I would make any sacrifice.
117. My son (daughter) is in worse health than most other children.
120. The son (daughter) spends most of his time outside the home - in a nursery, kindergarten, with relatives.
121. My son (daughter) has enough time for games and entertainment.
124. I often think that I got married too early.
125. Everything my child has learned so far has only happened thanks to my constant help.
127. I can’t remember the last time I refused to buy my child something (ice cream, candy, Pepsi, etc.).
128. My son told me: “When I grow up, I’ll marry you, mom.”
DIA questionnaire for parents of teenagers aged 11 to 21 years
Instructions for parents of teenagers are similar to those for parents of children aged 3 to 10 years.
1. Everything I do, I do for the sake of my son (daughter).
2. I often don’t have enough time to do something interesting with my son (daughter) - go somewhere together, talk about something longer.
3. I have to allow my child things that many other parents do not allow.
4. I don’t like it when my son (daughter) comes to me with questions. It’s better for you to guess it yourself (yourself).
5. Our child has more responsibilities than most of his friends.
6. It is very difficult to get my son (daughter) to do anything around the house.
7. It is always better if children do not think about whether their parents' views are correct.
8. My son (daughter) comes back in the evening whenever he wants.
9. If you want your son (daughter) to become a person, do not leave any of his (her) bad deeds unpunished.
10. If possible, I try not to punish my son (daughter).
11. When I am in a good mood, I often forgive my son (daughter) for what I would punish at another time.
12. I love my son (daughter) more than my spouse.
13. I like younger children more than older ones.
14. If my son (daughter) is stubborn or angry for a long time, I have a feeling that I did something wrong towards him (her).
15. We didn’t have a child for a long time, although we were really looking forward to him.
16. Communication with children is generally a tedious task.
17. My son (daughter) has some qualities that drive me crazy.
18. Raising my son (daughter) would go much better if my husband (wife) did not interfere with me.
19. Most men are more frivolous than women.
20. Most women are more frivolous than men.
21. My son (daughter) is the most important thing in life for me.
22. It often happens that I don’t know what my son (daughter) is doing at the moment.
23. I try to buy my son (daughter) the clothes he (she) wants, even if they are expensive.
24. My son (daughter) is slow-witted. It’s easier to do it yourself twice than to explain it to him (her) once.
25. My son (daughter) often has (or has had to) look after his younger brother (sister).
26. It often happens like this: I remind, remind my son (daughter) to do something, and then I’ll spit and do it myself.
27. Parents should under no circumstances allow their children to notice their weaknesses and shortcomings.
28. My son (daughter) decides for himself with whom he (she) communicates.
29. Children should not only love their parents, but also fear them.
30. I very rarely scold my son (daughter).
31. There are great fluctuations in our severity towards our son (daughter). Sometimes we are very strict, and sometimes we allow everything.
32. My son and I understand each other better than my husband and I.
33. It upsets me that my son (daughter) is growing up too quickly.
34. If a child is stubborn because he feels bad, it is best to do as he wants.
35. My child grew up weak and sickly.
36. If I didn’t have children, I would have achieved much more in life.
37. My son (daughter) has weaknesses that cannot be corrected, although I persistently fight them.
38. It often happens that when I punish my son (daughter), my husband (wife) immediately begins to reproach me for being too strict and console him (her).
39. Men are more prone to adultery than women.
40. Women are more prone to adultery than men.
41. Taking care of my son (daughter) takes up most of my time.
42. I have had to miss parent-teacher meetings many times.
43. I try to buy him (her) everything he (she) wants, even if it is expensive.
44. If you spend too long in the company of my son (daughter), you can get very tired.
45. Many times I had to entrust my son (daughter) with important and difficult tasks.
46. My son (daughter) cannot be relied upon in a serious matter.
47. The main thing parents can teach their children is to obey.
48. My son (daughter) decides for himself whether he (she) should smoke or not.
49. The stricter the parents are towards the child, the better for him.
50. By nature I am a gentle person.
51. If my son (daughter) needs something from me, he (she) tries to choose a moment when I am in a good mood.
52. When I think that someday my son (daughter) will grow up and he (she) won’t need me, my mood deteriorates.
53. The older the children, the more difficult it is to deal with them.
54. Most often, a child’s stubbornness is caused by the fact that parents do not know how to approach him.
55. I constantly worry about the health of my son (daughter).
56. If I didn’t have children, my health would be much better.
57. Some very important shortcomings of my son (daughter) stubbornly do not disappear, despite all measures.
58. My son (daughter) does not like my husband (wife).
59. A man is less able to understand the feelings of another person than a woman.
60. A woman can understand the feelings of another person worse than a man.
61. For the sake of my son (daughter), I had to give up a lot in life.
62. It happened that I did not find out about a remark or a bad mark in the diary because I did not look at the diary.
63. I spend significantly more money on my son (daughter) than on myself.
64. I don’t like it when my son (daughter) asks for something. I myself know better what he (she) needs more.
65. My son (daughter) had a more difficult childhood than most of his (her) friends.
66. At home, my son (daughter) does only what he (she) wants, and not what is necessary.
67. Children should respect their parents more than all other people.
68. My son (daughter) decides for himself what he (she) should spend his money on.
69. I am stricter with my son (daughter) than other parents are with theirs.
70. Punishments are of little use.
71. Our family members are not equally strict with our son (daughter). Some pamper, others, on the contrary, are very harsh.
72. I would like my son (daughter) to love no one but me.
73. When my son (daughter) was little, I liked him (she) more than now.
74. I often don’t know what to do right with my son (daughter).
75. Due to the poor health of our son (daughter), we had to allow him (her) a lot in childhood.
76. Raising children is hard and thankless work. You give everything to them, but you get nothing in return.
77. A kind word doesn’t help much with my son (daughter). The only remedy is severe, permanent punishment.
78. My husband (wife) is trying to turn my son (daughter) against me.
79. Men are more likely than women to act recklessly without thinking through the consequences.
80. Women are more likely than men to act recklessly without thinking through the consequences.
81. I think about my son (daughter) all the time, about his (her) affairs, health, etc.
82. I often have (or had to) sign in my diary for several weeks at once.
83. My son (daughter) knows how to get what he wants from me.
84. I prefer quiet and calm children.
85. My son (daughter) helps me a lot (at home, at work).
86. My son (daughter) has few responsibilities at home.
87. Even if children are sure that their parents are wrong, they must do as their elders say.
88. When leaving home, my son (daughter) rarely says where he (she) is going.
89. There are times when the best punishment is a belt.
90. Many shortcomings in my son’s (daughter’s) behavior went away on their own with age.
91. When our son (daughter) does something, we take care of him (her). If everything is quiet, we again leave him (her) alone.
92. If my son were not my son, and I were younger, then I would probably fall in love with him.
93. I find it more interesting to talk with small children than with older ones.
94. I myself am to blame for the shortcomings of my son (daughter), because I failed to raise him (her).
95. Only thanks to our enormous efforts did our son (daughter) survive.
96. I often envy those who live without children.
97. If my son (daughter) is given freedom, he (she) will immediately use it to harm himself or others.
98. It often happens that if I tell my son (daughter) one thing, the husband (wife) specifically says the opposite.
99. Men are more likely than women to think only about themselves.
100. Women are more likely than men to think only about themselves.
101. I spend more energy and time on my son (daughter) than on myself.
102. I know quite a bit about the affairs of my son (daughter).
103. The desire of my son (daughter) is the law for me.
104. When my son was little, he really liked to sleep with me.
105. My son (daughter) has a bad stomach.
106. A child needs parents only until he grows up. Then he remembers them less and less.
107. For the sake of my son (daughter), I would make any sacrifice.
108. My son (daughter) needs to devote much more time than I can.
109. My son (daughter) can be so sweet that I forgive him (her) everything.
110. I would like my son to get married later, after 30 years.
111. My son's (daughter's) hands and feet are often very cold.
112. Most children are little selfish people. They do not think at all about the health and feelings of their parents.
113. If I don’t give my son (daughter) all the time and energy, then everything could end badly.
114. When everything is fine, I am least interested in the affairs of my son (daughter).
115. It is very difficult for me to say “no” to my child.
116. It upsets me that my son (daughter) needs me less and less.
117. My son's (daughter's) health is worse than that of most of his (her) peers.
118. Many children feel too little gratitude towards their parents.
119. My son (daughter) cannot do without my constant help.
120. The son (daughter) spends most of his free time outside the home.
121. My son (daughter) has a lot of time for entertainment.
122. Apart from my son, I don’t need anyone else in the world.
123. My son (daughter) has interrupted and restless sleep.
124. I often think that I got married too early.
125. Everything that my child has learned so far (in school, in work or in anything else), he has achieved only thanks to my constant help.
126. My husband (wife) is mainly involved in the affairs of my son (daughter).
127. After finishing homework (or coming home from work), my son (daughter) does what he (she) likes.
128. When I see or imagine my son with a girl, my mood deteriorates.
129. My son (daughter) is often sick.
130. My family does not help, but complicates my life.
Answer form for the DIA questionnaire
4.3.2. Methods for studying interpersonal relationships in the “parent-child” system through the eyes of a child
Family drawing
The most popular among psychologists is the graphic test “Family Drawing”, which is widely used in numerous studies of interpersonal relationships and practical developments due to the ease of its administration and the accuracy of the indicators obtained as a result of the work (Eidemiller et al., 2003). This test belongs to unstructured projective techniques (Romanova, Potemkina, 1991; V.K. Loseva, 1995; Burlachuk, Morozov, 1999; Makhover, 2000; DiLeo, 2001). The product obtained as a result of free creative activity reveals the individual typological characteristics of the personality: ideas, moods, states, feelings, relationships.
“Family Drawing” is primarily intended to identify the characteristics intra-family relations And emotional problems. Using the completed image, comments and answers to the psychologist’s questions regarding the drawing, this technique reveals the client’s feelings towards those family members whom he considers the most important, whose influence, both positive and negative, is most significant for him.
To work, the subject is offered a sheet of white paper measuring 15 x 20 or 21 x 29 cm, a pen or a simple pencil. It is not recommended to use an eraser. If the client feels that his drawing is damaged, you can give him another sheet and then compare the images. Adults can cross out what they don't like and draw it differently.
It is permissible to use different versions of instructions:
1. “Draw your family.” In this case, it is not recommended to explain what the word “family” means, and in response to questions you should only repeat the instructions again:
2. “Draw your family, where everyone is doing their usual things.”
3. “Draw your family as you imagine it.”
4. “Draw your family as fantastic (non-existent) creatures.”
5. “Draw your family as a metaphor, an image, a symbol that expresses its characteristics.”
At the same time, clients (especially children) need to be reminded that marks are not given here and artistic abilities are not assessed.
During individual diagnostics, the protocol notes the sequence of appearance of characters and objects on the sheet, pauses of more than 15 seconds, attempts to correct details, spontaneous comments, emotional reactions and their connection with the content of the image.
After completing the task, the following questions are usually asked: “Who is drawn here?”; "Where are they located?"; "What are they doing?"; “What is their mood here?”; “What are they thinking?” etc. When interviewing, the psychologist should try to find out the meaning of what is drawn: feelings for individual family members; the reasons that forced one of them to be omitted (if this happened) or, on the contrary, to draw people who do not belong to the family. Direct questions should be avoided and do not insist on answers, as this can cause anxiety and provoke defensive reactions.
Drawings are assessed qualitatively. To interpret them, it is recommended to collect a family history: information about the composition and age of family members and about the main problems. Practice shows that there are usually no accidents in a family picture. After all, the client, both a child and an adult, does not draw objects from life, but reflects in his ideas the relationships between people close to him and his feelings about them.
Based on these figures, you can explore:
1. Features of intrafamily relationships and emotional well-being in the family. For example, if family members are standing nearby, holding hands, doing something together, smiling - this indicates their unity and positive attitude. The opposite indicates disunity and a bad mood: family members stand turned away and far from each other, negative emotions are strongly expressed.
2. Features of the client's state during drawing. The presence of strong shading and small sizes often indicate an unfavorable physical condition, tension, and stiffness. On the contrary, large sizes and the use of the entire sheet for the image may indicate the opposite: a good mood, relaxedness, lack of tension and fatigue.
3. The degree of visual culture, the stage of visual activity at which the client is located. You should pay attention to the primitiveness of the image or, on the contrary, to the clarity and expressiveness of the images, the grace of lines, and emotional expressiveness.
When interpreting drawings, you should always pay attention to those cases where more or fewer family members are depicted than actually are (for example, a dad is depicted who is not present, or, conversely, an older brother is not drawn).
Let us present the main criteria by which the features of intrafamily relationships can be assessed in more detail (V.K. Loseva, 1995; D. DiLeo, 2001).
1. The absence of one of the family members in the picture means:
A. The presence of unconscious negative feelings towards this person, which the client perceives as forbidden: “I should love this person, but he annoys me, and this is bad, so I will not draw him” (Fig. 2.1, 2.2).
B. Lack of emotional contact with this person - it is as if he is not in the client’s inner world.
A. Difficulties in self-expression in relationships with loved ones, associated with a feeling of inferiority: “They don’t notice me here,” “It’s difficult for me to find my place here.”
B. Indifference to loved ones (lack of involvement): “I don’t strive to find my place here,” “Nothing worries me here.”
3. Leaf space is an analogue of living space. As in real life, in the plane of the sheet each person unconsciously strives to take as much space for himself and the products of his activity as he, in his opinion, deserves. In other words, if he has low self-esteem, then he takes up little space in the real world and, drawing on a piece of paper, will take up only a small part of it. On the contrary, people are confident, well-adjusted, draw freely, on a grand scale, and can take up the entire sheet.
4. If a group of small figures is depicted at the bottom of the sheet, this indicates a combination of low self-esteem with a low level of aspirations: “I have already given up a lot of things in life, but even the little that I claim is not given to me.” If a small image is placed at the top of the sheet, and the large lower part of the sheet is empty, this indicates that low self-esteem is combined with a high level of aspirations: “I want a lot of things in life, but I won’t get much.”
5. The inanimate objects depicted in the picture are the object of special affection of the family and often replace its members.
6. The size of the depicted character or object expresses its subjective meaning for the child and shows what place the relationship with this character or object currently holds in his soul. Size is used to express importance, fear and respect.
8. A large or shaded mouth is a symbol of aggression, attack. If a person’s mouth is missing or depicted as a dot, it means that he does not have the right to express his opinion and influence others.
9. The more powerful a character appears, the larger his hands. Hidden hands express feelings of guilt. Exaggerated hand size and prominence of the hands and fingers indicate a tendency towards aggression.
10. The appearance in the picture of a person who does not formally belong to the family (relative, family friend, etc.) indicates unmet needs in relation to this person. The client realizes these desires in his fantasy, in imaginary communication with this person. The same tendency is indicated by the presence of a fictional (for example, fairy-tale) character.
11. If the client has positioned himself opposite another person, this indicates a good (close) relationship with the latter.
12. According to the principle of vertical hierarchy, the highest in the picture is the character who, in the client’s opinion, has the greatest power in the family (although he may be the smallest in linear size). Below everyone is the one whose power in the family is minimal.
13. The distance between figures (linear distance) is associated with psychological distance. Whoever is psychologically closest to the client is the one he depicts closest to himself on the sheet. The same applies to other figures: those whom the client perceives as close to each other, he will draw next to each other.
14. Characters who are in direct contact with each other (for example, with their hands) are in close psychological contact.
15. Characters who don't touch don't interact as closely.
16. The character or object that causes the greatest anxiety in the client is depicted either with increased pressure, or is heavily shaded, or its outline is circled several times. But in some cases his figure is outlined by a very thin, trembling line. The author seems hesitant to portray him.
17. Characters with large, dilated eyes are perceived by the author as anxious, restless, and in need of being saved. Characters with dotted eyes or “slits” carry an internal “prohibition on crying,” that is, they are afraid to ask for help.
18. The larger the area of support at the feet, the more firmly the person stands on the ground in the client’s perception. Absence of feet, small, unsteady legs are a sign of insecurity, instability, lack of a strong foundation, lack of a basic sense of security.
19. If the characters in the picture are depicted in one row, you need to mentally draw a horizontal line along the lowest point of the legs. Then only those people who “stand” on this line have support in reality. The rest, “hanging in the air,” according to the client, do not have independent support in life.
The “Family Drawing” technique is easy to use, helps to establish good emotional contact, and is also suitable for clients with reduced intelligence. Its use is especially productive in preschool and primary school age, when children have difficulty verbalizing. At the same time, this technique and the rules for its interpretation can be successfully used in working with adults. The technique allows not only to study interpersonal relationships in the family, but also to choose tactics for psychological correction and psychotherapy of disturbed family relationships.
Rene Gilles technique
R. Gilles' projective technique is widely known; it is used to study a child's interpersonal relationships and how they perceive them (Raigorodsky, 1999). The purpose of the technique is to study the child’s social adaptation, as well as his relationships with others.
The technique is visual-verbal. 42 pictures depicting children or children and adults are used, as well as text tasks. The technique is aimed at studying the characteristics of behavior in a variety of life situations that are important for the child and affect his relationships with other people.
Before starting to work with the technique, the child is informed that he is expected to answer questions based on the pictures. The child looks at the drawings, listens or reads the questions and answers.
The child must choose a place for himself among the people depicted or identify himself with a character occupying one or another place in the group. He can choose it closer or further from a certain person. In text tasks, the child is asked to choose a typical form of behavior, and some tasks are designed as sociometric ones. Thus, the technique allows you to obtain information about the child’s attitude towards different people around him (the family environment) and phenomena.
The simplicity and schematic nature that distinguishes R. Gilles’ method from other projective tests not only makes it easier for the child test subject, but also makes it possible to better standardize and calculate the results. In addition to qualitative assessment, this projective relationship technique makes it possible to present the results of a psychological examination on a number of variables and quantitatively.
Psychological material characterizing the child’s system of personal relationships can be divided into two large groups of variables:
1) variables characterizing the child’s specific relationships: attitude to the family environment (mother, father, grandmother, sister, etc.), to a friend or girlfriend, to an authoritarian adult, etc.;
2) variables that characterize the child himself and are manifested in various parameters, such as sociability, isolation, desire for dominance, social adequacy of behavior. In total, the authors who adapted the methodology identify 12 characteristics:
– attitude towards mother;
– attitude towards the father;
– attitude towards mother and father as a family couple;
– attitude towards brothers and sisters;
– attitude towards grandparents;
- attitude towards a friend;
– attitude towards the teacher;
– curiosity, desire for dominance;
– sociability, isolation, adequacy.
The attitude towards a certain person is expressed by the number of choices of the latter, based on the maximum number of tasks aimed at identifying the corresponding attitude.
R. Gilles' method cannot be classified as purely projective; it represents a transitional form between a questionnaire and projective tests. This is its great advantage. It can be used as a tool for in-depth study of personality, as well as in studies requiring measurements and statistical processing.
Key
Material for the Rene Gilles method 1. Here is a table at which different people are sitting.
Mark with a cross where you will sit.
2. Mark with a cross where you will sit.
3. Mark with a cross where you will sit.
4. Now place several people and yourself around this table. Indicate their related (father, mother, brother, sister) or friendly relations (friend, comrade, classmate).
5. Here is a table, at the head of which sits a person whom you know well. Where would you sit? Who is this man?
6. You and your family will spend your holidays with your owners who have a big house. Your family has already occupied several rooms. Choose a room for yourself.
7. You have been staying with friends for a long time. Mark with a cross the room you would choose.
8. Once again with friends. Label some people's rooms and your room.
9. They decided to give one person a surprise. Do you want this done? To whom? Or maybe you don't care? Write below.
____________________
10. You have the opportunity to go on vacation for several days, but where you are going there are only two free places: one for you, the second for another person. Who would you take with you? Write below.
____________________
11. You have lost something that is very expensive. Who will you tell first about this trouble? Write below.
____________________
12. Your teeth hurt and you must go to the dentist to have the bad tooth pulled out. Will you go alone? Or with someone?
If you go with someone, who is that person? Write below.
____________________
13. You passed the exam. Who will you tell about this first? Write below.
____________________
14. You are on a walk outside the city. Mark with a cross where you are.
15. Another walk. Mark where you are this time.
16. Where are you this time?
17. Now place several people and yourself in this picture. Draw or mark with crosses. Write down what kind of people they are.
18. You and some others were given gifts. – Someone received a gift much better than others.
– Who would you like to see in his place?
- Or maybe you don’t care?
____________________
19. You are going on a long journey, traveling far from your family. Who would you miss the most?
Write below.
____________________
20. Who do you like to play with? - With friends your age
- Younger than you
- Older than you
Underline one of the possible answers.
21. Your friends are going for a walk. Mark with a cross where you are?
22. This is a playground. Mark where you are?
23. Here are your comrades. They are fighting for a reason unknown to you. Mark with a cross where you will be.
24. These are your comrades quarreling over the rules of the game. Mark where you are.
25. A friend deliberately pushed you and knocked you down. What will you do: – Will you cry?
– Will you complain to the teacher?
-Will you hit him?
– Will you reprimand him?
- Aren't you going to say anything?
Underline one of the answers.
26. Here is a man well known to you. He says something to those sitting on the chairs. You are among them. Mark with a cross where you are.
27. Do you help your mother a lot? - Few
Underline one of the answers.
28. These people are standing around the table, and one of them is explaining something. You are among those who listen.
Mark where you are.
29. You and your friends are on a walk, one woman explains something to you. Mark with a cross where you are.
30. During the walk, everyone sat down on the grass. Mark where you are.
31. These are people who are watching an interesting performance.
Mark with a cross where you are.
32. The teacher shows something on the board. Mark with a cross where you are.
33. Is one of your comrades laughing at you? What will you do: – Will you cry?
– Will you shrug your shoulders?
-Are you going to call him names and beat him?
Underline one of the answers.
34. One of your comrades laughs at your friend. What will you do: – Will you cry?
– Will you shrug your shoulders?
-Are you going to laugh at him yourself?
-Are you going to call him names and beat him?
Underline one of the answers.
35. A friend took your pen without permission. What will you do: - Cry?
- Complain?
- Scream?
– Will you try to take it away?
-Are you going to start beating him?
Underline one of the answers.
36. You play lotto (or checkers, or another game) and lose twice in a row. You're not happy? What will you do: - Cry?
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
-Are you going to get angry?
Underline one of the answers.
37. Father doesn’t allow you to go for a walk. What will you do: – You won’t answer?
- Are you pouting?
-Are you going to start crying?
-Will you protest?
Underline one of the answers.
38. Mom doesn’t allow you to go for a walk. What will you do: – You won’t answer?
- Are you pouting?
-Are you going to start crying?
-Will you protest?
– Will you try to go against the ban?
Underline one of the answers.
39. The teacher came out and entrusted you with supervision of the class. Are you able to complete this assignment? Write below.
40. You went to the cinema with your family. There are many empty seats in the cinema. Where will you sit? Where will those who came with you sit?
41. There are many empty seats in the cinema. Your relatives have already taken their places. Mark with a cross where you will sit.
42. At the cinema again. Where will you sit?
Of course, the list of methods and tests given in this chapter cannot demonstrate all existing standardized approaches to diagnosing various aspects of family relationships. Those wishing to familiarize themselves with other structured methods and tests can recommend the recently published book: Family Diagnostics / Ed. – comp. D. Ya. Raigorodsky. Samara: BAKHRAH-M, 2004; as well as the Internet site http://azps.ru.
1. Methods for studying parent-child relationships
1.1 Methodology “Color Sociometry”
The purpose of this technique is to study the emotional and immediate interpersonal relationships of a child with others.
To carry out the technique, it is necessary to prepare a color field in the form of a chessboard (5 and 5 rows of squares), which consists of 13 color and 12 white squares in the following order:
1st row: black, white, blue, white, black squares;
2nd: white, green, white, green, white;
3rd: blue, white, red, white, blue;
4th: like the second;
5th: like the first.
You also need to prepare colored chips of red, green, yellow, blue, white, black, brown, pink, crimson, gray, orange, purple, lilac. Each - 3.
Instructions are given as the task progresses.
When carrying out the technique, the following requirements must be met:
Not all squares can be filled in.
The color selection can be expanded. For example, the same
Several people can be identified by color.
If the child wants to choose more people (than
four), then this is recorded in the protocol, and additional
chips are placed on white squares.
While the subject is working, the researcher must keep a protocol (see Appendix 1)
Interpretation of data for the “Color Sociometry” method
The table (see Appendix 2) discusses the following types of relationships:
1 - the child’s attitude towards himself, self-perception;
2- clearly preferred, characterized by consistency;
3-preferred, but somewhat contradictory, unstable;
4- the child experiences antipathy, conflictual relationships.
1.2 Questionnaire for studying the characteristics of the emotional side of parent-child interaction
Before moving on to the study of the features of the emotional side of child-parent interaction, E. I. Zakharova suggests studying the content of the blocks.
The first (perceiving) includes characteristics that reflect the characteristics of perception - recognition of the emotional state of the interaction partner.
The nature of a parent's response to a particular condition is determined by his attitude towards the child. Characteristics that reveal this relationship can also be combined into an independent group and form a second (relational) content block.
External features of the behavior of the child and parents - such behavioral manifestations, which are integrative characteristics of the emotional side of interaction - constitute the third content block.
Diagnostic tool: a questionnaire for parents that allows you to indirectly identify the degree of expression of each individual characteristic of interaction in each specific dyad (ODREV). The questionnaire contains 66 statements concerning the characteristics of maternal sensitivity, relationships with the child and the nature of child-parent interaction.
Protocol and instructions (see Appendix 3).
Questions (see Appendix 4)
Interpretation (see Appendix 5).
1.3 “Family Drawing” technique
It is believed that the idea of using a family drawing to diagnose intra-family relationships arose from a number of researchers, among whom mention the works of V. Hules, A.I. Zakharov, L. Corman and others.
The goal is to identify the characteristics of intrafamily relationships.
Based on the execution of the image and answers to questions, it is necessary to assess the characteristics of the child’s perception and experiences of relationships in the family.
For the study you need: a sheet of white A4 paper, six colored pencils (black, red, blue, green, yellow, brown), an eraser. The child is given the instruction: “Please draw your family.” Under no circumstances should you explain what the word “family” means, as this distorts the very essence of the study. If a child asks what to draw, the psychologist should simply repeat the instructions. There is no time limit for completing the task (in most cases it lasts no more than 35 minutes).
When completing a task, the following should be noted in the protocol:
a) the sequence of drawing parts;
b) pauses of more than 15 seconds;
c) erasing details;
d) spontaneous comments of the child;
e) emotional reactions and their connection with the depicted content.
After the child completes the task, one should strive to obtain as much information as possible verbally. The following questions are usually asked:
Tell me, who is drawn here?
1. Where are they located?
2. What are they doing? Who came up with this?
3. Are they having fun or are they bored? Why?
4. Which of the people drawn is the happiest? Why?
5. Which of them is the most unhappy? Why?
The last two questions provoke the child to openly discuss feelings, which not every child is inclined to do. Therefore, if the child does not answer them or answers formally, you should not insist on an answer. When questioning, the psychologist should try to find out the meaning of what the child has drawn:
Feelings for individual family members;
Why didn’t the child draw a picture of one of the family members (if this happened);
What do certain details of the drawing (birds, animals, etc.) mean to the child? If possible, direct questions should be avoided and insist on an answer, as this can induce anxiety and defensive reactions. Projective questions are often productive, for example:
If a person were drawn instead of a bird, who would it be?
Who would win in a competition between your brother and you?
Who will mom invite to go with her?
Test processing scheme (see Appendix 6).
When performing a task according to these instructions, the presence or absence of joint efforts in certain situations that are depicted is assessed, what place is given to them by the child performing the test, etc.
1.4 Methodology for diagnosing parental attitudes A.Ya. Varga, V.V. Stolin
The Parental Attitude Questionnaire (PAT) is a psychodiagnostic tool aimed at identifying parental attitudes among people seeking psychological help on raising children and communicating with them.
Parental attitude is understood as a system of various feelings towards the child, behavioral stereotypes practiced in communication with him, features of perception and understanding of the child’s character and personality, and his actions.
The questionnaire consists of 5 scales:
1. “Acceptance-rejection.”
2. "Cooperation".
5. “Little Loser.”
The text of the questionnaire consists of 61 statements with which the parent can either agree (put “true” or “+”) or disagree (put “false” or “-”).
Statements (see Appendix 7)
Keys to the questionnaire.
1. “Acceptance-rejection”: 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 27, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 52, 53, 55, 56, 60.
2. “Cooperation”: 6, 9, 21, 25, 31, 34, 35, 36.
3. “Symbiosis”: 1, 5, 7, 28, 32, 41, 58.
5. “Little Loser”: 9, 11, 13, 17, 22, 28, 54, 61.
The procedure for calculating test scores.
When calculating test scores for all scales, “true” is taken into account. A high test score on the corresponding scales is interpreted as:
Rejection;
Social desirability;
Symbiosis;
Hypersocialization;
Infantilization (disability).
Test norms are carried out in the form of tables of percentile ranks of test scores on the corresponding scales = 160
Scale table (see Appendix 8)
...: pandering hyperprotection, dominant hyperprotection, increased moral responsibility, emotional rejection, abuse, hypoprotection. Chapter 2. Study of the relationship between parent-child relationships and personal qualities of a preschooler 2.1. Methods and organization of the study In our study, we used a number of psychodiagnostic techniques: the “Parental...
We can conclude above that both the positive and negative influence of the family on the individual exceeds the influence of all other factors. 1.2 The influence of parent-child relationships on the presence of psychosomatic diseases in a child The appearance of the term “psychosomatic”, according to the literature, dates back to 1818 according to Heinroth, and the term “somatopsychic” - to 1822 - Jacobi, but the questions themselves...
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Diagnosis of parent-child relationships helps to find out what exactly the child feels when he is in his own home, what experiences and worries torment him every day. With the help of special tests, we can understand what kind of situation prevails in the family and how this affects the fragile personality of the child.
Test "Teenagers about Parents"
Description:
The Parental Behavior and Attitudes of Adolescents Towards Them (ADOR) questionnaire examines the attitudes, behavior and parenting methods of parents as their children see them in adolescence.
The basis is a questionnaire that Shafer created in 1965. This technique is based on Shafer’s position that the educational influence of parents (as children describe it) can be characterized using three factor variables: acceptance-emotional rejection, psychological control-psychological autonomy , hidden control - open control. Moreover, acceptance here implies an unconditionally positive attitude towards the child, regardless of the parents’ initial expectations.
Emotional rejection is considered as a negative attitude towards the child, a lack of love and respect for him, and sometimes simply hostility. The concept of psychological control denotes both a certain pressure and deliberate guidance of children, and a degree of consistency in the implementation of educational principles.
The use of the questionnaire in Czechoslovakia on a sample of young people showed the need for its processing and adaptation to sociocultural conditions. A modified version of the questionnaire was proposed by Z. Matejczyk and P. Rzichan in 1983.
In the course of international scientific cooperation of the laboratory of clinical psychology of the Institute. V. M. Bekhterev with the Institute of Psychodiagnostics (Bratislava, Slovakia), this technique was tested on adolescents 13-18 years old in Russia, as provided by the authors of the modification.
Instructions:
Before the experiment begins, the teenager is briefed on the goals and objectives of the study, after which he is given the following instructions:
"2" "1" "0" ".
The teenager is then given a registration form to fill out separately for each parent. There is no fundamental difference between the wording of the statements: in relation to the mother, all statements are presented in the feminine gender, and in relation to the father - in the masculine gender. Moreover, the forms are filled out separately, first, for example, they fill out a form that reflects educational principles for the mother, then this form is given to the experimenter and only after that a similar form is given, where the indicated provisions must be assessed by the teenager as applied to the father.
Test:
My father (my mother) | Yes | Partially | No |
|
Smiles at me very often | ||||
Always forgives me easily | ||||
Raw data processing:
After the teenager has filled out both forms (for the father and for the mother), all the data received is compiled into a “score sheet” separately for the mother and father. Then, for each parameter, the arithmetic sum of raw points is calculated.
The positive interest scale includes questions 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46.
To the scale of directiveness - 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 42, 47.
To the hostility scale - 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38, 43, 48.
To the autonomy scale - 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44, 49.
To the inconsistency scale - 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50.
Standardized data ranges from 1 to 5 and the norm is the average value, i.e. 3. If the parameter scores 1-2, then we can say that it is weakly expressed, but if 4-5, then the quality being measured is expressed quite clearly.
Then, assessment profiles of relationships with both mother and father are built on a special form.
Interpretation of scales:
1. Evaluation of the mother by the son.
Positive Interest Scale.
First of all, teenage boys see psychological acceptance of their mother in a relatively critical approach to them. Teenagers often feel the need for their mother’s help and support, in most cases they accept her opinion and tend to agree with her. The same forms of behavior such as authority, suspicion, and the tendency to lead are denied. At the same time, sons do not expect excessive conformity from their mother, even to the point of a tendency to “follow the lead.” However, simply competent behavior, a friendly way of communicating and normal emotional contacts are not enough for a teenager to claim that his mother has a positive interest in him. They strive for the extra care of a strong, adult and independent person.
Directiveness scale.
Adolescents see the mother’s directiveness towards her son in the imposition of a sense of guilt towards her, her declarations and constant reminders that “the mother sacrifices everything for the sake of her son”, takes full responsibility for everything she has done, is doing and will do. child. The mother seems to affirm the initial dependence of her status and the assessment of others on her son’s compliance with the “standard of a child,” while excluding the possibility of other options for self-expression. Thus, the mother strives in any way to eliminate her son’s incorrect behavior, so as not to “disgrace herself.” Simple forms of manifestation of responsiveness, manifestations of sympathy, causing positive emotional relationships, negatively correlate with the directive form of interaction between mother and adolescent.
Hostility scale.
A mother's hostility in her relationship with her teenage son is characterized by her aggressiveness and excessive severity in interpersonal relationships. The mother's focus exclusively on herself, her pride, and excessive self-affirmation, as a rule, exclude acceptance of the child. He is perceived, first of all, as a rival who must be suppressed in order to assert his importance. Thus, emotional coldness towards a teenager is disguised and is often passed off as restraint, modesty, adherence to “etiquette” and even subordination to it. At the same time, there may be pronounced suspicion, a tendency to excessive criticism of the son and others, the goal of which is the desire to humiliate them in the eyes of others. Along with this, positive activity and responsibility for the fate of the son are constantly demonstrated (mainly at the verbal level).
Autonomy scale.
The mother's autonomy in relations with her son is understood by him as dictatorship, complete intoxication with power, even some mania in this regard, which does not recognize any variations. At the same time, the mother does not perceive the child as an individual, with her own feelings, thoughts, ideas and motives; she is a “blind” force of power and ambition, to which everyone, no matter what, is obliged to obey. At the same time, the adaptive form of mother's authority, based on trust and respect, as well as acceptable forms of rigidity and harshness (when they take into account the situation), turn out to be not characteristic of the autonomy of mothers in relationships with teenage sons. Also, according to the sons, neither emotional attachment nor a friendly style of communication can be associated with the mother’s isolation and lack of involvement in her son’s affairs.
Inconsistency scale.
The inconsistency of the mother's line of upbringing is assessed by adolescents as a certain alternation (depending on the degree of informational significance) of such psychological tendencies as the dominance of strength and ambition and humility (in adaptive forms), delicacy and super-altruism and distrustful suspicion. Moreover, they all tend to extreme forms of manifestation (the amplitude of fluctuations is maximum).
2. Evaluation of the father by the son.
Positive Interest Scale.
Positive interest in relations with a son is seen as the absence of brute force, the desire for undivided power in communication with him. Teenagers talk about positive interest in cases where fathers strive to achieve their favor and respect for paternal authority, without resorting to declarations of dogma. Psychological acceptance of a son by a father is based primarily on trust. In such relationships, it is typical to find the truth in a dispute, listening to various arguments and giving preference to the logic of common sense. Any kind of conformism is completely denied here.
Directiveness scale.
The father shows directiveness in his relationship with his son in the form of a tendency towards leadership, by gaining authority based on actual achievements and a dominant communication style. His power over his son is expressed mainly in the management and timely correction of the child’s behavior, excluding ambitious despotism. At the same time, he makes it very clear to the child that for the sake of his well-being he is sacrificing some of the power he has; that this is not just patronage, but a desire to resolve everything peacefully, regardless of the degree of irritation.
Hostility scale.
Abusive fathers always agree with conventional wisdom, adhere too much to convention, and strive to satisfy others' demands to be a "good" father and maintain positive relationships. When raising, they try to train their son in accordance with the idea accepted in a given society and in a given culture of what an ideal child should be like. Fathers strive to give their sons a broader education and develop various abilities, which often leads to an unbearable burden on the youth’s body. Along with this, complete dependence on the opinions of others, fear and helplessness, and the inability to resist them are manifested. At the same time, the father is stern and pedantic towards his son. The teenager is constantly in a state of anxious anticipation of a low assessment of his activities and punishment by parental rejection according to the formula: “How dare you not live up to what is expected of you, because I sacrifice everything to make you a person.” There is also constant dissatisfaction and skepticism towards his son’s achievements, which inevitably reduces the motivation for his activities.
Autonomy scale.
The autonomy of the father in relations with his son is manifested in a formal attitude towards education, in excessive impartiality in the process of communication. Interaction is based on positions of power and despotic power. The father “notices” his son only in cases when he has done something, and even to analyze what happened, as a rule, “there is not enough time.” The father is too busy with himself to delve into the life and problems of his son. He learns about them only from his requests for help or advice on this or that issue, without particularly bothering himself with explanations. He is not interested in his son's hobbies, his circle of acquaintances, his studies at school, he only pretends that this bothers him. Often he is simply annoyed when his son addresses him. In his opinion, the son “should know everything himself.”
Inconsistency scale.
The latter see the inconsistency of the educational measures applied by the father in relation to his teenage sons in unpredictability, the impossibility of foreseeing how their father will react to a particular situation, event: whether he will subject his son to severe punishment for minor offenses or slightly scold him for something significant, simply accepting assurances from the latter that this will not happen again; such a father will either spend a long time and pedantically “washing the bones”, or will take on faith his son’s assurances of innocence, etc.
When comparing the practices of mothers and fathers of teenage boys, the following characteristic differences are revealed. When parents psychologically accept their son, fathers, compared to mothers, have a dominant lack of tendency toward leadership, since they strive to achieve favor and respect for their authority without resorting to force, unlike mothers who, in exceptional cases, allow themselves authoritarianism in interpersonal relationships “for the sake of the good.” "child. At the same time, boys note a critical approach to them and overprotection as a positive interest among mothers, while among fathers independence and firmness of positions are more pronounced. On the scale of directiveness, in mothers, compared to fathers, the tendency to patronize comes to the fore, since mothers are more inclined to influence children using an inductive technique. Also, mothers are willing to compromise to achieve their goals, while fathers prefer the authority of force. The hostility of mothers differs from a similar characteristic of fathers in that for mothers it manifests itself as a result of the struggle for their independence, and for fathers it is rather a tendency towards comfort in relation to others.
The autonomy of mothers and fathers is based on despotic “blind” power that does not tolerate indulgence, however, among mothers there is an emphasis on the absence of demands-prohibitions in relation to adolescents, and among fathers - isolation. Both of them do not even have a tendency to patronize, although fathers can, as an exception, break away from work and heed the teenager’s requests.
Inconsistency in the implementation of the line of upbringing by both parents is equally assessed by adolescents as a tendency towards extremely contradictory forms of manifestation with maximum amplitude of expression. Moreover, for mothers the opposite of strength and mistrust is compliance and hyperprojectivity, and for fathers it is gullibility and conformism.
3. Evaluation of mother by daughter.
Positive Interest Scale.
A positive attitude towards a daughter on the part of the mother, based on psychological acceptance, is described by teenage girls as an attitude towards a small child who constantly requires attention, care, help, and who can do little on his own. Such mothers often approve of their daughters asking for help in cases of quarrels or any difficulties, on the one hand, and limiting their independence, on the other. Along with this, girls note the factor of indulgence, when the mother is, as it were, “at her beck and call” and strives to satisfy her daughter’s every desire.
Directiveness scale.
Describing the directiveness of their mothers, teenage girls noted strict control on their part, a tendency to easily use their power based on ambition and not welcoming the daughter’s expression of her own opinion. Such mothers rely more on the severity of punishment, stubbornly believing that they are “always right, and the children are too young to judge this.”
Hostility scale.
Mothers' hostility to their teenage daughters is described as a suspicious attitude towards the family environment and distance towards its members (particularly children). Suspicious behavior and refusal of social norms lead them, as a rule, to isolate themselves and elevate themselves above others.
Autonomy scale.
The autonomy of mothers excludes any dependence on the child, his condition, or requirements. Any forms of care and guardianship towards daughters are also denied. Such mothers are assessed by adolescents as lenient and undemanding. They practically do not encourage children, make comments relatively rarely and sluggishly, and do not pay attention to upbringing.
Inconsistency scale.
By the inconsistency of educational practices on the part of the mother, girls understand a sharp change in style and techniques, representing a transition from very strict to liberal and, conversely, a transition from psychological acceptance of the daughter to her emotional rejection.
4. Evaluation of the father by the daughter.
Positive Interest Scale.
Daughters describe their father's positive interest as paternal self-confidence, the confidence that not the notorious paternal strictness, but attention to the teenager, warmth and openness of the relationship between father and teenage daughter are a manifestation of sincere interest. Psychological acceptance of the daughter is characterized by the absence of sharp changes from permissiveness to severe punishment, that is, warm friendly relations dominate with a clear awareness of the boundaries of what is possible and what is not.
In this case, paternal prohibitions act only against the background of paternal love.
Directiveness scale.
Teenage girls represent their father’s directiveness as an image of a “firm male hand”, ready to either clench into a fist or point out her place in society and, in particular, in the family. A directive father, as it were, directs a growing girl on the right path, forcing her to obey the norms and rules of behavior accepted in society and a certain culture, putting moral commandments into her soul.
Hostility scale.
In this case, we are talking about such an unfavorable type of father’s attitude towards his daughter as a combination of excessive demands, oriented towards the standard of the “ideal child” and corresponding too strict dependence, on the one hand, and an emotionally cold, rejecting attitude, on the other. All this leads to disruptions in the relationship between father and teenage daughter, which in turn causes an increased level of tension, nervousness and instability in the teenager.
Autonomy scale.
Teenage girls describe their fathers' autonomy as a claim to leadership, and leadership that is unattainable and inaccessible to interaction with. He seems to be a person fenced off from the problems of the family, as if by an invisible wall, existing in parallel with the rest of the family members. The father does not care at all what is happening around him; his actions are often inconsistent with the needs and requests of his loved ones, whose interests are completely ignored.
Inconsistency scale.
Here the father seems to be a completely unpredictable person. With a fairly high degree of probability, psychological tendencies that are completely contradictory to each other may appear in his behavior, and the amplitude of fluctuations is maximum.
Thus, the characteristic differences in adolescent girls’ assessments of the educational practices of mothers and fathers are as follows. With positive interest and psychological acceptance among mothers, unlike fathers, trust and subordination come to the fore. Fathers, on the other hand, are dominated by self-confidence and a lack of rigidity and authoritarianism in relations with their daughter, which excludes upbringing through forceful pressure. The directiveness of mothers is based solely on ambitious claims to power and strict control over the behavior of their daughter, and the directiveness of fathers, along with this, is also expressed depending on the opinions of others and narcissism. With hostility and emotional rejection, mothers exhibit stubborn conformism and weak-willed dependence on the opinions of others, which comes from the father’s claims to leading positions. For fathers, with hostile educational practices towards their teenage daughter, cruelty and self-assertion with power and force come to the fore. Autonomy on the part of mothers is characterized by the absence of good human relations and isolation from the problems and interests of the daughter, while on the part of the father, autonomy is expressed in his unconditional leadership in the family and in the inaccessibility of communication with him for the daughter. With inconsistent educational practices in the context of contradictory manifestations, the characteristics of fathers and mothers appear to be the same.
The only difference is in such tendencies as self-sufficient self-affirmation with hostile intransigence among fathers and subordination and distrust among mothers.
Application
instructions:
“We ask you to evaluate, based on your own experience, which of these provisions are most typical for your parents. To do this, read each statement carefully, without skipping any of them. If you think that the statement fully corresponds to the educational principles of your father (or mother), circle the number"2" . If you think this statement is partially true for your father (or mother), circle the number"1" . If, in your opinion, the statement does not apply to your father (or mother), circle the number"0" ».
Test:
My father | Yes | Partially | No |
||||||
Smiles at me very often | |||||||||
Doesn't have enough patience with me | |||||||||
When I leave, he decides when I should return | |||||||||
Always quickly forgets what he says or orders | |||||||||
When I'm in a bad mood, he tells me to calm down or cheer up | |||||||||
Believes that I must have many rules that I must follow | |||||||||
Constantly complaining to someone about me | |||||||||
Gives me as much freedom as I need | |||||||||
For the same thing one time punishes, and another forgives | |||||||||
Loves to do things together | |||||||||
If he assigns any work, he thinks that I should do only that until I finish it | |||||||||
Begins to get angry and indignant about every little thing I do | |||||||||
Doesn't require me to ask his permission to go where I want | |||||||||
Refuses many of my activities depending on my mood | |||||||||
Tries to cheer me up and encourage me when I'm sad | |||||||||
Always insists that I must be punished for all my misdeeds | |||||||||
Has little interest in what worries me and what I want | |||||||||
Allows me to go wherever I want every evening | |||||||||
Has certain rules, but sometimes follows them, sometimes not | |||||||||
Always listens to my views and opinions with understanding | |||||||||
Makes sure I always do what I'm told | |||||||||
Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm disgusting him | |||||||||
Practically lets me do whatever I like | |||||||||
My father (my mother) changes his decisions as it suits him (her) | |||||||||
Often praises me for something | |||||||||
Always wants to know exactly what I'm doing and where I am | |||||||||
I wish I could be different, change | |||||||||
Allows me to choose what I like | |||||||||
Sometimes he forgives me very easily, and sometimes he doesn’t. | |||||||||
Tries to openly show that he loves me | |||||||||
Always watching what I'm doing on the street or at school | |||||||||
If I do something wrong, he constantly and everywhere talks about it | |||||||||
Gives me a lot of freedom. Rarely says “should” or “shouldn’t” | |||||||||
Unpredictable in my actions, if I do something bad or good | |||||||||
Believes that I should have my own opinion on every issue | |||||||||
Always careful about what kind of friends I have | |||||||||
He won’t talk to me until I start, if before that I offend or offend him in some way | |||||||||
Always forgives me easily | |||||||||
Praises and punishes very inconsistently: sometimes too much, sometimes too little | |||||||||
Always finds time for me when I need it | |||||||||
Constantly telling me how to behave | |||||||||
It's entirely possible that he actually hates me. | |||||||||
I plan my holidays at my own discretion. | |||||||||
Sometimes he can offend, and sometimes he is kind and grateful | |||||||||
Always openly answers any question, no matter what I ask | |||||||||
He often checks to see if I put everything away as he ordered. | |||||||||
He neglects me, it seems to me | |||||||||
Doesn't interfere with whether or not I clean my room (or corner) - it's my castle | |||||||||
Very vague in his desires and instructions | |||||||||
Test:
My mother | Yes | Partially | No |
|
Smiles at me very often | ||||
Doesn't have enough patience with me | ||||
When I leave, he decides when I should return | ||||
Always quickly forgets what he says or orders | ||||
When I'm in a bad mood, he tells me to calm down or cheer up | ||||
Believes that I must have many rules that I must follow | ||||
Constantly complaining to someone about me | ||||
Gives me as much freedom as I need | ||||
For the same thing one time punishes, and another forgives | ||||
Loves to do things together | ||||
If he assigns any work, he thinks that I should do only that until I finish it | ||||
Begins to get angry and indignant about every little thing I do | ||||
Doesn't require me to ask his permission to go where I want | ||||
Refuses many of my activities depending on my mood | ||||
Tries to cheer me up and encourage me when I'm sad | ||||
Always insists that I must be punished for all my misdeeds | ||||
Has little interest in what worries me and what I want | ||||
Allows me to go wherever I want every evening | ||||
Has certain rules, but sometimes follows them, sometimes not | ||||
Always listens to my views and opinions with understanding | ||||
Makes sure I always do what I'm told | ||||
Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm disgusting him | ||||
Practically lets me do whatever I like | ||||
My father (my mother) changes his decisions as it suits him (her) | ||||
Often praises me for something | ||||
Always wants to know exactly what I'm doing and where I am | ||||
I wish I could be different, change | ||||
Allows me to choose what I like | ||||
Sometimes he forgives me very easily, and sometimes he doesn’t. | ||||
Tries to openly show that he loves me | ||||
Always watching what I'm doing on the street or at school | ||||
If I do something wrong, he constantly and everywhere talks about it | ||||
Gives me a lot of freedom. Rarely says “should” or “shouldn’t” | ||||
Unpredictable in my actions, if I do something bad or good | ||||
Believes that I should have my own opinion on every issue | ||||
Always careful about what kind of friends I have | ||||
He won’t talk to me until I start, if before that I offend or offend him in some way | ||||
Always forgives me easily | ||||
Praises and punishes very inconsistently: sometimes too much, sometimes too little | ||||
Always finds time for me when I need it | ||||
Constantly telling me how to behave | ||||
It's entirely possible that he actually hates me. | ||||
I plan my holidays at my own discretion. | ||||
Sometimes he can offend, and sometimes he is kind and grateful | ||||
Always openly answers any question, no matter what I ask | ||||
He often checks to see if I put everything away as he ordered. | ||||
He neglects me, it seems to me | ||||
Doesn't interfere with whether or not I clean my room (or corner) - it's my castle | ||||
Very vague in his desires and instructions |
Golubeva E.V., Istratova O.N.
The article presents experience in diagnosing types of parent-child relationships according to the classification of A.V. Petrovsky - “Dictat”, “Guardianship”, “Non-interference”, “Cooperation” - using the Parental Attitude Questionnaire (PAT) by A.Ya. Vargi, V.V. Stolin. The criteria developed by the authors of the article for correlating the types of parent-child relationships according to A.V. are presented. Petrovsky with the characteristics of the ORO Test scales. The correlation between the types of parent-child relationships used by modern parents of primary schoolchildren has been established.
Key words: types of child-parent relationships, methods for diagnosing child-parent relationships.
Childhood is the subject of attention of researchers in various fields of science as a significant and responsible period in a person’s life. An important role in the development of a child and the formation of his personality is played by the family and the system of intra-family and child-parent relations that exists within it.
The modern family is included in various spheres of society and is influenced by macrosocial factors. Profound social changes in our country in the 90s of the 20th century could not but affect the family as the most vulnerable part of the social organism. These transformations have led to an increase in the number of low-income and destructive families in which children are involved in criminal activities and become victims of violence. From the point of view of the conditions created for the development of children, outwardly prosperous families are also problematic, in which the subjective state of the child, as a result of improper upbringing, can be characterized by long-term emotional trauma.
Consulting psychologists G.V. Burmenskaya, O.A. Karabanova, characterizing the psychological problems of children from families that are prosperous in terms of their socio-economic status, note that “the practice of counseling is increasingly faced with a decrease in the duration and impoverishment of the content of communication in the family, a lack of warmth, attentive attitude towards each other, the disappearance of truly joint forms of useful activity of a child with adults or general leisure. The place of personal and cognitive communication is increasingly occupied by its narrowly pragmatic forms - regarding everyday life, regime, control over academic success, and encouraging children is reduced only to its material forms.”
Thus, the problem of parent-child relationships, which has been relevant throughout the development of psychological science and practice, remains acute at the present stage.
etc.) attempts have been made to conduct a comprehensive study of parent-child relationships and highlight the features of pathogenic types of upbringing leading to emotional disorders in children.
So, A.Ya. Varga, by parental relationship, means the holistic system of feelings of the parent towards the child, i.e. features of his perception and understanding of the child’s character and actions, as well as behavioral stereotypes practiced by the parent in communicating with the child.
Exploring the structure of parental attitudes, A.Ya. Varga is based on a dynamic two-factor model of parental attitudes proposed by E. Schaefer and R. Bell, in which the main factors are emotional (love - hate or acceptance - rejection) and behavioral (autonomy - control).
AND I. Varga identifies the following components of the parental attitude: integral acceptance-rejection of the child by the parent, which determines the cognitive component; interpersonal distance, which determines the degree of emotional closeness of the parent to the child, characterizing the emotional component; the form and direction of control over the child’s behavior, which determines the behavioral component.
In this regard, A.Ya. Varga proposes to consider the types of parental attitudes as established patterns of their interaction with children, determined by various combinations of these components - cognitive, emotional and behavioral. She identified the following four types of ineffective parental relationship structures observed in parents who cannot cope with raising children: accepting-authoritarian, rejecting with infantilization and social disability, symbiotic, symbiotic-authoritarian. Based on the above provisions, the author together with V.V. Stalin developed a method for diagnosing the characteristics of a parent's position in relation to a child - the Parental Attitude Questionnaire (PAQ).
6" method question consists of the following five scales, expressing certain aspects of the parental relationship:
") “Rejection”. This scale expresses a general emotionally negative (rejection) or emotionally positive (acceptance) attitude towards the child;
2) "Cooperation". This scale expresses the desire of adults to cooperate with the child, their manifestation of sincere interest and participation in his affairs;
3) "Symbiosis". The questions on this scale are aimed at finding out whether the adult strives for unity with the child or, on the contrary, tries to maintain a psychological distance between the child and himself. This is a kind of contact between a child and an adult;
5) “Infantilization.” This scale shows how adults feel about the child’s abilities, his strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.
For each of the 5 scales you can score high, medium, or low. High scores indicate significant development of the above aspects of the parental relationship, while low scores indicate that they are relatively poorly developed.
Both the one described above and most other classifications of types of parental attitudes, while fully meeting the needs of psychological services, are focused mainly on pathogenic options, leaving “favorable” ones without attention. In the questionnaire developed by A.Ya. Vargoy, V.V. Stolin, there is a “Cooperation” scale, which expresses the desire of adults to cooperate with the child, but it is not involved in identifying the types of parental relationship structures.
From this point of view, A.V.’s typology of parent-child relationships is more complete. Petrovsky, who identifies four tactics of upbringing in the family and four types of parent-child relationships that correspond to them, which are both a prerequisite and a result of their occurrence: dictate, guardianship, non-interference and cooperation.
“Dictat” in the family is manifested in the systematic suppression by some family members (mainly adults) of the initiative and self-esteem of other family members.
Parents can and should make demands on their child based on the goals of education, moral standards, and specific situations. However, influence in the form of orders and violence encounters the child’s resistance. In this case, children may react with outbursts of rudeness, deception, and hypocrisy. If the child’s resistance is broken, then “many valuable personality traits are broken along with him: independence, self-esteem, initiative, faith in oneself and in one’s capabilities.”
“Custody” in a family is a system of relationships in which parents, while ensuring through their work that all the child’s needs are met, protect him from any worries, efforts and difficulties, taking them upon himself.
“Dictat” and “guardianship” of parents, although different in essence, coincide in their results: children lack independence, initiative, they find themselves removed from resolving issues that concern both them personally and the family.
The negative consequences of “guardianship” as a family education tactic are that the issue of meeting the child’s needs and protecting him from difficulties comes to the fore, rather than the active formation of his personality. “Guardianship as an educational tactic is an outright enemy of labor education, because the ward, first of all, is protected from effort and responsibility,” writes A.V. Petrovsky. Children raised in conditions of overprotection turn out to be unadapted to adult life, incapable of personal and collective responsibility. If parents reduce custody to a reasonable minimum from the early childhood of their child, controlling only
general aspects of education (health, morality, etc.), and provide him with independence and responsibility in solving everyday problems, thereby contributing to the formation of his mature personality.
“Non-interference” is a system of interpersonal relations in the family, based on the recognition of the possibility and even expediency of independent coexistence of adults and children. “The separateness of the worlds of children and adults is often literally declared: let the child grow up independent, independent, uninhibited, free,” notes A.V. Petrovsky. At the same time, parents shy away from performing educational functions, and the child does not feel part of the family and does not share the joys and difficulties of relatives and friends. If necessary, the child turns out to be unable to get involved in general family problems.
“Cooperation” as a type of relationship in a family presupposes the mediation of interpersonal relationships by common goals and objectives of joint activity, its organization and high moral values.
A family in which the predominant type of relationship is cooperation becomes a group of a high level of development - a team. This type of relationship is optimal for achieving the goals of morally justified education, as opposed to “dictation”, “guardianship” and “non-interference”.
Such a family is characterized by fairness in the distribution of daily responsibilities between parents and children, and adequate assignment of responsibility for successes or failures in the joint activities of family members. The most important characteristic of a family with a cooperative type of relationship is cohesion as a manifestation of value-orientation unity.
Currently, foreign and domestic psychology has significant experience in diagnosing child-parent relationships. Thus, psychologist-consultants G.V. Burmenskaya, O.A. Karabanova, based on practical work experience, recommend using the following methods to diagnose interpersonal relationships that have developed in the family [", 2].
A. Offered to the child:
") technique for drawing a family and its modification;
2) an adapted version of Rene Gilles’ technique;
3) various variants of the “Unfinished Sentences” technique;
4) modification of the self-assessment methodology;
5) children's apperception test CAT;
6) methodology “Model of the personal sphere”;
7) children's test “Emotional relationships in the family” Bene - Anthony.
B. Offered to parents:
8) parental behavior style questionnaire (Eidemiller);
9) anamnestic questionnaire;
"0) parent essay “The Life Story of My Child”;
"") Varga-Stolin Parental Relations Questionnaire.
B. Offered alternately to children and parents:
“2) a self-assessment technique in the form where, for example, parents evaluate the child and an assessment for the child, and then there is a discussion of its differences from the self-assessment received from the child himself, and vice versa;
"3) a questionnaire for studying the interaction of parents with children by I. Markovskaya.
D. Suggested for the “child-parent” dyad:
"4) variants of the test for joint activity, known under the general name “Architect-Builder”, where the child and the parent try, for example, to verbally describe in dialogue a rather complex drawing invisible to the partner so that the partner can reproduce it correctly.
D. Equally suitable for children and adults:
"5) Etkind's color test of relationships.
Other methods for diagnosing interpersonal relationships in the family are also known. Despite the significant number of methodological tools available to psychologists, even today there remains a certain need for methods for diagnosing child-parent relationships.
One of the problems in diagnosing child-parent relationships that research psychologists face is the need to give a complete, succinct and, at the same time, brief description of the profiles of child-parent relationships they diagnose. Such a characteristic should include not only pathogenic ones (as, for example, in the classification of inharmonious types of education according to Eidemiller and Justitsky), but also “favorable” options.
The above typology of parent-child relationships by A.V. fully meets these requirements. Petrovsky. However, methodological difficulties arise here - in known works there is no methodology that provides information about the prevalence in the family of one or another type of parent-child relationship according to the classification of A.V. Petrovsky.
One possible solution to this problem may be the development of criteria for correlating the types of parent-child relationships “Dictate”, “Guardianship”, “Non-interference”, “Cooperation” with the characteristics of the scales of one of the well-known and widely used methods for diagnosing child-parent relationships. As such a methodology, we chose the Parental Attitudes Test Questionnaire (PAQ) by A.Ya. Varga, V.V. Stolin. Apart from the possible “refinement” of the theoretical principles on which the questionnaire is based, or “adjustment” of the peculiarities of interpretation of the results that can be obtained when using it, we chose this reliable and widely used diagnostic tool for an empirical study of the severity of types of parent-child relationships according to A .IN. Petrovsky in modern families. This typology allows us to identify the optimal type of parent-child relationship, diagnosing it not just as
“the absence of features that cause pathological changes in the child’s personality,” but as a type of relationship that has characteristics (well-defined) that contribute to the realization of the goals of morally oriented education. As noted by E.O. Smirnova, M.V. Bykova, “despite the variety of terms and concepts, in almost all approaches one can notice that the parental attitude includes two opposite moments: unconditional (which contains components such as acceptance, love, empathy, etc.) and conditional (objective assessment, control, focus on developing certain qualities).” Taking into account some commonality between different typologies of child-parent relationships, we have developed criteria for correlating the results of parents filling out the ORO Test with the type of child-parent relationship they use (see table "). The test score, which is decisive in diagnosing a particular type, is highlighted in bold. type of parent-child relationship.
Table "
Diagnosis of types of parent-child relationships
Type of parent-child relationship Score on the scales of the questionnaire of parental attitudes toward children
I Rejection II Cooperation III Symbiosis IV Authoritarian hypersocialization V Infantilization
Diktat high, medium medium, low medium, low high high, medium, low
Guardianship average, low average, low high high, average, low high average
Non-intervention high, medium, low medium, low low low medium, low
Cooperation medium, low high medium, low medium, low medium, low
As can be seen from the table, when diagnosing the “Dictate” type of parent-child relationship, the determining factor is a high score on the “Authoritarian hypersocialization” scale, indicating that an adult behaves too authoritarian towards a child, demanding unconditional obedience from him and asking him strict disciplinary framework. He imposes his will on the child in almost everything. A “dictator” parent cannot receive high scores on the “Cooperation” and “Symbiosis” scales, and low scores on the “Rejection” scale, since this type of parent-child relationship excludes relations of equality and implies a certain psychological distance between the adult and the child. When diagnosing the “Dictat” type of relationship, scores on the “Infantilization” scale can be either high (the child is perceived as an unintelligent being) or average or low (the child’s personality and his abilities are perceived adequately).
When diagnosing the “Custody” type of relationship, the determining factor is a high score on the “Symbiosis” scale: an adult always tries to be closer to the child, satisfy his needs, and protect him from troubles and efforts. A parent using the “Custody” type receives low or average scores on the “Rejection” scale, since his attitude towards the child is positive or neutral, suggesting affectionate care and participation. Inadequate parental care is expressed in its obvious inconsistency with the age characteristics of the child and excludes the child from showing responsibility and initiative in resolving issues that concern him personally, and, moreover, the family as a whole. Therefore, such a parent receives high and average scores on the Infantilization scale and low or average scores on the Cooperation scale. Scores on the “Authoritarian Hypersocialization” scale can be either high (unquestioning suppression of the child’s desires to show his independence), or average or low (upbringing like a “little god”).
“Non-interference” is characterized, first of all, by the lack of control on the part of parents, even in such matters as academic success, participation in feasible work activities, and adherence to moral standards. Therefore, such a parent receives low scores on the “Authoritarian Hypersocialization” scale. In addition, this type of parent-child relationship is characterized by a significant psychological distance between parent and child, and the isolation of the worlds of children and adults. This characteristic of the parent-child relationship is reflected in the fact that parents score low on the Symbiosis scale. The life of relatives and their concerns remain closed to the child, just as the difficulties and joys experienced by the child remain beyond the attention of the parents. They may be unable to jointly solve problems or cooperate even at critical moments. Therefore, the parent scores low or average on the Cooperation scale. The parent’s desire for his child to grow up independent, independent, and uninhibited is reflected in the fact that the parent receives low and average scores on the “Infantilization” scale. When diagnosing the “Non-Interference” type of relationship, scores on the “Rejection” scale can be either high (positive attitude towards the child, respect and recognition of his individuality), or medium or low (negative feelings towards the child: irritation, anger, frustration).
When diagnosing the type of child-parent relationship “Cooperation,” the determining factor is a high score on the “Cooperation” scale (in this case, the names of the type of child-parent relationship and the questionnaire scale are synonymous). A parent who uses this type of parent-child relationship does not score high on the “Rejection”, “Symbiosis”, “Authoritarian Hypersocialization”, “Infantilization” scales. This is due to the following characteristics of this type of parent-child relationship: an emotionally positive attitude towards the child, encouraging his independence and autonomy, reducing control over his actions to a reasonable minimum, adequate perception of his age and personality characteristics.
The most controversial from a theoretical point of view is the correlation between the type of parent-child relationship “Cooperation” and the ORO test scale “Cooperation”. In our opinion, statements related to the “Cooperation” scale: “I am very interested in the life of my child,” “I always take part in the child’s games and activities,” characterize the mediation of interpersonal relationships in the family by the tasks of joint activities of the child and the parent. The parent’s agreement with the statements “Parents should not only demand from the child, but also adapt to him, treat him with respect as an individual,” “I often admit that the child is right in his own way in his demands and claims,” etc. expresses his readiness to proceed from a single moral norm (to himself as to another, to another as to himself) when making demands on the child. The statement “Children learn early that parents can make mistakes” reflects the adequacy of assigning responsibility for failures in the joint activities of family members. Thus, the questions on the “Cooperation” scale reflect the main characteristics of the “Cooperation” type of parent-child relationship. One of the significant features of “Cooperation” as a type of parent-child relationship is cohesion, under which
A.V. Petrovsky understands such a characteristic of the system of intra-group connections, which shows the degree of coincidence of the group’s assessments, attitudes and positions in relation to objects (persons, tasks, ideas, events) that are most significant for the group as a whole. It seems to us that the statement “When making decisions in the family, the child’s opinion should be taken into account,” as well as other statements of the “Cooperation” scale, characterize such features of the structure of child-parent relationships that contribute to the development of the child’s personality tendency to perceive his family as a source of value orientations.
Let us note that in some cases it is not possible to unambiguously identify one or another type of parent-child relationship. If a parent scores high on several scales that are diagnostic of different types of parent-child relationships, then the type of relationship is “mixed.” If the scores on all scales of the questionnaire are average, this indicates an “unstable” type of parent-child relationship, which may be associated with the immaturity of the parental position and educational uncertainty in young parents.
We made an attempt to study the current correlation of types of parent-child relationships in families with children of primary school age. To diagnose the type of family relationships, the ORO Test by A.Ya was used. Varga,
B.V. Stolin. To correlate the results of parents filling out the ORO Test with the type of parent-child relationship, we used the criteria we identified.
The subjects were the parents of 02 children 7-8 years old, 2nd grade students at a school in Taganrog.
We present the data obtained from the ORO test in the form of a histogram. On the abscissa axis we note the names of the scales of the questionnaire, and on the ordinate axis we note the percentage of subjects who scored low, average or high points on them.
Figure 1. Scores received by parents on the ORO test scales
In general, parents more often score average on such scales as “Rejection”, “Cooperation”, “Symbiosis”, “Hypersocialization”, which indicates the average severity of these aspects of parental attitude towards children. On the “Infantilization” scale, parents often score low, which indicates an attitude towards children in accordance with their age, respect for the child’s thoughts and feelings.
An analysis of the results of filling out the questionnaire by parents in accordance with the criteria indicated in table "showed that the type of child-parent relationship in 30 cases is either mixed (a high test score on several scales indicates the presence of several types of relationships at the same time) or unstable (scores on all scales of the questionnaire are average), or do not coincide between the father and mother of the child, i.e., contradictory; in 72 cases it is possible to determine one or another type of parent-child relationship, of which:
a) diktat is diagnosed in “6 cases;
b) guardianship is diagnosed in 23 cases;
c) non-intervention is diagnosed in 4 cases;
d) cooperation is diagnosed in 29 cases.
Let's present the data in the form of a diagram.
Figure 2. Correlation of types of parent-child relationships
The results of the study showed that cooperation and guardianship are the most common types of parent-child relationships observed in families.
Thus, our research represents the experience of reducing a large number of aspects of parent-child relationships (high, medium or low level of child rejection in the family, etc. according to four other characteristics) to one of the types of parent-child relationships according to A.V.’s classification . Petrovsky: “Dictat”, “Guardianship”, “Non-interference” and “Cooperation”.
A practicing psychologist, having received information about the type of child-parent relationships in a child’s family, can predict his most likely further personal development, since the influence of one or another type of child-parent relationship on the development of the child’s personality and character has been described quite fully by A.V. Petrovsky (including the most optimal of them - “Cooperation”). A research psychologist, having correlated the results of a parent’s completion of the ORO Test with one of the types of child-parent relationships, is able to operate with brief and succinct characteristics for research purposes (for example, unite subjects into groups according to types of parent-child relationships).
Literature
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2. Burmenskaya G.V., Karabanova O.A. and others. Age-related psychological approach to counseling children and adolescents - M.: “Academy”, 2002.
3. Varga A.Ya. Structure and types of parental relationships: Author's abstract. Ph.D. dis. -M., "986.
4. Ovcharova R.V. School psychologist's reference book. - M.: “Enlightenment”, “Educational Literature”, “996.
5. Petrovsky A., Petrovsky V. Are parents always right? Psychology of education - M.: Publishing house "AST", 2003.
6. Petrovsky A.V., Yaroshevsky M.G. Psychology - M.: “Academy”, 2002.
7. Petrovsky V.A., Polevaya M.V. Alienation as a phenomenon of parent-child relationships // Questions of psychology. - 200". - No. ".
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Diagnosis of parent-child relationships helps to find out exactly what the child feels when he is in his own home, what experiences and worries torment him every day.
With the help of special tests, we can understand what kind of environment prevails and how this affects the child’s fragile personality.
Adults often do not notice or are not able to see what is really happening, but the baby always subtly senses the slightest changes in the relationships of the parents, the family atmosphere, and this, of course, affects his personality and future.
Using the methods presented, you will be able to identify mature or emerging problems in the perception of the child’s situation and, if desired, correct the situation within the family.
How can you tell if something is wrong with your child? Why are tests needed?
Ideally, before rushing into adulthood, a child inevitably goes through the institution of family.
It is here that he will be instilled with certain skills, and it will depend only on adults whether he will grow up sociable or unsociable, self-confident or tormented by doubts.
Sometimes it’s not even noticeable how much his parents and the atmosphere in the house influence him. “He has always been quiet”, “He has been like this since birth” - this is a common mistake.
It’s just that the degree of parental influence knows no bounds and begins from the very birth (if not from conception) of the baby. The child feels everything!
And if the situation becomes tense, an experienced psychologist will always notice this.
Problems identified in a timely manner are easier to solve Signs of deviation:
- Increased anxiety
- Closedness
- Hyperactivity
- Deterioration in academic performance
- Difficulty communicating with peers
- Lack of initiative
A child, starting and up to adolescence, can be demonstrative.
He will try to achieve success in everything, to the last drop of strength, or, on the contrary, he will become a notorious “robber”, doing anything to get attention.
In fact, this is direct evidence of a lack of love, a feeling of abandonment, of uselessness to anyone.
The baby suffers and with this behavior he simply tries to get a bit of parental love for himself.
It's not always the family's fault.
Often they care and appreciate him sufficiently, but this is not enough due to an exaggerated need.
The other side of the coin is withdrawal and isolation. This often happens if a child cannot withstand the demands of an adult and expectations put too much pressure on him.
Here, too, everything depends on the behavior of the parent.
Perhaps, after testing your child, it would be right for you to take the “Family Education Strategies” test to identify your true attitude towards your child.
This will require the work of a psychologist with both parents to correct their behavior.
There can be many anomalies and each one manifests itself differently.
It is important that the diagnosis of parent-child relationships in preschool educational institutions was not perceived aggressively as a way to “get into our business.”
Adults often underestimate childhood experiences, thereby aggravating the child’s condition Testing, on the contrary, will help identify the problem and provide recommendations for a solution.
There are no difficult children; there is a completely unsuitable environment for their development and growth.
Help a child psychologist adequately understand the situation, and he will definitely come to the rescue.
The methods listed below are presented in free form for your reference; the questionnaires themselves will be provided to you by a psychologist or can be found on the Internet.
Perhaps you would like to conduct them yourself, at home.
It's doable, but remember that diagnostics of child-parent relationships, in all its diversity and the degree of development of the child’s personality revealed more accurately only by an outsider, a disinterested person.
And you are just as interested as anyone, so it would be best to trust an experienced pro.
It all depends on the complexity, for example, “a drawing of a family” can be freely interpreted by almost everyone.
Advice: if you are given the task to take the test in parallel with your child, do not refuse and do not ask to bring it later. It is important for a psychologist to communicate with you during the process and observe your behavior.
“Family Drawing” - a simple and effective technique
It is designed for children, teenagers, and even adults.
It is worth starting from the moment when the child is able to draw people not as “tadpoles” with arms and legs, but as creatures with a head, neck, and torso.
Do not set any restrictions or give clear instructions.
Just ask them to draw the family in the way the subject wants. Prepare a simple pencil and half a landscape sheet in advance.
Too much space can confuse him.
Do not give this set an eraser; if the child insists, give him a new sheet, and then compare them with each other.
It is important to make it clear that this is not a task for the sake of a grade, and no one will scold you.
Keep track of who will be drawn first and who will be drawn last and avoid any reproach.
During this diagnosis of parent-child relationships, intended for preschoolers, ask to be sure to sign each object: “mom”, “dad”, “Nusya the dog”, etc.
You will be surprised how, for example, brothers can be signed by their sister: “my little brother Maxik” and “Victor”.
The difference is colossal, isn't it? Inanimate objects are also important in terms of the role they play in the life of the child and his family (from his point of view).
And this does not always indicate materialism.
It’s just that your favorite phone is a constant thing, it is a source of pleasure and information and will not disappear anywhere, unlike a person.
When processing data, consider the following rules:
- There can be no coincidences in a drawing; it’s all an expression of feelings. If someone is not drawn, this indicates either aggression towards a relative or a lack of emotional contact.
- Is the baby not in the picture? Two options are possible: he does not care about this unit of society or he cannot find his place in the family.
- The size of an object always indicates its importance and role for the artist. The one who is taller has more power, in his opinion.
- Ask them to name and sign each character. Even if the number matches your data, perhaps he drew Santa Claus instead of dad.
- Fictional characters express what is missing. This is an imaginary relationship. Find out everything about this creature and you will understand the feelings of the baby.
- The character closest to the child drawn is psychologically closer. It may not even be a mother, but a beloved cat.
- If the family is depicted as small at the very top of the sheet, this indicates low self-esteem and a high level of demands on oneself. At the very bottom (the clear place at the top of their heads) is low self-esteem and level of aspirations.
If someone worries or frightens him especially strongly, the drawing will be circled several times, shaded, or vice versa, depicted with a light touch of the tip of the pencil.
Distortions on the right side of the body indicate problems of a social nature.
For adults, this means studying; for a child, this means kindergarten and school.
Distortions on the left side indicate problems with close people (small arm or leg).
The size of the head indicates the amount of intelligence, and the eyes indicate the mental state.
After all, in a baby’s picture of the world, eyes are given to cry and express emotions and ask for support.
Warm, trusting relationships with loved ones will help your child settle in life easier. Large ones - anxiety, small “dots” - afraid to ask for help, feels fear.
With the help of the ears, a person listens to others, and the mouth is a symbol of aggression.
It is big among critics, people who constantly shout and swear.
The presence of a neck indicates the ability to control your feelings. Hands in the perception of the subject are the ability to act.
The more clearly they are drawn, the more confident he feels in the world. These can be a kind of “mittens” or 5 fingers.
If there are more of them, then he feels very confident and senses his power. Pay attention to the area of support at your feet.
This is a symbol of a stable position in life, especially if they stand on the ground line and not above it.
Tip: Give your child as much time as he needs. Don't push or rush.
Special tests will help identify the problem Diagnosis of parent-child relationships in the family according to E. Bene-Anthony, “Sad Mom”
The following diagnosis of parent-child relationships proposed by E.Bene-Anthony suitable for teenagers and even very young children.
The difference lies in the examiner's approach; a teenager can read the cards independently, but a child will need to read them out loud.
You should purchase or make yourself 21 paper figures that will symbolize family members (people).
They must be of different genders and ages, ranging from infants to elderly people.
Make sure they are all different and very distinctive. The last character is Mr. Nobody.
It will be possible to turn to him if the proposed statement does not find its place among the intended family circle.
Each figure should have a place for cards (envelope).
Sit down with your child at the table and invite him to fantasize, imagine that one of these characters is his family, let him choose them.
Then the baby is asked questions that he must assign to a specific paper man.
They are divided into the following categories:
- Positive emotions coming from the baby (whom he loves, who plays with...)
- Negative emotions coming from the baby (whom he hates, who makes him angry...)
- Positive emotions received by the baby (do you like to kiss?, Are you happy with...?)
- Negative emotions received by the baby (you scold, you spank...)
Moreover, this diagnosis of parent-child relationships and similar techniques should be carried out in two directions.
Asking who you love and who loves you, who you hate and who hates you, etc.
Option for diagnosing parent-child relationships in adolescence contains emphasis on two types of positive attitudes: weak and strong.
The first is, the second is manipulation, intimate mental contact, experiences based on the first manifestations of sexuality.
Indulgence and overprotection, as well as expressions of hostility, are studied.
The “Sad Mom” diagnostic consists of a drawing depicting a sad woman and a man.
Instructions are given: “The artist drew mom and dad in the room. Dad looks out the window, and mom is very sad and upset about something.
Why do you think she is in a bad mood?” After it, the child can give his own vision of the situation.
You will be surprised how sensitively children feel the situation in the house and how they perceive any quarrel in their own way. There are basically three types of responses.
First group (the child blames himself): “Because their son ran away,” “Their daughter ruined their mood.”
The second indicates a personal quarrel between the parents: “Mom didn’t prepare food for dad,” “Dad doesn’t allow mom to communicate with her friends.”
The third talks about extraneous reasons: “Because the weather is bad”, “The stove is broken”, etc.
This technique reveals the degree to which children are focused on quarrels in the family and their perception of the situation.
This is especially true if the couple has broken up or is divorced. Pay attention to the child’s emotions and ask clarifying questions.
The third group of answers is preferable.
Advice: adults should take the following tests: “Measure of Caring”, Parental Attitudes Questionnaire (A.Ya. Varga, V.V. Stolin), Shafer’s Parental Attitudes and Reactions Inventory (PARI).
Children often associate themselves with animals Diagnosis of parent-child relationships in primary school age - children's apperception test (CAT)
The Children’s Apperception Test will help you understand several categories at once: what he needs and what he expects, will clarify his attitude towards parents and peers, the level of aggressive anxieties and fears, and the presence of intrapersonal conflicts.
Children love to associate themselves even more with animals (as Freud also believed), so this test will only bring them pleasure.
The technique is suitable for children from 3 to 10 years old.
There is a time limit (40 minutes), but you must secretly monitor it without bothering your child.
Give out images one by one, because children to everyone at once, this will break the thread of the story.
Let's look at the images:
- 3 chickens are sitting at the table, in front of them is a bowl of food. The image of a chicken is visible in the distance. The topic highlights the problem of competition between brothers and eating behavior.
- Three bears have a tug of war. On one side there is an adult, on the other there is a bear and a cub. The animal is associated with the baby himself. And tug of war is about competition between mom and dad. Which side will the baby take? Is it aggressive competition or friendly play?
- A lion sits on a throne, with a cane nearby. Below is a picture of a mink with a mouse. This image is most often seen as a father figure or guardian. Let the subject tell whether the lion is evil or good, why does he need a cane, who is the mouse? Isn't it the child himself?
- Mother kangaroo walks with kangaroo cubs. The theme of competition between brothers and sisters and the attitude towards the youngest in the house is most often hidden here.
- Two bear cubs are lying in a crib in the elders’ room. Provides an opportunity to speak out about hidden embarrassments, experiences and observations.
- Two adult bears are sleeping in a dark cave, with a bear cub in the foreground. The question of jealousy, the trinity, the problem of masturbation.
- An angry tiger is chasing a monkey. A fairy tale can be filled with the theme of fear, struggle, violence or a fun chase. It all depends on the reaction.
- There are 3 monkeys sitting in the room, one of them is talking to a small monkey. The expected situation is considered: a reprimand, encouragement or a simple conversation.
- The little hare sits in a crib in a dark room. The problem of fear of abandonment and loneliness.