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Study of Behavior in a Group of Institutionalized Children

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Study of Behavior in a Group of Institutionalized Children A STUB? OP BEHAVIOR IN A GROUP OF INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILDREN by MARGARET BALLARD HARRIS B. S. t Kansas Stats College of Agriculture and Applied Science, 1937 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OP SCIENCE Department of Child Welfare and Euthenics KANSAS STATE COLLEGE OP AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE 1954 TABLE OP C0NTKNT3 INTRODUCTION Page 1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1 Traumatic Effects of Institutional Living 3 Emotional Developmental Needs 4 Supplying Needed Emotional Experiences - The Parent Substitute 5 Intellectual Retardation in Institutionalized Children 9 Social Retardation in the Institutionalized Child 11 Enriched Environment a Stimulus to Intellectual and Social Growth 11 Physical Retardation in Institutionalized Children. 12 Treatment of Emotional Problems of Institutionalized Children 12 STATEMENT OP THE PROBLEM 15 PROCEDURE 16 Subjects 16 Methods and Materials ».••«• 21 ANALYSIS OP DATA 31 Characteristic Behavior Scores 31 Conforming and Non-Conforming Behavior Scores .... 36 SUMMARY 58 CONCLUSIONS 61 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 63 LITERATURE CITED 65 Ill APPENDIX 70 Aneodot«l ecords 70 Definition of Items in the Check- sheet 169 INTRODUCTION In the literature reporting studies of problems of insti- tutionalized children, there has been amassed a large body of evidence Indicating that, by the lack of opportunity for close attachment to a mother-figure, personality development is seri- ously hampered In the case of preschool children. It is reoog- nized that foster-home placement is to be preferred for these children, as more nearly matching the environment of natural family life. There remains, however, a large number for whom such placement Is not available. It therefore seems Important to continue the study and analysis of the various aspects of institutional environment In an effort to determine more exact- ly those points at which some change can be effected which will render it a more adequate milieu for the personality development of the young child. It is hoped that this study will make a contribution toward this end. REVIEW OP LITERATURE A census taken in 1933 revealed that 242,929 dependent and neglected children were being oared for in institutions and foster homes In this country, (Hopkirk, 28). A later census, intended to bring these figures up-to-date, was never carried out due to the war, but It stands to reason that with the nor- mal Increase in population, as reflected In recent national census figures, this number has undoubtedly increased. 2. Consequently, the problems of oaring for children in institu- tions must still be dealt with. This is not to imply that eventually institutional living for all children under all circumstances should be abolished, for a number of studies (6), (9), (22), (32), (41), have re- vealed that for many children there are definite values in group living. It has been recommended (22), (28), that both foster-home care and institutional placement should be consider- ed in plans for a child, and the ohoice made with careful pre- liminary study of the individual child's problems, needs and cepaoities. Burlingham and Freud (8), however, have wisely pointed out that social and economic factors will probably determine whether these children are reared in groups or In families. It is an often demonstrated truth that adequate foster-homes are not available in enough numbers to provide such a solution to the placement of every child who needs substitute care. Also, Clothier (9) points out that "Children in foster family care oontlnue, in alarming numbers, to present problems and to grow up to be poor citizens and inadequate personalities." Never- theless, the arguments are well documented in favor of the fos- ter home for the majority of children (8), (10), (38), and especially for the child under six years of age, while the In- stitution is being Increasingly looked to for therapeutio group iPlorenoe Clothier, "Institutional needs in the field of child welfare," Nerv. Child 1948, 7:154. 3. work where problem behavior Indicates the need for sueh treat- ment, (6), (9), (22), (32), (36), (41). Therefore, in view of these various aspects of the problem, we must recognize that institutional living will continue to be the status quo for many. Traumatic Effects of Institutional Living Among child welfare specialists, there has been notable concern over the large number of Institutionally reared child- ren who repch adulthood without having developed those traits of personality and character which are necessary for responsible adult living.^- Why do sueh a high percentage exhibit unsocial behavior? Why ^ere so many unable to give and receive affection? Why are they unable to understand and accept limitations? Why are they so Insecure, so helpless In the face of the necessity to adjust to living In the world outside of the institution? In a study of 38 young people, 16 to 25 years of age, (Beres, 5) with an early history of institutional living be- tween the ages of two weeks and four and a half years, there were four who were psychotic, seven suffering from character William Ooldfarb, "Rorschach test differences between family-reared, institution-reared and schizophrenic children," Am. Jour. Orthopsychlat. 1949, 19:632. "It has been found thet institution and schizophrenic groups of children are similar in a number of Rorschach trends. The Rorschach Test confirms that both groups are deficient In rational control, regard for real- ity, consistent drive for intellectual and social attainment, and emotional maturity. Both schizophrenic and institution children show an essential and primary disturbance in all as- pects of personality." 4. disorder due to psychic immaturity, twelve with neurotic char- acter disorders, two with character disorders of a schizoid nature, four classed as mentally retarded, two with a diagnosis of psychoneurosls and only seven who were considered to be sat- isfactorily adjusted. Emotional Developmental Needs It is now known that the emotional developmental sequence, comparable to the more widely recognized physical developmental sequence of young children, operates in much the same manner as the latter. That is, any interruption, interference or basic deprivation in the normal development of emotional end person- ality structure has a permanent stunting effect upon the total personality and cannot be compensated fully at any later period (Dula, 11). The Innate drives to love and be loved, to feel secure, and to achieve must be nourished from earliest Infancy by a continuous warm and satisfying relationship with an adult "par- ent person" if emotional development is to take place normal- ly. 1 Part and parcel of this basic and essential child-adult relationship is the process of "identification", wherein the child adopts for himself specific attitudes and qualities of ^Kate Priedlander, "The significance of the home for the child's emotional development during the first six years," Jour. Went. Scl. 1948, 94:305-313. Transformation of primitive instinctive drives economically and in such a way as to assure a good character formation and prevent laying down of future neurotic patterns, early objeot relationships in ego develop- ment, and strong super-ego formation require a constant contact of mother and child. 5. personality and oharaoter from the loved parson, a process which is essential to the formation of an adequate ego struc- ture. Children need someone with whom to identify because they need pa tterns of goodness , of kindness, of warmth, of friendliness, of happiness. They need to see and feel those things in context as exhibited by another human be- ing's make-up, actions, and emotional tone, as part of the way they meet life and greet other people. Children need to identify with adults who like the work they are doing. Children need to see a feminine role and e masculine one.* Friedlander says, "The development of an ethical code that will be strong enough to govern the individual's future actions is dependent on the existence of family life." Supplying Needed Emotional Experiences - The Parent Substitute For obvious practical reasons, no group home exists where a full-time set of parent substitutes can be provided for each child. No staff person can be bound to a "life- tenure" con- tract to protect the child from the breaking of emotional ties which he may have formed with that person. He may even experi- ence several such traumatic breaks in the first few years of life. The avoidance of any experience of privation is Impossible, yet much can be done toward providing these children with more satisfactory emotional experiences. More and more institutions Lawrence K. and Mary H. Prank, "One way to personality," Chlldh. Ed. 1949, 25J389. 2Priedlander, op. cit., p. 305. 1 6. are concerning themselves with meeting this need. Freud end Burllngham (15) have reported experiences with the formation of "artificial families'1 within residential nur- series In wartime England. Four or five children were put un- der the guldanoe of one young nurse or teacher, with another to substitute during "off-hours" and days off duty. In all these Instances, the group reactions of the children quiekly changed to the emotional reactions of children in a natural family setting. They formed a strong and possessive attachment to their nurse and were at the same time more exacting, but also more willing to make sacrifices for her, than they had been before. Cer- tain steps in development which had been difficult or im- possible In the group setting, as for instance habit training, were under these ohangedrconditions easier to accomplish. The other children of the same "family" were then treated with the mixture of jealousy and toleration which is one of the characteristics of the brother-sister relationship; but this tolerance was not extended outside the family. The children quiekly developed an understand- ing of the other families and respected eneh other's rights to the possession of a particular grown-up.
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