As the society becomes industrialized and women’s level of education increases, the number of working women is growing everyday. Especially, employment of married women not only helps family economy but also satisfies the need of their self-realizat...
As the society becomes industrialized and women’s level of education increases, the number of working women is growing everyday. Especially, employment of married women not only helps family economy but also satisfies the need of their self-realization and development. Economic activities of married women helps economic level of the family and the education of the children but many children experience psychological problems because of the absence of fosterer care-taking. In this reality, the biggest problem for the dual income family is the parenting and education of the children.
Women’s social and economic activity often leads to placing out the children to the relatives, grand parents and public institutions, which as a result causes many children to be raised by others from early life. The experts in education of children have been interested in how the separation of mother and children and rearing by other people affect the development of infants and the attachment between children and mothers. Especially, based on the attachment theory which says that the attachment relationship between mother and children in the early age becomes the foundation of the children’s later development, there have been a lot of opinions on if a child can form the attachment to mother even when she cannot raise a child, and what kind of impact it has on the development of a child. Some children spend most of their time with alternative fosters or at the day care center or public institutions while their parents are working, and in many cases the children can have behavioral and emotional problems due to insecure attachment caused by the lack of contact with their parents and not forming the attachment to their mothers in the early stage.
The objective of this research is to identify the effect of the art therapy done to the children who formed insecure attachment caused by the separation from his parent and brought up by alternative fosters, which in result made them withered, unstable and have negative emotions and aggressive behavior that caused problems with their relationship with peers.
The object of this therapy was child in the age of 10 and were enrolled as 3rd grader of elementary school. 35sessions were done, 50minutes per session, at the C community center art therapy room located in Seoul from November 2006 to October 2007 on every Wednesday. The object was not breast fed because mother had to work and he was raised by their grand parents until 6 years old. Parent’s authoritarian attitude furthered insecure attachment to the parent and as a result the object came to have negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and aggressive behavior. Outwardly he was distracted and did not fit in the family and did not have smooth communication in the family. Emotional interaction between parent and the child was impaired.
Consequently, the researcher encouraged the children to release and purify the negative emotions through art in a psychologically safe space, and furthermore let them experience emotional interaction, and ultimately experience the secure attachment again. Accordingly, the research subject has been decided upon how the art therapy is affecting and changing the child emotionally.
First, how should the child, forming unstable attachment made by dual-income couple, have an influence on emotion and activity of children through art activity?
Secondly, Should the art therapy have an positive effect on formation of stable attachment between parents and child with insecure attachment?
Before the art therapy was done, the child was given ‘parent attachment survey’, which is altered version of ‘The Inventory of Parents and Peer Attachment’ made by Armsden and Greenberg(1987) to be used to the children. (IPPA-R)
The results of this research are as follows:
First, art therapy had a positive influence on emotion and behavior of the child restored the safety basis in the art therapy room and formed intimacy and trust between the therapist through the emotional interaction. Based on the formative activities, the aggressiveness of the child had been released safely and diverted into positive internal effect model.
Secondly, before the art therapy, IPPA-R was used to measure the degree of the attachment subjectively and to measure the effect of art therapy on the attachment. Also, the art therapy gave a chance to the child and parent to find out the change in emotions and behavior through the counseling and attempted to continue the safe experience and emotions at home and helped child to form secure attachment with the parent.
Based on the above mentioned results, I make the following suggestions.
First, it is necessary to expedite the creation of secure attachment by having opportunities for children to emotionally interact with parents through the experience of art therapy.
Secondly, the children of this research are the case of avoidance type of insecure attachment, made by sudden or environmental change of a early fosterer, as dual-income couple, and so it as necessary to study other types of insecure attachment.