Projective drawing on black bereaved children in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa : a test in search of psychological life
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Date
2002
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Abstract
There has been a lot of concern as to whether children grieve or not when death strikes in their immediate environment If the experience of bereavement can be reliably measured in children, insight into their painful experiences will be gained and appropriate treatment strategies will be established.
This study aims to explore whether projective drawings can provide a reliable method of exploring the world of a black bereaved child. The Human Figure Drawing (HFD), Self Portrait, Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) and Own Choice/spontaneous Drawing was adniinistered on a group of 20 bereaved children and a control group of 20 non bereaved children. In general, more Emotional Indicators were identified on HFDs and Self Portraits of the Bereaved Group. Results showed statistically significant differences between the two groups in four indicators on HFDs (big figure; teeth; monster/grotesque; hands cut off) and in two indicators on Self Portrait (slanting figure and hands cut off) KFDs and Own Choice Drawings could not statistically differentiate the two groups but were found to be of assistance in gaining insight into the family dynamics and for gaining respite from grief work respectively, in the bereaved group. Composite analysis of the four projective drawings provided more insight into the world of the bereaved child.
Description
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 2002.
Keywords
Bereavement in children, Grief in children, Children and death