Textbook: Fundamentals of psychological counseling and psychological correction. Behavioral disorders in children Diagnosis of aggressive behavior in older children

Psychological research shows that most children encounter various kinds of problems and difficulties, among which behavioral disorders occupy one of the leading places. At the same time, in the psychological literature there is no uniform definition of the concept of “behavioral disorders” in children.

Specialists in most human sciences - neurophysiologists, anthropologists, geneticists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, criminologists, psychiatrists - study behavioral disorders. All this leads to the fact that the same term can have completely different meanings in different sciences.

Neuroscientists study the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral disorders.

Psychiatrists collect data on the behavioral characteristics of people with serious mental disorders.

Sociologists are busy studying what social conditions give rise to behavioral deviations.

At the present stage of development of science, an understanding is being formed that human behavior disorders are a phenomenon that is the subject of interdisciplinary research.

Behavior is defined as the psychological and physical manner of behaving, taking into account the standards established in the social group to which the individual belongs.

In this regard, behavioral disorders are considered as repeated, sustainable actions or behaviors, including mainly aggressiveness of a destructive nature with a picture of widespread maladaptation of behavior, which manifests itself either in the violation of the rights of other people, or in violation of social norms or rules characteristic of a given age.

From the point of view of social orientation there are:

socialized antisocial behavior, characteristic of children who do not have pronounced mental disorders and easily adapt to various social conditions due to the low moral and volitional level of behavior regulation;

and unsocialized aggressive behavior observed in children with a negative emotional state, which is the child’s reaction to a tense, stressful situation or mental trauma, or is a consequence of unsuccessful resolution of some personal problems or difficulties (15).

Let us turn to the problem of children's maladaptation in older preschool age. Determining the essence and main directions of the principles of psychological and pedagogical work with maladaptive children in preschool educational institutions requires an analysis of the phenomenon of childhood maladjustment as a whole. An appeal to the works of domestic foreign authors shows that the designated phenomenon appears to be complex and multifaceted. Suffice it to say that in science there is no single explanation and single classification of essential characteristics, signs, indicators, factors of the emergence and development of the state of maladjustment in children and adolescents.

In the specialized literature, two terms are used to denote essentially the same (or at least similar) phenomena: the term “disadaptation” and “disadaptation.”

The prefix "dis" (Latin origin) or "dis" (Greek) means "difficulty, disturbance, disorder, imbalance." Therefore, the term “disadaptation” means a disorder, to one degree or another, a violation of the ability of the adaptive system to adequately respond, adapt, and have a chance to restore adaptation. In turn, the French prefix “deux” denotes loss, separation, removal, destruction, absence of something.

Therefore, according to a number of researchers, maladaptation means certain persistent difficulties that arise for an individual in any social environment (in particular, for a schoolchild in school conditions) (L.N. Vinokurov).

Meanwhile, due to the undoubted similarity of the designated terms in scientific usage, the use of the term “maladjustment” is more traditional. This concept, in its functional and semantic characteristics, is the antipode to the concept of “adaptation”. In the context of the concept of activity of A.N. Leontiev, personality adaptation is understood as an individual’s active assimilation of social experience, mastery of communication skills, and social roles. In general, according to most authors, socio-psychological adaptation is a process that contributes to successful socialization, personality development and its appropriate education.

When considering the phenomenon of childhood maladaptation, it is necessary to determine the range of phenomena of a psychological and pedagogical nature that are, to one degree or another, related to the maladaptive development and behavior of children.

Giving a general description of childhood maladjustment, S.A. Belicheva notes the undoubted connection of this phenomenon with the phenomenon of difficult education and pedagogical neglect. Thus, the researcher writes: “Under the conditions of family and public education, certain forms of child maladjustment are perceived by teachers and parents as “difficulty in educating.” Difficulty in educating presupposes the child’s resistance to targeted pedagogical influence, caused by a variety of reasons, including pedagogical miscalculations of educators, parents, mental and physical defects. social development, temperamental characteristics, other personal characteristics of pupils that complicate their social adaptation, assimilation of educational programs and social roles... In this regard, maladjustment of children is understood as the result of internal or external (sometimes complex) deharmonization of the interaction of the individual with himself and society, manifested in internal discomfort, disturbances in the activities, behavior and relationships of the child’s personality.

As L.S. believes Ivanov, one of the leading factors and manifestations of a child’s maladaptive state in preschool age is trouble in his emotional and personal sphere. The appearance of symptoms of the indicated trouble (anxiety, fears) in preschoolers indicates, in the author’s opinion, the presence of more or less pronounced adaptation disorders, where emotional trouble plays the role of a prerequisite, the initial stage of the emergence of maladjustment, being at the same time its zero level (pre-maladaptation). At the same time, L.S. Ivanova believes that the main psychological indicator of the ill-being of a child’s personal development is childhood anxiety.

According to L.N. Vinokurova, “group risk” in the context of possible maladjustment includes children with a reduced level of general health, an increase in cases of vegetative-vascular dystonia, and the manifestation of symptoms of mental maladjustment in the form of neurotic reactions and neurotic disorders that arise in situations of psycho-emotional stress.

EAT. Ekelova-Bagaley identifies three groups of causes of childhood maladjustment:

psychological factors, which include the intellectual personal characteristics of the child: low level of intelligence, inadequate level of aspirations, hyperactivity, weakness of volitional processes, lack of cognitive interests, lack of formation of appropriate motivation;

microsocial factors, which include unfavorable family and living conditions, conflict situations among peers in an educational institution;

biological factors; One of the leading factors of this kind is biologically determined brain failure (both congenital, including hereditary, and acquired residual organic pathology).

V.E. Kagan classified the causal factors of school maladaptation (primary school age), which can be interpreted in the context of senior preschool age:

understanding of childhood maladaptation as didactogeny, when the learning process in terms of information overload of the brain is recognized as a psychotraumatic factor. At the same time, the most didactogenically vulnerable are children with disorders in the analyzer system, physical defects, uniformity and asynchrony of development, and those whose intellectual capabilities are close to the norm;

understanding of childhood maladaptation as a consequence of didascalogenies, that is, mental disorders caused by the teacher’s incorrect behavior;

seeing the main cause of childhood maladjustment in the congenital or constitutional vulnerability of the child’s central nervous system;

the idea of school maladaptation as a result of disturbances in family relationships.

According to E.B. Bezzubova, there are two types of maladaptation of a child’s personality in senior preschool and primary school age: “cognitive” and “personal”.

The cognitive type is characterized mainly by a violation of learning ability itself. Such a violation is a consequence of the influence of two groups of factors: impairment of intelligence and its prerequisites (attention, memory, performance); violation of “school skills” (motor skills, counting, reading, speech). The personal type of maladaptation is characterized by a violation of socialization processes, which are manifested in limiting the range of available forms of interpersonal communication. Maladaptation of children in a preschool institution determines their subsequent school maladjustment.

A similar classification of behavioral disorders is proposed by V.T. Kondrashenko, defining them as a deviation from the norm of externally observable actions (deeds), in which a person’s internal motivation is realized, manifested both in practical actions (real behavioral disorder) and in statements and judgments (verbal behavioral disorder).

To determine the severity of a child’s disorder, M. Rutter offers the following criteria for assessing possible deviations in any behavior:

1. Standards corresponding to the age characteristics and gender of the child. Some behaviors are only normal for children of a certain age. Regarding issues related to gender differences, even in late childhood, the behavior of boys and girls is largely the same, and this is normal.

2. Duration of persistence of the disorder. Children quite often experience various fears, seizures, and other disorders. However, cases of long-term persistence of these conditions should cause concern in adults.

3. Life circumstances. Temporary fluctuations in the behavior and emotional state of children are a common and normal phenomenon, since development never occurs smoothly, and temporary regression occurs quite often. All these fluctuations occur more often in some conditions than in others, so it is important to take into account the circumstances of the child's life.

4. Sociocultural environment. The differentiation between normal and abnormal behavior cannot be absolute. The child’s behavior must be assessed by the norms of his immediate sociocultural environment. Cultural differences that exist in society significantly influence the variability of generally normal behavior.

5. Degree of violation. Individual symptoms are much more common than a whole series of symptoms at the same time. Children with multiple emotional and behavioral disorders require more attention, especially if they simultaneously affect different aspects of mental life.

6. Type of symptom. Symptoms vary. Some are caused by improper upbringing of the child, others by mental disorder.

7. Severity and frequency of symptoms. Moderate, occasional behavioral difficulties are more common in children than severe, recurring disorders. It is very important to find out the frequency and duration of adverse symptoms.

8. Behavior change. When analyzing children's behavior, one should compare its manifestations not only with those traits that are characteristic of children in general, but also with those that are common for a given child.

9. Situational specificity of the symptom. A symptom whose manifestation is independent of any situation is considered to reflect a more serious disorder than a symptom that occurs only in a specific situation.

Elements of destructive behavior affect all aspects and mechanisms of social life. Before talking about aggression and aggressive behavior of people in prison, let's give the concept of destructive (deviant) behavior. The subject of consideration will be only those aspects of behavior that can be regarded as deviant, or deviant, behavior. All elements of destructive behavior, including aggressive behavior, belong to the category of deviant behavior. E.V. Zmanovskaya gives the following definition of destructive behavior: this is a stable behavior of an individual, deviating from the most important social norms, causing real damage to society or the individual himself, and also accompanied by his social disadaptation. There are many psychological classifications of types of deviant behavior. So, Yu.A. Kleiberg identifies three main groups of behavioral deviations: negative (for example, drug use), positive (social creativity, etc.) and socially neutral (begging, etc.). Ts.P. Korolenko and T.A. The Donskoys also systematized types of deviant behavior. In their opinion, all behavioral deviations are divided into two large groups: non-standard and destructive behavior.

Non-standard behavior takes the form of new thinking, new ideas, it involves actions that go beyond social stereotypes of behavior, and greater activity outside the accepted norms, but plays a positive role in the development of society. The typology of destructive behavior is built in accordance with its goals. In one case, these are outwardly destructive goals (violation of social norms - legal, moral, ethical, cultural) and, accordingly, outwardly destructive behavior. In the second case, there are internal destructive goals (disintegration of the personality itself, its regression) and, accordingly, internal destructive behavior. Aggression is one of the components of destructive behavior. According to R. Baron and D. Richardson, its following working definition is accepted: “Aggression is any form of behavior aimed at insulting or harming another living being who does not want such treatment.”

There is an opinion that aggressiveness and destructiveness are synonyms. But most researchers come to the conclusion: aggression is one of the manifestations of destructive behavior. Numerous studies of aggression within various sciences comprehend the determinants and mechanisms of aggression, as well as ways to regulate and control human aggressiveness. Much attention in psychological research devoted to the phenomenon of aggressiveness is paid to the issue of the connection between aggression and character traits.

Aggression is considered as a special form of organization of behavior, which has a personal and situationally determined nature of determination. This distinction in the understanding of aggressiveness is fundamental, since there is a contradiction here: on the one hand, the leading level of determination of aggression can be aggressiveness as a stable property of a deformed personality, on the other hand, aggressive behavior can be caused by imitation mechanisms and violations of self-regulation processes, in which aggressive actions are protective and demonstrative character.

When providing psychological and pedagogical support for maladaptive preschoolers, it is necessary to proceed from the following position: difficult education, characterized by socio-psychological disadaptation, is accompanied by deformation of social ties and alienation of the child from the relevant institutions of socialization and, above all, from the family and preschool educational institution.

Therefore, one of the most important tasks of psychological and pedagogical support is to overcome this alienation, to include the child in a system of socially significant relationships, thanks to which he will be able to successfully assimilate positive social experience. The solution to this problem involves a whole range of psychological and pedagogical measures aimed both at improving the conditions of family upbringing, upbringing in an educational institution, and at individual psychological and pedagogical correction of the personality of a maladaptive child, as well as measures to restore his social status in the peer group.

Accordingly, psychological readiness for schooling, as a leading guideline for psychological and pedagogical support for maladaptive older preschoolers, is understood as a necessary and sufficient level of mental development of a child for mastering the school curriculum in a learning environment with peers.

A child’s psychological readiness for school is one of the most important results of mental development during preschool childhood. In general, all of the above allows us to state that psychological and pedagogical support for the personality of a maladaptive child reflects one of the aspects of the activity of a practical psychologist in education and represents a system of psychological and pedagogical actions of a specialist using the necessary range of psychological and pedagogical means of helping the child in order to ensure the full development of his personality .

Accordingly, the goal of psychological and pedagogical support for the personality of a maladaptive child in senior preschool age is associated with strengthening his psychological health (the psychological aspect of the activity of a practical psychologist) and the assistance of a preschool educational institution (preschool) teacher in preparing the child for school.

Aggressiveness. There are two most common causes of aggression in children. Firstly, the fear of being injured, offended, attacked, or damaged. The stronger the aggression, the stronger the fear behind it. Secondly, the insult experienced, or mental trauma, or the attack itself. Very often, fear is generated by disrupted social relationships between the child and the adults around him.

Physical aggression can be expressed both in fights and in the form of a destructive attitude towards things. Children tear books, scatter and destroy toys, and break necessary things. Sometimes aggressiveness and destructiveness coincide, and then the child throws toys at other children or adults. In any case, such behavior is motivated by the need for attention, some dramatic events.

Aggression does not necessarily manifest itself in physical actions. Some children are prone to so-called verbal aggression (insulting, teasing, swearing), which is often due to an unsatisfied need to feel strong or to recoup their own grievances. Sometimes children swear completely innocently, not understanding the meaning of the words. In other cases, a child, not understanding the meaning of a swear word, uses it, wanting to upset adults or annoy someone. It also happens that swearing is a means of expressing emotions in unexpected unpleasant situations: a child has fallen, hurt himself, been teased or touched.

Hot temper. A child is considered hot-tempered if he is inclined, for any reason, even the most insignificant from the point of view of adults, to throw a tantrum, cry, get angry, but does not show aggression. Hot temper is rather an expression of despair and helplessness, causing both adults and the child himself a lot of inconvenience and requiring overcoming.

Passivity. Often, adults do not see any problem in a child’s passive behavior, considering it good behavior. However, quiet children experience a variety of and not the most pleasant emotions. The child may be unhappy, depressed or shy. The approach to such children can be lengthy and a lot of time must pass before a response appears.

Quiet behavior of a child is often a reaction to inattention or troubles at home. With this behavior he is isolated in his own world. Manifestations of this include thumb sucking, scratching the skin, pulling out hair or eyelashes, rocking, etc.

Another reason for a child’s quiet, passive behavior may be fear of unfamiliar new adults, little experience communicating with them, or inability to turn to an adult. Such a child may either not need physical affection, or may not tolerate physical contact at all.

Hyperactivity. One of the most common behavioral problems in preschool age. The main signs of hyperactive behavior are distractibility and motor disinhibition. A hyperdynamic child acts without thinking about the consequences, although he does not plan anything bad and is sincerely upset about the incident for which he becomes the culprit. He easily endures punishment, does not remember insults, does not hold a grudge, constantly quarrels with peers and immediately makes peace. This is the noisiest child in the children's group.

The biggest problem of a hyperdynamic child is his distractibility. Having become interested in something, he forgets about the previous one, and does not complete a single task. He is curious, but not inquisitive, because curiosity presupposes some constancy of interest.

Shyness. Psychology has also identified three types of manifestations of shy behavior in preschoolers:

* external observable modes of behavior that signal to others: “I am shy,” with a characteristic uncertainty that manifests itself in the expectation of failure in difficult situations.

* physiological symptoms, for example, blush of shame.

* strong feelings of constraint and self-concentration, introspection with chronic uncertainty, extending to all types of activity.

The basic principle of behavior that determines the nature of shyness is to behave smoothly and quietly. Therefore, a shy person has to suppress many thoughts, feelings and impulses that constantly threaten to manifest themselves. It is one’s own inner world that makes up the environment in which a shy person lives. And although outwardly he may seem motionless, in his soul streams of feelings and unsatisfied desires rage and collide.

Shy children represent a large category who do not stand out from the general population of children in any way, but are often “convenient”. These children are suggestible: they have a good sense of the adult’s attitude towards them and their emotional state. Very often, a shy child is so timid and constrained that it seems that he is not able to cope with even the simplest task. But his failures are due to the fact that he does not know how to act, but because he will be scolded. Such children need quite a lot of time to familiarize themselves with the task, understand what is required of it, and what the result should be.

A shy preschooler does not know how and does not dare to make contact with other, unfamiliar and unfamiliar people. Even among people he knows well, he gets lost, has difficulty answering questions or when adults (with the exception of close relatives) approach him. They talk and communicate selectively, only according to their choice. Mostly, of course, with family. However, upon closer examination, it is almost always denied that a defenseless, seemingly timid and shy child has an iron will and a very domineering, stubborn character.

Anxiety. The problem of anxiety occupies a special place in modern scientific knowledge. On the one hand, this is the “central problem of modern civilization”, the most important characteristic of our time, on the other hand, it is a mental state caused by the special conditions of the life situation. Therefore, it is not surprising that a large number of studies by domestic and foreign authors are devoted to this problem. In the psychological literature one can find different definitions of this concept, although most studies agree on the need to consider it differentially - as a situational phenomenon and as a personal characteristic, taking into account the transition state and its dynamics.

Anxiety is understood as “an individual psychological characteristic that manifests itself in a person’s tendency to experience anxiety in various life situations.”

A.M. Parishioner studied forms of anxiety in the process of individual and group work with children and adolescents. A form of anxiety is understood as a special combination of the nature of experience, awareness, verbal and nonverbal expression in the characteristics of behavior, communication and activity.

The form of anxiety manifests itself in spontaneously developing ways of overcoming and compensating it, as well as in a person’s attitude towards this experience. A.M. Parishioners speak of the presence of two main categories of anxiety:

1) open - consciously experienced and manifested in behavior and activity in the form of a state of anxiety.

2) hidden - unconscious to varying degrees.

Acute, unregulated - the individual cannot cope with it on his own.

A child’s anxiety largely depends on the level of anxiety of the adults around him. High anxiety from a teacher or parent is passed on to the child. In families with friendly relationships, children are less anxious than in families where conflicts often arise. Unfortunately, despite the large number of works noted above on the problem under consideration, insufficient attention has been paid to the study of childhood anxiety. Recently, works have begun to appear that reflect the specifics of the development of anxiety in preschoolers, with the possibility of assessing its level in children starting from the age of 3.

The following criteria help determine anxiety in a child: constant anxiety; difficulty, sometimes inability to concentrate on anything; muscle tension (for example, in the face, neck); irritability, sleep disturbances.

In children of senior preschool age, anxiety is not yet a stable character trait and is relatively reversible with appropriate psychological and pedagogical measures. The factors that determine the manifestation of aggression, feelings of fear and anxiety include design features, the type of higher nervous activity, the social environment in the broad sense of the word (features of national culture that affect the objects of fear and anxiety of children of different nationalities (A.I. Zakharov), hostility of modern society (K. Horney [10]); antagonistic relations in society - a consequence of wars, disasters: social environment in the narrow sense of the word (material disadvantage of the family, microclimate in the children's environment, features of the development of the child's psyche in the prenatal and postnatal period, trauma at birth, abnormal conditions of child development (without parents, without family, in concentration camps, in orphanages), an increase in the number of verbalized and non-verbalized predominantly negative assessments, dissatisfaction with social status and the content side of communication (B.S. Mukhina).

Negative emotional states have the same reasons: the desire to regain lost self-esteem, reduced by attacks from others; the result of positive reinforcement; loss of love or love object; opposing forces IT, EGO, Super-EGO; authoritarian position of parents and educators (E. Erikson [on 10]); inferiority complex (A. Adler [on 10]); frustration of the need for recognition (B.S. Mukhina); in reliability, security from the immediate environment (A.M. Prikhozhan), the action of insurmountable barriers standing in the way of achieving the goal; unfavorable attitude of others (K. Rogers [10]); discrepancy between assessment and self-esteem (I.V. Dubrovina); the phenomenon of role identification (A.I. Zakharov); chronic failure that arises under the influence of excessive conflicting demands in kindergarten and at home, when the child tries to combine incompatible rules and ideals in his behavior (E.B. Novikova).

Anxiety, fears and aggression are also determined by specific reasons. For example, children’s fears are caused by strong unexpected impressions (sharp sounds, etc.), forced substitution of family roles, intimidation of children by mythical creatures, etc. Anxiety arises when there is a weak orientation towards real conditions, a situation of chronic failure, excessive organization of life, a symbiotic relationship between a child and his mother, when the mother feels like one with the child, tries to protect him from imaginary difficulties, as a result of which, when he is left without a mother, he suddenly becomes lost and becomes passive, insecure and anxious (E.B. Novikova).

The forms of manifestation of negative emotional experiences are not always the same: the feeling of fear is associated with horror, numbness, crying, embarrassment, shyness, redness, paleness, a feeling of “sucking in the pit of the stomach,” fussiness, worsening sleep, enuresis. Forms of anxiety are ritual magical actions, excessive fantasizing, inhibitory reactions - going into illness (B.I. Kochubey, E.B. Novikova), an open form, manifested either in excessive calm, insensitivity to real troubles, indirect, manifested through specific methods behavior (direct expression of aggression, combined with an expression of anxiety, etc.). Aggression is transformed into quarrels, threats, curses, attacks, physical violence, malicious jokes (E.A. Gasparova).

One of the reasons that causes negative emotional states in preschoolers may be watching television programs with elements of violence (it has been experimentally proven that every fifteen minutes a viewer of Russian television sees one act of violence on the screen) due to the low level of development of the culture of television perception (screen culture, audiovisual culture), which implies the culture of a television viewer who knows how to evaluate the moral content of television programs, independently select the on-screen information he needs and use it wisely (E.A. Zakharova); perceive it, comprehend it and aesthetically evaluate it; development of knowledge about the past and present of screen arts (Yu.N. Usov).

While the causes, forms of manifestation and nature of aggression, anxiety, and fears have been discussed quite fully in the scientific literature, the relationship between the levels of culture of television perception and the levels of these negative emotional states in preschoolers has not been studied enough; the regulations of our course work do not allow us to consider this issue in more detail.

Summarizing the above, we note that in the psychological literature there is still no uniform definition of the concept of “behavioral disorders” in children. All attempts to classify disorders are conditional, since the behavior of a preschool child most often combines the features of several behavioral disorders. However, summarizing all of the above, we can conditionally distinguish 3 most pronounced groups of so-called difficult children with behavioral problems:

1. Aggressive children - when highlighting this group, it is important to assess the degree of manifestation of the aggressive reaction, the duration of the action and the nature of the possible reasons, sometimes implicit, that caused this behavior disorder.

2. Emotionally and motor-disinhibited children - children belonging to this type react too violently to everything: if they express delight or suffer, then their expressive behavior will certainly be too loud and defiant.

3. Children who are too shy, vulnerable, touchy, timid, anxious are children who are embarrassed to express their emotions, who quietly experience their problems, afraid to draw attention to themselves.

To identify the true causes of a child’s behavior, it is necessary to present the symptoms of specific, frequently occurring behavioral disorders, knowledge of which will allow you to correctly structure work with the child, and to determine the severity of the child’s disorder, rely on criteria for assessing possible deviations in any behavior.

Thus, when deciding whether a child’s behavior deviates from the norm, one should take into account a combination of all the above criteria.

* mistakes in education;

* a certain immaturity, minimal damage to the nervous system.

To identify the true causes of a child’s behavior, it is necessary to present the symptoms of specific, frequently occurring behavioral disorders, knowledge of which will allow the teacher, together with a psychologist, not only to correctly structure work with the child, but also to determine whether certain complications are developing into painful forms that require qualified medical care .

aggression preschooler prevention for children

Causes of behavioral disorders in children

Reasons for deviations in behavior Children of preschool age are very diverse, but they can all be divided into two main groups: biological and social.

The biological group of factors, according to many Russian scientists, consists of intrauterine disorders (due to severe toxicosis of pregnancy, toxicplasmosis, various intoxications, etc.), pathology of childbirth, infections, injuries, as well as malformations of the brain associated with damage to genetic material ( chromosomal aberrations, gene mutations, hereditary metabolic defects, etc.).

Social factors of children's behavior disorders are divided into three groups: macro factors (space, state, planet, society, world, country); mesofactors (region, city, town, village). These factors influence both directly and indirectly through microfactors: family, peer groups, microsociety.

Kovalev V.V. notes that the greatest significance in the occurrence of behavioral difficulties belongs to pathocharacterological development that arose in connection with unfavorable conditions of the microsocial environment, improper upbringing or psychotraumatic situations.

The attachment of a child to an adult is a biological and innate urgent need. It is also one of the main psychological conditions for the successful development of a child. In the context of studying the causes of socio-emotional disorders affecting human behavior, numerous concepts have now appeared, such as “maternal deprivation”, “mental deprivation”, “social deprivation”, “emotional deprivation”.

Shipitsina L.M., Kazakova E.I. etc. the concept of “maternal deprivation” includes a number of different phenomena:

raising a child in child care institutions;
insufficient care of the mother for the child;
temporary separation of the child from the mother associated with illness;
loss of love and attachment of a child to a certain person who acts as a mother for him.

A child’s lack of trust in the world around him is considered by Russian and foreign researchers as a very severe and difficult to compensate consequence of maternal deprivation. The child develops persistent fear, distrust of other people and himself, reluctance to learn new things, aggressiveness, and learning.

The quality of communication a child receives largely determines his full development and the child’s emotional well-being. This has a direct impact on the formation of relationships with peers and the outside world.

In an unfavorable upbringing environment, a child develops persistent negative emotional states. Negative emotional reactions and attitudes towards life and people develop. These emotional states, having become entrenched, begin to regulate the child’s mental activity and behavior in a negative way, and at a later age leads to the formation of a negative life position.

Types of behavior disorders in preschool children

Researchers Kumarina G.F., Weiner M.E., Vyunkova Yu.N. and others identify the following typical behavioral disorders: hyperactive behavior (due primarily to the neurodynamic characteristics of the child), demonstrative, protest, infantile, aggressive, conformal and symptomatic (in the occurrence of which the determining factors are the conditions of learning and development, the style of relationships with adults, the characteristics of family upbringing ).

Hyperactive behavior of preschool children
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Children with hyperactive behavior have an increased need for constant movement. In children, when this need is blocked by strict rules of behavior, muscle tension increases and attention sharply worsens, performance decreases greatly, and severe fatigue occurs.

Following these reactions, an emotional release always occurs, which is expressed in motor restlessness uncontrollable by the child and severe disinhibition.

Demonstrative behavior

During demonstrative behavior, a child deliberately and consciously violates accepted norms and rules of behavior. This behavior is most often directed at adults.

Protest behavior

There are various forms of protest behavior in children - negativism, obstinacy, stubbornness.

Negativism is the behavior of a child when he does not want to do something just because he was asked to do it. Manifestations of child negativism: causeless tears, insolence, rudeness, or vice versa, isolation, touchiness, alienation. Negativism that occurs in children is the result of improper upbringing.
Stubbornness is the reaction of a child who insists on something not because he really wants it, but because he demanded it from an adult.
The child’s obstinacy is not directed at the adult leading him, but against the norms of upbringing and the lifestyle imposed on the child.

Aggressive behavior

Aggressive behavior refers to purposeful and destructive actions performed by a child. The child contradicts the norms and rules accepted in society. It harms living and non-living objects, causes psychological discomfort to surrounding people, and causes physical damage.

Enikolopov S.N. in his works he notes the following: the aggressive actions of a child most often act as a means to achieve a goal. It can be a way of psychological release. Replace the blocked and unsatisfied need for love, self-affirmation, self-realization.

Infantile behavior

An infantile child's behavior retains features that are characteristic of an earlier age and an earlier stage of development. The child is characterized by immaturity of integrative personal formations, with normal development of physical functions.

Conformal behavior

Conformal behavior of a child is complete subordination to external conditions and the demands of other people. The basis of conformist behavior is involuntary imitation, high suggestibility, and “easy infection with an idea.”

Symptomatic behavior

A symptom is a sign of a disease, painful manifestations. The symptomatic behavior of a child is an alarm signal that warns in a unique way that the current situation is no longer unbearable for the child (example: vomiting or nausea as a reflection of an unpleasant, painful situation in the family).

This behavior in a child is characterized by the following signs:

child behavior disorders occur involuntarily and cannot be controlled;
Child behavior disorders have a strong negative psychological impact on other people.

Ways to correct the behavior of children of preschool and primary school age

Correction of shortcomings in a child’s behavior always occurs through the joint activities of adults and children. In the course of it, education, upbringing, and development of the child’s personality are carried out. In joint activities, the child acquires not only basic knowledge, but also norms and generally accepted rules of behavior.

In the special psychological and pedagogical literature, two main groups of methods are distinguished: specific and nonspecific methods of behavior correction.

Specific methods of behavior correction include exercise and punishment. Let us take a closer look at nonspecific methods of behavior correction, which are widely used by psychologists and parents, as well as correctional teachers.

Nonspecific correction methods are divided into three groups:

Methods for changing children's activities;
Methods for changing relationships;
Methods for changing the components of educational work.

An important method is to introduce new additional activities.

The use of art in correctional work

In medical practice, art therapy is very often used. As Shatsky S.T. notes, art, harmoniously shaping all components of the personality, is capable of developing the child’s emotions and feelings, motives, reorienting the wrong ideal, values, and changing his behavior.

Karabanova O.A. notes that interest in the results of a child’s creativity on the part of others, their acceptance of creative products increases the child’s self-esteem, the degree of his self-acceptance, and self-worth. Creative activity develops such important qualities of a child as arbitrariness and self-regulation.

Using music

Music therapy is an effective means of developing a child’s personality and behavior. It is advisable to use recordings of natural sounds in music therapy.

Bekhterev V.M. believed that with the help of music it is possible to establish a balance in the activity of the child’s nervous system, to stir up the inhibited and moderate the overly excited, and regulate their behavior.

Bibliotherapy

Specially selected literary works (fairy tales, short stories, epics, fables) are perceived by the child not as fiction, but as a special existing reality. In the process of reading or listening to a literary work, children involuntarily learn to understand and recognize the behavior, feelings, and actions of the characters. They gain an understanding of different possible ways of behavior, and the child’s ability to analyze and control his behavior is enhanced.

Drawing

Drawing helps a child overcome his shortcomings and learn to control his reactions and behavior. Joint creativity between a child and an adult gives a feeling of friendly participation and understanding. The fullness of emotional communication causes a number of changes in the child’s inner life.

A game

Karabanova O.A. talks about the importance of play in correcting a child’s behavior. In play, the child begins to explore the system of social relations, rules of behavior, and norms, since in play conditions they are presented to children in a close, visually realistic form.

In the game, the child acquires rich and irreplaceable experience of partnerships, cooperation and collaboration. The child learns appropriate ways of behavior in various situations.

The child develops the ability to voluntarily regulate behavior, which is based on submission to a certain system of rules.

No less important in correcting children's behavior are methods of changing relationships. These include:

Personal example of an adult.
Ignoring the child’s unwanted behavior (whims).
Changing the child's status in the team.
Adults should abandon negative and critical assessments of the child’s behavior and unsuccessful actions. Initiative, the desire to follow rules and norms of behavior, and empathy for the child’s failures should be actively encouraged.

All of the listed groups of correctional work methods can be used in work with both normally developing children and children with deviations in their mental and intellectual development. If you have any questions regarding your child’s behavior, please contact us for a free consultation on our website. Qualified psychologists will be able to answer your questions and suggest ways to correct your child’s behavioral deficiencies.

Prevention and correction of behavioral disorders in preschool children

COURSE WORK

Content

Introduction 3

Chapter I. Basic theoretical and methodological approaches to the problem of behavior disorders in children 6

§1.1. Phenomenonbehavioral disorders in psychological science 6

§1.2. Prevention of behavioral disorders in childhood 14

§1.3 Features of behavioral disorders and their psychological correction in preschool age 22

ChapterII. Experimental study of behavioral disorders in children of senior preschool age (using the example of aggressive behavior) 31

§2.1. Diagnosis of aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age 31

§2.2. Implementation of a play therapy program as a means of correcting aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age and evaluation of its effectiveness 39

Conclusions 46

Bibliography 50

Introduction

The study and prevention of negative phenomena in the behavior of people in any society is a problem of paramount importance. This problem acquires particular significance in states that are in a state of socio-economic crisis. At firstXXIcentury, the problem of behavioral disorders remains popular both in foreign and domestic psychology.

Specialists from many human sciences - neurophysiologists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, psychiatrists - study behavioral disorders. Each discipline has its own perspective of analysis. Psychologists classify behavioral disorders as increased aggressiveness, autism, excessive isolation, anxiety, and others.

Currently, more and more attention is being drawn to the problems of studying the psychological causes of behavior disorders in children of various ages, and developing psychoprophylaxis and correction programs.

The problem of childhood aggression is particularly relevant. The problem of aggression in children and the process of formation of aggressive behavior, as well as the search for ways to correct it, starting from preschool childhood, were considered in the works of domestic psychologists E.M. Gasparova, A.D. Kosheleva, N.D. Levitov, T.G. Rumyantseva, I.A. Furmanov, foreign authors A. Adler, A. Bandura, H. Heckausen. Both domestic and foreign scientists studied the problem of shyness: D. M. Baldwin, E. I. Gasparova, A. A. Zakharov, F. Zimbardo, D. Izard, Yu. M. Orlov, T. O. Smoleva, D. B. Watson, W. Stern. Anxiety was considered by K. E. Izard, N. Yu. Sinyagina, A. I. Zakharov, A. M. Prikhozhan.

In connection with progressive political and social changes, society needs socially mature, free individuals with legal knowledge, but at the same time, the social crisis processes occurring in modern Russian society negatively affect the psychology of people and have a negative impact on physical and mental development preschooler. arisecontradictions between the demands of society and the child’s capabilities. Teachers are faced with the following tasks: to overcome emerging contradictions and teach the child to control his behavior, help him realize his needs for self-expression, self-affirmation, demonstrate his abilities, evaluate himself and be appreciated by others.

Purpose of the study: to determine the specifics of manifestations of behavioral disorders in children of senior preschool age and the possibilities of their correction and psychoprophylaxis.

Object of study: behavior of children aged 5-7 years.

Subject of study: features of behavioral disorders in preschool children and their correction (using the example of aggressive behavior).

Hypothesis: Taking into account the specifics of behavioral disorders in preschoolers and the correctional capabilities of group play therapy, it is suggested that work to reduce the level of aggression in preschool age will be an effective means of correction if the following areas of work are chosen:

Research objectives:

Conduct a theoretical analysis of the problem of behavioral disorders;

Reveal the specifics of preventing behavioral disorders in childhood;

Analyze the features of behavioral disorders and their psychological correction in preschool age;

Select research methods and diagnose aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age;

To implement a play therapy program to correct aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age and evaluate its effectiveness.

Research methods: analysis of scientific literature, structured observation, questioning, testing, document analysis.

Research base:

CHAPTER 1. Basic theoretical and methodological approaches to the problem of behavior disorders in children

§1.1. The phenomenon of behavioral disorders in psychological science

Psychological studies show that most children have various kinds of problems and difficulties, among which behavioral disorders occupy one of the leading places (9). At the same time, in the psychological literature there is no single definition of the concept of “behavioral disorders” in children.

Specialists from almost all human sciences - neurophysiologists, anthropologists, geneticists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, criminologists, psychiatrists - study behavioral disorders. This leads to the fact that the same term can have completely different meanings in different sciences. Neuroscientists study the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral disorders. Psychiatrists collect data on the behavioral characteristics of people with serious mental disorders. Sociologists are busy studying what social conditions give rise to behavioral deviations. At the present stage of development of science, an understanding is being formed that human behavior disorders are a phenomenon that is the subject of interdisciplinary research.

According to reference literature (18), behavior is defined as the psychological and physical manner of behaving, taking into account the standards established in the social group to which the individual belongs. In this regard, behavioral disorders are considered as repeated, persistent actions or behaviors, including mainly aggressiveness of a destructive nature with a picture of deeply widespread maladjustment of behavior (18). It manifests itself either in the violation of the rights of other people, or in the violation of social norms or rules characteristic of a given age.

From the point of view of social orientation there are:

A similar classification of behavioral disorders is proposed by V.T. Kondrashenko, defining them as a deviation from the norm of externally observable actions (actions), in which a person’s internal motivation is realized, manifested both in practical actions (real behavioral disorder) and in statements, judgments (verbal conduct disorder) (11)

To determine the severity of a child’s disorder, M. Rutter (16) offers the following criteria for assessing possible deviations in any behavior:

6. Type of symptom. Symptoms vary. Some are caused by improper upbringing of the child, others by mental disorder.

Thus, when deciding whether a child’s behavior deviates from the norm, one should take into account a combination of all the above criteria.

mistakes in education;

a certain immaturity, minimal damage to the nervous system.

To identify the true causes of a child’s behavior, it is necessary to present the symptoms of specific, frequently occurring behavioral disorders, knowledge of which will allow the teacher, together with a psychologist, not only to correctly structure work with the child, but also to determine whether certain complications are developing into painful forms that require qualified medical care .

Shyness. Psychology has also identified three types of manifestations of shy behavior in preschoolers:

externally observable behaviors that signal to others: “I am shy,” with a characteristic uncertainty that manifests itself in the expectation of failure in difficult situations.

physiological symptoms, such as blushing.

intense feelings of tightness and self-concentration, introspection with chronic uncertainty extending to all activities.

Anxiety. In psychology, anxiety is understood as a person’s tendency to experience anxiety, i.e. an emotional state that arises in situations of uncertain danger and manifests itself in anticipation of an unfavorable development of events.

In children of senior preschool age, anxiety is not yet a stable character trait and is relatively reversible with appropriate psychological and pedagogical measures.

1. Aggressive children - V

- O

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§1.2. Prevention of behavioral disorders in childhood

Prevention is a set of proactive measures aimed at preventing unwanted behavior (2).

Two key processes central to preventive measures are risk factors and protective factors. Experts say that there are circumstances in a person’s life that can contribute to the development of behavioral disorders; these circumstances are calledrisk factors . At the same time, there are a number of other factors that keep a person from committing violations, and they are calledprotective factors. If risk factors in a person's life are stronger than protective factors, then there is a possibility that he/she will be susceptible to developing behavioral disorders.

Risk factors are environmental, biological, psychological, and forces associated with interactions with the environment that lead to an increased likelihood of behavioral disturbance.

The likelihood of developing a behavioral disorder increases sharply with the number of risk factors. Some risk factors are common to a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems, while others have more specific effects.

Risk factors that play an important role in the development of behavioral and emotional problems in childhood: genetics, tore temperament, ninadequate parenting skills, antisocial peer groups, poor parental monitoring, socioeconomic disadvantage and environmental deprivation (inadequate need satisfaction).

Knowledge of risk factors provides specialists with numerous targets for prevention. But it is important to remember that many individuals who are exposed to risk factors do not develop emotional and behavioral problems. The fact is that identifying risk factors and working with them is only part of the preventive work, the other is working with protective factors.

Protective factors are personal and environmental characteristics that protect, in whole or in part, from the negative influence of risk factors.

Protective factors are those characteristics of a person or environment that mediate the negative impact of risk factors and contribute to the development of a person’s competencies (the ability to apply knowledge, skills, and successfully act on the basis of practical experience when solving problems in a certain broad area)

Protective factors include: genetics, andintelligence, withcalm temperament, xgood relationships with caregivers, npositive relationships with peers, ppositive relationships with teachers, eeffective parenting skills, effective parental monitoring.

The development of social competencies is associated with the development of emotional control, readiness to cooperate with peers and adults, and the ability to assimilate and apply social rules and norms.

Based on protective factors, we can highlight the following areas of preventive measures:

Building relationships with educators and teachers;

Optimization of parent-child relationships;

Organization of the development environment.

In the course of experimental studies (20), a number of personal qualities of a teacher were identified that directly or indirectly affect behavioral disorders in children:

Personal anxiety and overcontrol behavior on the part of the teacher through dominance or overprotection, which leads to a decrease in the child’s social activity and complicates the formation of his subjectivity.

Predominant development of verbal intelligenceamong teachers and, as a consequence, the predominance in their work of verbal forms of teaching and upbringing, which conflicts with the underdevelopment of verbal intelligence in children, which negatively affects the results of children's activities.

Behavioral aggressiveness of teachersagainst the backdrop of inadequateself-esteem means that they unconsciously provoke responses from children.

Indifference, formal relationshiptowards a sensitive, unbalanced and unprotected child destroys personal-emotional communication and does not contribute to solving the child’s problems.

Inadequate attitude towards oneself and a poorly differentiated image of the teacher’s “I”suggests that educators and teachers have little understanding of themselves and their own problems. Not being able to correctly evaluate and accept themselves, they are unable to do this in relation to problem children, for whom acceptance and recognition by others is the most pressing problem.

Children's behavior can also be negatively influenced by suchpersonal characteristics of teachers, such as: increased mood variability, fatigue, irritability, indecisiveness and anxious suspiciousness, hypercontrol, emotional coldness, as well as a low level of sensitivity, openness, and the desire to attract the attention of children.

For kindergarten teachers, according to R.V. Ovcharova, the problem of improving pedagogical skills is especially relevant, since according to many indicators of the development of professional qualities they do not reach the zone of optimality. Low professional competence leads to low quality of the pedagogical process, is ineffective for ordinary children, and for problem children, leads to demotivation of cognition and learning, underdevelopment of cognitive interests (14).

To overcome the difficulties described above, you can offer psychotechnical games and exercises to N.V. Samukina (17), which a psychologist can use to help teachers cope with neuropsychic stress and contribute to the harmonization of the teacher’s inner world.

Practicing psychotechnical games does not require a lot of time or special premises. It is necessary to develop the teacher’s habit of psychotechnical actions, to create the need for psychological stability and internal order. Training sessions with teachers should be conducted under the guidance of specialists with special psychological education.

The games used are divided into five types:

1. Relaxation games. Within 2-5 minutes spent performing psychotechnical exercises, the teacher can relieve fatigue and gain a state of inner freedom, stability, and self-confidence. While performing these exercises, he takes a peculiar“psychological shower”, which cleanses the psyche and promotes quick and effective relaxation.List of games: “Inner Meadow”, “Press”, “Tree”, “Mood”, “Proverbs”, “Memories”, “Book”, “Maria Ivanovna”, “Head”, “Hands”, “I am a child” , “Openness”, “Rhythm”, “I am a reservoir”.

2. Adaptation games. They are used during the period of adaptation of a young teacher to professional activity, change of teaching staff, after a long break in work, vacations. They contribute to the development of self-control and volitional processes. The following games are used: “Focus”, “Breathing”, “Psychoenergetic umbrella”, “Distribution of attention”, “Switching attention”, “Animal”, “Emotion”.

3. Formula games. These games are used for verbal self-hypnosis. Formulas can be pronounced silently or out loud when preparing for a lesson, during the work day, or before a difficult situation. The pronunciation of formulas is not necessarily carried out exactly according to the text. For quick use of the formula, it is advisable to have a short text. The beginning of the formula is of great importance: “My desire is to have...”, “I can do everything...”, “I am convinced that...”, “I believe that...”. The self-hypnosis formula is repeated up to seven times. At the same time, belief in the “magical effects” of spoken words is important.

4. Games of liberation. This is a methodical expression of the idea of decentration. Any tense mental state is characterized by a narrowing of consciousness and a person’s hyperconcentration on his experiences. There are several forms of decentration: role (reincarnation of a person into another object), intellectual (produced by looking at oneself from the outside, a “psychological mirror”), communicative (implemented during a dialogue with a change in communicative positions, for example, bad - good). List of liberation games: “Dialogue”, “Video Camera”, “Bad - Good”, “My Enemy is My Friend”.

5. Communication games. In the course of working with teachers, it is possible to organize communication games that would enable the teacher to understand the feelings of another participant in the educational process. Their meaning is to change position, role, when the teacher plays out various situations from the position of a child, a parent, or a leader.

Child-parent relationships are of paramount importance for children's mental health. T. Harris believed that “the best way to help children is by helping their parents”. Group consultation model and preventive parenting developed by H. Ginott (22). This model is based on the desire to teach parents to reorient their attitudes depending on the needs of the child.

A condition for the development of a child’s self-awareness is a positive perception by parents of their parental functions. This is exactly what the model is aimed at: parents should view their parenting experience positively and not feel any sense of guilt towards their children. H. Ginotta distinguishes three forms of parenting:

Group therapy is to achieve permanent changes in the personality structure of the parent. Psychotherapy is intended for people with emotional disturbances who suffer from an inability to resolve parent-child relationship problems.

Group consultations should help parents cope with the problems that arise when raising children. No structural changes to the human personality are needed here; the main thing is to help parents avoid unnecessary stress and better navigate various family situations. During conversations in groups, parents tell each other about their difficulties and share their experiences of getting out of various situations. This is how they learn from each other and gradually begin to look more objectively at the problems of their family and family life in general.

Briefing parents also occurs in the group. In its methodology and even theoretical approaches, group instruction resembles group consultations. It has more modest goals than counseling or therapy. The main thing here is to increase the time parents and children spend together, teach adults to listen to children, their feelings and needs, help them find a common language, and teach them how to lead children.

H. Ginotta believes that the better parents know themselves, the better they will be able to understand the feelings and behavior of their children. Therefore, one of the tasks of parenting is the emancipation of parents, awakening the desire to better know themselves and, ultimately, to better understand their children.The author constantly talks about the need to be approving of the child’s feelings. He believes that a child should be perceived as he is, although some of his actions can be condemned.

Overcoming behavioral disorders in children is also possible through the organization of a developmental environment. L.S. Vygotsky wrote: “By monitoring sick children, we ultimately see that the path to proper upbringing lies through the organization of the environment...” (9).

Construction of a developing space in a kindergarten group, the use of games and experimentation with various materials, music and lighting design, phytodesign and aromatherapy; the opportunity to bring your favorite toy and pillow with which you are used to falling asleep allows you to make the environment emotionally comfortable, taking into account the age characteristics of children.

A specially organized living space in a group should stimulate the child’s activity, provide an opportunity to express his emotions by playing them out in various situations, make him the creator of his objective environment and, therefore, the creator of his personality.

Improving motor functions, emotional and motor release, and relieving a child’s muscle tension successfully occurs when the playroom has a sports complex, ladder, slide, horizontal bar, rope, jumping mats, balls, etc. General coordination of movements and, at the same time, correction of fears of darkness and closed spaces are practiced in games with a special fabric tunnel, sewn from dark fabric and put on a hoop.

Lightweight, but quite large “building blocks” - pasted cardboard boxes, blankets, wooden frames, screens, group room furniture - all this allows you to change the boundaries and configuration of the group space, can be re-equipped at the request of the children and played out in dramatization games, story-telling role-playing games.

A punching bag in a group, “soft walls” upholstered with thick paralon according to the child’s height, objects of indeterminate shape fixed to the floor (like a Gumby doll - a bendable figure with an unmarked face), aggressive “bi-ba-bo” dolls (a wolf, Baba Yaga), plastic bottles with sand for kicking train the muscles of the legs and arms, help relieve excessive muscle tension, and express feelings of anger, hostility, and frustration.

Sand and water are useful to use as the most effective therapeutic agent of all play materials. Sand and water have no structure and can be transformed at the child's request into anything: the surface of the moon, a beach, a swimming pool - the possibilities here are endless. This is especially useful for insecure, withdrawn children; not accepting games with toys, with unformed play actions.

Brightness and unusual equipment of the space will not only provide children with success in overcoming behavioral and emotional problems, but also become an effective means of preventing aggressive behavior, fears and anxiety

Therefore, prevention is a set of proactive measures aimed at preventing unwanted behavior. The key processes central to preventive measures are risk factors and protective factors. The main areas of preventive measures are identified: building relationships with educators and teachers; optimization of parent-child relationships; organization of a development environment. Each direction has its own methods and well-developed pedagogical technologies. Work with teachers is carried out along the path of increasing the level of pedagogical skills, emotional stability, andOptimization of parent-child relationships is aimed at teaching parents to reorient their attitudes depending on the needs of the child, towards parents’ positive perception of their parental functions. For this purpose, group therapy, group consultations, and instruction are used. Proper construction of the developmental space of a kindergarten is also a powerful preventive measure for behavioral disorders in preschool children.

§1.3 Features of behavioral disorders and their psychological correction in preschool age

One of the meanings of the term “correction” translated from Latin is amendment, partial correction or change (lat.correctio).

Psychological correction is understood as a certain form of psychological and pedagogical activity to correct such features of mental development that, according to the system of criteria accepted in developmental psychology, do not correspond to the hypothetical “optimal” model of this development, the norm, or, rather, the age guideline as the ideal option for the development of a child at one or the other another stage of ontogenesis.

Psychological correction as a form of psychological and pedagogical activity first appeared in defectology in relation to various variants of abnormal development. As the professional positions of practical child psychology became established and strengthened, the concept of “psychological correction” migrated from the area of abnormal development to the area of normal mental development of the child.

The basic principles of psychocorrectional work in our country are based on the fundamental principles developed in domestic psychology that personality is an integral psychological structure that is formed in the process of a person’s life on the basis of his assimilation of social forms of consciousness and behavior. The mental development and formation of a child’s personality are possible only in communication with adults and occur primarily in the activity that is leading at this stage of ontogenesis.

Failure to comply with the conditions for the mental and personal development of children leads to behavioral disorders and requirescorrection of these conditions.

Basic principles of psychological correction.

Principle one – unity of correction and development. The decision on the need for correctional work is made only on the basis of a psychological and pedagogical analysis of the internal and external conditions of the child’s development.

Principle two – unity of age and individual in development. Correctional work presupposes knowledge of the basic patterns of mental development, understanding the meaning of successive age stages for the formation of a child’s personality. There are age guidelines for normal development. Normal development is understood as harmonious mental development appropriate to age. This approximate age norm is largely determined by the cultural level and socio-historical requirements of society.

Principle three – unity of diagnostics and developmental correction. The tasks of correctional work can be understood and set only on the basis of a complete diagnosis and assessment of the immediate probabilistic prognosis of development, which is determined based on the child’s zone of proximal development. Correction and development are interdependent.

Development in ontogenesis has a complex systemic character. A diagnostic examination allows you to reveal a holistic systemic picture of cause-and-effect relationships, essential relationships between identified signs, symptoms of individual disorders, deviations and their causes.

Principle Four – the activity principle of carrying out correction. This principle determines the choice of means, ways and means of achieving the goal. The activity principle is based on the recognition that it is the active activity of the child himself that is the driving force of development, that at each stage there is a leading activity that most contributes to the development of the child in a given period of ontogenesis, that the development of any human activity requires special formation.

Principle five – an approach in correctional work to each child as gifted. This principle means that children with whom psychocorrectional work is carried out should not be perceived as “second-class” children. Mobilization of the driving forces of development occurs in a child when he feels that an adult believes in him and trusts him.

Among the psychological characteristics that provoke behavioral disorders, the following are usually distinguished:

insufficient development of intelligence and communication skills,

reduced level of self-regulation,

underdevelopment of gaming activities,

decreased self-esteem,

disturbances in relationships with peers (19).

Modern methods of correctional work can effectively eliminate one or another cause of behavior disorder.

At the present stage, there are several areas of correctional work:

play therapy,

art therapy (visual, fairy tale, music, etc.),

behavioral therapies (various types of trainings, psycho-gymnastics),

social therapies.

Play therapy - the most popular method used in working with children, as it most closely meets developmental goals and is applicable to almost all types of behavior disorders.

Play for a child is also a form of “self-therapy”, thanks to which various conflicts and problems can be responded to. In a relatively safe play situation, the child allows himself to try out different ways of behavior.

Famous Russian psychologist O.A. Karabanova identifies the following as the main psychological mechanisms of the game’s corrective effects:

modeling the system of social relations in a visually effective form in special gaming conditions, exploring them by the child and his orientation in these relations;

changing the child’s position in the direction of overcoming cognitive and personal egocentrism and consistent decentration, due to which the awareness of one’s own self in the game occurs and the measure of social competence and ability to resolve problem situations increases;

the formation of real relationships along with game relationships, i.e. equal partnerships of cooperation and cooperation between the child and peers, providing the opportunity for positive personal development;

organization of step-by-step development in the game of new, more adequate ways of orienting the child in problematic situations, their internalization and assimilation;

organizing the child’s orientation towards identifying the emotional states he is experiencing, ensuring their awareness through verbalization and, accordingly, awareness of the meaning of the problem situation as a whole and the formation of its new meanings;

formation of the child’s ability to voluntarily regulate activity based on the subordination of behavior to a system of rules governing the fulfillment of a role and rules governing behavior in the playroom.

A.I. Zakharov For better organization of the gameplay, he suggests adhering to certain rules:

when choosing game topics, you should take into account the child’s interest and their significance for correction;

the game should be structured in such a way as to promote the development of the child’s emotionality and initiative;

the specialist should not comment on the game;

the influence on the child can only be carried out through a simulated game situation and the characters’ personalities;

the ratio of spontaneous and directed components of play therapy should depend on the personal characteristics of the patient and his condition.

It is advisable to carry out play therapy as a means of correcting behavioral disorders in children of senior preschool age in blocks: in the form of individual and group therapy, taking into account the principles of the dynamics of mental development.

According to A.I. Zakharov, E. Eidemillerindividual play therapy it is more advisable to start with spontaneous play - at the stage of acquaintance and diagnosis in order to relieve tension, improve contact and increase interest in the specialist and corrective measures. Spontaneous play performs diagnostic, correctional and educational functions.

For play therapy, a room is specially equipped and toys are selected. In this room, the most significant person is the child: here he commands the situation and himself, here no one tells him what to do, no one criticizes what he does, no one finds fault or gives advice, pushes him on, does not interfere in his personal world. In the play therapy experience, the child has the opportunity to explore himself in interaction with the play therapist. During play therapy, children, having the opportunity to believe that all their actions are the product of their desires and that they can control them, begin to believe in themselves, gain self-esteem, open up and receive relief. Usually the child looks forward to the next lesson. And it’s not surprising: it’s nice to feel like a free, respected person, yourself.

Collective play therapy is carried out with the aim of children receiving positive feedback and developing their ability to interact with others without conflict. When play therapy is conducted correctly, an atmosphere of trust, safety and frankness is established in a group of children. We can say that the motto of play therapy is “not to control, but to understand.”

primary goalart therapy consists in harmonizing the development of personality through the development of abilities of self-expression and self-knowledge. Expanding the possibilities of self-expression and self-knowledge in art, in comparison, for example, with play, is associated with the productive nature of art - the creation of aesthetic products that objectify the child’s feelings, experiences and abilities, facilitating the process of communication with other people.

The following types of art therapy are distinguished depending on the nature of the creative activity and its product: drawing therapy based on the visual arts, bibliotherapy as literary writing and creative reading of literary works, drama therapy, music therapy, etc.

There is a distinction between directive art therapy, where the task is posed directly to the child: the theme of the drawing is set, guidance is provided in the search for the best form of expression, and assistance is provided in drawing. This form of art therapy is used in cases of fears, phobias, and anxiety. In non-directive art therapy, the child is given freedom both in choosing the topic itself and in choosing the form of its expression. The psychologist emotionally supports the child and, if necessary, helps him technically. This form of art therapy is used in cases of low self-esteem and negative distorted image.

In preschool age, drawing therapy, fairy tale therapy and music therapy are most often used. The child’s drawing is directly and directly related to the game, woven into the game, being a development of the plot and a continuation of the game itself. In comparison with other psychocorrective methods, art therapy has its advantages in cases of severe emotional disorders, a low level of development of play activity in a child, and undeveloped communicative competence.

As a result of the use of art therapeutic methods in correctional work with children, it is possible to ensure an effective emotional response, giving it socially acceptable acceptable forms even in cases of aggressive manifestations; facilitate the communication process for children who are withdrawn, shy or poorly peer-oriented; develop arbitrariness and the ability for self-regulation, the child’s awareness of his feelings, experiences and emotional states.

Methodbehavioral training is aimed at teaching the child adequate forms of behavior in problem situations, at increasing the level of “executive competence” in relation to certain situations of interaction and communication with the social environment, the objective world. Proponents of behavioral training as a method of group work with children proceed from the assumption that the cause of a significant proportion of a child’s difficulties is his lack of appropriate skills.

Elements of the behavioral training method are widely used in correctional work with children and their parents in the organization of teaching new behavior that is more effective than the old one; in the method of sequential transition from game situations to conditional and real life situations during behavior training and, finally, in the “homework” method, used mainly when working with parents.

Methodsocial therapy is a method of psychological influence based on the use of social acceptance, recognition, social approval and positive assessment of the child by a significant social environment - both adults and peers. The method of social therapy ensures, firstly, the satisfaction of the individual’s need for social recognition and, secondly, the formation of adequate methods of social interaction in children with a low level of communicative competence.

Methodstatus psychotherapy based on the age-related movements of the child, which make it possible to regulate the child’s status in the group and purposefully regulate the relative success of his activities. For example, a relative increase in the success of an unpopular, “isolated”, “neglected” child by transferring him to a group of younger children, lowering the status of relative success by transferring to a group of older children can be recommended for correcting the personal development of children with an egoistic orientation, authoritarian tendencies and manifestations of aggressive behavior.

When implementing methods of social and status psychotherapy, the following rules must be observed:

Their use is possible only when other methods have proven ineffective or in cases where emergency psychological intervention is required.

It is necessary to carefully determine the reasons for the child’s difficulties.

Mandatory coordination of the issue of age-related movements of the child with the administration of the child care institution, teachers and parents.

Justification for age-related transfers for the child himself: transfer to a younger group can become additional psychological trauma for the child, therefore it is necessary to explain to him his so-called new status - “adult assistant”.

Thus, it becomes obvious that failure to comply with the conditions for the mental and personal development of preschool children leads to behavioral disorders and requires

play therapy,art therapy (visual, fairy tale, music, etc.),behavioral therapy (various types of trainings, psycho-gymnastics),social therapy, each of which highlights the mainpsychological mechanisms of corrective influence on the child’s personality.

CHAPTER 2. Experimental study of behavioral disorders in children of senior preschool age (using the example of aggressive behavior)

§2.1. Diagnosis of aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age

We conducted an experimental study, the purpose of which was to determine the specifics of manifestations of aggressive behavior in preschool children and corrective work with children who have this behavior problem.

There was a need to solve the following problems:

selection of research methods and diagnostics of aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age;

implementation of a play therapy program to correct aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age;

generalization and description of the results of this experimental work

Taking into account the specifics of behavioral disorders in preschoolers and the correctional capabilities of collective play therapy, we hypothesized that work to reduce the level of aggression in preschool age will be an effective means of correction if the following areas of work are chosen:

teaching aggressive children acceptable ways to express anger;

teaching children the skills to recognize and control negative emotions, the ability to control themselves in situations that provoke outbursts of anger;

formation of the ability to empathy, trust, sympathy, empathy.

In accordance with the purpose, objectives and hypothesis of the study, we chose the following methods:

Questionnaire for parents of Lavrentieva G.P. and Titarenko T.M.;

Conversation with children on the topic: “Me and TV”;

Structured observation conducted by a teacher (methodology for diagnosing aggressive behavior of children by Lavrentieva G.P.).

Let us describe these methods in more detail:

1. Questionnaire for parents of Lavrentieva G.P. and Titarenko T.M. (Appendices 1.1, 1.2)

Target:

Parents are asked to answer 20 statement questions. A positive answer to each proposed statement is scored 1 point. The total score is calculated, on the basis of which a conclusion is made about the child’s level of aggressiveness (the higher the total, the higher the child’s level of aggressiveness).

Results rating scale:

Increased level of aggressiveness – 16-20 points

- 11-15 points.

- 6-10 points.

Low level of aggressiveness-1-5 points.

2. Conversation with children on the topic: “Me and TV” (author’s development by V.D. Purin) (Appendices 2.1, 2.2) .

Target:identify a tendency to aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age

The tester (psychologist or teacher), in the form of a conversation, conducts four test tests individually with each child to determine his attitude to issues related to the manifestation of aggressiveness on television, which also indicates his personal aggressiveness (or predisposition to it). If a question or answer is not clear to the child, the tester repeats it. Moreover, the child must choose one of three ready-made answers, or come up with his own answer. For the answer to each question, the subject receives from 0 to 2 points, depending on the degree of “approximation” of the answer to the highest manifestation of aggressiveness. A point of 0 is given when choosing answers with the letter “a” (lack of aggressiveness), 1 point - in this case, the child selects an answer with the letter “b”, corresponding to the presence of a certain amount of aggressiveness (but very low); 2 points – if the child chooses an answer with the letter “c” (corresponding to a high level of aggressiveness). If a child comes up with his own answer options, points for them are awarded using the same strategy as when choosing “ready-made” answers. The total score is calculated, on the basis of which a conclusion is made about the child’s level of aggressiveness (the higher the total, the higher the child’s level of aggressiveness).

Results scale:

Increased level of aggressiveness - 7-8 points.

High level of aggressiveness- 5-6 points.

Medium level of aggressiveness- 3-4 points.

Low level of aggressiveness- 0-2 points.

3. C (Appendices 3.1, 3.2).

Purpose: to identify a tendency to aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age.

Equipment: observation card, including 18 fragments - fixed forms of behavior, in this case aggressive (the tester observes the child during a training session at a preschool educational institution and records the results at the end of it).

Instructions. In the answers you should only put “+” (which means YES, present); or "-" (meaning NO, missing). Each “+” corresponds to 1 point (the answer “-” corresponds to 0 points). The total score is calculated, on the basis of which a conclusion is made about the child’s level of aggressiveness (the higher the total, the higher the child’s level of aggressiveness).

Results rating scale:

Increased level of aggressiveness - 15 - 18 points

High level of aggressiveness- 10 – 14 points.

Medium level of aggressiveness- 6 -9 points.

Low level of aggressiveness- 0-5 points.

Each of the above diagnostic techniques has a scale of aggressiveness level (increased,high, medium, low level of aggressiveness).Based on diagnostic measures, data analysis was carried out and the following results were obtained:

1. Assessment of the level of aggressiveness of preschool children using the methodLavrentieva G.P. and Titarenko T.M.:

Table 1

8 people

2 people

0 people

A quantitative analysis carried out on the basis of a survey of parents using this method showed that in the group of children the following was identified:

2 children with a high level of aggressiveness,

8 children by average level of aggressiveness

8 children with low levels of aggression.

Qualitative analysis showed that in this group of children the most widespread behavioral disorders are: refusal to share, to give in (12 people), desire for revenge (11 people), stubbornness in achieving their goals (9 people), quarrels, fights (8 people), damage to toys (8 people) (see Appendix 1.2).

2. Assessing the level of aggressiveness of preschool children using the method “Conversation with children on the topic: “Me and TV”:

table 2

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Total:

5 people

7 people

4 people

2 people

The results of this technique revealed the following indicators:

2 people with a high level of aggressiveness;

4 people with a high level of aggressiveness;

7 people with an average level of aggressiveness;

5 people with a low level of aggressiveness.

3. Assessment of the level of aggressiveness of preschool children using the methodLavrentieva G.P. (Withstructuralized observation conducted by the teacher):

Table 3

10 people

5 people

3 people

0 people

Observation of the teacher, carried out using this method, made it possible to identify in the group of children:

3 children with a high level of aggressiveness;

5 people with an average level of aggressiveness

10 people with a low level of aggressiveness.

A qualitative analysis of the data obtained showed that widespread behavioral disorders in children of this group are:

Failure to comply with discipline (10 people), imitating the hooligan pranks of others (9 people), fights (7 people), a negative attitude towards comments (7 people), “going berserk” (7 people).

4. Based on the results of three methods:

Table 4

P-increased level of aggressiveness

IN-High level of aggressiveness

SR-Medium level of aggressiveness

SL-Low level of aggressiveness

A comparative analysis of the results of the three methods gives a mixed picture. In the results of observations of adults (parents and educators), the number of children with high and increased levels of aggressiveness is 2 and 3 children, respectively. In the “Me and TV” method, the number of aggressive preschoolers increases to 6 people, and 1 of them (……….) was rated as “average” by both parents and educators. These results suggest that preschoolers are susceptible to the influence of aggressive images that attack them in the media.

Analysis of the results of two observation methods (parents and educator) revealed differences in the opinions of parents and educators on the manifestations of child behavior disorders. In particular, in the parents’ questionnaire…………... the item “likes to be first, to command, to subjugate others” is marked positively. The teacher marks the same children in the column “imitates the hooligan pranks of others.” There are also disagreements over property damage and fighting. This conclusion gives us the right to assert that an adult’s assessment of a child is quite often biased and needs to be cross-checked with other methods.

Thus, in accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study, the choice of diagnostic methods was made based on the extent to which this method determines the degree of aggressiveness in children. In order for the results to be as reliable as possible, the following several methods were chosen: astructuralized observation conducted by a teacher (methodology for diagnosing aggressive behavior of children by Lavrentieva G.P.)

§2.2. Implementation of a play therapy program as a means of correcting aggressive behavior in children of senior preschool age and evaluation of its effectiveness.

Preschool age is the classic age of play, the leading activity of a child; it is a relevant and interesting pastime for him.

play is the most effective way for a child to express himself, because, due to his age, his verbal function is not sufficiently developed.

play as an active way of interaction allows preschoolers to respond to aggressive manifestations at the necessary and sufficient level.

Analyzing techniques for working with aggressive children, a three-step approach to reducing the level of aggression in children aroused interest. Lyutova E.K. and Monina G.B. suggest, at the first stage of working with aggressive children, selecting games and exercises with which the child could throw out his anger. At this stage, games are used to respond to physical and verbal aggression. The second stage of work begins after the anger has completely responded and consists of teaching the skills of recognizing and controlling negative emotions. At the third stage, the authors recommend starting the process of developing the ability to empathy, trust, sympathy and compassion.

Considering the opinion of psychologists that it is recommended to include aggressive children in joint games with non-aggressive ones, our choice was the method of group play correction.

Based on an analysis of the patterns of mental development of six-year-old children, it was assumed that for working with them it is inappropriate to carry out each of the stages of reducing the level of aggression in separate series of 4-5 sessions. The inappropriateness is due to insufficient development of attention span and high fatigue of children engaged in monotonous activities, and, as a result, a decrease in motivation for further activities.

Therefore, a program was developed consisting of 5 lessons of 45 minutes, according to which, at each lesson, the 3 above stages are carried out sequentially, which together should have caused an effect of reducing aggression in children.

The entire group of examined children was included in the correctional work process. Participation in games for children with unexpressed aggressive behavior was important for psychological support and created a sense of cohesion in the group.

Long-term game lesson plan

As an introductory stage, a game was planned with a “scream bag”, in which children, at the teacher’s suggestion, could leave their cry during the lesson and take it back after finishing. Since the children were asked to leave and pick up the cry voluntarily, after the third lesson the need for this water stage disappeared due to the children’s lack of needs for it.

At the first stage of working with aggressive children, of the 5 games included in the anger response program, 3 were used in each lesson. The games were changed for the effect of novelty in order to interest children and motivate them to play activities. The content of the games took into account the alternation of responses to verbal and physical aggression.

Changes were also made to the content of stage 2. To familiarize children with the variety of emotions, not only games and demonstration materials by M.I. Chistyakova were used, but also portraits of children in various emotional states. Based on the portrait of the child, a conversation was held with the group, during which they discussed what emotion this child was experiencing, what could have happened to him, and what signs could be used to guess his condition.

After this, the children were given sheets with schematic images of 15 human faces experiencing various emotions. Each child in the group had to identify himself with a person and tell the other children what happened to him, why he looked like that and what emotion was painted on his face.

When the majority of children began to be able to accurately recognize emotions and write short stories that coincided in content with the images, the procedure for recognizing emotions in photographs of children, worked out over three lessons, was replaced by the child acting out a certain emotional state. 2 children were selected from the group, and they took turns acting out emotions of different valences.

The task of the remaining children was to select from the stimulus material a corresponding photograph of a child experiencing a similar emotion and name it.

The second stage was implemented in such a way that aggressive children became acquainted with the diverse palette of human emotions and had examples of expressing both negative and positive feelings, and could also “read” emotions by body language, facial expressions.

The purpose of the games of the third stage was the following: to teach aggressive children to be less touchy, to give them a unique opportunity to look at themselves through the eyes of others, to be in the shoes of the one whom they themselves offend, without thinking about it. Starting from the third lesson, the program was supplemented by free-form discussion with children.

Based on the process of group play therapy, the following dynamics of behavior of aggressive children in the group were identified.

Firstly, over the course of five sessions, the process of legal outburst of anger was expressed: aggressive impulses appeared in the first lesson, increased with subsequent ones, reached a peak in the fourth and began to decline in the final one.

Secondly, it was revealed that children’s inability to recognize and control negative emotions is associated with a narrow range of their behavioral repertoire and ignorance of many shades of emotional states. After a course of five lessons, the children expanded their repertoire of responses to various situations, almost accurately learned to determine the valence of an emotion, and began to play out not only negative, but also positive emotions on their own initiative.

Thirdly, at the stage of developing the ability to empathize, in the process of role-playing games, children had the opportunity to put themselves in the place of another, sympathize with the victim, thereby developing empathy and trust. By the end of the classes, they realized the behavior that offends others, they became less harsh towards group members, however, isolated aggressive tendencies took place.

Children identified by diagnostics as aggressive showed convincing dynamics during the lessons. ......in the first stage classes he showed increased activity, and in the 5th lesson he showed a noticeable decline. By the introductory stage I lost interest along with all the children. ...... demonstrated a noticeable interest in her own emotions not only in class, but also in her free time. I began to describe my emotions in words and even tried to describe the emotions of other children with whom I played, demonstrated my skills in recognizing emotions to close adults, and boasted……. I didn’t show any special results in classes, but in life, both teachers and parents noticed a decrease in aggressive manifestations, complaints from children about behavior...... decreased.

It must be emphasized that the training program, which throughout the experimental study contained a relatively stable framework consisting of three stages of work with aggressive behavior, had dynamics. Adapting to the evolving needs of children following the path of reducing the level of aggressiveness, the program was adjusted; the introductory stage, planned to be a ritual at the beginning of each lesson, was removed from it; Starting from the third lesson, the final stage of joint discussion of the lesson was introduced. At each of the stages, intended specifically to reduce the level of aggressiveness, in accordance with the tasks of a particular stage, in the course of group work, some changes were made.

Based on the results obtained, it can be argued that the methods of influencing were quite effective. Children were able to react to accumulated anger in acceptable ways, learned to recognize their own and others’ emotions, trust and empathize.

It should be assumed that increasing the number of sessions to 9-12 will increase the effectiveness of counseling in terms of strengthening and consolidating changes in behavior and children’s developed skills in recognizing and controlling negative emotions, empathy and trust.

Thus, at the correctional stage, play therapy was chosen as a tool for work, because it has a number of advantages over other methods in the context of the age of children and the characteristics of their behavior. When choosing a technique to reduce the level of aggression in children, preference was given to the three-stage approach of E. K. Lyutova and G. B. Monina, which includes the stage of working with anger, the stage of teaching the skills of recognizing and controlling negative emotions, the stage of developing the ability to empathize, trust, empathy. A long-term lesson plan was drawn up,designed to reduce the level of aggressiveness, each of which included solving problems of all three stages of work. Adapting to the evolving needs of children on the path to reducing their level of aggressiveness, the program was adjusted and changes were made during the implementation process. Based on the planned and carried out set of play activities, positive dynamics in the behavior of aggressive children, a decrease in aggressive impulses, an expansion of the behavioral repertoire, the development of the ability to correctly understand one’s emotional state and the ability to adequately express it, the formation of positive communication skills, empathy, sympathy, and compassion were identified.

conclusions

Summarizing the above, we note that:

In the psychological literature there is not yet a uniform definition of the concept of “behavioral disorders” in children. All attempts to classify disorders are conditional, since the behavior of a preschool child most often combines the features of several behavioral disorders. However, summarizing all of the above, we can conditionally distinguish 3 most pronounced groups of so-called difficult children with behavioral problems:

1. Aggressive children - V When identifying this group, it is important to assess the degree of manifestation of the aggressive reaction, the duration of the action and the nature of the possible reasons, sometimes implicit, that caused this behavior disorder.

2. Emotionally and motor-disinhibited children - O Children of this type react too violently to everything: if they express delight or suffer, then their expressive behavior will certainly be too loud and defiant.

3. Children are too shy, vulnerable, touchy, timid, anxious – These are children who are embarrassed to express their emotions, who quietly experience their problems, afraid to draw attention to themselves.

In the behavior and development of preschool children, frequently occurring behavioral disorders (aggression, hot temper, passivity, hyperactivity, shyness), various forms of childhood nervousness (neuropathy, neuroses, fears) are usually caused by two factors - errors in education or a certain immaturity, minimal lesions nervous system. To identify the true causes of a child’s behavior, it is necessary to present the symptoms of specific, frequently occurring behavioral disorders, knowledge of which will allow you to correctly structure work with the child, and to determine the severity of the child’s disorder, rely on criteria for assessing possible deviations in any behavior

Prevention is a set of proactive measures aimed at preventing unwanted behavior. The key processes central to preventive measures are risk factors and protective factors. The main areas of preventive measures are identified: building relationships with educators and teachers; optimization of parent-child relationships; organization of a development environment. Each direction has its own methods and well-developed pedagogical technologies. Work with teachers is carried out along the path of increasing the level of pedagogical skills, emotional stability, andrelaxation games, adaptation games, formula games, liberation games, communication games.Optimization of parent-child relationships is aimed at teaching parents to reorient their attitudes depending on the needs of the child, towards parents’ positive perception of their parental functions. For this purpose, group therapy, group consultations, and instruction are used. Proper construction of the developmental space of a kindergarten is also a powerful preventive measure for behavioral disorders in preschool children.

Failure to comply with the conditions of mental and personal development of preschool children leads to behavioral disturbances and requirescorrection of these conditions, taking into account basic principles of psychological correction. With all the variety of behavioral disorders, most of them have clearly distinguishable features: insufficient development of intelligence and communication skills, a reduced level of self-regulation, underdeveloped play activities, reduced self-esteem, and disturbances in relationships with peers. Modern methods of correctional work can effectively eliminate one or another cause of behavior disorder.At the present stage, there are several areas of correctional work with preschoolers:game therapy, art therapy (visual, fairy tale, music, etc.), behavioral therapy (various types of training, psycho-gymnastics), social therapy, each of which highlights the main psychological mechanisms of corrective influence on the child’s personality.

According to the purpose and objectives of the study, the choice of diagnostic methods was carried out based on the extent to which this method determines the degree of aggressiveness in children. In order for the results to be as reliable as possible, the following several methods were chosen: aInformation for parents of Lavrentieva G.P. and Titarenko T.M.; conversation with children on the topic: “Me and TV”; Withstructuralized observation conducted by a teacher (methodology for diagnosing aggressive behavior of children by Lavrentieva G.P.)A comparative analysis of the results of the three methods gave an ambiguous picture, but stillhelped to identify in a group of children those who were presumably characterized as “aggressive”. Of the 18 children examined, we classified 3 people into the group of children with aggressive behavior. Their behavior was marked by hostility and anger; damage to public and personal property; negative attitude towards comments; fights. The identified characteristics of these children confirmed the need for corrective measures.

At the correctional stage, play therapy was chosen as a tool for work, because it has a number of advantages over other methods in the context of the age of children and the characteristics of their behavior. When choosing a technique to reduce the level of aggression in children, preference was given to the three-stage approach of E. K. Lyutova and G. B. Monina, which includes the stage of working with anger, the stage of teaching the skills of recognizing and controlling negative emotions, the stage of developing the ability to empathize, trust, empathy. A long-term lesson plan was drawn up,designed to reduce the level of aggressiveness, each of which included solving problems of all three stages of work. Adapting to the evolving needs of children on the path to reducing their level of aggressiveness, the program was adjusted and changes were made during the implementation process. Based on the planned and carried out set of play activities, a positive dynamics in the behavior of aggressive children was identified, a decrease in aggressive impulses, an expansion of the behavioral repertoire, the development of the ability to correctly understand one’s emotional state and the ability to adequately express it, the formation of positive communication skills, empathy, compassion, compassion

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3. risk factors for psychological health problems

They can be divided conditionally into two groups: objective, or environmental factors, and subjective, determined by individual personal characteristics.

Let us first discuss the influence of environmental factors. They usually mean unfavorable family factors and unfavorable factors associated with child care institutions, professional activities, and the socio-economic situation in the country. It is clear that environmental factors are the most significant for the psychological health of children and adolescents, so we will reveal them in more detail.

Quite often, a child’s difficulties begin in infancy (from birth to one year). It is well known that the most significant factor in the normal development of a baby’s personality is communication with the mother, and a lack of communication can lead to various kinds of developmental disorders of the child. However, in addition to the lack of communication, there are other, less obvious types of interaction between mother and baby that adversely affect his psychological health. Thus, the opposite of a lack of communication is the pathology of an overabundance of communication, leading to overexcitation and overstimulation of the child. It is this kind of upbringing that is quite typical for many modern families, but it is precisely this that is traditionally regarded as favorable and is not considered as a risk factor either by the parents themselves or even by psychologists, so we will describe it in more detail. Overexcitation and overstimulation of the child can be observed in the case of maternal overprotection with the father's withdrawal, when the child plays the role of the “mother’s emotional crutch” and is in a symbiotic relationship with her. Such a mother is constantly with the child, does not leave him for a minute, because she feels good with him, because without the child she feels emptiness and loneliness. Another option is continuous stimulation, selectively aimed at one of the functional areas: nutrition or bowel movement. As a rule, this type of interaction is implemented by an anxious mother, who is incredibly worried about whether the child has finished the allotted grams of milk, whether he has emptied his bowels regularly and how. Usually she is well acquainted with all the norms of child development. For example, she carefully monitors whether the child begins to roll over from back to stomach in time. And if he is delayed for several days with the coup, he becomes very worried and runs to the doctor.

The next type of pathological relationship is the alternation of overstimulation with emptiness of relationships, i.e. structural disorganization, disorder, discontinuity, anarchy of the child’s life rhythms. In Russia, this type is most often implemented by a student mother, i.e., who does not have the opportunity to constantly care for her child, but then tries to assuage her feelings of guilt with continuous caresses.

And the last type is formal communication, that is, communication devoid of eroticized manifestations necessary for the normal development of the child. This type can be realized by a mother who strives to completely organize child care based on books or doctor’s advice, or by a mother who is next to the child, but for one reason or another (for example, conflicts with the father) is not emotionally involved in the care process.

Disturbances in the interaction of a child with his mother can lead to the formation of such negative personal formations as anxious attachment and distrust of the world around him instead of normal attachment and basic trust (M. Ainsworth, E. Erikson). It should be noted that these negative formations are stable in nature and persist until primary school age and beyond, however, in the process of child development they acquire various forms, “colored” by age and individual characteristics. Examples of the actualization of anxious attachment in primary school age include increased dependence on adult assessments and the desire to do homework only with mother. And distrust of the world around us often manifests itself in younger schoolchildren as destructive aggressiveness or strong unmotivated fears, both of which, as a rule, are combined with increased anxiety.

It should also be noted the role of infancy in the occurrence of psychosomatic disorders. As many authors note, it is with the help of psychosomatic symptoms (stomach colic, sleep disturbances, etc.) that the child reports that the maternal function is being performed unsatisfactorily. Due to the plasticity of the child’s psyche, his complete liberation from psychosomatic disorders is possible, but the possibility of continuity of somatic pathology from early childhood to adulthood cannot be ruled out. The school psychologist often encounters the persistence of the psychosomatic language of response in some younger schoolchildren.

At an early age (from 1 to 3 years), the importance of the relationship with the mother also remains important, but the relationship with the father also becomes important for the following reasons.

Early age is especially significant for the formation of a child’s “I”. It must free itself from the support given to it by the mother's "I" in order to achieve separation from her and awareness of itself as a separate "I". Thus, the result of development at an early age should be the formation of autonomy, independence, and for this the mother needs to let the child go to the distance to which he himself wants to go. But choosing the distance to which you need to release the child, and the pace at which this should be done, is usually quite difficult.

Thus, unfavorable types of interaction between mother and child include: a) too sharp and rapid separation, which may be a consequence of the mother going to work, placing the child in a nursery, the birth of a second child, etc.; b) continuation of constant custody of the child, which is often shown by an anxious mother.

In addition, since early age is a period of a child’s ambivalent attitude towards his mother and the most important form of childhood activity is aggression, an absolute ban on the manifestation of aggressiveness may become a risk factor, which may result in the complete repression of aggressiveness. Thus, an always kind and obedient child who is never capricious is “the pride of his mother” and everyone’s favorite often pays for everyone’s love at a rather high price - a violation of his psychological health.

It should also be noted that the way in which a child is raised to be tidy also plays an important role in the development of psychological health. This is the “main scene” where the struggle for self-determination plays out: the mother insists on following the rules - the child defends his right to do what he wants. Therefore, overly strict and rapid teaching of neatness to a small child can be considered a risk factor. It is curious that researchers of traditional children's folklore believe that fears of punishment for untidiness are reflected in children's scary fairy tales, which usually begin with the appearance of a “black hand” or a “dark spot”: “Once in one city it was broadcast on the radio that some “there’s a black spot on the walls, and the ceiling keeps falling and killing everyone...”

Let us now determine the place of the relationship with the father for the development of the child’s autonomy. According to G. Figdor, the father at this age should be physically and emotionally available to the child, because: a) he sets an example for the child of relationships with his mother - relationships between autonomous subjects; b) acts as a prototype of the outside world, that is, liberation from the mother becomes not a departure to nowhere, but a departure to someone; c) is a less conflicting object than the mother and becomes a source of protection. But how rarely in modern Russia does a father want and how rarely does he have the opportunity to be close to his child! Thus, relationships with the father most often adversely affect the formation of autonomy and independence of the child.

We need to be very clear that a child’s unformed independence at an early age can be the source of many difficulties for a younger schoolchild and, above all, the source of the problem of expressing anger and the problem of uncertainty. Teachers and parents often mistakenly believe that a child with a problem expressing anger is the one who fights, spits, and swears. It is worth reminding them that the problem can have different symptoms. In particular, one can observe the repression of anger, expressed in one child as fear of growing up and depressive symptoms, in another as excessive obesity, in a third as sharp, unreasonable outbursts of aggressiveness with a pronounced desire to be a good, decent boy. Quite often, repressing anger takes the form of severe self-doubt. But unformed independence can manifest itself even more clearly in the problems of adolescence. The teenager will either achieve independence with protest reactions that are not always adequate to the situation, perhaps even to his own detriment, or continue to remain “behind his mother’s back,” “paying” for this with one or another psychosomatic manifestations.

Preschool age (from 3 to 6 7 years) is so significant for the formation of a child’s psychological health and is so multifaceted that it is difficult to claim an unambiguous description of risk factors for intrafamily relationships, especially since here it is already difficult to consider the individual interaction of a mother or father with a child, but it is necessary to discuss risk factors coming from the family system.

The most significant risk factor in the family system is the interaction of the “child is the idol of the family” type, when meeting the needs of the child prevails over meeting the needs of other family members.

The consequence of this type of family interaction may be a disruption in the development of such an important neoplasm of preschool age as emotional decentration - the child’s ability to perceive and take into account in his behavior the states, desires and interests of other people. A child with unformed emotional decentration sees the world only from the perspective of his own interests and desires, does not know how to communicate with peers, or understand the demands of adults. It is these children, often well-developed intellectually, who cannot successfully adapt to school.

The next risk factor is the absence of one of the parents or conflicting relationships between them. And while the influence of an incomplete family on a child’s development has been studied quite well, the role of conflicting relationships is often underestimated. The latter cause a deep internal conflict in the child, which can lead to violations of gender identification or, moreover, cause the development of neurotic symptoms: enuresis, hysterical attacks of fear and phobias. In some children, it leads to characteristic changes in behavior: a strongly expressed general readiness to react, fearfulness and timidity, humility, a tendency to depressive moods, insufficient ability to affect and fantasize. But, as G. Figdor notes, most often changes in children’s behavior attract attention only when they develop into school difficulties.

The next phenomenon that needs to be discussed within the framework of the problem of forming the psychological health of a preschooler is the phenomenon of parental programming, which can have an ambiguous effect on him. On the one hand, through the phenomenon of parental programming, moral culture is assimilated - a prerequisite for spirituality. On the other hand, due to the extremely pronounced need for love from parents, the child tends to adapt his behavior to meet their expectations, relying on their verbal and non-verbal signals. In the terminology of E. Bern, an “adapted child” is formed, which functions by reducing its ability to feel, show curiosity about the world, and in the worst case, by living a life that is not its own. We believe that the formation of an “adjusted child” can be associated with upbringing according to the type of dominant hyperprotection described by E. G. Eidemiller, when the family pays a lot of attention to the child, but at the same time interferes with his independence. In general, it seems to us that it is the “adapted child”, so convenient for parents and other adults, who will show the absence of the most important new formation of preschool age - initiative (E. Erikson), which does not always fall into the field both in primary school age and in adolescence attention not only of parents, but also of school psychologists. An “adjusted child” at school most often does not show external signs of maladaptation: disturbances in learning and behavior. But upon careful study, such a child most often demonstrates increased anxiety, self-doubt, and sometimes expressed fears.

So, we examined unfavorable family factors in the process of child development, which can determine violations of the psychological health of a child crossing the threshold of school. The next group of factors, as we have already mentioned, are related to child care institutions.

It is worth noting the child’s meeting in kindergarten with his first significant stranger, the teacher, which will largely determine his subsequent interaction with significant adults. With the teacher, the child receives the first experience of polyadic (instead of dyadic - with parents) communication. As studies have shown, the teacher usually does not notice about 50% of children’s requests directed to her. And this can lead to an increase in the child’s independence, a decrease in his egocentrism, and maybe to dissatisfaction with the need for safety, the development of anxiety, and psychosomatization of the child.

In addition, in kindergarten, a child may develop a serious internal conflict in the event of conflicting relationships with peers. Internal conflict is caused by contradictions between the demands of other people and the child’s capabilities, disrupts emotional comfort, and inhibits the formation of personality.

Summarizing the objective risk factors for violations of the psychological health of a child entering school, we can conclude that certain intra-family factors are predominant, but the child’s stay in kindergarten can also have a negative impact.

Junior school age (from -7 to 10 years). Here relationships with parents begin to be mediated by the school. As A.I. Lunkov notes, if parents understand the essence of changes in the child, then the child’s status in the family increases and the child is included in new relationships. But more often conflict in the family increases for the following reasons. Parents may be updating their own school fears. The roots of these fears lie in the collective unconscious, for the appearance of teachers in the social arena in ancient times was a sign that parents are not omnipotent and their influence is limited. In addition, conditions are created in which the projection of the parental desire for superiority over their own child is possible. As K. Jung noted, the father is busy with work, and the mother wants to realize her social ambition in the child. Accordingly, the child must be successful in order to fulfill the mother's expectations. Such a child can be recognized by his clothes: he is dressed like a doll. It turns out that he is forced to live by the wishes of his parents, and not his own. But the most difficult situation is when the demands made by parents do not correspond to the child’s capabilities. Its consequences may be different, but they always represent a risk factor for psychological health disorders.

However, the most significant risk factor for psychological health problems may be school. Indeed, at school, for the first time, a child finds himself in a situation of socially assessed activity, that is, his skills must correspond to the norms established in society for reading, writing, and counting. In addition, for the first time the child gets the opportunity to objectively compare his activities with the activities of others (through assessments - points or pictures: “clouds”, “suns”, etc.). As a consequence of this, for the first time he realizes his “non-omnipotence.” Accordingly, dependence on the assessments of adults, especially teachers, increases. But what is especially important is that for the first time the child’s self-awareness and self-esteem receive strict criteria for his development: academic success and school behavior. Accordingly, the younger schoolchild gets to know himself only in these directions and builds his self-esteem on the same foundations. However, due to limited criteria, situations of failure can lead to a significant decrease in children’s self-esteem.

Conventionally, we can distinguish the following stages in the process of reducing self-esteem. At first, the child recognizes his school inability as an inability to “be good.” But at this stage, the child retains the belief that he can become good in the future. Then faith disappears, but the child still wants to be good. In a situation of persistent, long-term failure, a child may not only realize his inability to “become good,” but also lose the desire to do so, which means persistent deprivation of the claim to recognition.

Deprivation of the claim to recognition in younger schoolchildren can manifest itself not only in a decrease in self-esteem, but also in the formation of inadequate defensive response options. In this case, the active variant of behavior usually includes various manifestations of aggression towards animate and inanimate objects, compensation in other types of activities. The passive option is a manifestation of uncertainty, shyness, laziness, apathy, withdrawal into fantasy or illness.

In addition, if a child perceives educational results as the only criteria of his own value, sacrificing imagination and play, he acquires a limited identity, according to E. Erikson - “I am only what I can do.” There is a possibility of developing a feeling of inferiority, which can negatively affect both the child’s current situation and the formation of his life scenario.

Adolescence (from 10-11 to 15-16 years). This is the most important period for the development of independence. In many ways, the success of achieving independence is determined by family factors, or more precisely by how the process of separation of a teenager from the family is carried out. The separation of a teenager from the family usually means the building of a new type of relationship between the teenager and his family, based not on guardianship, but on partnership. This is a rather difficult process both for the teenager himself and for his family, since the family is not always ready to let the teenager go. And a teenager cannot always adequately manage his independence. However, the consequences of incomplete separation from the family - the inability to take responsibility for one's life - can be observed not only in youth, but also in adulthood, and even in old age. Therefore, it is so important that parents are able to provide a teenager with such rights and freedoms that he can use without threatening his psychological and physical health.

A teenager differs from a primary school student in that school no longer influences his psychological health through the realization or deprivation of the claim to recognition in educational activities. Rather, school can be seen as a place where one of the most important psychosocial conflicts of growing up occurs, also with the goal of achieving independence and independence.

As can be seen, the influence of external environmental factors on psychological health decreases from infancy to adolescence. Therefore, the influence of these factors on an adult is quite difficult to describe. A psychologically healthy adult, as we said earlier, must be able to adequately adapt to any risk factors without compromising health. Therefore, let us turn to the consideration of internal factors.

As we have already said, psychological health presupposes resistance to stressful situations, so it is necessary to discuss those psychological characteristics that cause reduced resistance to stress. Let's look at temperament first. Let's start with the classic experiments of A. Thomas, who identified the properties of the temperament he called “difficult”: irregularity, low adaptive ability, tendency to avoid, predominance of bad mood, fear of new situations, excessive stubbornness, excessive distractibility, increased or decreased activity. The difficulty with this temperament is that it increases the risk of behavioral disorders. However, these disorders, and this is important to note, are caused not by the properties themselves, but by their special interaction with the child’s environment. Thus, the difficulty of temperament lies in the fact that it is difficult for adults to perceive its properties and difficult to apply educational influences that are adequate to them.

The individual properties of temperament in terms of the risk of psychological health disorders were described quite interestingly by Ya. Strelyau. In view of the special importance of his position, let us consider it in more detail. Ya. Strelyau believed that temperament is a set of relatively stable characteristics of behavior, manifested in the energy level of behavior and in the time parameters of reactions.

Since, as noted above, temperament modifies the educational influences of the environment, J. Strelyau and his colleagues conducted research on the connection between the properties of temperament and some personality qualities. It turned out that this connection is most pronounced in relation to one of the characteristics of the energy level of behavior - reactivity. In this case, reactivity is understood as the ratio of the strength of the reaction to the causing stimulus. Accordingly, highly reactive children are those who react strongly even to small stimuli, weakly reactive children - those with a weak intensity of reactions. Highly reactive and low-reactive children can be distinguished by their reactions to teachers' comments. Low-reactive comments from teachers or bad grades will force them to behave better or write more clearly, i.e. will improve their performance. Highly reactive children, on the contrary, may experience deterioration in activity. For them, a stern look is enough to understand the teacher’s dissatisfaction.

Interestingly, according to research results, highly reactive children are most often characterized by increased anxiety. They also have a reduced threshold for fear and reduced performance. A passive level of self-regulation is characteristic, that is, weak persistence, low efficiency of actions, poor adaptation of one’s goals to the real state of affairs. Another dependence was also discovered: inadequacy of the level of aspirations (unrealistically underestimated or overestimated). These studies allow us to conclude that temperamental properties are not sources of psychological health problems, but are a significant risk factor that cannot be ignored.

Now let's see how reduced resistance to stress is related to any personal factors. There are no clearly defined positions on this matter today. But we are ready to agree with V. A. Bodrov, who, following S. Kobasa, believes that cheerful people are the most psychologically stable; accordingly, people with a low background mood are less stable. In addition, they identify three more main characteristics of resilience: control, self-esteem and criticality. In this case, control is defined as the locus of control. In their opinion, externalists, who see most events as the result of chance and do not associate them with personal participation, are more susceptible to stress. Internals, on the other hand, have greater internal control and cope with stress more successfully. Self-esteem here is a sense of one’s own purpose and one’s own capabilities. Difficulties in managing stress in people with low self-esteem come from two types of negative self-perceptions. First, people with low self-esteem have higher levels of fear or anxiety. Second, they perceive themselves as lacking the ability to cope with the threat. Accordingly, they are less energetic in taking preventive measures and strive to avoid difficulties, because they are convinced that they cannot cope with them. If people rate themselves highly enough, it is unlikely that they will interpret many events as emotionally difficult or stressful. In addition, if stress arises, they show greater initiative and therefore cope with it more successfully. The next necessary quality is criticality. It reflects the degree of importance for a person of security, stability and predictability of life events. It is optimal for a person to have a balance between the desire for risk and for safety, for change and for maintaining stability, for accepting uncertainty and for controlling events. Only such a balance will allow a person to develop, change, on the one hand, and prevent self-destruction, on the other. As you can see, the personal prerequisites for stress resistance described by V. A. Bodrov echo the structural components of psychological health that we identified earlier: self-acceptance, reflection and self-development, which once again proves their necessity. Accordingly, negative self-attitude, insufficiently developed reflection and lack of desire for growth and development can be called personal prerequisites for reduced resistance to stress.

So, we looked at the risk factors for psychological health disorders. However, let's try to imagine: what if a child grows up in an absolutely comfortable environment? He will probably be absolutely psychologically healthy? What kind of personality will we get in the complete absence of external stress factors? Let us present the point of view of S. Freiberg on this matter. As S. Freiberg says, “recently it has been customary to view mental health as the product of a special “diet”, including appropriate portions of love and safety, constructive toys, healthy peers, excellent sex education, control and release of emotions; All this together forms a balanced and healthy menu. Reminiscent of boiled vegetables, which, although nutritious, do not cause appetite. The product of such a “diet” will become a well-oiled, boring person.”

In addition, if we consider the development of psychological health only from the point of view of risk factors, it becomes unclear why not all children in unfavorable conditions “break down”, but, on the contrary, sometimes achieve success in life, moreover, their successes are socially significant. It is also not clear why we often encounter children who grew up in a comfortable external environment, but at the same time need some kind of psychological help.

Therefore, consider the following question: what are the optimal conditions for the development of human psychological health.