One of the most popular in the arsenal of a school psychologist is the projective technique "Family Drawing". Its popularity is explained not only by the convenience of holding, but also by the speed. It is accessible to children from preschool age. With the help of this technique, it becomes possible to see the family through the eyes of a child, to see what subjective assessment the baby gives her, what place he takes in himself. In addition, it reflects what difficulties and problems in relationships there are in the family.
Procedure and briefing
For the Family Drawing technique to be fully implemented, you need a white sheet of paper, a set of colored pencils of medium softness, and an eraser. The child is given instructions about the following meaning: "(Name), draw a family." At the same time, it is impossible to explain what is meant by this, since interference can further distort the meaning of the text. If the child asks what exactly he should portray, then you just need to instruct him a second time.
What to look for when performing a test
On average, the instructions take less than 35 minutes. At the same time, attention should be drawn to pauses, the sequence of drawn parts, erasure, comments of the baby, emotional reactions to the drawn. After the drawing is ready, questions are asked, something like: “Who is painted here?”, “Where are the characters and what are they doing?”, “Which of them is the happiest?” and others.
Interpretation
The “Family Drawing” methodology in its interpretation is conventionally divided into three main parts: analysis of the family structure, interpretation of graphic features, and analysis of the drawing process itself.
Family structure analysis
Extreme options are considered if only subjects that are not related to the family are drawn, and if there are no people at all. In the event that the composition of the family is distorted,
then this may indicate a conflict, dissatisfaction with the situation. In addition, children forget to draw those relatives who are less important for them emotionally. If there are strangers, then this may be a signal that there is a psychological unmet need.
Location of family members
The Family Drawing technique can show what kind of relationships are in the family. Family cohesion, the occupation of all characters by a common activity indicates psychological well-being. If the picture has opposite characteristics, then this may indicate a low level of emotional attachments. If one of the members is separated, then this may indicate a negative attitude towards him, sometimes it can be an indirect sign of a threat.
Analysis of Drawn Shapes
The Kinetic Family Drawing technique can tell about the emotional attitude to each member. To do this, the number of details, decoration and what colors are used to draw the figure are estimated. A good attitude is accompanied by the presence of a large number of details, decoration. Schematicity, incompleteness may indicate a negative attitude, aggressive motives towards him. Sometimes children draw themselves values equal to the parent. This may indicate a child’s egocentricity, a competition for parental love. If the baby feels unnecessary himself, his insignificance, then this is reflected in the drawings, where he is much smaller than other family members.