Peculiarities of mental development of children brought up outside the family, without parental care (in orphanages, orphanages and boarding schools) is an urgent problem of our time.

The pace of development of such children is slower compared to children brought up in a family. Their development and health have a number of negative features that are noted at all stages - from infancy to adolescence and beyond.

Inmates of closed children's institutions of each age level are characterized by specific and different sets of psychological traits that distinguish them from peers growing up in a family. nine0017

The specificity of the development of children brought up in closed children's institutions indicates that many properties and qualities of their cognitive sphere and personality are preserved throughout the entire considered age period, revealing themselves in one form or another. These include features of the internal position (weak focus on the future), emotional flattening, simplified and depleted content of the image of the Self, reduced attitude towards oneself, unformed selectivity (bias) in relation to adults, peers and the objective world, impulsiveness, unconsciousness and lack of independence of behavior , situational thinking and behavior and much more. nine0017

Psychological characteristics of children brought up in an orphanage, children's home and boarding school, and the characteristics of their communicative activity are interconnected. The development of communication in children is largely determined by how it is organized and carried out by an adult. Interaction with an adult should provide the child with the formation of age-appropriate forms of communication, its content.

Deprived of parental care, they, as a rule, have a need for communication, and therefore, under favorable conditions, a relatively quick correction of their development is possible. Thus, deviations and delays in the development of the psyche and personality of a child brought up in an orphanage, an orphanage and a boarding school that arose in the early stages of ontogenesis are not fatal. nine0017

Briefly formulating the characteristics of children left without parental care, we can draw the following conclusions:

figurative, abstract-logical, verbal, etc.), low erudition, etc. The reasons for low intellectual development can be different: from a violation of the normal functioning of the brain, to the absence of a normal educational environment (pedagogical neglect). Lack of due attention to the intellectual development of the child can lead to a serious backlog in learning. nine0017

2. Joint activities and communication of children with peers. In the game, children are less attentive to the actions and states of their partner, often do not notice resentment, requests, and even tears of their peers at all. Being close, they play separately. Either everyone plays with everyone, but joint games are mainly procedural in nature; there is no role-playing interaction in the game; even being included in some general plot, children act on their own behalf, and not on behalf of a role-playing character. According to the operational composition (according to the actions performed), such an activity is very similar to a role-playing game, but in terms of the subjective, psychological content, it differs significantly from it. Contacts in the game are reduced to specific appeals and comments about the actions of a peer (give, look, move, etc.). nine0017

3. The problem of gender identification of pupils of boarding schools. Stereotypes of female and male behavior enter self-consciousness through the experience of communication and identification with representatives of the same sex. In orphanages, children are isolated from these orientations. Preschoolers are already well aware of their gender, they strive to assert themselves as a boy or a girl, in this they differ little from children brought up in a family. However, qualitatively gender identification has significant differences. If children in a family are identified with their parents, close relatives and peers, then children deprived of parental care are identified, first of all, with their peers, i.e. boys and girls in the group. nine0017

4. Problems of the moral development of the personality of pupils. Problems of moral development begin from primary school age and manifest themselves most often in theft, irresponsibility, suppression and insult of the weaker, in a decrease in empathy, the ability to sympathize, empathy, and, in general, in a lack of understanding or rejection of moral norms, rules and restrictions.

5. Socialization of orphans. Under the difficulty of socialization, experts understand a complex of difficulties for a child in mastering a particular social role. Mastering these roles, a person socializes, becomes a personality. The absence of normal contacts for an ordinary child (family, friends, neighbors, etc.) leads to the fact that the image of the role is created on the basis of conflicting information received by the child from various sources. nine0017

6. Problems of emotional and volitional development of pupils. The greatest difficulties and deviations from the normal development of the personality of children from orphanages are noted by all researchers in the emotional and volitional sphere: in violation of social interaction, self-doubt, reduced self-organization, purposefulness, insufficient development of independence (“personality strength”), inadequate self-esteem. Violations of this kind are most often manifested in increased anxiety, emotional tension, mental fatigue, emotional stress. nine0017

Despite the presence of some common features that characterize the mental development of orphans, it should be borne in mind that, as a subject of psychological and pedagogical support, they represent a rather arbitrary group, internally differentiated. In fact, the only reason to unite the inmates of orphanages is the deprivation syndrome. At the same time, each child has his own individual history of orphanhood, his own experience of relationships with adults, his own special character of personal development, which in not all cases can be qualified as a lag or mental retardation. Due to these circumstances, the psychological and pedagogical support of the mental development of a child left without parental care can only be of an individual nature. nine0017

The fact that the child develops under conditions of deprivation also has a great influence on the child's personality.

II. Causes, manifestations and consequences of emotional deprivation in a child left without parental care.

Psychological problems in the development of both children and adults most often arise in connection with their experience of deprivation or loss. The term "deprivation" is used in psychology and medicine, in everyday speech it means the deprivation or limitation of the ability to meet vital needs. nine0017

Depending on the deprivation of a person, various types of deprivations are distinguished - maternal, sensory, motor, psychosocial, and others. Let us briefly characterize each of these types of deprivations and show what effect they have on child development.

Maternal deprivation . The normal development of a child in the first years of life is associated with the constancy of the care of at least one adult. Ideally, this is maternal care. However, the presence of another person who takes care of the baby when maternal care is impossible also has a positive effect on the mental development of the baby. A normative phenomenon in the development of any child is the formation of attachment to an adult caring for the child. This form of attachment in psychology is called maternal attachment. There are several types of maternal attachment - reliable, anxious, ambivalent. The absence or violation of maternal affection associated with the forcible separation of the mother from the child leads to his suffering and negatively affects mental development in general. In situations where the child is not separated from the mother, but does not receive maternal care and love, there are also manifestations of maternal deprivation. In the formation of a sense of attachment and security, the bodily contact of the child with the mother, for example, the opportunity to cuddle, feel the warmth and smell of the mother's body, is of decisive importance. According to the observations of psychologists, children living in unhygienic conditions, often experiencing hunger, but having constant physical contact with their mother, do not develop somatic disorders. At the same time, even in the best children's institutions that provide proper care for babies, but do not allow physical contact with the mother, there are somatic disorders in children. nine0017

Maternal deprivation forms a child's personality type, characterized by unemotional mental reactions. Psychologists distinguish between the characteristics of children deprived of maternal care from birth and children forcibly separated from their mother after an emotional connection with the mother has already been established. In the first case (maternal deprivation from birth), a steady lag in intellectual development, inability to enter into meaningful relationships with other people, lethargy of emotional reactions, aggressiveness, and self-doubt are formed. In cases of a break with the mother after the established attachment, the child begins a period of severe emotional reactions. Experts name a number of typical stages of this period - protest, despair, alienation. In the protest phase, the child makes vigorous attempts to regain the mother or caregiver. The reaction to separation in this phase is predominantly characterized by the emotion of fear. In the phase of despair, the child shows signs of grief. The child rejects all attempts to care for him by other people, grieves inconsolably for a long time, can cry, scream, refuse food. The stage of alienation is characterized in the behavior of young children by the fact that the process of reorientation to other attachments begins, which helps to overcome the traumatic effect of separation from a loved one. nine0017

Sensory deprivation. A child's stay outside the family - in a boarding school or other institution is often accompanied by a lack of new experiences, called sensory hunger. A depleted habitat is harmful to a person of any age. Studies of the conditions of speleologists who spend a long time in deep caves, crew members of submarines, Arctic and space expeditions (V.I. Lebedev) testify to significant changes in communication, thinking and other mental functions of adults. The restoration of a normal mental state for them is associated with the organization of a special program of psychological adaptation. For children experiencing sensory deprivation, a sharp lag and slowdown in all aspects of development is characteristic: underdevelopment of motor skills, underdevelopment or incoherence of speech, inhibition of mental development. Another great Russian scientist V.M. Bekhterev noted that by the end of the second month of life, the child is looking for new experiences. A poor stimulus environment causes indifference, a lack of reaction of the child to the reality surrounding him. nine0017

Motor deprivation. A sharp limitation of the ability to move as a result of injury or illness causes the occurrence of motor deprivation. In a normal situation of development, the child feels his ability to influence the environment through his own motor activity. Manipulating toys, pointing and asking, smiling, screaming, making sounds, syllables, babbling - all these actions of babies give them the opportunity to be convinced from their own experience that their influence on the environment can have a tangible result. Experiments with offering infants various types of movable structures showed a clear pattern - the child's ability to control the movement of objects forms his motor activity, the inability to influence the movement of toys suspended from the cradle forms motor apathy. The inability to change the environment causes frustration and associated passivity or aggression in the behavior of children. The limitations of children in their desire to run, climb, crawl, jump, scream lead to anxiety, irritability, and aggressive behavior. The importance of physical activity in human life is confirmed by examples of experimental studies of adults who refuse to participate in experiments associated with prolonged immobility, despite the proposed subsequent rewards. nine0017

Emotional deprivation. The need for emotional contact is one of the leading mental needs that affect the development of the human psyche at any age. “Emotional contact becomes possible only when a person is capable of emotional consonance with the state of other people. However, in an emotional connection, there is a two-way contact in which a person feels that he is the subject of interest of others, that others are in tune with his own feelings. Without the appropriate attitude of the people surrounding the child, there can be no emotional contact.” nine0017

Experts note a number of significant features of the appearance of emotional deprivation in childhood. So, the presence of a large number of different people does not yet fix the emotional contact of the child with them. The fact of communicating with many different people often entails the emergence of feelings of loss and loneliness, with which the child is associated with fear. This is confirmed by observations of children brought up in orphanages, who show a lack of syntony ((Greek syntonia with sonority, consistency) - a feature of the personality: a combination of internal balance with emotional responsiveness and sociability) in relation to the environment. Thus, the experience of joint celebrations of children from orphanages and children living in families had a different effect on them. Children deprived of family upbringing and the emotional attachment associated with it were lost in situations where they were surrounded by emotional warmth, the holiday made a much less impression on them than on emotionally contact children. After returning from guests, children from orphanages, as a rule, hide gifts and calmly move on to their usual way of life. A family child usually has a long holiday experience. nine0017

III. Attachment. Types of broken attachment.

The question of how to find a common language with an adopted child and build a trusting relationship with him worries almost every foster parent. And this question is not easy. After all, a child who enters a new family has, as a rule, a negative emotional experience of relations with close adults, separation from them. Some children have experienced neglect and even abuse by adults. All this cannot but affect the building of relationships with members of the new family. To better understand what is happening with such a child and how to help him establish a full life, it is useful to turn to scientific facts. nine0017

Manifestations of attachment

Attachment is formed in babies from about 6 months. The first target is the child's guardian, most often the mother. Later (after 1-2 months) the circle expands, it includes the father of the child, grandparents and other relatives. To a person who is the object of affection, the baby turns for comfort and protection more often than to other people, in his presence he feels calmer in an unfamiliar environment. The following signs indicate that an attachment to a particular person (parent) has formed:

• the child responds with a smile for a smile;
• is not afraid to look into the eyes and responds with a look;
• seeks to be closer to an adult, especially when it is scary or painful, uses parents as a "safe haven";
• accepts the consolations of parents;
• experiences age-appropriate separation anxiety;
• experiences positive emotions while playing with parents;
• has an age-appropriate fear of strangers. nine0004

Stages of formation of attachment

Formation of parent-child attachment goes through a number of successive stages:

• Stage of undifferentiated attachments picked up by another adult. This period is also called the stage of initial orientation and indiscriminate targeting of signals to any person - the child follows his eyes, clings and smiles at an arbitrary person. nine0004
• Stage of specific attachments (7-9 months) – at this stage primary attachment to mother is formed and consolidated. The baby protests if he is separated from his mother, and behaves restlessly in the presence of strangers.
• The stage of multiple attachments (11-18 months) - the child, on the basis of primary attachment to the mother, begins to show selective attachment in relation to other close people. Nevertheless, the mother continues to be the main figure of attachment - the child uses her as a "safe base" for his research activities. If we observe the behavior of the baby at this moment, we will see that, no matter what he does, he constantly keeps his mother in his field of vision, and if someone obscures her, he will definitely move so that he can see her again. nine0004

In order to overcome the negative consequences of a break with parents, a child needs certainty and a sense of security, physical care, comfort. The basic sense of security, determined by the quality of attachment, determines the degree of adaptation of the child and affects the level of overall mental development (Bardyshevskaya, Maksimenko). The child's need for security is basic. Satisfaction or frustration of this need depends on the parenting strategy that the new mother chooses. An anxious child who does not feel safe tries to satisfy the need for safety by choosing a certain strategy of behavior, often inadequate to reality: hostility with the aim of retribution with a rejecting adult; over-obedience to return the love of a significant loved one, self-pity as a call for sympathy, idealization of oneself as compensation for feelings of inferiority. The result is a neuroticization of the child's needs. The behavioral features of a substitute adult during communication with a child determine the quality of the type of attachment that is being formed in him, and the formed attachment contributes to intensive and versatile mental development (Andreeva, Khaimovskaya, Maksimenko). New parents need to initiate positive interactions with the child, be the first to be attentive and interested in their affairs and feelings, ask questions, and express warmth and concern, even if the child appears indifferent or sullen. They need to be attentive to the memories of a child who needs to talk about what happened to him, about his family. It is necessary to preserve memorabilia and help in the establishment of life and study. Parents of children with insecure attachment show excessive interference in the child's actions (boundary violation), do not consider his own desires and needs, and do not respond to his requests (Grossman). nine0058 Violated maternal attitude , inadequate organization of communication with the child, manifestation of authoritarianism by the mother, rejection, overprotection or infantilization of the child contribute to the frustration of his needs. Excessive guardianship gives rise to infantilism and the child's inability to be independent, excessive demands - the child's self-doubt, emotional rejection - an increased level of anxiety, depression, aggression. The mother's attitude should be appropriate for the developmental needs of the child. E. Fromm defined as "heteronomic influence" the attitude of the mother, which is contrary to the natural growth of the child, in which the free, spontaneous expression of the desires and needs of the child is subject to various restrictions, which causes various mental pathologies. E.Fromm also studied the difference in the influences of a child's attachment to the mother and to the father at different stages of the child's development. They show that as they grow older, attachment to the mother loses its significance and after 6 years the child's need for father's love and guidance becomes actual. “The development from attachments centered around the mother to attachments centered around the father, and their gradual connection forms the basis of spiritual health and allows one to reach maturity. Deviations from the normal course of this development constitute the cause of various disturbances. nine0017

Thus, the strength and quality of attachments largely depend on the behavior of parents in relation to the child and on the quality of their attitude towards him (Ainsworth, Mukhamedrakhimov). This fully applies to substitute parents. The foster family must have experience in raising such a child, understand the patterns of child development and the consequences of losing attachment to blood parents, the influence of their own attitude towards the child on his development, i. e. be sufficiently prepared, in the future such a family will need the help of specialists. nine0017

How to behave with children? Psychologist's advice

When disturbing, frightening events occur or a situation of uncertainty arises, parents are often worried about questions: how to behave with a child correctly, how to tell him about what is happening and whether to tell him at all what should alert the child's behavior, and what, on the contrary, is normal.

In child psychology, it is customary to distinguish several age periods. Consider the features of interaction with children of preschool (3-7 years old) and primary school (7-11 years old) ages. nine0017

A few recommendations:

The greatest influence on the child is not even the situation itself, but the reaction to it of close adults who surround him. For a preschooler, such adults will be parents and those adult family members with whom communication takes place every day; For the younger student, the teacher also plays a significant role:

• Children are very sensitive to the emotional state of close, significant adults. When an adult is upset, anxious, scared, the child also experiences these emotions. If the child does not know the reason, then helplessness is added to fear and anxiety. Therefore, when you see a child's need to talk, do not ignore it. nine0004

Example: You are upset and need some time to recover. The child feels this and insistently asks the question “What happened?”

Wrong answer: "Nothing happened, go play (draw, do your homework)"

The correct answer is: “I’m a little upset (alarmed, sad) right now, because ..., let’s draw a robot now (do your math homework), and then we’ll go for a walk (we’ll have dinner).” nine0017

• When talking to your child, use simple, child-friendly phrases and expressions.

• Ask about the child's point of view. This will help to understand what worries, scares or worries him, and you can provide the necessary psychological support.
• Try to ensure that the positions of adults do not contradict each other. Putting a child in a situation of choice, you place an unbearable burden on him.
• Children very quickly adapt to the situation, BUT! Only on condition that the behavior of adults gives them such an opportunity. nine0004

Pay attention to information hygiene:

• Pay attention to what you watch or talk about with relatives, friends, acquaintances. Try not to see or hear what is not intended for him: emotional disputes with colorful examples, news releases with frightening details. Sometimes there is a feeling that the child does not pay attention to what is happening - this is an illusion! Based on the information obtained in this way, children often draw their own conclusions about what is happening, which are often the cause of children's fears. nine0004
• At primary school age, the information field of the child expands, it includes school friends, classmates, many at this age master communication on the Internet. Show interest in this area, ask about his friends and hobbies. A trusting relationship will help you spot trouble or danger.
• Talk to children about topics that concern them, do not limit yourself to the phrases “everything will be fine”, “this is an adult topic, you won’t understand”, etc. If adults do not give an answer to a question of interest to the child, he will find the answer in another source, which may be unreliable and even dangerous. nine0004

Pay attention to the behavior and mode of life of the child:

• Adults experience difficult moments, realizing, thinking over and discussing what is happening. Children have other ways. It is easier for a preschooler to cope with what is happening by playing or drawing it. Therefore, stories that frighten a child can be found in a game or drawings. For younger students, it is important to study, master new knowledge, so often children of this age try to learn more about what excites, frightens or disturbs. Do not prohibit children from these activities and do not blame them. The best strategy is discussion and cooperation. And if the behavior of the child is alarming, consult a child psychologist for advice. nine0004
• Organize your child's life by keeping the usual routine of the day as much as possible. The usual course of life, everyday affairs, the presence of a plan for the next day, week, month allow you to overcome the feeling of helplessness and anxiety, allow you to feel confident.

Do not neglect sports, communication, hobbies yourself and do not deprive this child. If something from the previous possibilities turned out to be unavailable, try to find a replacement. These activities allow you to replenish the resources and energy spent on experiences. nine0017

Seek professional help if necessary. You may need to consult a child psychologist if:

• The child's behavior has changed dramatically, these changes are persistent - they last several weeks or longer.

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