Research on the Self-presentation of Children who have a broken family

Tanaka Rie

doi:10.15017/978

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

家族崩壊と子どもの自己呈示に関する研究
カゾクホウカイトコドモノジコテイジニカンスルケンキュウ

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Description

This paper attempts to analyze and explain the self-presentation of children that in a broken family. In particular, I focus on the feelings that these children have about themselves and about their relations with children who have a "normal" family. To understand these feelings, I examined children's discussion of their lives, and in particular, the use and significance of certain vocabulary they used to describe their lives. The following are results of my research. (1) In society, people are categorized, and the members of each category consider their own attributes as ordinary and normal. And the children who have a broken family are labeled the disgrace. This label has discrediting effect. He is reduced in our minds from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one. (2) By definition, we believe these children is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination, if often unthinkingly, reduce his life chances. (3) The children who have a broken family think that their perspective is the same as other children and do not differentiate themselves from others. However, they and people around them define them as being different, which causes these children to strive for "normalcy". (4) Stress management and information management are important in helping stigmatised children avoid unreasonable treatment. The very widely employed strategies of these children are passing, telling all, and speaking his bosom friends only. These strategies have common property. Eventually, self-presentation is merely image management. These children do not identify themselves as living at an orphanage, and instead attempt to manage information about themselves when talking with others. But,in fact, image management can never serve as the means of solution.

Journal

大学院教育学研究紀要

大学院教育学研究紀要 3 65-78, 2001-03-30

Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University