Art therapy with latency period boys exhibiting overt anger and/or aggression
The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using art as therapy, with latency period boys, to develop anger management skills. The respondents for this study were male children selected by an outpatient psychiatric clinic, using the criteria of age (latency period) and problem (anger/aggression). The six subjects assigned to the group agreed to attend a therapy session for one hour per week for six consecutive weeks. Sessions involved the use of art to therapeutically achieve the aims of anger management and ego strength, while incorporating projective drawing tests as part of the evaluative process. The Achenbach Child Behaviour Check List was used as a pre- and post-test to determine perceivable changes in each cbild1S anger management skills. The naturalistic mode of research was used to attend to the credibility of the study. The data obtained is information verifying rather than information generating. Many young clients who enter therapy are treated for a conspicuous difficulty which may include impaired social skills or learning difficulties, while for many the underlying problem of anger is the primary issue. To surmount this anomaly there has been negligible art therapy research into anger management from which a therapeutic approach could be developed and/or replicated. In this study, research on anger therapy is divided into three schools of thought: the Humanistic, the Gestalt and Cognitive- Behavioural therapies, none of which are conclusive in their treatment of anger management. As many of the models appear promising, an eclectic approach based on art therapy is perceived by the author as the most desirable and is used in this study. The knowledge gained in this study provides a basis for further art therapy research in the clinical and private sector.
Anger in children, Art therapy for children, Behavior therapy for children, Problem children, Behavior modification., Art Therapy
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Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia