Family mosaic in the drawings of children from patchwork families

Abstract

The creation of a patchwork (reconstructed) family is a challenge both for the entire family systems that make up this family mosaic and for each of its member. The aim of the study, the results of which we present in this article, was to characterise the psychological functioning of the youngest children raised in reconstructed families in the following areas: family structure, interpersonal relations, place of the studied child and his/her adaptation in the reconstructed family, overt and covert family conflicts. The study was conducted in a qualitative research strategy in an interpretative paradigm, using the individual case method. By opting for an inductive order of the research, we consciously refrained from posing hypotheses, remaining to ask the following research questions: (a) How do the interviewed children perceive the structure of their patchwork family?; (b) How do the interviewed children describe the interpersonal relationships in the new family, with a particular focus on the perception of the role of the new patchwork family member (stepfather/stepmother/half sibling)?; (c) How do the interviewed children perceive themselves and their place in the new reconstructed family?; (d) Do and which family conflicts most often arise in the new family systems from the perspective of the youngest children?; (e) How the interviewed children adapted to the current family situation? In order to get to the inner picture of the family situation of a child raised in a patchwork family and his/her self-image as a member of such a family group, we used the projection method of the Family Drawing Test. The article presents the results of the analysis of drawings of three children aged 911 years raised in patchwork families. The research findings presented in the article indicate that the children involved in the study reveal difficulties in defining the external boundaries of the family, often experiencing conflicts of loyalty to the biological parent, who is outside the system on a daily basis. In addition, the results show that some of the interviewed children did not draw themselves, did not included their biological father in the drawing, or did not include their stepfather, mother's partner and foster siblings as new family members, which indicates the experienced difficulties in building interpersonal relationships in a new family and finding their place in it.