神経症的児童を形成する乳幼時期環境の分析と考察

Abstract

1. The purpose of this study is to analyse and understand the vicious environments which make up neurotic children in early childhood. In this study, I presume that the essential elements which form neurotic needs are basic anxiety and neurotic anxiety as described by K. Horney.2. The method adopted for the study is case analysis, which makes use of the sources of understanding utilized by the social worker, the clinical psychologist and the child psychiatrist in the child guidance approach.3. The subjects are 6 to 7 -year-old boys : A, B, C, and D, who had strong neurotic needs.4. The main, direct environmental factors in the formation of neurotic needs of these 4 children were as follows. The neurotic needs in child “A” are caused by : a) his mother's affectionate protection for him while he was suffering from some diseases on the one hand and her attitude toward her son in trying to correct his left-handedness on the other, and b) the stress which this only child felt in his social life. The neurotic needs in child, “B” were caused by : a) his mother's nervous nursing of this eldest child ; b) constantly insecure life environments, and c) the scoldings that his father occasionally put upon his behavior. Child “C” 's neurotic needs were caused by : a) the rejection given him by his grandmother, uncle and aunt ; b) his mother's over-affection for this eldest child on the one hand and her several desertions of the child on the other, and c) the very limited life space. Child “D” 's neurotic needs were caused by the over-affection of his mother or grandmother on one side and their strict discipline they put on him on the other.5. Particularly, the following points were noted in the results obtained from the four case analysis. 1) All members of the three families and the majority of the rest show strong interests in bringing up these children as if they were princes. Therefore, most members of these four families cause direct anilety to them, only a few member of one family causing him anxiety by their hostility. 2) These four children get security by depending upon their neurotic mother, and at the same time severe anxiety on their part is caused by their mother's attitude. Thus their mothers play an important role in the formation of the neurotic needs through the extremely close mother-child relationship. This forms a core of the dynamic interrelation between the child and his environments which cause him anxiety.3) In each of these cases, his family members' personalities, attitudes and feelings toward the child effect much stronger influence for his maladjustment than any technique of child care and training. From two of these cases, we can see clearly that these children's maladjustment reflects the feudalistic atmosphere in their family.6. In conclusion, we emphasize that the typical conflict leading to anxiety in a child is that between his dependency on the mother and his hostile impulses against her. This is different from what K. Horney retrospectively revealed in the analysis of adult neurotics, namely ; the typical conflict leading to anxiety in a child is, according to Horney, that between his dependency on the parents and his hostile impulses against them.