In a situation where a child is hospitalized during war situations, there is no way for the child to leave the hospital because it is the only safe place. Psychologically, there is more damage done to the emotional development of abandoned children. In object relations theory, there is a strong focus on early life relationships that leave a lasting impression on the individual's psyche.
Children and God
It also explores the images of God as perceived by children who have been abandoned and deprived of the basic parental bond. When adults are inconsistent and unreliable, the child learns not to rely on God's environment. If the message of God's love is conveyed, such a child may have difficulty conceptualizing it on a spiritual level.
Research Design
When a child has not lived with the feeling of being loved, it can lead to feelings of frustration and anger, and the child may feel that he or she is not worthy and completely incapable of being loved. to become.
Outline of the study
Attachment theories started this process in the field of psychology, with the emergence of object relations theories rooted in the school of psychoanalysis led by Sigmund Freud. In combination with relationship, object refers to interpersonal relationships and suggests the internal remnants of past relationships that shape an individual's current interactions with people" (St Clair 1986: 1). Sigmund Freud (1907) is considered the father of psychoanalysis, the which is where object relations theory is rooted.
Attachment theory
Such a relationship can be insufficient under three conditions; first, where the child never had any relationship with the mother-person. First, separation from the mother before a stable and secure dependency relationship is established and lack of subsequent opportunity to form a stable relationship with any maternal figure, as in institutionalization, illustrates the case of complete deprivation. Second, separation from the mother or surrogate mother after a stable and secure dependency relationship has been established results in the most severe case of deprivation.
Conclusion
The later understanding of the Bible is concrete and fact-oriented, because the child can apply the Bible in daily life. When putting together the child's representation of God, use is made of the child's experiences with the parents or their parents. The child constructs a representation of God that has some of the characteristics of the parent figure or figures.
Introduction
Historical background to the SOS Children's Village
He lives in the village with his own biological family and oversees the smooth running of the village. To focus on the first group of study participants (Group A), the researcher approached the village father of SOS children, who is the legal guardian of the children. To ensure that the children receive appropriate care, the researcher asked the social worker to be part of the research team to support the children and at least one house mother.
The pastor was interested in the study, but he was not sure if the children's parents would agree. They asked the pastor to communicate this to the researcher and that he should meet with the Sunday school teachers to explain the main objectives of the research study. The researcher was asked to write letters to the parents of 7-9 year olds informing them about the aims and objectives of the research.
They were interested in the study and were intrigued by the idea of the research study and asked the researcher to bring the research findings and recommendations back to the church after the research study was completed. A separate meeting with parents of the age group of children selected for research purposes was very important as it created a safe space for parents to express their fears, expectations and concerns arising from giving permission for their children to participate in the research study. For this reason, parents were assured that the names of the children and their parents would be kept confidential.
Children were not allowed to move in and out of the hall after the search began to reduce the chances of disruption during the search process.
Construction of the questionnaire
Verbal images of God
What was significant was the fact that 81.25% of the study population said they prayed. The fact that all the children in Group A prayed might be a result of the rules of the Village house. When the children were asked who taught them to pray, six out of eight respondents in Group A said that village mothers taught them to pray.
Some examples highlighted the way children remembered what the Bible says about who God is. In this way, these questions allowed children to review their understanding of God and link this to the formulations of the images of God. This chapter provided an in-depth presentation of the answers to each question and relatively examined how the children in Group A and Group B approached the questionnaires.
The next chapter will discuss the research findings in detail and analyze some of the responses given by the two groups of children. This forms the basis of the assumption underlying this dissertation that the way people perceive God is related to the way in which they related to their parents or those who cared for them in their childhood years. This suggests that it takes a conscious decision on the part of parents to teach children how to talk and relate to God.
The respondent praying to pass her exams is a classic example of the common images of God exemplified by most children.
Interpretations of the images of God as created by children
This can be connected with Rizzuto (1979), as she suggested that children tend to idealize their representation of God in order to correct and compensate for some of the shortcomings of the real parents. The activity of drawing focused on the cognitive level of each respondent and stimulated imaginative processes which were then transcribed in the form of a drawing. The drawing was seen as one of the tools that could be used to allow respondents to communicate in writing what they could not communicate.
This could explain the strong emphasis in the drawings on God's house, the church. This can be linked to answers about prayer, where some of the respondents mentioned that they pray in church and they pray to God when they are inside the church. Kill him!' 'This is Jesus my God, he is on the cross, cruel people wanted him dead' 'Drawn Jesus on the cross, and the tomb in which he was buried. Then a great door fell out as he stood up', 'Jesus died for us on the cross and he died for our sins.
For example, in some churches the Stations of the Cross are hung on the walls and children can see them all the time they go to church. There were two respondents who drew a different image of God, not the one found in the church or in the Bible. It claims that children's formulations of the images of God need not necessarily be rooted in biological attachments.
Children can form images of God despite difficult early emotional development.
Critical assessment of the research findings
They are protected from the impact of hardship and can therefore develop into a well-integrated person amidst life's shortcomings. It is important to note here that the image(s) of God portrayed by the respondents is that of a Western God and a Christian God that children acquired early in their lives from what they learned at home, at schools, in the church and in the neighborhood, regardless of where they were raised. While there were two belief groups represented in the study according to Fowler's categories, the study population in the two groups was close in age to represent a belief characterized by a fantasy-filled intuitive phase.
This was to explore some areas of concern that may not have been addressed in the questionnaire and may be very relevant to the study. This was a research study that tried to bring to the surface some hidden realities in the spiritual development of children. Then, within this specific contextual framework, challenges surfaced that tried to ask what are the possible formulations of images of God by children who were deprived of a maternal bond (parental bond) earlier in life.
It was clear that the abandoned children in the alternative accommodation of the SOS Children's Village are provided with the necessary parental care for their spiritual and emotional development. The fact that all the children attended school and Sunday school may have influenced how they responded to the creation of images of God. This was seen in the way they drew their images of God and how they answered questions that sought to identify the initial influences in the formation of the images of God.
It was not easy to detect any significant differences in the responses of those raised by biological parents and those raised by surrogate parents.
Recommendations
The study was a very rich exploratory exercise that needs to be developed in a wider context and extended to a larger population and also with children of different age groups. This can stimulate the formation of new theologies that are created by children and need to be heard by adults. To encourage children to keep personal journals to record some experiences and how they can indicate a child's spiritual development.
In conclusion, in the New Testament, Jesus reminds us of the fact that until we become like little children, we will not enter the kingdom of God. 34; An Analysis of the Relationship Between Positive and Negative Self-Esteem and Variables in Children's Spontaneous Images". A research project conducted by Miss Bongi Zengele, a Master of Theology student at the University of KwaZulu Natal Pietennaritzburg Campus, on how abandoned children perceive images of God.
Children's understanding of God and to determine whether their understanding varies according to different home environments. I hope that this study will help to gain insight into a deeper understanding of the possible development of faith in children with special needs.
Research Questionnaire
