Discuss 1.3: Projective Drawing
Projective drawing is a tool for children to express their sense of self, their fears and hopes, and their feelings about important relationships. It can be useful in the assessment process to give insight into the child’s state of mind and emotions, and even in an ongoing way as one works with a child.
As a first step, let’s try a projective drawing. Use a sheet of unlined paper and a pencil. Draw a person- it could be a woman or a man, just not a stick figure. Once you’ve finished your drawing, you can set it aside to look at later. (If you were doing this clinically with a child, once they drew one picture you would ask them to draw another of the opposite sex of the first. Then you might ask them to tell you about the drawings and engage in discussion, to tell you a story about each of the people).
Now let’s look at and try interpreting some drawings by children:
Open the Projective Drawing.pdf file. (click the link, .pdf)
Picture 1 is by a 10 year old boy who does well academically but has behavioral problems at school.
Picture 2 is by a 14 year old boy with cognitive limitations. He should receive special education services but none has been provided for him and he is in a regular classroom without supports.
Post a comment on the discussion board about what you observe about each of the drawings
– what stands out to you, and what interpretation do you make of it?
Later, take a look at your own drawing and think about it in the light of our discussion.
Please use one reference from the readings, to apply to your post. Remember, do not just mention the source. Discuss how your citation helps you to understand things.
