THE SPECIFICITY OF SELF-CONCEPTION AND SELF-ATTITUDES OF ADULTS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED VIOLENCE IN CHILDHOOD
Keywords:
experience of violent experience, self-attitude, self-conception, abuse, victimizationAbstract
The purpose of this research was to identify the specifics of adult self-attitude in experiencing violence in childhood. The hypothesis was formed that people who experienced of violence in childhood, have a deformed self-attitude in the adult period. To prove the hypothesis, a research was conducted on a group of 130 people, including 74 men and 56 women aged 25 to 50 years. Two subgroups were formed from subjects who had experienced abuse in childhood and
without it. Subsequently, a comparison was made of the specifics of self-attitude of adults differentiated by the experience of violence in childhood. The research used conversation, testing using a set of test methods (“Test maturity of personality maturity” by Yu. Z. Gilbukh, “Methodology for the study of self-attitude” by R. S. Pantileev, test “Psychological autobiography”). As a result of the analysis between the groups, a number of significant differences in the attitude towards oneself and the world are noted. A significant difference is observed in the subjective assessment of the past: for a group with experience of violence in childhood, heavy, negatively colored, childhood memories associated with loss are of great importance, while subjects without experience of violence are more focused on positive memories. In addition, a self-conception characterized by a lack of confidence in their abilities, low satisfaction with their abilities, temperament, character, knowledge, and skills is characteristic of a group with experience of violence in childhood. It is reliably confirmed that
the self-conception of people with experiencing violent experience in childhood is deformed and characterized by a protective attitude towards themselves, doubts about the value of self, the presence of internal conflicts, doubts, disagreement with oneself, a tendency to self-blame, a belief in the subordination of his “I” to external circumstances, lack of confidence in their capabilities.
