RENUNCIATION AND DENIAL IN LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

• Published in: American journal of orthopsychiatry 1958-01, Vol.28 (1), p.98-111
• Main Authors: Sperry, Bessie, Staver, Nancy, Reiner, Beatrice S., Ulrich, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Achievement Measures; Behavior; Denial; Elementary School Students; Emotions; Guilt; Human; Humans; Learning; Learning Disabilities; Male; Old Medline; Parents; Psychology, Child; Roles
• ISSN: 0002-9432; 1939-0025
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1958.tb03727.x

This study investigated renunciation and denial in learning difficulties. The seven boys whose difficulties with school are among the children currently in treatment as part of a research project at the Judge Baker Guidance Center on learning difficulties in elementary school children. Virtually all of the children being seen showed some tendency toward renunciation of success, but in many of them this pattern was not so pervasive. These 7 boys were between 9 and 13 years of age. The focus was on the problem these boys had with the taking in of knowledge in school, rather than on how much they were able to produce in the school situation. Children who were able to score well on achievement tests but not able to settle down to do their work in school were not included in the study. These boys seem to deal with guilt and fear by attempting to bargain with fate. They give evidence of good intentions by being helpful and not taking too much. Though these children were in some ways designated by the parental patterns for the failing role, it also suited well the fear and the guilty feelings imposed by their own inadequate attempts to master past experiences. The boys did not usually refer to their mothers with open aggression, but they expressed some complaints about how they were deprived of play time and not allowed to have knives or toy guns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)