DETERMINATION OF FAMILY PERCEPTION IN THE DRAWINGS OF 4-6 YEARS OLD CHILDREN

Abstract

Family which has an impact on a child’s development, directs the child development and also determines the limits of this developmental process. The concept of family extending to the foundation of human existence has quite a long history. This well-established concept in the process of human history through a parallel process of change were explained and discussed from various perspectives. (Erkan, 2013). The purpose of this study was to determinate how preschool children aged between 4 and 6 perceive family concept which has very important meaning for children’s themselves. For this purpose phenomenology, one of the qualitative research design method, was used in the study. Phenomenology, which is a philosophical tradition as suggested by Husserl, is accepted as a qualitative research design method, too (Merriam, 2013; Patton, 2014). Phenomenology researches focus on how people perceive phenomenon, describe it, feel about it and make sense of it. In this research the phenomenon which is aimed to be explained, is family concept. While determining the study group, purposeful and convenience sampling methods which are two of the non-randomly sampling methods were applied. Fourteen children aged between 4-6 years have been recruited for the study. Participants are the children attending to 2 private preschools in Ankara during 2014-2015 fall semester. Five of the children participating in the study is female and nine of them is male. In the qualitative studies, three types of data related to environment, process and perception is collected (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). In this study, data regarding 4 to 6 year-old children’s perception of family concept have been gathered via drawing and interview techniques. While the data gathered from drawings were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method; data based on interviews were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive analysis method. The following processes are performed to provide the validity and reliability of this research: Namely source triangulation and analyst triangulation have been addressed for validity and reliability of study. In the former, the important thing is to check out the consistency of different data sources within the same method by using different instruments (in this case, drawings and interviews) and in the latter, the significance lies in the use of multiple analyzers because analyst triangulation means that at least two analyze the same qualitative data independently. Besides, during data analysis process, two analysts (one is the researcher herself; and the other is a PhD student blind to the research objective) coded the data in conceptual categories independently in order to test the truthfulness of categories. After at all, Miles & Huberman (1994)’s following formula [Agreement/ (Agreement + Disagreement) X 100] was used to test the reliability of the data analysis. According to this formula, reliability between the analysts was found 100% for the drawings and 94% for interviews. In order to reveal the findings of the research firstly, family drawings were examined. Then, based on the figures in children’s drawings, six categories were /created: Family members, completeness of family members, family type, child’s position, the place family has been 4-6 Yaşları Arasındaki Çocukların Çizimlerindeki Aile Algılarının Belirlenmesi 577 Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/7 Spring 2015 situated, the activity done with the family. After the drawings, interviews held with children were examined and children’s views were found to be gathered under four categories as family members, living in the same house, togetherness and positive feelings. Most of the children had opinions which are assessed under the categories of togetherness and family members. Given this result, children’s drawings reflect their opinions regarding family concept. Family members found in children’s drawings show similarity with the family members mentioned during interviews. Some of the children stated very remarkable opinions on the point of living in the same house. However, these views weren’t reflected in the children’s drawings. This situation implies that some of the children think it is impossible to be a family without living in the same house. This finding of the research is similar to the views of Gilby & Pederson (1982). They suggest that young children define family in traditional ways meaning that two parents and their children living in the same house create a family. (Cited in Roe et all, 2006). As a result, children’s understanding of family concept can be summarized as “a society consisting of members living in the same house with positive feelings”. Examination regarding the children’s perception of their own families indicated that the majority of children have positive feelings and opinions about own families. Only two children mentioned that they have negative feelings and thoughts. Additionally, children’s perception of their own family is reflected in their drawings. Based on the evaluation of children’s drawings about the family concept, important findings have been found within two categories: completeness of family members and child’s position. According to these findings, lackness of some family members in the children’s drawings can be interpreted as a possible anger or rejection toward these absent family members (Di Leo, 1983). Nonetheless, drawing an extra person who is not a family member is related to importance and value attached to those people. Furhermore, children’s own position in their drawings were analyzed in terms of relationship status between the child and his/her family. At this point, it is quite remarkable that only three children drew him/herself between his/her father and mother. Except these three children, some of the children drew his/herself near one of the parents. On the other hand, two children drew some dis

Özet

Aile, toplumun en küçük etkileşim ağı olmasının yanı sıra toplumsal yapı üzerinde geniş etkisi olan etkileşim unsurlarını içerisinde barındıran kurumlardan biridir ve sosyal bir varlık olan insan, gelişimini en yakın insan ilişkilerinin yaşandığı kurum olan ailede gerçekleştirmektedir. Aile aynı zamanda çocuğun topluma ve yaşama uzanmasında bir köprü görevi görmekte; çocukların davranışlarını biçimlendirmektedir. Bu noktada çocuğun yaşamında önemli rolleri bulunan aile kavramını ve kendi ailelerini nasıl algıladıkları önem kazanmaktadır. Nitel araştırma yaklaşımlarından fenomenoloji (olgu bilim) deseninin kullanıldığı bu araştırmada 4-6 yaşları arasındaki çocukların aile algılarının belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda araştırmanın çalışma grubuna 2014-2015 eğitim-öğretim yılı güz döneminde Ankara'da 2 özel okul öncesi eğitim kurumuna devam eden 4-6 yaşları arasındaki 14 çocuk dahil edilmiştir. Araştırmanın verileri çizim ve görüşme tekniklerinin bir arada kullanılması ile toplanmıştır. Araştırmada çizim tekniği ile elde edilen veriler içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılarak analiz edilirken; görüşmeler sonucunda elde edilen veriler ise betimsel analiz yöntemi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın neticesinde çocukların çizimlerinden ve görüşmelerden elde edilen bulgular bir bütün olarak değerlendirilmiş; toplumda değişen aile yapısı ile paralel olarak 4-6 yaşları arasındaki çocukların aileye ilişkin algılarında bazı değişiklikler olduğu saptanmıştır. Buna göre çocukların aileye ilişkin algılarının, daha çok "aynı evde birlikte yaşayan, aralarında kan bağı bulunan bireylerin bir araya gelmesi ile oluşan topluluk" şeklinde olduğu ve bu topluluğun da genellikle çekirdek aile tipindeki aileleri işaret ettiği belirlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda araştırmanın sonuçlarının Türkiye'nin genel aile yapısını yansıttığı düşünülmektedir