Browsing by Author "Pekonen, Martiina"

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate how preschool-aged children themselves experience aggression. The research questions were: 1) How do preschool-aged children describe anger and situations in which they felt angry? and 2) How do children act when they get angry and what helps them to overcome their anger? Child's aggression is often seen as a negative aspect of his or her behavior and previous studies have often focused on children's pathological aggression and only few studies consider children's own experience of aggression. However, aggression is also a resource that helps children to defend themselves and to correct situations that cause discomfort. Therefore, more research effort should focus on constructive aggression of children and on children's individual experience of anger situations. Methods The study was a data-driven qualitative interview from a child perspective. The theoretical framework was built on psychodynamic approach, which aims to discover and examine subconscious thoughts and experiences. The research data was collected during a field study involving 17 preschool-aged children. The data consisted of listening a story, children's drawings and semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews were transcribed and classified into five themes, on the basis of the research questions: describing anger, causes of anger, what anger feels like, reactions caused by anger and the acceptability of those reactions, and how to overcome anger. Results and conclusions Most children who participated in the study described their anger by drawing a self-portrait. In all the pictures the anger was described by facial expressions. Anger or conflict mostly emerged in social situations, when playing with siblings of friends. The feeling of anger was often described as a physical experience in the head, in the stomach or in the legs or feet. Most children found that the interference of an adult or a friend helped them to overcome anger situations. Half of the children felt that outbursts of anger were not acceptable. In conclusion, this study shows that preschool-aged children are able to describe their anger and that they have already developed different ways to handle aggression. The results show that the presence of adults is of great importance for a child in anger situations. This study provides information on how preschool-aged children experience anger and what types of tools they have to overcome anger situations. The results and methods of the study can be used to understand and support the development of a child's aggression.