Causes of maladjustment
The main causes of human maladjustment are a group of factors. These include: personal (internal), environmental (external), or both.
Personal (internal) factors of human maladjustment are associated with inadequate realization of his social needs as an individual.
These may include:
- long-term illness;
- limited opportunities for the child to communicate with the environment and people, lack of adequate (taking into account his individual characteristics) communication with him from the environment
- long-term isolation of a person, regardless of his age (forced or violent) from the environment of everyday life
— transition to another type of activity (long vacation, temporary performance of other official duties), etc.
Environmental factors (external factors) of a person’s maladjustment are associated with the fact that they are unusual for him, cause discomfort and in some way interfere with personal development.
These include:
- unhealthy family environment that suppresses the child’s personality. Such a situation can develop in “at-risk” families; in families where an authoritarian parenting style predominates, violence towards the child;
- absence or insufficient attention to communication with the child from parents and peers;
- suppression of personality by a new environment (child’s entry into kindergarten, school, change of group, class).
- suppression of the individual by the group (maladaptive group) - rejection of the child by the team, microgroup, oppression, violence towards the child, etc. This is especially true for teenagers. Manifestation of cruelty (violence, boycott) on one’s part towards peers is a common occurrence;
- a negative manifestation of “market education”, when success is measured exclusively by material goods. Since a person is not able to provide himself with income, he is in a complex depressive state1;
- negative influence of the media in “market education”. Formation of interests that do not correspond to age, promotion of the ideals of social well-being and the ease of achieving them. Real life leads to significant disappointments, complexes, and unsettledness. Cheap mystery novels, horror films and action films form in an immature person the idea of death as something vague and idealized;
- the maladaptive influence of an individual, in whose presence the child experiences severe stress and anxiety. Such a person is called maladaptive (maladaptive child - group) - this is a person (group) who, under certain conditions in relation to the environment (group) or to an individual, acts as a factor of maladaptation (affects self-expression), thereby limiting his activity, ability to completely realize your potential. Examples: a girl in relation to a guy who is indifferent to her; gynecological child in relation to class; a difficult-to-educate person who actively plays a provocative role in relation to the teacher (especially a young one), etc.;
Depression (from Latin depressio - oppression, depression) is a painful mental state, expressed in the experience of despondency and hopelessness against the background of emotional, intellectual and motor lethargy. Attractiveness, motives, volitional activity and self-esteem sharply decrease. Lethargy, lack of initiative and fatigue are characteristic of behavior in this state.
- overwork associated with “caring” for the child’s development, inappropriate for age and individual abilities, etc. This happens when an unprepared child is sent to a school or gymnasium class that does not correspond to his individual abilities; the child is overloaded without taking into account his physical and mental abilities (for example, through sports, school, participation in a hobby group).
Concept
Human psychological development is a complex process that includes several components. One of them is the ability to assimilate social norms of behavior and become part of society. If for some reason a person does not fit into society, this phenomenon is called maladaptation.
This is a behavioral disorder that makes it difficult to understand the principles of human interaction. For a maladjusted person, society seems incomprehensible and hostile. Not only does he not know how to build relationships, but he is also afraid of them and considers them unnecessary. This attitude deprives a person of the opportunity to create friendships and partnerships, a family, and build a career.
Disadaptation in children and adolescents
Maladjustment in children and adolescents leads to various consequences.
Most often these consequences are negative, including:
— personality deformation;
- lack of physical development;
- mental retardation;
- possible brain dysfunction;
- typical nervous disorders (depression, lethargy or excitability, aggressiveness).
- loneliness - a person is left alone with his problems. It may be associated with a person’s external alienation or alienation from himself;
- problems in relationships with peers, other people, etc. Such problems can lead to the suppression of the basic instinct of self-preservation. Unable to adapt to existing conditions, a person may take extreme measures - suicide.
A positive manifestation of maladaptation is possible through qualitative changes in the environment of a deviant child or adolescent.
Often, maladjusted children are considered to be those who seriously influence the adaptation of another person (group of people). In this case, it is more correct to talk about a maladjusted person or group.
“Street children” are also often called maladjusted. We cannot agree with this assessment. These children are better adapted than adults. Even in difficult life situations, they are in no hurry to seek the help that is offered to them. Professionals are trained to work with them, persuade them and take them to a shelter or other specialized facility. When such a child is taken from the street and placed in an institution, there may initially be inconsistency. Over time, it is difficult to predict who will be maladjusted - himself or the environment in which he finds himself.
High adaptability to the environment of new children with deviant behavior often leads to serious problems of a negative nature in relation to the main group of children. Practice shows that there are cases when the appearance of such a child requires certain protective efforts on the part of the teacher or educator in relation to the entire group (class). Individuals may well have a negative impact on the entire group, which contributes to their maladjustment in terms of learning and discipline.
All these factors pose a direct threat, especially to the child’s intellectual development. Difficult upbringing, social and pedagogical neglect create a threat of maladaptation of the child in the field of education, upbringing and training, as well as the individual and the group. Practice convincingly proves that a child, himself becoming a victim of maladaptation to a new environment, under certain conditions acts as a factor in the maladaptation of others, including the teacher.
Considering the predominantly negative impact of maladjustment on the personality development of a child and adolescent, it is necessary to carry out preventive work to prevent it.
The main ways to prevent and overcome the consequences of maladjustment in children and adolescents are:
— creating optimal environmental conditions for the child;
- preventing overload in the learning process due to the discrepancy between the level of difficulty of learning and the child’s individual abilities, as well as organizing the learning process;
— support and assistance to children in adapting to a new environment;
- encouraging the child to engage in self-activity and self-expression in the environment, stimulating his adaptation, etc.;
— creation of special social, psychological and educational support services for various groups of the population who find themselves in difficult life situations: Telephone hotlines, social, psychological and pedagogical assistance offices and crisis centers.
— training parents, teachers and educators in methods of preventing maladjustment and overcoming its consequences.
— training of specialists to provide specialized services for social, psychological and pedagogical support for various categories of people in difficult life situations.
Maladjusted children need effort to care for them or help them overcome difficulties. Such activities are aimed at overcoming the consequences of maladjustment. The content and nature of social and pedagogical activities are determined by the consequences that maladaptation led to
Correction
To overcome social maladaptation and begin to live a normal life, filled with positive communication with others, you need to work through your internal fears. Working with a psychologist will help here. A specialist will help a person realize what is bothering him. So the main methods of combating violations are:
- work with a psychologist and psychotherapist;
- social contacts.
Going out into society and doing what you are afraid of is an effective way to overcome people's fear. It's easier to do this if you look for the positive. You can, for example, sign up for an interesting training, find a hobby, and working in a team will help you find friends and support.
Of course, developing an optimistic mindset takes effort. But a person’s sincere desire to live a full social life will help to develop new communication skills.
Socio-psychological approach to the problem of maladjustment
In the process of socio-psychological adaptation, a person’s inner world also changes: new ideas and knowledge about the activities that he performs appear, which leads to self-correction and self-determination of the individual. Personal self-esteem associated with the new activity of the subject, his goals and objectives, difficulties and requirements, level of requirements, image of “I”, reflection, “I-concept”, assessment of oneself in comparison with others, also undergo changes. Based on these reasons, a change in attitude towards self-affirmation occurs, a person acquires the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. All this determines the essence of his socio-psychological adaptation to society and the success of his education.
Considering personal maladjustment at the socio-psychological level, the authors identify three main options for personal maladjustment:
a) persistent situational maladaptation, which occurs when a person in certain social situations (for example, as part of certain small groups) does not find ways and means of adaptation, although he makes such attempts - this state can be correlated with the state of ineffective adaptation;
b) temporary maladaptation, which is eliminated by adequate adaptive measures, social and intrapsychic actions, which corresponds to unstable adaptation.
c) general stable maladjustment, which is a state of frustration, the presence of which activates the formation of pathological defense mechanisms.
Manifestations of psychological maladaptation include the so-called ineffective maladaptation, which is expressed in the formation of psychopathological conditions, neurotic or psychopathic syndromes, as well as unstable adaptation in the form of periodic neurotic reactions, exacerbation of accentuated personality traits.
The result of socio-psychological disadaptation is a state of personal disadaptation.
Conflict forms the basis of maladaptive behavior, and under its influence an inadequate response to environmental conditions and demands is gradually formed in the form of behavioral deviations in response to systematic, constantly provoking factors that the child is not able to cope with. Initially, the child experiences disorientation: He is lost, does not know how to behave in a given situation in order to cope with this overload, and either does not react at all or reacts in the first possible way. Therefore, at the initial stage the child is destabilized to a certain extent. After a while this confusion will pass and he will calm down; if such signs of destabilization are repeated quite often, this will lead to the emergence of persistent internal (dissatisfaction with oneself, position) and external (in relation to the environment) conflict, which will lead to constant psychological discomfort and, as a consequence of this condition, to maladaptive behavior.
This point of view is supported by many domestic psychologists (B.N. Almazov, 1986; M.A. Ammaskin, 1979; M.S. Pevzner, 1995; I.A. Nevsky, 1981; A.S. Belkin, 1981; K. S. Lebedinskaya, 1988, etc.) The authors define deviations in “behavior through the prism of the psychological complex of environmental alienation of the subject, as a result of which, not being able to change the environment in which being in which is burdensome for oneself, the awareness of one’s incompetence forces the subject to switch to defensive forms of behavior, create semantic and emotional barriers in relation to other people, reduce the level of aspirations and self-esteem.”
These studies form the basis of a theory that takes into account the compensatory capabilities of the body, where socio-psychological maladaptation is understood as a psychological state caused by the functioning of the psyche at the limit of its regulatory and compensatory capabilities and manifested in insufficient activity of the individual, in difficulties in realizing his basic social needs (needs for communication, recognition, self-expression), in violation of self-affirmation and free expression of one’s creative abilities, in inadequate orientation in a communication situation.
Danger of violation
At first glance, it may seem that maladaptation does not pose a serious threat and, if desired, the child can be forced to adequately respond to some situations and problems.
However, this is not quite true. When parents and teachers do not see a child’s maladjustment as a serious problem and do not try to correct his behavior, then such inflexible behavior is reinforced at the psychophysical level.
As a result, the child becomes firmly entrenched in certain psychological habits that are difficult to correct, even if worked through with a psychologist. Often, parents and teachers do not see the problem with maladjustment in the child and attribute behavioral characteristics to character.
On the other hand, calculating maladaptation at some initial phase is not easy, since it does not appear immediately, therefore another danger of this condition lies in the difficulty of recognizing this behavioral deviation. Most often, it becomes obvious that a person is completely maladjusted only when he finds himself in a difficult situation and turns out to be completely unadapted to it.
Elimination methods
To solve problems with adaptation, 3 approaches are used:
- Medical - maladaptation develops on the basis of neuropsychic disorders. It must be treated with medication.
- Socio-psychological - the cause of maladaptation lies in the inability of the individual to accept the rules of society. Psychotherapy can help a person.
- Ontogenetic - considers maladaptation as a mechanism that is triggered at a crisis moment in a person’s life. The individual can cope with it on his own when he returns to a favorable environment.
It is better to determine which method is suitable in a particular case with the help of a psychotherapist and psychiatrist. The joint work of specialists guarantees the correct diagnosis and choice of treatment type.
Classification
The generally accepted psychological classification of maladjustment includes:
- Social—breaking ties with society. The main symptom is antisocial behavior, rejection of the rules of society.
- Mental - a deviation expressed in an inadequate reaction. A person is unable to control his behavior and emotions.
- Psychosocial - the inability to follow social norms due to personality deformations.
Often the types of maladaptation are indistinguishable, since a person demonstrates a whole complex of symptoms corresponding to all types of deviations at once. Treatment in this case is significantly more complicated and takes more time.
Diagnostic measures
Hidden signs of maladjustment are revealed during conversation and diagnostic tests:
- Luscher color test. By the order and choice of color, you can determine your core values and fears. It reveals the degree of deviation and direction of the individual.
- Leary Questionnaire. Based on the results of this test, you can determine the difference between a real person and an invented image. The more developed the pathology, the greater the gap between reality and fantasy.
- Factor questionnaire. Reveals a person’s tendency to reject norms of behavior.
Tests detect the presence of maladaptation, but cannot determine the cause. To do this, the therapist needs to collect anamnesis from the patient’s own words, through observations, conversations, and reading diaries.
Key signs of poor coping skills
The description of signs of maladaptive behavior in psychology is varied. Even people without special education can notice the first manifestations in children. Parents and educators note that the child’s behavior differs from the collective behavior. He does not participate in general games and does not pay attention to comments.
If an adult is mentally healthy and understands the importance of observing behavioral norms, social inadaptability can be hidden. In this case, indirect signs will still appear, even if the person does not want it: disrespect for colleagues, systematic tardiness, frequent sick leave. The main signs of maladjustment:
- sudden outbursts of aggression, after which the person himself cannot explain their cause;
- irritability directed at others and oneself;
- the predominance of negative thinking over positive;
- superficial social connections - a person easily breaks off relationships and does not start new ones;
- violation of behavioral norms, sometimes demonstrative, but more often unintentional;
- attempts to change the environment to suit oneself;
- preoccupation with oneself and one’s experiences;
- withdrawal into illusion, immersion in dreams of an ideal world;
- negative emotional state, nervousness, panic, anxiety, depression.
Vegetative manifestations - rapid heartbeat, increased sweating, tremors of the limbs, headaches.
In the worst case, maladaptive disorder leads to acute social phobia. The individual completely loses the ability to coexist with other people and becomes a recluse. In a critical situation, he may attempt suicide.
