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The child as go‐between: consulting with parents and teachers
Author(s) -
Taylor Denise
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6427
pISSN - 0163-4445
DOI - 10.1046/j..1986.00705.x
Subject(s) - ambivalence , negotiation , psychology , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , pupil , social psychology , clinical psychology , sociology , neuroscience , social science
In becoming a pupil a child also takes on the role of go‐between and must negotiate daily the transitions from home to school. This puts the child in a triangular position in relation to his parents and teachers who often stand in a highly ambivalent relationship to each other, making it difficult for the child to keep a balance between the two systems. Coping mechanisms described include dissociating one system fromanother or skewing the triangle so that the child is cast in the role of victim either because the school or home is seen as unsatisfactory. The presence of ‘themes’ or issues around deprivation and authority, or the more familiar ‘care’ and ‘control’, aggravate the difficulties of the go‐between. ‘Good’ parents are likely to produce ‘good’ pupils and successful go‐betweens.