Attachment and defensive function in black South African children : a Kinetic Family Drawing and the child apperception test study

Abstract

This study examined the attachment and defensive functioning of black South African children measured by the Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) and the Child Apperception Test (CAT)/Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Additionally, children from single-parent (n = 24) households and two-parent (n = 16) households were compared for differences in attachment and defensive functioning. A quantitative, cross-sectional design following the empiricist paradigm was employed. The participants included a purposive sample of 40 children (aged 6-12) from the Hlahlaganya drop-in-centre in Mankweng. The attachment-based coding system of the KFDs included three stages: 1) a checklist of individual markers, 2) Fury’s et al. (1997) Global rating scales, and 3) categorising the drawings into a two-way (secure vs insecure) and a four-way (secure, avoidant, anxious, and disorganised) attachment classification system. The Defense Mechanism Manual was employed to assess the use of defense mechanisms in CAT/TAT stories. The findings revealed that the children's drawings indicated an insecure attachment functioning, and their stories demonstrated a predominant use of projection as a defense. Denial was positively correlated with Role Reversal and bizarreness and negatively correlated with Family Pride. Projection was negatively correlated to Role Reversal and Bizarreness. Children from two-parent households displayed high levels of denial and low levels of projection as compared to children from single-parent households. In conclusion, projective techniques such as the KFD and the CAT/TAT are valuable tools for classifying children's attachment representation and capturing their underlying defensive functioning in this sample of children, respectively.