NCJ Number
168021
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1997) Pages: 657-668
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The aim of this study was to assess differences between control and clinic children in terms of how they undertook a sandplay picture task, particularly with respect to emotional stress and suffering.
Abstract
The sandplay behavior and pictures of children aged 10 and 11 years were compared, with subjects equally distributed in control and clinic groups; 26 control children and 26 clinic children, with 13 males and 13 females in each group, were included. The 26 clinic children experienced sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse, and all children came from the same metropolitan area. The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist was administered to evaluate the two groups on the dimension of distress. An inter-rater counting technique was used to evaluate photographs of pictures and score them for content and theme. Results revealed differences in the sandplay pictures of control and clinic children in the dependent variables of content, theme, and approach to sandplay. Most pronounced were differences in approach to sandplay by clinic children. Low competency and high problem children had difficulty staying within the boundary of the box, had more regressed play, and presented more disorganized pictures. The author concludes that sandplay pictures differ between children who are experiencing emotional stress and those who are not and that sandplay may serve as a useful assessment tool in therapeutic work with children since it is nonverbal in nature and is generally popular with younger clients. More research is recommended to replicate the study methodology and to increase sample size. 30 references, 4 tables, and 1 figure