Konata Stallings
Defense Mechanisms in the Art of Children Who Have Experienced a 9/11 Related Traumatic Loss
Chair: Danielle Knafo, Ph.D.
Abstract
An individual’s artwork can act as a tangible record of their psyche, offering a clinician a window into the individual’s unconscious world. The ability to identify defense mechanisms in a patient’s artwork could assist therapists who utilize art as a modality to develop more accurate assessment procedures, treatment plans, and interventions as a result of this understanding. Art created by children who lost relatives in 9/11 was examined utilizing Myra Levick’s graphic representation of defense mechanism criteria. Each of Levick’s defenses were grouped into four categories based on Vaillant’s hierarchy of defenses (Pathological, Immature, Neurotic and Mature). Three hypotheses were examined. H1: It was hypothesized that females would use different defense mechanisms from males. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to examine age differences. H2: It was hypothesized that older children would exhibit more defenses from Vaillant’s Mature defense mechanism category than younger children. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to look for changes in defenses over time. H3: It was hypothesized that the art produced further after the attacks (2003-2007) would exhibit defenses from Vaillant’s Mature defense mechanisms. Unfortunately, the findings of the study were insignificant and none of the three hypotheses were confirmed. Despite the findings of this study, future research in the field of trauma psychology would benefit from trying to establish non-verbal methods of assessment. Limitations of the study and direction for future research were also explored.