According to Vygotsky, crises of age development. Age features of development

Age crises are special, relatively short in time (up to a year) periods of ontogeny, characterized by sharp mental changes. They refer to the normative processes necessary for the normal progressive course of personal development (Erickson).

The form and duration of these periods, as well as the severity of the flow, depend on individual characteristics, social and microsocial conditions. In developmental psychology, there is no consensus about crises, their place and role in mental development. Some psychologists believe that development should be harmonious, crisis-free. Crises are an abnormal, “painful” phenomenon, the result of improper upbringing. Another part of psychologists argues that the presence of crises in development is natural. Moreover, according to some ideas in developmental psychology, a child who has not truly experienced a crisis will not fully develop further. Bozhovich, Polivanova, Gail Sheehy addressed this topic.

L.S. Vygotsky considers the dynamics of transitions from one age to another. At different stages, changes in the child's psyche can occur slowly and gradually, or they can happen quickly and abruptly. Stable and crisis stages of development are distinguished, their alternation is the law of child development. A stable period is characterized by a smooth course of the development process, without sharp shifts and changes in the Personality of the r-ka. Long in duration. Insignificant, minimal changes accumulate and at the end of the period give a qualitative leap in development: age-related neoplasms appear, stable, fixed in the structure of the Personality.

Crises do not last long, a few months, under unfavorable circumstances stretching up to a year or even two years. These are brief but turbulent stages. Significant shifts in development, the child changes dramatically in many of its features. Development can take on a catastrophic character at this time. The crisis begins and ends imperceptibly, its boundaries are blurred, indistinct. The aggravation occurs in the middle of the period. For the people around the child, it is associated with a change in behavior, the appearance of "difficulty in education". The child is out of control of adults. Affective outbursts, whims, conflicts with loved ones. Schoolchildren's working capacity decreases, interest in classes weakens, academic performance decreases, sometimes painful experiences and internal conflicts arise.

In a crisis, development acquires a negative character: what was formed at the previous stage disintegrates, disappears. But something new is also being created. Neoplasms turn out to be unstable and in the next stable period they transform, are absorbed by other neoplasms, dissolve in them, and thus die off.

D.B. Elkonin developed the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky on child development. “A child approaches each point in his development with a certain discrepancy between what he has learned from the system of relations man - man, and what he has learned from the system of relations man - object. It is precisely the moments when this discrepancy takes on the greatest magnitude that are called crises, after which the development of the side that lagged behind in the previous period takes place. But each of the parties is preparing the development of the other.

neonatal crisis. Associated with a sharp change in living conditions. A child from comfortable habitual conditions of life gets into difficult ones (new nutrition, breathing). Adaptation of the child to new conditions of life.

Crisis 1 year. It is associated with an increase in the child's capabilities and the emergence of new needs. A surge of independence, the emergence of affective reactions. Affective outbursts as a reaction to misunderstanding on the part of adults. The main acquisition of the transitional period is a kind of children's speech, called L.S. Vygotsky autonomous. It is significantly different from adult speech and in sound form. Words become ambiguous and situational.

Crisis 3 years. The border between early and preschool age is one of the most difficult moments in a child's life. This is destruction, a revision of the old system of social relations, a crisis in the allocation of one's "I", according to D.B. Elkonin. The child, separating from adults, tries to establish new, deeper relationships with them. The appearance of the phenomenon “I myself”, according to Vygotsky, is a new formation “the external I myself”. "The child is trying to establish new forms of relationship with others - a crisis of social relations."

L.S. Vygotsky describes 7 characteristics of a 3-year crisis. Negativism is a negative reaction not to the action itself, which he refuses to perform, but to the demand or request of an adult. The main motive for action is to do the opposite.

The motivation of the child's behavior changes. At 3 years old, for the first time, he becomes able to act contrary to his immediate desire. The behavior of the child is determined not by this desire, but by relationships with another, adult person. The motive for behavior is already outside the situation given to the child. Stubbornness. This is the reaction of a child who insists on something not because he really wants it, but because he himself told adults about it and demands that his opinion be taken into account. Obstinacy. It is directed not against a specific adult, but against the entire system of relations that developed in early childhood, against the norms of upbringing accepted in the family.

The tendency towards independence is clearly manifested: the child wants to do everything and decide for himself. In principle, this is a positive phenomenon, but during a crisis, a hypertrophied tendency towards independence leads to self-will, it is often inadequate to the child's capabilities and causes additional conflicts with adults.

For some children, conflicts with their parents become regular, they seem to be constantly at war with adults. In these cases, one speaks of a protest-revolt. In a family with an only child, despotism may appear. If there are several children in the family, instead of despotism, jealousy usually arises: the same tendency to power here acts as a source of jealous, intolerant attitude towards other children who have almost no rights in the family, from the point of view of the young despot.

Depreciation. A 3-year-old child may begin to swear (old rules of behavior are depreciated), discard or even break a favorite toy offered at the wrong time (old attachments to things are depreciated), etc. The child's attitude to other people and to himself changes. He is psychologically separated from close adults.

The crisis of 3 years is associated with the awareness of oneself as an active subject in the world of objects, the child for the first time can act contrary to his desires.

Crisis 7 years. It may start at age 7, or it may shift to 6 or 8 years. The discovery of the meaning of a new social position - the position of a schoolchild associated with the implementation of highly valued by adults educational work. The formation of an appropriate internal position radically changes his self-awareness. According to L.I. Bozovic is the period of the birth of social. "I" of the child. A change in self-consciousness leads to a reassessment of values. There are profound changes in terms of experiences - stable affective complexes. It appears that L.S. Vygotsky calls the generalization of experiences. A chain of failures or successes (in school, in broad communication), each time experienced by the child in approximately the same way, leads to the formation of a stable affective complex - a feeling of inferiority, humiliation, hurt pride or a sense of self-worth, competence, exclusivity. Thanks to the generalization of experiences, the logic of feelings appears. Experiences acquire a new meaning, connections are established between them, the struggle of experiences becomes possible.

This gives rise to the inner life of the child. The beginning of the differentiation of the external and internal life of the child is associated with a change in the structure of his behavior. A semantic orienting basis of an act appears - a link between the desire to do something and the unfolding actions. This is an intellectual moment that makes it possible to more or less adequately assess the future act in terms of its results and more distant consequences. Semantic orientation in one's own actions becomes an important aspect of inner life. At the same time, it excludes the impulsiveness and immediacy of the child's behavior. Thanks to this mechanism, the childish spontaneity is lost; the child thinks before acting, begins to hide his feelings and hesitations, tries not to show others that he is ill.

A purely crisis manifestation of the differentiation of the external and internal life of children usually becomes antics, mannerisms, artificial stiffness of behavior. These external features, as well as the tendency to whims, affective reactions, conflicts, begin to disappear when the child emerges from the crisis and enters a new age.

Neoplasm - arbitrariness and awareness of mental processes and their intellectualization.

Pubertal crisis (11 to 15 years old) associated with the restructuring of the child's body - puberty. The activation and complex interaction of growth hormones and sex hormones cause intense physical and physiological development. Secondary sexual characteristics appear. Adolescence is sometimes referred to as a protracted crisis. In connection with the rapid development, difficulties arise in the functioning of the heart, lungs, blood supply to the brain. In adolescence, the emotional background becomes uneven, unstable.

Emotional instability enhances the sexual arousal that accompanies puberty.

Gender identity reaches a new, higher level. Orientation to models of masculinity and femininity in behavior and manifestation of personal properties is clearly manifested.

Due to the rapid growth and restructuring of the body in adolescence, interest in one's appearance sharply increases. A new image of the physical "I" is being formed. Because of its hypertrophied significance, the child is acutely experiencing all the flaws in appearance, real and imaginary.

The image of the physical "I" and self-consciousness in general is influenced by the pace of puberty. Children with late maturation are in the least advantageous position; acceleration creates more favorable opportunities for personal development.

A sense of adulthood appears - a feeling of being an adult, the central neoplasm of younger adolescence. There is a passionate desire, if not to be, then at least to appear and be considered an adult. Defending his new rights, a teenager protects many areas of his life from the control of his parents and often comes into conflict with them. In addition to the desire for emancipation, a teenager has a strong need for communication with peers. Intimate-personal communication becomes the leading activity during this period. Adolescent friendships and association in informal groups appear. There are also bright, but usually successive hobbies.

Crisis 17 years (from 15 to 17 years). It arises exactly at the turn of the usual school and new adult life. It can move up to 15 years. At this time, the child is on the threshold of real adulthood.

The majority of 17-year-old schoolchildren are oriented towards continuing their education, a few - towards job searches. The value of education is a great blessing, but at the same time, achieving the goal is difficult, and at the end of the 11th grade, emotional stress can increase dramatically.

For those who have been going through a crisis for 17 years, various fears are characteristic. Responsibility to yourself and your family for the choice, real achievements at this time is already a big burden. To this is added the fear of a new life, of the possibility of error, of failure when entering a university, and for young men, of the army. High anxiety and, against this background, pronounced fear can lead to neurotic reactions, such as fever before graduation or entrance exams, headaches, etc. An exacerbation of gastritis, neurodermatitis, or another chronic disease may begin.

A sharp change in lifestyle, inclusion in new activities, communication with new people cause significant tension. A new life situation requires adaptation to it. Two factors mainly help to adapt: family support and self-confidence, a sense of competence.

Aspiration to the future. The period of stabilization of the Personality. At this time, a system of stable views on the world and one's place in it is formed - a worldview. Known associated with this youthful maximalism in assessments, passion in defending their point of view. Self-determination, professional and personal, becomes the central new formation of the period.

Crisis 30 years. Around the age of 30, sometimes a little later, most people experience a crisis. It is expressed in a change in ideas about one's life, sometimes in a complete loss of interest in what used to be the main thing in it, in some cases even in the destruction of the former way of life.

The crisis of 30 years arises due to the unrealized life plan. If at the same time there is a “reassessment of values” and a “revision of one's own Personality”, then we are talking about the fact that the life plan turned out to be wrong in general. If the life path is chosen correctly, then attachment “to a certain Activity, a certain way of life, certain values and orientations” does not limit, but, on the contrary, develops his Personality.

The crisis of 30 years is often called the crisis of the meaning of life. It is with this period that the search for the meaning of existence is usually associated. This quest, like the whole crisis, marks the transition from youth to maturity.

The problem of meaning in all its variants, from private to global - the meaning of life - arises when the goal does not correspond to the motive, when its achievement does not lead to the achievement of the object of need, i.e. when the goal was set incorrectly. If we are talking about the meaning of life, then the general life goal turned out to be erroneous, i.e. life intention.

Some people in adulthood have another, “unscheduled” crisis, which does not coincide with the border of two stable periods of life, but arises within this period. This so-called crisis 40 years. It's like a repetition of the crisis of 30 years. It occurs when the crisis of 30 years has not led to a proper solution of existential problems.

A person is acutely experiencing dissatisfaction with his life, the discrepancy between life plans and their implementation. A.V. Tolstykh notes that a change in attitude on the part of colleagues at work is added to this: the time when one could be considered “promising”, “promising” is passing, and a person feels the need to “pay bills”.

In addition to the problems associated with professional activity, the crisis of 40 years is often caused by the aggravation of family relations. The loss of some close people, the loss of a very important common side of the life of spouses - direct participation in the lives of children, everyday care for them - contributes to the final understanding of the nature of marital relations. And if, apart from the children of the spouses, nothing significant connects both of them, the family may break up.

In the event of a crisis of 40 years, a person has to once again rebuild his life plan, develop a largely new “I-concept”. Serious changes in life can be associated with this crisis, up to a change in profession and the creation of a new family.

Retirement Crisis. First of all, the violation of the habitual regime and way of life has a negative effect, often combined with a sharp sense of contradiction between the remaining ability to work, the opportunity to be useful and their lack of demand. A person turns out to be, as it were, “thrown to the sidelines” of the current life without his active participation in the common life. The decline in one's social status, the loss of the life rhythm that has been preserved for decades, sometimes leads to a sharp deterioration in the general physical and mental state, and in some cases even to relatively quick death.

The crisis of retirement is often aggravated by the fact that around this time the second generation grows up and begins to live an independent life - grandchildren, which is especially painful for women who have devoted themselves mainly to the family.

Retirement, which often coincides with the acceleration of biological aging, is often associated with a worsening financial situation, sometimes a more secluded lifestyle. In addition, the crisis may be complicated by the death of a spouse, the loss of some close friends.

Phenomena of mental development.

Specificity.

In the theory of L.S. Vygotsky, this concept denotes a transition in age development to a new qualitatively specific stage. Age crises are primarily due to the destruction of the usual social situation of development and the emergence of another, which is more consistent with a new level of psychological development of the child. In external behavior, age-related crises are revealed as disobedience, stubbornness, and negativism. In time, they are localized at the boundaries of stable ages and manifest as a neonatal crisis (up to 1 month), a crisis of one year, 3 years, a crisis of 7 years, an adolescent crisis (11-12 years old) and a youth crisis.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

Age crises

AGE CRISES (with. 122) (from the Greek krisis - a turning point, outcome) - a conventional name for transitions from one age stage to another. In child psychology, the unevenness of child development, the presence of special, complex moments in the formation of personality, has been empirically noted. At the same time, many researchers (S. Freud, A. Gesell and others) considered these moments as “developmental illnesses”, a negative result of the collision of a developing personality with social reality. L.S. Vygotsky developed an original concept in which he considered age development as a dialectical process. Stages of gradual changes in this process alternate with age-related crises. Mental development is carried out by changing the so-called stable and critical ages (see: - ). Within the framework of a stable age, mental neoplasms mature, which are actualized in an age crisis. Vygotsky described the following crises: neonatal crisis - separates the embryonic period of development from infancy; crisis of 1 year - separates infancy from early childhood; crisis 3 years - transition to preschool age; crisis of 7 years - a connecting link between preschool and school age; crisis of 13 years - coincides with the transition to adolescence.

At these stages, there is a radical change in the entire "social situation of development" of the child - the emergence of a new type of relationship with adults, a change from one type of leading activity to another. Age crises are natural and necessary stages in the development of a child; thus, the concept of "crisis" in this context does not carry a negative connotation. However, crises are often accompanied by manifestations of negative behavioral traits (conflict in communication, etc.). The source of this phenomenon is the contradiction between the increased physical and spiritual capabilities of the child and previously established activities, forms of relationships with others, and methods of pedagogical influence. These contradictions often become acute, giving rise to strong emotional experiences, violations of mutual understanding with adults. At school age, within the framework of age crises, children show a drop in academic performance, a weakening of interest in studies, and a general decrease in working capacity. The severity of the course of crises is influenced by the individual characteristics of the child.

For example, a crisis of 3 years, when a previously obedient child can suddenly become uncontrollable, and a crisis of adolescence, dangerous with unexpected forms of protest against real or imaginary pressure from adults, have a bright negative connotation.

The negative manifestations of age crises are not inevitable. A flexible change in educational influences, taking into account the changes taking place with the child will significantly mitigate the course of age-related crises.

Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005 .

See what "age crises" are in other dictionaries:

Age Crises- a theoretical concept denoting the transition in age development to a new qualitatively specific stage. According to L.S. Vygotsky, age crises are primarily due to the destruction of the usual social situation of development and ... ... Psychological Dictionary

AGE CRISES- AGE CRISES. The development of the human personality is not an evenly ongoing process, but is interrupted at certain periods by rapid shifts, each of which initiates a new phase of the life cycle; These shifts are called... Big Medical Encyclopedia

AGE CRISES- - an ontological characteristic of a person's mental development. In the theory of L. S. Vygotsky, this concept denotes a transition in age development to a new qualitatively specific stage. V. to. are caused, first of all, by the destruction of the usual ... ...

AGE CRISES- English. age crisis; German Lebensalterkrisen. Transitional stages from one age period to another, accompanied by drastic changes and negative phenomena in the behavior of the individual due to the difficulties of adapting to new age roles. ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

- (eng. age crises) a code name for the transitional stages of age development that take place between stable (lytic) periods (see Age, Periodization of mental development). K. v. considered in concepts recognized ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

AGE CRISES- special, relatively short in time (up to a year) periods of ontogeny, characterized by sharp psychological changes. Unlike crises of a neurotic or traumatic nature, age-related crises are normative ... ... Dictionary of Career Guidance and Psychological Support

AGE CRISES- - special, relatively short (up to a year) periods, characterized by sharp psychological changes. K.v. are a normal process necessary for the formation of the personality of a young person. K.v. may occur during the transition from ... ... Terminological juvenile dictionary

Age crises- (from the Greek crisis turning point, outcome) the conditional name of the transitions from one age stage to another. In child psychology, the unevenness of child development, the presence of special, complex moments of formation ... ... Pedagogical terminological dictionary

AGE CRISES- (from the Greek. krisis turning point, outcome), the conditional name of the transitions from one age stage to another. In children. Psychology empirically observed uneven children. development, the presence of special, complex moments of the formation of personality. At… … Russian Pedagogical Encyclopedia

age crises- special, relatively short periods of ontogenesis, characterized by sharp psychological changes. 8 psychosocial crises have been identified. Depending on the passage of crisis periods, a person’s attitude towards ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Books

Spiral of fate. Cycles, crises and their overcoming, Andre Nadezhda, Nekrasova Svetlana. Philosophers, sages, and scientists have repeatedly tried to describe the laws of human life and existence. Human life has been described in a variety of ways. Human life is studied by medicine, psychology, ...

State educational institution of higher professional education

Chita State Medical Academy

federal agency for health and social development

Department of Humanities

COURSE WORK

Topic: Crises of age development

Chita - 2009

Introduction

The human psyche is in a state of constant development. Human development is associated with both hereditary and social factors, as well as with the activity of the individual himself.

Each age is a qualitatively special stage of mental development and is characterized by many changes that make up the totality of the structure of a person's personality at a given stage of his development. Features of age can be determined by many conditions:

a system of requirements that apply to a person at this stage of his life;

relationships with others;

the knowledge and skills he possesses;

passport age (age according to the passport). However, very often the passport age may not coincide with the psychological and physiological age of a person, which requires a momentary correction in attributing it to one or another age group. In addition, a frequent serious illness both physiologically and psychologically ages a person (sometimes in 2-3 months), and then a person is psychologically not ready to realize his age and his capabilities at this qualitatively new stage of life, especially in connection with emerging restrictions (for example, , physical activity, previously easily tolerated, but now becoming excessive, etc.).

“External conditions that determine the characteristics of age act directly on a person. The same influences of the external environment affect differently depending on which previously developed psychological properties they pass through (refract). The totality of these external and internal conditions determines the specifics of age, and the change in the relationship between them determines the need and features of the transition to the next age stages.

Thus, the conditions that determine the characteristics of age can be divided into three groups: physiological conditions, social, psychological. The transition from one age level to another occurs when the conditions that determine the specifics of the age change. Mental development occurs in activity through the resolution of contradictions that have arisen at a certain stage of development. The driving force of mental development is the activity of the individual.

Depending on various geographical and ethnic factors, the following periods of age development are conditionally distinguished:

prenatal (intrauterine period);

newborn (from birth to 1 month);

infancy (from 1 month to 1 year of life);

early childhood (1-3 years);

junior and middle preschool age (3-6 years);

senior preschool age (6-7 years);

primary school age (7-10 years);

adolescence, coinciding with high school (from 10-11 years old to 13-15 years old);

early adolescence (15-16 years);

youth (16-18 years old);

maturity:

early (18-25),

medium (25-40),

late (40-55);

elderly (from 55 - 75 years old);

senile (after 75 years);

elderly (after 80 years);

longevity.

Biological crises are caused by the internal laws of the development of the organism.

Biographical crises arise in connection with a change in the socio-psychological status of a person.

During a biological crisis (crisis), mental disorders often occur, and the diseases that have developed at this time are more severe. In childhood, during a biological crisis, psychophysiological functions, which are at the stage of the most intensive development, suffer to a greater extent.

Favorable outcomes of the above life events depend on the circumstances and immediate environment, the level of mental stability and mental protection.

Some children may experience neurotic breakdowns when they enter kindergarten. In such cases, you need to consult a child psychologist.

After entering into a marital relationship, there is often a conflict between the expected ideal and the real in the relationship of the spouses.

The birth of a child is a joy, but often against the background of natural fatigue, a young mother may develop a fear that she cannot cope with her duties, if the woman is not supported by family members, then depression may develop.

Retirement dramatically changes the social status of a person in the family and society. Men endure this period worse. It is very important that a person finds a new meaning for his existence.

The human psyche is in the process of constant development. Knowledge by medical personnel of age-related biological crises of personality will help to avoid many difficulties that arise in the interaction of medical personnel and patients.

Thus, the problem of prevention and treatment of crisis conditions is one of the most relevant for modern psychiatry. Traditionally, this issue is considered from the standpoint of stress theory. Knowledge of the age-related crises described above is of great importance for the organization of medical care for patients.

Subject of research: crises of age development.

Object of study: psychological characteristics of a person in different periods of his life.

Research objectives:

consider the main features of each period

trace the development of theoretical views on problems of different ages

draw appropriate conclusions summarizing the study.

The purpose of the study: to explore the crises of age development, to characterize the age periods, their influence on the development of the individual.

Research methods:

Analysis of theoretical literature on the research topic.

1. Crises of mental development

Until recently, in research and pedagogical practice, it was assumed that crises of mental development (or age-related crises) are peculiar segments of the life path of a child (or adult), when the insufficiency of those pedagogical conditions in which the child lives and acts is revealed. This view also provoked ways to resolve crises - the child must be provided with what he requires (send him to school, start treating him like an adult), and the crisis will be overcome.

If you take a closer look at this position, it becomes clear that it "serves" the needs of educators. Indeed, in case of difficulties, the teacher makes efforts to eliminate them. The internal mechanisms of the problems that arise, their possible meaning for the child himself, is a traditionally psychological task, of little interest to the teacher. Pedagogy, unlike psychology, is essentially a practice. Therefore, any obstacle (and a crisis is precisely an obstacle to pedagogical action) must be eliminated or overcome. This is not a lack of pedagogical position, but its content.

However, crises, if they are normative age-related crises, constitute an insurmountable obstacle. The adult yields to the child, and the latter makes new demands. This situation lasts and lasts, and then seems to disappear by itself. It becomes clear that a meaningful analysis is required for pedagogical action in a crisis, and therefore we are forced to move from the plane of pedagogical action to the plane of psychological understanding. And only on its basis to build a pedagogical action in the new ideology.

The insufficiency of the traditional understanding of the crisis lies in the fact that it is not considered as a necessary stage of development. In order to turn the words “necessary stage” from a speech construction into an analysis tool and, consequently, into the basis for designing pedagogical action, it is necessary to discover the content of the crisis. Or, in other words, to discover the task of development that is being solved in a crisis.

How is it possible to set (determine) the content of development in a critical period? Without disclosing the grounds for answering this question, let us dwell on the following: the content of development in the critical period is the subjectivation of the neoformation of the previous stable period. In other words, we assume the following: in a stable period, a neoplasm is formed, but only objectively, it can be detected by an outside observer, while this neoplasm does not yet exist for a child. No, in the sense that the child himself does not yet possess this new ability. For its discovery by the child himself, for the transformation of the child into the subject of a new ability, appropriate conditions are needed, but if they are not present, the ability is not revealed by such a condition and there is a psychological space of crisis.

For the emancipation of ability, some special work is needed, work on the subjectivization of ability. In fact, we are talking about a kind of two-cycle formation of subjective ability. At the first step (in the stable period), the ability is formed within a certain integrity of conditions; at this step, the ability does not belong to the subject, but precisely to this entire integrity. Further, the next step is necessary - isolating the ability from the conditions that gave rise to it, according to our initial position, this is the crisis of development.

At a stable age, within the framework of a situation of formation, a child develops certain abilities, but until a certain time these abilities exist objectively. This means that if this situation of formation is recreated, then the child realizes, discovers these abilities, if the situation turns out to be different, then the child does not demonstrate this ability. In fact, the subject of ability is not the actor himself, not the child, but the situation of formation. A classic example from a child's game: in the game the child maintains the "sentry pose", but outside the game it does not, etc. That is, the ability is not the property of the actor himself. This ability has a shimmering character.

In a crisis, this ability is “delaminated”, this ability is appropriated by the subject himself, subjectivation occurs. That is why very special conditions are necessary. The main of these conditions, as it becomes clear today, is the transformation of a child's action from an action directed at an object, from an action that results, into an action that tries. Actually, there is the moment where the action of a child and the action of an adult meet. The action of an adult, the pedagogical action, "finds" its subject-the action of the child. The action of an adult becomes "alive" (in terms of V.P. Zinchenko).

What does the test mean, what kind of work should happen at this moment. "" The essence of the test lies in the fact that the child discovers his own action. This has become clearer today thanks to the works of B.D. Elkonin about the feeling of one's own activity. A test is an action that allows you to experience (endure) a sense of your own activity and thereby discover your own action as such.

For me, these words have a special meaning, I will illustrate this with a very funny example of a three-year crisis. The crisis of three years is described as a crisis of "I myself", as the emergence of personal action, as the opposition "I want - I do not want", etc. A detailed, targeted observation of the child was carried out throughout the year - from two and a half to three and a half years. Along with the well-known symptoms of negativism and self-will, along with these "I myself", "I want - I don't want", etc., there are behavioral symptoms of another kind. The child refers to himself in the third person with diminutive petting words, for example, "Little Bear"; at the same time, he behaves extremely conformally, extremely affectionately, i.e. behaves as it was typical before the crisis.

This illustration turns out to be a very strong indication that two types of behavior can be found in the critical period. On the one hand, this behavior seems to run ahead: this is the development of one's "I": "I myself", "I want - I don't want" - that is traditionally associated with critical symptoms. But in order for these new forms to arise for the child himself, it is necessary not only to strengthen them (by traditional deliberateness, the obsession of negativity), but also to oppose other forms of behavior - an emphasized connection with parents, affectionateness, complaisance. "New" and "old" behavior are separated from each other. But, let us pay attention, both are, again, their behavior; both types of behavior are marked with different speech symbols: one through "I", and the other through emphatically affectionate naming in the third person. At the first observations, it was easy to brush them aside, assuming that they were some kind of individual feature. However, it soon turned out that almost all attentive parents remembered such affectionate names in the behavior of their three-year-old children against the background of a pronounced demonstrative "I".

This observation turns out to be very important in the analysis of the development of subjectivity in critical periods. Traditionally, in the logic of formation (of activity, mental actions, etc.), one habitually talked about the action of a child and the action of an exemplary, adult one. The child, developing, appropriates the adult (exemplary) action. Today, one can hypothetically assume that in a crisis a more complex division occurs, not of children's and adult actions, not mine and someone else's (exemplary), but mine and mine, but different.

Only in this sense can we speak of subjectivation as such. Otherwise, the child "puts on" new clothes of other people's actions. Is it possible to talk about development in this case? Once A.I. Podolsky mentioned dead concepts. Referring to conversations with P.Ya. Galperin, he said that sometimes it is possible to form something that remains dead. So it seems to me that development proper and subjectivation proper - all this concerns just this inner division; I, my action, and I, my own action, but something else, this inner distinction only makes it possible to speak of development as such.

Understanding development in this way is the most important thing that can ever happen to a person. Such an understanding of development goes far beyond the mere description of critical periods. Crises in this case are only a very convenient model of the very act of development. For example, the problem of chemical dependence. What does it mean that a person is dependent on some chemical drug? This means that there is no difference between the organismic "I", which requires the drug, and the "I", which does not want to take this drug. The work of overcoming addiction can be productively carried out only on this inner distinction. No talk about health, about the future helps, all this is not serious. When an addict recognizes, fixes the moment when his body begins to demand, when the "I" that prevents the drug from taking the drug enters into a dialogue with the "I"-dependent, when a situation of internal resistance and internal dismemberment arises, this is the condition for further overcoming, in this cases of a particular situation or development in the broadest sense of the word.

Should we understand the crisis, returning to the pedagogical aspect of this issue? As the moment of the meeting of the action of an adult and the action of a child. So far, it was only about the child, about his action. In order to proceed to the consideration of the meeting of children's and adult actions, let us consider the following diagram (Fig. 1).

A simple scheme of age is depicted here: there is a real children's action corresponding to age 1 and age 2. There are cultural patterns, standards, ideal forms that determine the content of each age. And there is necessarily a culture of translation at a stable age, a culture of their connections. We can call this a leading activity, a social situation of development, etc., but it is important to understand that there always exists at a stable age something that mediates the real children's action and those samples (cultural standards) that are to be appropriated at a given age. It is the culture of translation that makes it possible to understand and describe what the child really does. Imagine, for example, the real actions of a 4.5-year-old child, if we don’t have the word “game” in our head. In this case, we are witnessing a chaos of strange manipulations with strange objects. But as soon as the idea of play arises, the child's actions are immediately ordered, first of all, for the observer.

Consequently, this mediating link gives us the opportunity: firstly, to understand the real actions of the child, and secondly, to understand how they are determined - into meanings and tasks, methods of action, etc. This is how the scheme of a stable age looks like - one and the other. What happens at the crossing? What happens at a critical age? At a critical age, the child begins to focus on the ideal form of the next age. In the diagram, we see a connection that is not mediated by the translation culture. And according to this scheme, it is clear that the actions of a child in a crisis are not mediated by an adult mediating action. The critical age is characterized by the absence of a culture of translation, the absence of an adult (intermediary) who stands on this border.

Let us return to the question of the pedagogy of critical ages. The content of pedagogical action lies in the fact that it organizes the child's actions in such a way that he discovers new contents, cultural forms, and models in a cultural way. The very actions of the child become culturally predetermined. During the critical period, when the child discovers new ideal forms directly, he builds his own actions directly.

A simple example: advertising. Typically, it sets patterns of some attractive behavior, linking that attraction directly to the advertised product. The teenager reacts directly to the advertisement: he simply takes an attractive object, believing that in this way he immediately turns into a strong, beautiful, courageous, etc. When a child lights a cigarette, he does not try anything, he literally becomes here and now, transforms. What is the essence of a possible adult action in this situation? The point is to turn this object-directed action into an attempting action, into an action that helps to dismember the "I". A child with a cigarette is a gesture to the audience, "I am an adult": look at me as an adult; those. it is a demonstrative action. For an adult, the same action means something else: "You are ruining your health, smoking is harmful, etc." In this case, the same situation of smoking - for a child and for an adult act as fundamentally different. There is no meeting space here, no place where they could meet. And here it is appropriate to recall the very curious reasoning of D.B. Elkonin about action. He writes that action is two-faced. The action, on the one hand, is directed at the object, on the other hand, it has some meaning in society, etc. When an adult tells a child to wear a warm coat, the adult says that it is cold and talks about objectivity, and when the child refuses to wear this coat, he actually talks about the meaning of this clothing. And in this sense, the objective content of the action (on the part of the adult) and the meaning that the child attaches to it cannot meet at this moment. What is the condition of the meeting? Natural adjustment. The adult's discovery of its meaning in this action and the child's discovery of its objective content in the same action. Only in this case, generally speaking, is a dialogue possible, a meeting possible.

Children began to work not at their desks, but sitting together with the teacher on the rug. The rug is something completely empty and meaningless. And working, at first - playing with the teacher on this rug, the children, together with the adult, began to distinguish between different forms of work. In particular, they identified for themselves work with subject positions when teaching reading, separated them from game forms of work. And as you work, this initially empty space - the rug - gradually became polarized. There was a work space, a play space, a training space, and so on. Thus, the space of the room was polarized into a play corner and a place of study. Due to the fact that initially the children fell into this "empty space", it was possible to polarize it and reveal the content to them, that is, to transfer them to a new age, but to transfer them in a cultural way.

The second similar illustration concerns the beginning of a teenage school. Here the situation is much more complicated, because when there are two built, culturally formed ages, then the pedagogical action consists in transferring from one to the other, in the transition to a new type of mediation. Unfortunately, adolescence is such that culturally built forms of translation are absent today, i.e. the pedagogical task is to transfer the child from the formalized primary school age to the next age, where the culture of translation is virtually absent.

For a child, adolescence consists in breaking the rules, in a kind of outrageousness. An adult, as a rule, begins to “work” on the territory of 1 teenager: to stop violations of the rules, to respond to shocking. This situation leads to a dead end. A classic question in any conversation between a psychologist and a teacher about adolescence is: “What can you advise a teacher?” But until some adequate forms of transmission are organized, at least within the framework of the school, there can be no significant progress in this direction.

Therefore, when we are talking about a school for teenagers, firstly, it is necessary to organize the form of translation and, at the second step, to engage in the special work of translating children's action into trying action. And here * one can turn to a very interesting and promising, but so far limited experience of the work of gymnasium No. 1 in Krasnoyarsk. Unlike the general situation in this school, the space of a teenage school is really organized. Those. there are already reasons to talk about the space of the teenage school.

Thus, objectively there is a child with his real actions (expectations, preferences, etc.). And there is a school environment. But this is not yet his environment. Only when we build his own childish action - a trial - in relation to this environment, when we create conditions for the internal distinction of different actions, will a trial arise, i.e. conditions for the development of the child. In particular, a child in a critical period.

Crises of age development

L.S. Vygotsky considers the dynamics of transitions from one age to another. At different stages, changes in the child's psyche can occur slowly and gradually, or they can happen quickly and abruptly. Stable and crisis stages of development are distinguished, their alternation is the law of child development. The stable period is characterized by a smooth course of the development process, without sharp shifts and changes in the child's personality. Long in duration. Insignificant, minimal changes accumulate and at the end of the period give a qualitative leap in development: age-related neoplasms appear, stable, fixed in the structure of the Personality.

D.B. Elkonin developed the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky on child development. “A child approaches each point in his development with a certain discrepancy between what he has learned from the system of relations man - man, and what he has learned from the system of relations man - object. It is precisely the moments when this discrepancy assumes the greatest magnitude that are called crises, after which the development of the side that lagged behind in the previous period takes place. But each of the parties is preparing the development of the other.

Thus, the human psyche is in the process of constant development. Knowledge of age-related biological crises of personality will help to avoid many difficulties that arise in relationships between people.

Neonatal crisis. Associated with a sharp change in living conditions. A child from comfortable habitual conditions of life gets into difficult ones (new nutrition, breathing). Adaptation of the child to new conditions of life.

Crisis 1 year. It is associated with an increase in the child's capabilities and the emergence of new needs. A surge of independence, the emergence of affective reactions. Affective outbursts as a reaction to misunderstanding on the part of adults. The main acquisition of the transitional period is a kind of children's speech, called L.S. Vygotsky autonomous. It is significantly different from adult speech and in sound form. Words become ambiguous and situational.

Crisis 3 years. The border between early and preschool age is one of the most difficult moments in a child's life. This is destruction, a revision of the old system of social relations, a crisis in the allocation of one's "I", according to D.B. Elkonin. The child, separating from adults, tries to establish new, deeper relationships with them. The appearance of the phenomenon “I myself”, according to Vygotsky, is a new formation “the external I myself”. "The child is trying to establish new forms of relationship with others - a crisis of social relations."

The crisis of 3 years is associated with the awareness of oneself as an active subject in the world of objects, the child for the first time can act contrary to his desires.

Crisis 7 years. It may start at age 7, or it may shift to 6 or 8 years. The discovery of the meaning of a new social position - the position of a schoolchild associated with the implementation of highly valued by adults educational work. The formation of an appropriate internal position radically changes his self-awareness. According to L.I. Bozovic is the period of the birth of social. "I" of the child. A change in self-consciousness leads to a reassessment of values. There are profound changes in terms of experiences - stable affective complexes. It appears that L.S. Vygotsky calls the generalization of experiences. A chain of failures or successes (in school, in broad communication), each time experienced by the child in approximately the same way, leads to the formation of a stable affective complex - a feeling of inferiority, humiliation, hurt pride or a sense of self-worth, competence, exclusivity. Thanks to the generalization of experiences, the logic of feelings appears. Experiences acquire a new meaning, connections are established between them, the struggle of experiences becomes possible.

Neoplasm - arbitrariness and awareness of mental processes and their intellectualization.

Pubertal crisis (from 11 to 15 years) is associated with the restructuring of the child's body - puberty. The activation and complex interaction of growth hormones and sex hormones cause intense physical and physiological development. Secondary sexual characteristics appear. Adolescence is sometimes referred to as a protracted crisis. In connection with the rapid development, difficulties arise in the functioning of the heart, lungs, blood supply to the brain. In adolescence, the emotional background becomes uneven, unstable.

Emotional instability enhances the sexual arousal that accompanies puberty.

Gender identity reaches a new, higher level. Orientation to models of masculinity and femininity in behavior and manifestation of personal properties is clearly manifested.

Crisis 17 years (from 15 to 17 years). It arises exactly at the turn of the usual school and new adult life. It can move up to 15 years. At this time, the child is on the threshold of real adult life.

Crisis 30 years. Around the age of 30, sometimes a little later, most people experience a crisis. It is expressed in a change in ideas about one's life, sometimes in a complete loss of interest in what used to be the main thing in it, in some cases even in the destruction of the former way of life.

Some people in adulthood have another, “unscheduled” crisis, which does not coincide with the border of two stable periods of life, but arises within this period. This is the so-called crisis of 40 years. It's like a repetition of the crisis of 30 years. It occurs when the crisis of 30 years has not led to a proper solution of existential problems.

Retirement Crisis. First of all, the violation of the habitual regime and way of life has a negative effect, often combined with a sharp sense of contradiction between the remaining ability to work, the opportunity to be useful and their lack of demand. A person turns out to be, as it were, “thrown to the sidelines” of the current life without his active participation in the common life. The decline in one's social status, the loss of the life rhythm that has been preserved for decades, sometimes leads to a sharp deterioration in the general physical and mental state, and in some cases even to relatively quick death.

Crises of the age periods of human life

mental crisis age development

We enter different ages of our lives like newborns, with no experience behind us, no matter how old we are.

F. La Rochefoucauld

Little attention is paid to the issues of age-related crises of the personality and the existential problems of a person are practically not touched upon. I , MY and DEATH , because without considering these relationships, it is impossible to understand the genesis of post-traumatic stress disorders, suicidal behavior and other neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders.

To study the psychological characteristics of a person in different periods of his life is an extremely complex and multifaceted task. In this chapter, the emphasis will be placed on the problems characteristic of certain periods of a person's life, which often underlie anxiety, fears, and other disorders that potentiate the development of crisis states, as well as on the age dynamics of the formation of fear of death.

The problem of understanding the origins of the emergence of a personality crisis and its age-related dynamics have been studied by many authors. Eric Erickson, the creator of the ego theory of personality, identified 8 stages of psychosocial development of the personality. He believed that each of them was accompanied by crisis - a turning point in the life of an individual, which occurs as a result of reaching a certain level of psychological maturity and social requirements for the individual at this stage . Every psychosocial crisis comes with both positive and negative consequences. If the conflict is resolved, then the personality is enriched with new, positive qualities, if not resolved, symptoms and problems arise that may lead to the development of mental and behavioral disorders (E.N. Erikson, 1968).

Table 1. Stages of psychosocial development (according to Erickson)

N Stage Age Psychosocial crisis Strengths 1. Oral-sensory Birth-1 year Basic trust - basic distrust role mixing Loyalty 6. Early maturity 20-25 years Intimacy - isolation Love 7. Middle maturity 26-64 years Productivity - stagnation Caring 8. Late maturity 65 years - death Ego integration - despair Wisdom

At the first stage of psychosocial development (birth - 1 year), the first important psychological crisis is already possible, due to insufficient maternal care and rejection of the child. Maternal deprivation underlies basal mistrust , which further potentiates the development of fear, suspicion, affective disorders.

At the second stage of psychosocial development (1-3 years), the psychological crisis is accompanied by the appearance of a sense of shame and doubt, which further potentiates the formation of self-doubt, anxious suspiciousness, fears, and an obsessive-compulsive symptom complex.

At the third stage of psychosocial development (3-6 years), the psychological crisis is accompanied by the formation of feelings of guilt, abandonment and worthlessness, which subsequently can cause dependent behavior, impotence or frigidity, personality disorders.

The creator of the concept of birth trauma O. Rank (1952) said that anxiety accompanies a person from the moment of his birth and is due to the fear of death associated with the experience of separation of the fetus from the mother during birth. R. J. Kastenbaum (1981) noted that even very young children experience mental discomfort associated with death and often parents are not even aware of it. R. Furman (1964) held a different opinion, who insisted that only at the age of 2-3 years can the concept of death arise, since during this period elements of symbolic thinking and a primitive level of reality assessments appear .. H. Nagy (1948 ), having studied the writings and drawings of almost 4,000 children in Budapest, as well as conducting individual psychotherapeutic and diagnostic conversations with each of them, revealed that children under 5 years of age do not consider death as a final, but as a dream or departure. Life and death for these children were not mutually exclusive. In subsequent research, she revealed a feature that struck her: the children spoke of death as a separation, a kind of boundary. Research by M.C. McIntire (1972), conducted a quarter of a century later, confirmed the revealed feature: only 20% of 5-6 year old children think that their dead animals will come to life and only 30% of children of this age assume that dead animals have consciousness. Similar results were obtained by other researchers (J.E. Alexander, 1965; T.B. Hagglund, 1967; J. Hinton, 1967; S. Wolff, 1973). M. Miller (1971) notes that for a preschool child, the concept death is identified with the loss of their mother and this is often the cause of their unconscious fears and anxieties. Fear of parental death in mentally healthy preschoolers was observed in 53% of boys and 61% of girls. Fear of one's death was noted in 47% of boys and 70% of girls (A.I. Zakharov, 1988). Suicides in children under 5 years of age are rare, but in the last decade there has been a trend towards their growth.

As a rule, memories of a serious illness that threatens to be fatal at this age remain with the child for life and play a significant role in his future fate. Yes, one of great apostates Viennese psychoanalytic school, psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937), the creator of individual psychology, wrote that at the age of 5 he almost died and in the future his decision to become a doctor, i.e. a person struggling with death was conditioned precisely by these memories. In addition, the experienced event was reflected in his scientific outlook. In the inability to control the timing of death or prevent it, he saw the deepest basis of an inferiority complex.

Children with excessive fears and anxiety associated with separation from significant loved ones, accompanied by inadequate fears of loneliness and separation, nightmares, social autism and recurrent somato-vegetative dysfunctions, need psychiatric consultation and treatment. In ICD-10, this condition is classified as Separation anxiety disorder in childhood (F 93.0).

Children of school age, or 4 stages according to E. Erickson (6-12 years old) acquire knowledge and skills of interpersonal communication at school, which determine their personal significance and dignity. The crisis of this age period is accompanied by the appearance of a feeling of inferiority or incompetence, most often correlated with the child's academic performance. In the future, these children may lose self-confidence, the ability to work effectively and maintain human contacts.

Psychological studies have shown that children of this age are interested in the problem of death and are already sufficiently prepared to talk about it. The word was included in the dictionary text dead , and this word was adequately perceived by the vast majority of children. Only 2 out of 91 children deliberately bypassed it. However, if children of 5.5 - 7.5 years old considered death unlikely for themselves, then at the age of 7.5 - 8.5 years they recognize its possibility for themselves personally, although the age of its supposed onset varied from in a few years up to 300 years ..P.Koocher (1971) examined the ideas of unbelieving children aged 6-15 regarding their supposed state after death. The spread of answers to the question what happens when you die? , was distributed as follows: 52% answered that their bury , 21% that they will go to heaven , I will live after death , subject to God's punishment , 19% organize a funeral , 7% felt that they fall asleep , 4% - reincarnate , 3% - cremate . Belief in the personal or universal immortality of the soul after death was found in 65% of believing children aged 8-12 (M.C.McIntire, 1972).

In children of primary school age, the prevalence of the fear of death of parents sharply increases (in 98% of boys and 97% of mentally healthy girls of 9 years old), which is already observed in almost all 15-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls. As for the fear of one's own death, at school age it occurs quite often (up to 50%), although less often in girls (D.N. Isaev, 1992).

In younger schoolchildren (mostly after 9 years) suicidal activity is already observed, which is most often caused not by serious mental illnesses, but by situational reactions, the source of which is, as a rule, intra-family conflicts.

Adolescence (12 - 18 years), or the fifth stage of psychosocial development, is traditionally considered the most vulnerable to stressful situations and to the emergence of crises. E. Erickson singles out this age period as very important in psychosocial development and considers the development of an identity crisis or role shift, which manifests itself in three main areas of behavior, to be pathognomonic for it:

The problem of choosing a career;

Selection of a reference group and membership in it (the reaction of grouping with peers according to A.E. Lichko);

The use of alcohol and drugs, which can temporarily relieve emotional stresses and allow you to experience a sense of temporary overcoming of a lack of identity (E.N. Erikson, 1963).

The dominant questions of this age are: Who am I? , How will I fit into the adult world? , Where am I going? Teenagers are trying to build their own value system, often coming into conflict with the older generation, subverting their values. The classic example is the hippie movement.

The idea of death in adolescents as a universal and inevitable end of human life approaches that of adults. J. Piaget wrote that it is from the moment of comprehending the idea of death that the child becomes an agnostic, that is, he acquires a way of perceiving the world inherent in an adult. Although, recognizing intellectually death for others , they actually deny it to themselves on an emotional level. Adolescents are dominated by a romantic attitude towards death. Often they interpret it as a different way of being.

It is during adolescence that the peak of suicides, the peak of experiments with disturbing substances and other life-threatening activities occur. Moreover, adolescents, in the anamnesis of which thoughts of suicide were repeatedly noted, rejected thoughts of his death. Among 13-16 year olds, 20% believed in the preservation of consciousness after death, 60% believed in the existence of the soul, and only 20% believed in death as the cessation of physical and spiritual life.

This age is characterized by thoughts of suicide, as revenge for an insult, quarrels, lectures from teachers and parents. Dominant thoughts like: Here I will die in spite of you and see how you will suffer and regret that you have been unfair to me.

Investigating the mechanisms of psychological defense during anxiety potentiated by thoughts of death, E.M. Pattison (1978) found that they are usually identical to those in adults from their immediate environment: intellectual, mature defense mechanisms are more often noted, although neurotic ones were also noted in a number of cases. forms of protection.

A.Maurer (1966) conducted a survey of 700 high school students and the question What comes to your mind when you think about death? revealed the following responses: awareness, rejection, curiosity, contempt and despair. As noted earlier, the vast majority of adolescents have a fear of their own death and the death of their parents.

In youth (or early maturity according to E. Erickson - 20-25 years old), young people are focused on getting a profession and creating a family. The main problem that may arise during this age period is self-absorption and avoidance of interpersonal relationships, which is the psychological basis for the emergence of feelings of loneliness, existential vacuum and social isolation. If the crisis is successfully overcome, then young people develop the ability to love, altruism, and a moral sense.

After adolescence, thoughts about death are less and less visited by young people, and they very rarely think about it. 90% of the students said that they rarely think about their own death, in personal terms, it is of little significance to them (J. Hinton, 1972).

The thoughts of modern domestic youth about death turned out to be unexpected. According to S.B. Borisov (1995), who studied female students of the Pedagogical Institute of the Moscow Region, 70% of the respondents in one form or another recognize the existence of the soul after physical death, of which 40% believe in reincarnation, i.e. transmigration of the soul into another body. Only 9% of interviewees unambiguously reject the existence of the soul after death.

A few decades ago, it was believed that in adulthood a person does not have significant problems associated with personal development, and maturity was considered a time of achievement. However, Levinson's work Seasons of human life , Neugarten Awareness of adulthood , Osherson Sadness for the Lost I mid life , as well as changes in the structure of morbidity and mortality during this age period, forced researchers to take a different look at the psychology of maturity and call this period maturity crisis.

In this age period, the needs of self-respect and self-actualization dominate (according to A. Maslow). The time has come to sum up the first results of what has been done in life. E. Erickson believes that this stage of personality development is also characterized by concern for the future well-being of mankind (otherwise, indifference and apathy, unwillingness to take care of others, self-absorption with one's own problems arise).

At this time of life, the frequency of depression, suicide, neuroses, and dependent forms of behavior increases. The death of peers prompts reflection on the finiteness of one's own life. According to various psychological and sociological studies, the topic of death is relevant for 30%-70% of people of this age. Unbelieving forty-year-olds understand death as the end of life, its finale, but even they consider themselves a little more immortal than others . This period is also characterized by a sense of disappointment in professional career and family life. This is due to the fact that, as a rule, if the set goals are not realized by the time of maturity, then they are already hardly achievable.

What if they are implemented?

A person enters the second half of life and his previous life experience is not always suitable for solving the problems of this time.

The problem of 40-year-old K.G. Jung dedicated his report life frontier (1984), in which he advocated the creation higher schools for forty-year-olds that would prepare them for the future life because a person cannot live the second half of his life according to the same program as the first. As a comparison of the psychological changes that occur at different periods of life in the soul of a person, he compares it with the movement of the sun, meaning the sun, animated by human feeling and endowed with momentary human consciousness. In the morning it emerges from the night sea of the unconscious, illuminating the wide, colorful world, and the higher it rises in the firmament, the farther it spreads its rays. In this expansion of its sphere of influence, connected with the rising, the sun will see its destiny and see its highest goal in rising as high as possible.

With this conviction, the sun reaches an unforeseen noon height - unforeseen because, because of its one-time individual existence, it could not know in advance its own climax. Sunset begins at twelve o'clock. It represents the inversion of all the values and ideals of the morning. The sun becomes inconsistent. It seems to remove its rays. Light and heat decrease until complete extinction.

Elderly people (stage of late maturity according to E. Erickson). Studies of gerontologists have established that physical and mental aging depends on the personality characteristics of a person and how he lived his life. G. Ruffin (1967) conventionally distinguishes three types of old age: happy , unhappy and psychopathological . Yu.I. Polishchuk (1994) randomly examined 75 people aged 73 to 92 years. According to the obtained studies, this group was dominated by persons whose condition was qualified as unhappy old age - 71%; 21% were persons with the so-called psychopathological old age and 8% were worried happy old age.

Happy old age occurs in harmonious individuals with a strong balanced type of higher nervous activity, engaged in long time intellectual labor and did not leave this occupation even after retirement. The psychological state of these people is characterized by vital asthenia, contemplation, a tendency to remember, peace, wise enlightenment and a philosophical attitude towards death. E. Erickson (1968, 1982) believed that only in someone who somehow took care of affairs and people, who experienced triumphs and defeats in life, who was an inspiration to others and put forward ideas - only in him can the fruits of the previous stages gradually ripen . He believed that real maturity comes only in old age and called this period late maturity . The wisdom of old age is aware of the relativity of all knowledge acquired by a person throughout his life in one historical period. Wisdom is the realization of the unconditional significance of life itself in the face of death itself. . Many outstanding personalities created their best works in old age.

Titian wrote Battle of Leranto when he was 98 years old and created his best works after 80 years. Michelangelo completed his sculptural composition in the church of St. Peter in Rome in his ninth decade of life. The great naturalist Humboldt worked on his work until the age of 90 Space , Goethe created the immortal Faust at the age of 80, at the same age Verdi wrote falstaff . At 71, Galileo Galilei discovered the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Book The origin of man and sexual selection was written by Darwin when he was in his 60s.

Unhappy old age more often occurs in individuals with traits of anxious suspiciousness, sensitivity, the presence of somatic diseases. These individuals are characterized by a loss of the meaning of life, a feeling of loneliness, helplessness and constant thoughts about death as deliverance from suffering .They have frequent suicidal thoughts, suicidal acts and recourse to euthanasia methods are possible.

The old age of the world-famous psychotherapist Z. Freud, who lived for 83 years, can serve as an illustration.

In the last decades of his life, Z. Freud revised many of the postulates of the theory of psychoanalysis he created and put forward the hypothesis that became fundamental in his later works that the basis of mental processes is the dichotomy of two powerful forces: the instinct of love (Eros) and the instinct of death (Thanatos). The majority of followers and students did not support his new views on the fundamental role of Thanatos in human life and explained the turn in the Teacher's worldview with intellectual fading and sharpened personality traits. Z. Freud experienced an acute feeling of loneliness and misunderstanding.

The situation was aggravated by the changed political situation: in 1933, fascism came to power in Germany, the ideologists of which did not recognize the teachings of Freud. His books were burned in Germany, and a few years later 4 of his sisters were killed in the ovens of a concentration camp. Shortly before Freud's death, in 1938, the Nazis occupied Austria, confiscating his publishing house and library, property and passport. Freud became a prisoner of the ghetto. And only thanks to a ransom of 100 thousand shillings, which was paid for him by his patient and follower Princess Marie Bonaparte, his family was able to emigrate to England.

Mortally ill with cancer, having lost his relatives and students, Freud also lost his homeland. In England, despite an enthusiastic reception, his condition worsened. On September 23, 1939, at his request, the attending physician gave him 2 injections, which ended his life.

Psychopathological old age manifested by age-organic disorders, depression, hypochondria, psychopathic, neurosis-like, psychoorganic disorders, senile dementia. Very often, such patients have a fear of being in a nursing home.

Studies of 1,000 Chicagoans have revealed the relevance of the topic of death for almost all elderly people, although issues of finance, politics, etc. were of no less importance to them. People of this age are philosophical about death and tend to perceive it on an emotional level more as a long sleep than as a source of suffering. Sociological studies have revealed that in 70% of the elderly, thoughts about death related to preparation for it (28% made a will; 25% have already prepared some funeral accessories and half have already discussed their death with their closest heirs (J. Hinton, 1972).

These data obtained from a sociological survey of older people in the United States contrast with the results of similar studies of residents of the UK, where the majority of the respondents avoided this topic and answered the questions as follows: I try to think as little as possible about death and dying. , I try to switch to other topics and so on.

In the experiences associated with death, not only age, but also gender differentiation is quite clearly manifested. .W.Back (1974), investigating the age and gender dynamics of the experience of time using the method of R. Knapp, presented to the subjects, along with time metaphors and death metaphors . As a result of the study, he came to the conclusion that men relate to death with greater rejection than women: this topic evokes in them associations imbued with fear and disgust. In women it is described Harlequin complex , in which death seems mysterious and in some ways even attractive.

A different picture of the psychological attitude towards death was obtained 20 years later. The National Agency for the Development of Science and Space Research of France studied the problem of thanatology based on the materials of a sociological study of more than 20 thousand French people. The findings were published in one of the issues Regards sur I actualite (1993) - the official publication of the French State Documentation Center, which publishes statistical materials and reports on the most important problems for the country.

The results obtained showed that thoughts about death are especially relevant for people aged 35-44, and in all age groups, women more often think about the end of life, which is clearly reflected in Table 2.

Table 2. Distribution of frequency of occurrence of thoughts about death by age and sex (in %)

GenderAge, years18-2425-3435-4455-69Men18143021Women22293541

In women, thoughts about death are most often accompanied by fear and anxiety, men treat this problem more balanced and rationally, and in a third of cases they are completely indifferent. Attitudes towards death in men and women are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Distribution of thoughts about attitudes towards death by gender (in %)

Gender Fear, anxietyCalmnessIndifferenceSatisfactionMen3821302Women5919121

The subjects, who reacted to the problem of death with indifference or calmness, explained this by the fact that, in their opinion, there are more terrible conditions than death (Table 4)

Table 4

MenWomen Living alone 16% 18% Being helpless, dependent 47% 48% Being abandoned by a loved one 17% 10% Losing loved ones 33% 44% Suffering from an incurable disease 44% 47%

Of course, thoughts of death gave rise to conscious and unconscious fear. Therefore, the most universal desire for all the tested was a quick departure from life. 90% of the respondents answered that they would like to die in their sleep, avoiding suffering.

Conclusion

Age crises are special, relatively short in time (up to a year) periods of ontogeny, characterized by mental changes.

There are biological crises caused by the internal laws of the development of the organism and biographical crises that arise in connection with a change in the socio-psychological status of a person.

The first age-related biological crisis is the crisis of 3 years. End of character formation. This is a period of stubbornness and negativism. Even an obedient child suddenly becomes capricious and stubborn. The desire to do everything on their own is associated with the formation of self-consciousness, the appearance of the image of I. Many parents during this period panic or begin to severely suppress the manifestations of the child's I. At this time, the occurrence of enuresis, stuttering, convulsive conditions and other psychological disorders are frequent.

In the second age crisis (7-8 years), motor and emotional disorders may appear. Due to the load on the speech apparatus, it is possible to identify various speech disorders: stuttering, mutism.

Adolescence crisis (11-14 years) marks the second psychological birth of a child. Adolescents experience this conflict as a fear of losing the Self.

At puberty (adolescence) age, there is a peak of various types of deviant (deviant) behavior (psychopathic personality formations and reactions, early alcoholization, etc.). Most often at this age, more serious mental illnesses can manifest themselves.

Crisis 30 years. The problem of the meaning of life. At the age of 30, most people experience a crisis. It arises as a result of unrealized life goals. The search for the meaning of existence is associated with this period.

Crisis 40 years. Correction of life plan. It's like a repetition of the crisis of 30 years, the crisis of the meaning of life. It is often caused by aggravation of family relations. The departure of children into an independent life contributes to the final understanding of marital relations. It often happens that, apart from children, nothing significant for both of them connects the spouses. A person has to develop a new self-concept. There is a change in the assessment of the meaning of life and, accordingly, the correction of the self-concept of the individual.

Menopausal age crisis. It is believed that it is more painful in women. May be accompanied by vegetative disorders, senestopathies, hysterical and emotional disorders, asthenic conditions. There may also be personality disorders in the form of increased conflict, irritability. Most often, sexual desire decreases, but there are cases of painful exacerbation of sexuality.

In men, 40 or 50 years are considered critical periods, which may be accompanied by depressive states, alcoholism, psychosomatic diseases.

The retirement crisis is the end of active professional activity.

Biographical crises in different people can occur for various reasons (death of a loved one, divorce, job loss, criminal record, etc.) at different age periods.

The most common biographical crises should be considered: the arrival of a child in a children's team (kindergarten, etc.), the beginning of schooling, the beginning of an independent life (service in the army, studying in another city), marriage, the birth of the 1st, 2nd first child, stages of growing up of children, retirement.

In conclusion, it should be noted that when developing preventive and rehabilitation programs for people with neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders, along with the clinical and psychopathological characteristics of patients, it should be taken into account that in each age period of a person’s life, crisis conditions are possible, which are based on specific for this age group, psychological problems and frustrated needs.

In addition, the development of a personality crisis is determined by cultural, socio-economic, religious factors, and is also associated with the gender of the individual, his family traditions and personal experience. It should be especially noted that for productive psycho-corrective work with these patients (especially with suicides, people with post-traumatic stress disorder), specific knowledge in the field of thanatology (its psychological and psychiatric aspect) is required. Very often, acute and/or chronic stress potentiate and exacerbate the development of an age-related personality crisis and lead to dramatic consequences, the prevention of which is one of the main tasks of psychiatry.

Bibliography

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2.Bossart A.B. Paradoxes of age or upbringing. M.: Education, 1991.

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Not! I do not want! I won't! I'm not giving it! Get away! You are bad (bad)! I do not love you! I don't need you (I don't need you)! Have you heard similar phrases from your children? Congratulations!!! Your child has an age crisis of 1, 3, 7, 14 or 18 years.

You ask why congratulations? But because it means the correct and normal development of your child. According to psychologists, a child who has not gone through a real crisis at the right time cannot have a full-fledged further development.

However, many parents are afraid of these periods and often resort to drastic measures to pacify the little "revolutionary". Sometimes the intensity of emotions reaches such an extent that adults can shout at him and even slap him. But such influences will at least not bring any benefit, and at most they will aggravate the situation more (this depends on the mental properties of the child himself and the internal microclimate in the family). And most of the parents will later regret and suffer because of their unexpected reaction, reproach themselves for what bad educators they are.

It is important to remember here that the irritation and anger that parents experience is a normal reaction in this case, since in fact these crises are not only children's, but also family crises, including. And negative emotions can be experienced by both children and adults. This is fine! You just need to understand it, accept it and respond correctly to the current situation.

Crises of development accompany a person all his life: the crisis of a newborn, 14, 17, 30 years, etc. A crisis is a temporary phenomenon. With its correct understanding, we can either completely rid ourselves of the manifestations of the crisis, or reduce them to a minimum. However, if this period is not passed by the child fully and profitably, then all unresolved problems that arose in the past critical period will manifest themselves with renewed vigor in the next age crisis and, coupled with new problems of the next age, will give an even greater emotional and psychological explosion than he could be.

Why does it happen that your beloved, sweet and obedient baby today suddenly turned into a capricious and nervous pest? Let's take a closer look at the main crises in children by year.

neonatal crisis

At birth, a child moves from an environment fully adapted to him into a world to which he must adapt himself. This becomes a lot of stress for the baby. At this time, his attitude and trust in the outside world are laid. For the successful passage of this critical period, only a permanent person should be with the child. Mom doesn't have to be here, but someone has to be there all the time. Feed, bathe, change clothes, come to cry, pick up. If there is no such adult nearby and the needs for contact and closeness with him are not satisfied, then this may affect the behavior of the child in the future, and then on the adult. So, for example, very fast sensory and emotional overload and fatigue are possible in the future.

During this period, there is a so-called symbiosis, when mother and child feel and understand each other at deep non-verbal levels. Accordingly, any feelings and emotions of the mother are projected onto the child. So, for example, if the mother is calm, then the child is calm, and if the mother is worried and nervous, then the child reacts to this with very restless behavior. The child at this time is very "comfortable" and understandable. Fed - full, rocked - sleeps. Of course, mothers get used to the fact that the child is completely dependent on her and, out of habit, continue to think and do everything for the child. But as the child grows and matures, such a connection ceases to satisfy him, and when, finally, he learns to sit and then walk, a new crisis of 1 year begins.

Crisis 1 year

At this time, the child realizes, understands and perceives the world in a new way. If earlier he perceived himself and his mother as a whole, now their emotional and psychological separation from each other begins. In many situations, the child meets a different mother's reaction to events than his own. So his happiness from what amazing traces remain from the felt-tip pen on the wallpaper or the joy from the fascinating process of smearing porridge on his hands and table may not always coincide with his mother's emotions.

Around the age of 1 year, the baby begins to walk. He has more freedom, there is an acute research need. Parents are used to the fact that the child was in dire need of them, all the time he was in his arms. Children protest against the restriction of freedom (do not touch, sit, do not walk, etc.), and therefore cognitive activity.

During this period, such personal values as self-esteem, self-respect, trust in oneself and one's body, and the development of movement accuracy are laid and worked out. The child must be given as much freedom of action as possible, while ensuring maximum safety for the baby in advance. Children of this period react sharply to prohibitions and restrictions, but at the same time they are very easily distracted. Therefore, at this age, it would be more correct to distract the child with something bright and interesting than to limit his actions with a ban and get another whim and rebellion.

Read more about the crisis of 1 year in a child.

Crisis 3 years (comes from 1.5 to 3 years)

Now your baby is beginning to separate himself and the world around him. This is the so-called “I myself” period, when the child seeks and tries to understand his “I”, forms his internal positions. This is a period of awareness of who I am for others. The child, who used to feel like the center of the entire universe, suddenly discovers that he is just one of the many universes surrounding him.

During this period, there is a development of such personal values as a sense of internal order, the ability to make decisions in one's life, self-confidence, self-sufficiency. For a small person, it is now very important to realize any independent action as one's own choice without the use of persuasion by adults, the method of carrots and sticks. The best solution would be to give the child the opportunity to do what he sees fit, giving him a choice without a choice. Those. we offer him a choice of 2-3 options for actions that are beneficial and correct for us in advance, but at the same time he feels his independence.

Be sure at this age we set the framework for children and the boundaries of their behavior. If this is not done, then they will not know where to stop, and this is already fraught with big problems in adolescence. Such teenagers will have difficulty in building boundaries when communicating with other people, become dependent on the opinion of more authoritative comrades.

Read more about the crisis of 3 years in a child.

Crisis 7 years (comes from 6 to 8 years)

At this time, the child receives a new social status - a schoolboy. And with it come new responsibilities and rights. The question arises as to what to do with the new freedom and responsibility. Also, the child has his own opinion on everything. And here respect for him parents is very important! Now the child needs support in everything. Returning home, the student must be sure that here he can always find support in all the difficulties of life, new communication with peers and adults, in learning problems.

Your yesterday's baby has already matured. And, despite the fact that sometimes he is still childishly impulsive and impatient, his reasoning and actions become more logical, acquire a semantic basis. He begins to distinguish and share his own feelings and emotions, learns self-control.

During this period, not only new educational, but also household duties, which only he and no one else is engaged in, should appear. He can be offered a choice of washing dishes, preparing everything for cleaning, caring for a pet, etc. At the same time, the child must decide for himself when and what he will do, but be aware that there are consequences for not fulfilling his duties. These responsibilities are different for each child depending on the desires and preferences. It is impossible in any case to impose on him the execution of any deeds without his consent and desire. It is necessary to exclusively agree with him about this. The child becomes equal with us. Now he is one of the full members of the family, and not a subordinate.

Puberty crisis (comes from 11 to 15 years old)

Problems of this age come in connection with physiological changes. During this period, we observe the so-called "growing pains". The body is growing and changing. A teenager must get used to a new one, accept himself and learn to live with a changed body. Our adult child feels great overload of the nervous system. From this arises psychological instability, it is easy to piss him off. On the one hand, he is very stormy, restless, active, but at the same time he is subject to great physical fatigue and lethargy. There is a hormonal explosion. A teenager feels new feelings, which he is not yet able to cope with. As a result, we see emotional instability, a quick change in mood. A storm of feelings and emotions captures a teenager. It seems to him that no one understands him, everyone demands something from him and is negatively disposed towards him. The child observes and feels the world in new saturated colors and manifestations, but he still does not understand what to do with all this and how to behave in this new world correctly.

What should we do during this period? Since this is "growing pains", nothing needs to be done about it. We are calmly waiting for our dear little man to “get sick”. We treat it during this period carefully, carefully, carefully, with great attention.

Also, this period is associated for the child with the transition from childhood to adulthood. He is no longer a child, but not yet an adult. He rushes between these poles and cannot fully accept one of these roles. On the one hand, he is still a child, his interest in games and entertainment has not faded away, he does not want to part with the world of childhood. On the other hand, he already considers himself an adult, he is attracted by this seeming freedom of the adult world, but at the same time he understands that there are many responsibilities that he still does not want to take on.

And what to do with it? Same thing - nothing. We are waiting for this period of uncertainty to end and our adult man will reach a full understanding and acceptance of his adulthood. We accept him as he is, give maximum support and participation, if he asks for it.

Crisis 17 years (comes from 15 to 18 years)

This time is associated with the period of the beginning of social maturity, the period of stabilization of the processes of previous development. Our former child is finally reaching adulthood. The crisis of 17 years coincides with the end of school, when a young man (girl) faces the question of a further life path, choice of profession, subsequent education, work, for boys - military service. All psychological problems during this period are associated with adaptation to new conditions of life, the search for one's place in it.

A great role and help can now be provided to a person by the support of the family, people close to him. More than ever, your child now needs a sense of self-confidence, a sense of their competence.

If your child does not receive the help and support he needs, then his fear and insecurity can give rise to neurotic reactions, which in turn will lead to somatic problems, and then to physical illnesses. Be attentive to your adult!

The crisis of age is a period in which the amount of knowledge and experience gained earlier turns into the quality of future life. And, if an adult is often left alone with his own problems of adolescence, then the child can and should be helped to overcome this difficult period by his closest and dearest person who educates him.

There is no need to be afraid of such periods. A little patience and due attention to the child, and you will pass this critical age point without much shock.

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