Vital issues. Modern problems of science and education

It may seem paradoxical that the goal of individual psychology is social adaptation. However, the paradox here is present only in the combination of words. Becoming more and more attentive to psychological life individual, we have come to understand how important the social element is in it. The individual becomes individual only in a social context. Unlike other schools of psychology, we do not distinguish between so-called "individual" and "social" psychology. On the previous pages we tried to analyze individual style life, but the analysis was always from a social point of view and its ultimate goal was also social.

We will now continue our analysis by further shifting the focus to the problem social adaptation. We will be discussing the same facts as in the previous chapters, but instead of a detailed examination of lifestyle diagnostics, we will look at lifestyle in action, as well as methods that can influence lifestyle manifestations.

The analysis of social problems follows from the analysis of the problems of education, which were the subject of the previous chapter. School and Kindergarten- miniature social organizations, on the example of which in a simplified form it is possible to study the problems of poor social fitness.

Early childhood

As an illustration of our problem, consider the behavior of a five-year-old boy. His mother came to the therapist complaining that her son was restless, hyperactive, and causing so much trouble that she was busy with him all day, and in the evening she was really exhausted. She also said that she could not bear it any longer, and if it was expedient, she would like to send him away from home.

Knowing all these details of the boy's behavior, you can easily "identify" with him and put yourself in his place. What does any hyperactive child of five years old do? He climbs on the table in street shoes, likes to walk around dirty; if his mother wants to read, he will start playing with the light. And when parents want to play the piano or sing a duet - what will such a boy do? He will yell or cover his ears, insisting that he does not like all this noise! Every time he doesn't get what he wants, he will become furious - but he will always want something!

If we observe such behavior in kindergarten, it is safe to say that the child seeks to start a fight and all his actions are aimed at this. Day and night he is restless, while his parents are in a state of chronic fatigue. He himself never gets tired, because, unlike his parents, he must not do what he does not want. He just wants to be active, and he also wants others to do it.

This particular case may well illustrate how this boy struggles to be the center of attention. One day, his parents took him to a concert in which they took part. At the moment of their speech, the boy said loudly: “Hi, dad!” - and ran down the aisle. Such behavior could well have been predicted, but the mother and father did not understand his reasons. They considered their son a normal child, despite the fact that he behaved clearly abnormally.

However, in a sense, he was still normal: he had a reasonable plan for life. In this respect, his actions were absolutely correct and fully consistent with his plan. Seeing the plan, one can guess the actions that follow from it. It can also be concluded that the boy we are talking about is not mentally retarded, since mentally retarded people cannot afford a reasonable life plan.

When his mother had guests and wanted to enjoy the party, the boy pushed the guests off their chairs, always demanding the exact chair someone intended to sit on. It is quite obvious that this behavior also stems from his prototype and corresponds to the purpose of his life, which is to show his superiority, control others and completely own the attention of his father and mother.

It can be concluded that this five-year-old boy was accustomed to pampering and that if he continued to be indulged, his behavior would not be so belligerent. In other words, it seems that this child has lost a position that was previously more favorable for him.

How could this happen? Perhaps he had a younger brother or sister. And then, at the age of five, he found himself in a new situation, feeling dethroned and wanting to protect his position as the family's favorite, which he thought he had lost. For this reason, he fought for the attention of his parents, forcing them to constantly engage in themselves. There is another reason for his behavior.

It is easy to see that the first years of life did not prepare this child for new life situations and the dependability of his parents did nothing to develop his sense of community. Therefore, he was completely socially unadapted, interested only in himself and his own well-being.

When the mother was asked how the boy felt about younger brother, she insisted that he liked him. Their relationship was overshadowed by the only misunderstanding, which was that, playing with the baby, he constantly dropped it. With the permission of the readers, we dare to admit that such actions do not indicate a pronounced affection.

To finally understand the meaning of this boy's behavior, it is worth comparing it with the fairly common behavior of belligerent children who do not often get into fights. Children are too smart to fight all the time, because they know that one of the parents will put an end to their fights. From time to time they stop their fights and behave well.

But the old mechanisms appear again and again, as happened with the boy in games with his brother, when he constantly dropped it. In fact, in this case, the purpose of his games was to drop his brother.

Let us turn to the behavior of the boy in his relationship with his mother. When she tried to spank him, he either laughed and tried to dodge the spanks, or when he got hit harder, he calmed down for a while, but only to ride out the storm and start his battle again. All the behavior of the boy is so clearly determined by his goal that one can easily predict it. further actions. This would not be possible if the prototype did not represent some kind of unity, and also if we did not know the goal pursued by all aspirations and actions. this person.

Problems at school

Imagine how - this boy comes into life. If he goes to kindergarten, it is not difficult to predict what his behavior will be like there, just as in the case of a concert. He controls those around him who are weaker than him, and in more difficult situations fights for the fulfillment of all his whims.

Therefore, if the teacher is strict with him, most likely, his stay in kindergarten will be short-lived. He will have to resort to constant tricks and live in tension, which will lead to headaches and similar worries. The appearance of these symptoms can be regarded as the first manifestations of neurosis.

On the other hand, if the environment is gentle and supportive, the boy may feel like the center of attention and even become the leader of his group.

Since the kindergarten is a social institution, and therefore the first social problems appear here, the child must be prepared to meet them and to observe the laws of community life. He must be able to make himself useful to this little community, and this is possible only when the interests of others become more important than his own.

At school, the situation repeats itself, and again it is not difficult for us to imagine what will happen to a boy of this type. In a private school, where a small number of students are given more attention, he will feel better.

Perhaps in such a situation, no one will notice his problems. On the contrary, perhaps even teachers will say: “This is our best student!” It is also possible that when he becomes the leader of the class, he will be satisfied with his superiority in one area, and his behavior at home will change.

If the child's behavior improves after he starts school, you can be sure that the classroom environment is favorable for him and he feels superior in it. However, the opposite is usually the case. Children who have been very loved and obedient at home often end up as the worst students in school.

In the previous chapter, we talked about the school as an organization that stands between home and society. And if at school the boy we are talking about can sometimes find situations favorable for himself, then in later life after school they will not meet him. Many people wonder why children who behaved well at home and at school can change so much for the worse in later life? Why do they turn into adults with many psychological problems, neurosis, which in the future can develop into a disease? Similar situations difficult to understand, since the prototype was not developed in the favorable environment in which the child was until graduation.

Therefore, it is necessary to learn to recognize prototype errors in a situation favorable to the child, or at least to admit that they may be present, recognizing the difficulty of recognizing them in such circumstances. There are several signs to help identify prototype errors. Often a child who wants to attract attention and is not socially adapted enough is rather sloppy, because by his sloppiness he forces others to take care of himself, devote time and attention. In the evenings, he can be difficult to put to sleep, and at night he often cries and wets the bed.

He can also pretend to be anxious, remarking that anxiety is a suitable weapon to get others to be obedient. All these signs appear in a favorable situation, and finding them, you can come to the right conclusion regarding this child.

Three vital issues

Let's see what happens to this boy, who has errors in the prototype, when he approaches his maturity, say, seventeen or eighteen years old. Before him is the whole life, in which it is not so easy to navigate, because he knows nothing about it. But as he enters into life, he will inevitably encounter what we call "the three main questions": the question of life in society, the question of activity, and the question of love and marriage. They arise as questions of our relationship with others, but inextricably linked to our very existence. The question of life in society includes our behavior towards other people, our attitude towards humanity and its future.

The preservation and salvation of man depends on the answer to it, for human life is so limited that we can only walk along it by holding together.

With regard to the type of activity, we can think about this issue using the example we have just considered. It is safe to say that, guided in the choice of occupation by one goal alone - to achieve superiority over others - this young man will encounter great difficulties. It is difficult to find a place of work where one would not have to obey or cooperate. And since this boy only cares about his own good, he will never feel good in a subordinate position. Moreover, such a person may not be a very reliable partner in business, since it will not be easy for him to subordinate personal interest to the interests of the company.

In general, we can say that success in activity depends entirely on social adaptation. The ability to understand the needs of partners and the needs of consumers, to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and feel what they feel is huge advantage in business. People who have this ability go up quickly, but our boy, as we found, does not have it: he is always concerned only with his own interests and is able to succeed only in what is connected with them. So in his activities he will often fail.

In addition, it can be found that in most cases such people never complete their undertakings or are late in choosing occupations.

It happens that at the age of thirty they still do not know what they intend to do in life. They often change the profile of training and place of work, which is a sign of inability to adapt.

Sometimes you can meet a young man of seventeen - eighteen years old, full of strength and aspirations, but not knowing what to do. It is very important to try to understand such a person and give him advice regarding his future occupation.

It is quite possible to interest him in something and train him accordingly.

On the other hand, the fact that at this age a young man still does not know what he wants to do in later life should inspire concern.

Quite often, he is only a confirmation that the young man is not very eager to do anything at all. And it is necessary to make efforts both at home and at school to interest future profession boy of this type until he reaches adolescence. At school, this can be done by offering an essay on the topic "Who do I want to be in later life." Reflecting on the topic of the essay, children will definitely encounter problems that it is time to start thinking about at a young age, without waiting for the moment when they will be seriously posed by life.

The last question that will surely confront our young man is the question of love and marriage. Since people are divided into two genders, this question has importance. Gender differences force us to learn how to behave towards opposite sex. We will discuss the problem of love and marriage in the next chapter: now it is necessary to emphasize its connection with the problem of social adaptation. Still the same flaw social interest, responsible for social and business disability, also affects the ability to interact with the opposite sex. It is clear that the self-centered, self-centered person lacks the preparation necessary for "menage a deux." And it is quite possible that one of the main purposes of the sexual instinct is to lure a person out of his closed shell and prepare him for life in society. However, he can perform this function, respectively, in a person who is able to forget his own "I" and become part of something larger - which must be educated with the help of psychology.

So, with regard to the boy whose case we studied, we can come to the following conclusions. We observed that the encounter with the three vital problems caused him confusion and fear of failure. We have also seen that in striving for the goal of excellence, he strove to avoid complexity for as long as possible. real life. What will he do? He won't fit in public life, as it is antagonistic to others, suspicious and closed.

Since he does not care about the opinions of others and how he looks in their eyes, he will not pay attention to his own. appearance and often will go about dirty and unkempt - manifestations characteristic of an unhealthy person. It will cause rejection of the language, which for us is a social necessity. He may not speak at all, a trait often seen in schizophrenia.

Having fenced himself off from all the questions of life, this person moves along the path leading directly to the hospital for the mentally ill. His goal of superiority contributed to hermetic isolation from others and this transformed his sexual drives, so that in this sense he is also no longer a normal person. We can find in him the belief that he is the Emperor of China or Jesus Christ, which is a way of realizing the goal of supremacy.

Error Prevention and Correction

As we have repeatedly repeated, social problems lie at the heart of all life's problems. We have seen them manifest in kindergarten, school, friendship, politics, economic life, and so on. It is also clear that all our abilities are socially conditioned and designed to be used in social life.

We know that the lack of social adaptation manifests itself already in the prototype. And our task is how to correct this shortcoming before it's too late. If parents were taught not only how to avoid serious mistakes in parenting, but also how to diagnose manifestations of small mistakes in the prototype and correct them, this would greatly affect the improvement of the state of affairs in this matter. But the reality is that it is not possible to achieve much in this. Rarely do parents tend to learn and admit mistakes. Basically, questions of psychology and education are not of interest to them. They prefer to spoil children, and in those who do not consider their crumbs to be perfect treasures, they see personal enemies. Some parents are not interested in children at all. So not much can be fixed with their help. In addition, it is impossible to give them a deep understanding of the problems in a short time. Thus, it seems much more effective to consult a doctor or psychologist.

except individual work doctor or psychologist who gives best results, something in this matter can be achieved through school and education. Mistakes in the prototype often do not appear until the child goes to school. A teacher familiar with the methods of individual psychology can quickly notice these omissions: it is not difficult for him to determine whether the child has a tendency to cooperate or wants to become the center of attention at any cost, which of the children lack courage, and which have it in abundance. An experienced teacher is able to understand the mistakes of the prototype already in the first week of the child's stay at school.

The teacher, by the very nature of his social function, is much more productive in correcting children's mistakes. Mankind began to organize schools precisely because the family was not able to raise children in accordance with the social needs of life. In a sense, the school is an extension of the family, and it is there that the child's character is to a large extent formed and he learns to deal with the problems of life.

All this speaks of the need to equip teachers with the latest achievements in psychology, which could contribute to greater productivity of their work. In the future, schools will certainly adopt the methods of individual psychology, since their true goal is the formation of character.

Three vital important issues

The preservation and salvation of man depends on the answer to it, for human life is so limited that we can only walk along it by holding together.

In general, we can say that success in activity depends entirely on social adaptation. The ability to understand the needs of partners and the needs of customers, to see through their eyes, to hear with their ears and to feel what they feel, is a huge advantage in business. People who have this ability go up quickly, but our boy, as we found, does not have it: he is always concerned only with his own interests and is able to succeed only in what is connected with them. So in his activities he will often fail.

In addition, it can be found that in most cases such people never complete their undertakings or are late in choosing occupations.

It happens that at the age of thirty they still do not know what they intend to do in life. They often change the profile of training and place of work, which is a sign of inability to adapt.

It is quite possible to interest him in something and train him accordingly.

On the other hand, the fact that at this age a young man still does not know what he wants to do in later life should inspire concern.

Quite often, he is only a confirmation that the young man is not very eager to do anything at all. And efforts must be made, both at home and at school, to interest a boy of this type in the future profession before he reaches adolescence. At school, this can be done by offering an essay on the topic "Who do I want to be in later life." Reflecting on the topic of the essay, children will definitely encounter problems that it is time to start thinking about at a young age, without waiting for the moment when they will be seriously posed by life.

The last question that will surely confront our young man is the question of love and marriage. Since people are divided into two sexes, this question is important. Gender differences force us to learn how to behave towards the opposite sex. We will discuss the problem of love and marriage in the next chapter: now it is necessary to emphasize its connection with the problem of social adaptation. The same lack of social interest responsible for social and business maladjustment also affects the ability to interact with the opposite sex. It is clear that the self-centered, self-centered person lacks the preparation necessary for "menage a deux." And it is quite possible that one of the main purposes of the sexual instinct is to lure a person out of his closed shell and prepare him for life in society. However, he can perform this function, respectively, in a person who is able to forget his own "I" and become part of something larger - which must be educated with the help of psychology.

So, with regard to the boy whose case we studied, we can come to the following conclusions. We observed that the encounter with the three vital problems caused him confusion and fear of failure. We have also seen that, in pursuit of the goal of superiority, he tried to avoid the complexity of real life as long as possible. What will he do? He will not fit into social life, as he is antagonistic to others, suspicious and withdrawn.

Since he does not care about the opinions of others and how he looks in their eyes, he will not pay attention to his own appearance and will often go around dirty and slovenly - manifestations characteristic of an unhealthy person. It will cause rejection of the language, which for us is a social necessity. He may not speak at all, a trait often seen in schizophrenia.

Having fenced himself off from all the questions of life, this person moves along the path leading directly to the hospital for the mentally ill. His goal of superiority contributed to hermetic isolation from others and this transformed his sexual drives so that in that sense he is also no longer a normal person. We can find in him the belief that he is the Emperor of China or Jesus Christ, which is a way of realizing the goal of supremacy.

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On the other hand, if the environment is gentle and supportive, the boy may feel like the center of attention and even become the leader of his group.

In the previous chapter, we talked about the school as an organization that stands between home and society. And if at school the boy we are talking about can sometimes find situations favorable for himself, then in later life after school they will not meet him. Many people wonder why children who behaved well at home and at school can change so much for the worse in later life? Why do they turn into adults with many psychological problems, neurosis, which can later develop into a disease? Such situations are difficult to understand, since the prototype was not manifested in the favorable environment in which the child was before graduation.