How to Recognize Mental Conflicts in Children?

Conflict is a general type of thwarting in which the satisfaction of two or more motives is blocked. For example, a child has a need for mastery, prestige and recognition which can be satisfied if he can play hockey well.

On the other hand, he has a need of protecting his body from being hurt in the game. The child is faced with two needs, the satisfaction of which is comparable. He desires to have mastery in the game and thus achieve recognition and prestige of his peers.

At the same time, he wants that he should not be hurt. He is torn between the two. Conflicting situations are generally of three types:

(a) Approach-approach

(b) Avoidance-avoidance

(c) Approach-avoidance.

Approach-approach Conflicts:

When the child is placed in an environment with two equally strong positive valences, he is said to be in an approach- approach conflicting situation. For example, he may, on the one hand, like to read an interesting novel and on the other he may like to go out for playing football.

It the desire to go out for playing football is stronger than the desire to read the interesting novel, he will resolve his mental conflict by postponing reading of the novel and vice versa.

Such a conflict rarely disturbs behaviour because any one of the two alternative valences of equal strength becomes less strong and the individual proceeds in the direction of the more powerful one.

Avoidance-avoidance Conflicts:

The avoidance-avoidance situation arises when both the valences are negative. For example, the child may read the difficult mathematical sums but at the same time he wants to avoid the threat of being beaten by his teacher if he does not solve them.

He avoids doing the difficult sums and simultaneously avoids his teacher’s rebuke. In such a conflicting situation the only way out is to leave the field and take a third course by adopting a defence mechanism.

He may develop headache and avoid both the difficult task and the teacher’s punishment. He thus resolves the mental conflict, though temporarily. If he is unable to solve an avoidance- avoidance situation at all, he remains constantly in an insecure condition and develops symptoms of anxiety, nervousness and neurosis.

Approach-avoidance Conflicts:

Lastly, when the child wants to play football, but fears being hurt, he is in an approach-avoidance conflicting situation. He wants to approach one and avoid the other.

Other instances o such conflicting situations are loving one’s mother and fearing her also, desiring to enjoy the forbidden candy and avoiding parents’ rebuke, performing an irksome duty and getting approval of parents or teachers or associates. Such a conflicting situation becomes very serious when the child loves and fears the same person or when he is dependent upon and aggressive to the same body.

When the child is unable to resolve such a mental conflict either he adopts inferior adjustment mechanism or he suffers from unreduced anxiety. So far, we have theoretically analyzed the various forms of mental conflicts. Conflicts are caused by the interaction of the organism and the environment.

The behaviour of an individual is the function of what goes on between the individual and the environment. Where there is harmony between the individual and the environment there is adjustment and the reverse happens when there is disharmony between the two.

If mental conflicts are not resolved they make enduring changes in personality. When a person is unable to resolve his mental conflicts for a longer period of time, and goes on adopting inferior non adjective responses, behaviour disorder, mental ill-health, personality distortion may occur.

The general ability to adjust becomes reduced and symptoms of maladjustment begin to appear. In brief, they are seen in nervous behaviour, emotional over-reactions and deviations, emotional immaturity, psychosomatic disturbances and antisocial behaviour.

Nervousness, excessive anxiety, adjective defence mechanisms are some of the simple symptoms of mental conflicts in children.