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One of the first assistants and collaborators of Alfred Adler, the
founder of Individual Psychology, was Rudolf Dreikurs (1897-1972). He
was a medical doctor himself who became an eminent child psychologist in
his own right. He developed and applied Adlerian principles to help
parents understand children and promote holistic growth. He also
contributed more than anyone else to bringing back Individual Psychology
to Europe after World War 11.
His commitment to the spreading of his beliefs took him to the far ends
of the globe. He was professor at the Chicago Medical School and a
visiting professor at a number of universities. Dr. Dreikurs is also the
founder of two Adlerian Institutes, one in Chicago and the other at Tel
Aviv.
Dr. Dreikurs is survived by his sister Bertha, and his only daughter,
Professor Eva Dreikurs Ferguson. Eva is not only one of the chairpersons
of today’s International Committee for Adlerian Summer Schools and
Institutes, ICASSI, but also the back bone of this faculty. She is as
energetic and dynamic as her father and is carrying on with his dream
that through the spread of these ideals we will live in a,” a world of
equality, justice and peace.”
Some Basic Adlerian / Dreikursian ideas.
Since Dr. Dreikurs specialized in Child Education, about which he wrote
a number of books - in this article 1 would like to look at some
of his approaches when dealing with children.
One of these fundamental principles is that “man is a social being and
as such wants to belong and be able to contribute towards his group.”
This is equally true for adults and children. Adler sees human behaviour
as a movement towards the fulfillment of this goal. Dreikurs goes on to
say that, “no person behaves without intending to affect others, though
people are usually not aware of the purpose of their behaviour.”
(Dreikurs 1961).
This sense of belonging can be achieved through positive interaction but
when this fails children turn to negative mistaken goals of behaviour.
In his books, Child Guidance and Education, Children the Challenge and
Discipline Without Tears, Dreikurs writes about strategies and
techniques he developed and used to deal with a wide range of childhood
difficulties or misbehaviour.
For Dreikurs a Misbehaving Child is a
Discouraged Child.
He proved that one can only help a child re-direct his energy towards
“useful choices’ if one understands what the child is aiming at. He
short lists goals of behaviour into four groups, namely, the undue
attention seeker, the power seeker, the goal of revenge, and the display
of inadequacy..
Another topic that is dealt with in a totally different way is the issue
of reward and punishment. These two words are not congruent with
Adlerian principles. They are outdated and backfire when applied
lavishly. A child soon considers reward as his right and demands a
reward for everything he does. It also teaches extrinsic values making
the child depend on someone else’s approval to feel a sense of worth.
Punishment on the other hand is meant to punish or hurt and it gives the
child the right to hurt back. And as some of us know the retaliation of
children is sometimes more effective than the punishment inflicted by
adults.
Dreikurs and Adler offer alternatives to these, which are the use and
application of natural\logical consequences and the exploration of
alternatives together with the responsibility of choices . This requires
treating children with respect and equal dignity as human beings.
No child is hopeless according to Adler. Labeling, which unfortunately
happens too often in society, leads to discouragement and later might
become a self fulfilling prophecy. When a child is pointed Out as a
failure he is deprived of his dignity and loses respect for self, in
other words this results in low self esteem and lack of self confidence.
In my long experience in dealing with students and youth I have seen
some of these “hopeless” students turn a new leaf and advance when a new
and different approach was used. What parents sometimes call a miracle
is nothing more than the result of respect. belief in the child’s
potential, encouragement and increased self confidence. Many parents,
especially those attending Adlerian based programmes, teachers and
students who have been exposed to these ideas find out that in time
these are internalized and become a philosophy of life.
This does not mean that one stops having problems, it means that one has
better tools to help one find solutions. Trying out new things, being
ready to take risks, or as Dreikus says. Having the Courage to be
Imperfect, and turning our mistakes into lessons is the way we learn.
J. Callus - Chairperson MAPA
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