The
present article deals with ‘Adjustment’ and ‘Maladjustment’, characteristics of
a well adjusted person and a maladjusted person, as well as causes of
maladjustment.
Adjustment & Maladjustment |
What is “Adjustment”?
The term “adjustment” originates from the biological term “adaptation”.
Biologists used the term “adaptation” strictly for the physical demands of the
environment, but psychologists use the term “adjustment” for varying conditions
of social or inter-personal relations in the society.
Adjustment
means the reaction to the demands and pressures of social environment imposed
upon the individual. The demand to which the individual has to react may be
external or internal.
Psychologists
have viewed adjustment from two important perspectives—“adjustment as an
achievement”, and “adjustment as a process”.
Adjustment as achievement:
‘Adjustment
as achievement’ means how efficiently an individual can perform his duties
under different circumstances.
If we
perceive adjustment as achievement, we have to set criteria to judge the
quality of adjustment. Four criteria have been evolved by psychologists to
judge the adequacy of adjustment. They are the following:
- Physical health
- Psychological comfort
- Work efficiency, and
- Social acceptance
Adjustment as process:
‘Adjustment
as a process’ lays emphasis on the process by which an individual adjusts to
his external environment. It is important, especially from teachers’ point of
view. Students' adjustment largely depends on their interaction with the
external environment in which they live. They always try to adjust to it.
Piaget has studied the adjustive process from different angles.
Piaget
uses the term assimilation and accommodation to represent the alternation of oneself or environment
as a means of adjustment.
A person
who carries his values and standards of conduct without any change and
maintains these in spite of major changes in the social climate is called assimilator.
The person
who takes his standards from his social context and changes his beliefs in
accordance with the altered values of the society is called accommodator.
In order
to adjust successfully in society a person has to resort to both the devices
i.e. assimilation and accommodation.
Characteristics of a well adjusted person:
A healthy
and well-adjusted person should possess/display some observable behavioral
patterns. These behavioral patterns must be according to the social
expectations of an individual. These patterns are as follows:
- Maturity in thinking
- Emotional balance
- Warm and understanding towards
others
- Free from tension due to routine
events
- Independent in decision making
Elements in adjustment:
There are
certain prime elements for fulfillment of needs necessary for healthy
adjustment of a person. They are as follows:
- Satisfaction of needs
- No obstacle in achieving needs
- Strong motives in realizing needs
- Feasible geographical atmosphere
to fulfill needs
What is Maladjustment?
‘Maladjustment’
is a process whereby an individual is unable to satisfy his biological,
psychological or social needs successfully and establishes an imbalance between
his personal needs and expectation of the society resulting in the disturbance
of psycho-equilibrium.
Characteristics of a Maladjusted Person:
As a
school teacher, you might have noticed a few such maladjusted students in your
classroom too. At times, you might have even thought of seriously the reasons
for their maladjusted behavior. There are numerous reasons in and out of the
school which create frustration, that lead to maladjustment. Let us analyze the
symptoms one by one. If a student is:
Withdrawn
and timid: Frequent
withdrawals from difficult situations may make individual timid and weak in
facing real life situations.
Shy and
self-conscious: Shyness is usually associated with the
self-consciousness, concern with the impression one gives to other people, and
concern with their negative evaluation. A shy individual has low self-esteem
and tends to anticipate adversities, thus often keeping silent and avoiding eye
contact.
Fearful: Fear is a strong emotion
involving perception of danger, unpleasant agitation and often a desire to hide
from meeting students of higher classes, being alone in a room, and fear of
dogs, strange noises, the dark, etc.
Anxious: Anxiety is a personality trait.
It results from conflict, which is an invitable part of life. Anxiety describes
the individual's level of emotionality. We see many students who are tense and
worried (highly anxious) and those who are cool (hardly anxious). Since anxiety
is an inferred emotional state of an individual, it cannot be directly
observed. It can be measured through psychological tests/techniques.
Delusions: Delusion is an irrational and
obstinate belief that the individual actively defends, e.g., a child does not
work hard for the final examination and thinks that it is the God only who can
get him through the examination and he fails. This shows the delusion in him
which makes him maladjusted.
Extremely
aggressive: Aggressive students show enterprising or energetic
behavior or tendency to be dominating in the class or the school. Sometimes an
individual fails to show the tendency of dominating in a social situation and
hurts herself instead e.g. a child beats her doll, kicks the dog, or other
objects.
Tension: When a person does not feel a
kind of inner freedom, the strain which results from muscular contradiction and
through which muscles, tendons, etc., are stretched under a threatening
situation.
High
aspirations: A person has high hopes and aspirations for his future
life. When the hopes are not achieved, he becomes unrealistic in life.
Feeling of
inferiority: A feeling of inferiority, arising from the sense of
imperfection and incompletion in a particular sphere of life, which motivates
the individual to strive for a higher level of development and as such, are the
cause of all improvement in life situations. Each time a new level of achievement is reached, inferiority feelings reappear, continuing to stimulate upward movement. If inferiority feelings become exaggerated by adverse conditions at home, physical or mental disorders on inferiority complex may develop which makes an individual maladjusted.
Emotionally
disturbed: If the
internal and external adjustment of a child is not achieved, he becomes
emotional e.g., weeping, quarreling, nail biting, thumb sucking, etc. and
becomes maladjusted.
Isolated: Maladjusted children suffer
from a feeling of isolation. This feeling does not allow them to mix and
interact with other members of class, school, family or society. In families
where parents are extremely busy and neglect their children, the children
develop a feeling of isolation or dejection. This makes them maladjusted.
Sensitivity: Maladjusted children are very
sensitive. They get hurt easily e.g., on being teased by teachers in the
classroom or parents in the family, sarcastic remarks by peers, unwelcome
advice by others, etc.
Temper-tantrums: When there is a bad-tampered
out-burst, this is known as a temper tantrum e.g., if a child does not get fair
treatment, sympathy, cooperation and freedom of action within reasonable
limits, he feels maladjusted.
Causes of Maladjustment:
We can
classify the causes of maladjusted behavior of adolescents under five main
categories. They are as follows:
1. Family
(a) Social
(b) Economic
(c) Psychological
2.
Personal
3. School
4.
Teachers
5. Peer
Group
1. Family:
It is
obvious that the family as an institution has various functions to perform. By
discharging their duties, parents indirectly fulfill the needs of their
children. There are certain significant causes: social, economic and
psychological, which contribute immensely to maladjusted behavior in children.
(a) Social
causes: According
to Gibbian, the social problem of one generation is the psychological problem
of the next generation. Children coming from homes that have been broken due to
death, divorce, desertion, separation, etc., are often maladjusted in their
behavior.
Drunkard
parents, strained marital relationship of spouses, quarrels and fights between
spouses are also responsible for developing frustration in children. Such
children feel insecure and become maladjusted.
(b)
Economic causes: The occupational status of parents, problems of
unemployment, poverty and low-economic status breed maladjustment among
children. Under such circumstances, parents are unable to satisfy the needs of
their children which eventually lead to frustration, aggression and hostile
behavior in growing children.
(c)
Psychological causes: Psychological instability of parents is directly
responsible for maladjusted behavior of their off-spring. If parents are
over-possessive, highly authoritative, unrealistic in their expectations,
incompatible, abusive and prejudiced, this will have a deleterious effect upon
their children.
When the
psychological needs are not met, children get frustrated and develop problems
like nail biting, day-dreaming, fear of dark, lack of self-confidence,
flickering of eyes, etc. Those parents who threaten, nag, punish and humiliate
their children before others are directly responsible for their children's
isolated and rejected behavior.
2. Personal causes:
It is
observed that individuals who are physically, mentally and visually handicapped
react abnormally to the situation. Even children with partial deficiency, such
as defective eye sight, poor hearing and impaired speech may find it difficult
to adjust under normal situations. When they can not score well academically
compared to their peers, they develop an inferiority complex. Finally, they
isolate themselves from others and indulge in day-dreaming.
3. School-related causes:
Children spend roughly seven hours a day in the
school. When growing children do not find ways and means to channelize their
energy in a purposeful manner in the school, they exhibit in maladjusted
behavior. The school authorities, including teachers should organize various
curricular and co-curricular activities to suit the needs of the growing
children.
4. Teacher-related causes:
An imbalanced personality in the teacher has its
impact on the behavior of the children. If the teacher is unfair, biased or not
involved with the students, it certainly affects the mental health of the
children in the school.
5. Peer-group related causes:
Another important factor that disturbs the
psycho-equilibrium of students is an unhealthy relationship with their peer
group. Normally, students ask earnestly for recognition from their peer group
during later childhood and adolescence.
However,
popularity among the peer group depends on various factors, such as good looks,
athletic abilities, social class, academic performance, and special talents. If
the student lacks these qualities, he may fail to get status among his/her peer
group and gets frustrated and maladjusted.
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