Psychological Structure of the Defect as a Basis for Psychological Assistance to Children with Developmental Deviations

Abstract

The concept of “psychological structure of a defect” is analyzed in the context of its use for designing psychological assistance for a child with developmental disabilities. The potential of this concept is revealed for identifying individual characteristics of abnormal mental development. The psychological structure of the defect is defined as a set of nuclear mental anomalies that serve as the basis for the emergence of the entire spectrum of particular manifestations of the child’s abnormal development, as well as the agent’s reaction to them. Two types of personality response are identified — objective and subjective. The first reveals changes in mental functions, the second reveals the agent’s experiences about the defect, including the attitude towards the defect, emotional-sensory and behavioral components. The agent’s reaction to the defect reflects the cyclical nature of the formation of the structure of the defect. It can both support the existence of the nuclear defect, generate defects of a higher order (dysfunctional cycle) and facilitate overcoming them (evolutionary cycle).