‘Wrong Idea Of Working Mothers’

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31239, 10 December 1966, Page 16

‘Wrong Idea Of Working Mothers’

The community had a wrong idea that working mothers caused problem children and delinquents, Mr P. J. Crossley, a social worker at the Christchurch Child Health Clinic said on Thursday night. Few of the disturbed children treated at the clinic came from homes with working mothers, he said.

Mr Crossley was speaking to a meeting of the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Emotionally Disturbed Children’s Society. He emphasised that he was speaking as an individual social worker, and not as a staff member of the Health Department.

At the clinic, the staff were moving more and more to the conclusion that those in its care were not problem children but showed symptoms of problem families handicapped by distressed relationships, said Mr Crossley. The family today was subjected to many pressures. One of the' most ihsiduous was the strong middle class pressure of expecting children to conform and to attain certain standards.

With the blurring of family roles, parents were becoming unsure of themselves, he said. There was a tendency away from the Victorian concept of the father-dominated family to a mother-run family, and often the father became unsure of his role as provider and father. It was noticed at the clinic that many mothers were responsible for the writing of cheques and general financial matters; it was necessary to point out that this was the role of both parents, and a means of communication.

The “diluting” of the family through shift work and other factors tended to keep the father out of touch during daylight hours, and the mother, however reluctant, had to assume the role of father.

The removing of a feeling of guilt by parents was a major problem when they began attending the clinic with

their children, said Mr Crossley. The essence of treatment, both for the disturbed child and the parents, was relationship, he said. Interviews, conducted with both parents, aimed at creating a safe therapeutic relationship in which people felt able to discuss their problems. Play theraphy for the child was designed to produce a warm, permissive atmosphere in which the child could express itself. Sometimes the father refused to attend the clinic—there was something about the New Zealand male which made him believe that to have anything to do with the rear-

ing of children implied a threat of failure, said Mr Crossley. The clinic had received 170 referrals so far this year, compared with 116 last year, said Mr Crossley. Ages of children ranged from six months to 16 years, with greater numbers appearing at 9 to 12 years and 14. Two-thirds of the children were boys. He believed this ratio resulted from the male being more aggressive, acting out his feelings more and thus becoming more noticable when disturbed. At present the clinic had a waiting list of 41, its largest so far. Most of the cases referred

to the clinic come in the primary school age group. In 1965 there were 12 pre-school children, four attending play centre, 58 at primary school, four at intermediate, and 14 at secondary school, said Mr Crossley. They came from families of from two to six children. There was a need for the high standards of diagnosis and care for emotionally disturbed children to be maintained, and for the work on prevention of disturbance to be continued through contact with teachers, pupils and others, said Mr Crossley. With a greater public awareness, more disturbed people would seek help.