Narrative drawings as a way of exploring children's expression of emotional (dis) connectedness

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether narrative drawing serves tas a valuable tool to explore children's experiences of emotional 9dis0connectedness. It additionally investigated the impact of combining narratives and drawings. Social constructivism was the epistemological framework used for this study as it created a platform where children could be regarded as the experts of their own experiences. Participants were boys and girls between six and twelve years from diverse cultural backgrounds. The participants created nannative drawings, their stories in relation to their drawings were captured and explored. The researcher interpreted the narratives of eight participants through Thematic Content Analysis. Prominent themes emerged in relation to emotional (dis)connectedness. The findings of this study suggest that the combination of narratives and drawings was beneficial in acquiring richer and more descriptive narratives. Narrative drawing was found to be a valuable tool with which to explore children’s experiences of emotional (dis)connectedness. The children’s authentic voices that were captured in this study provide an important contribution to the existing body of literature. Recommendations for future research could focus on analysing both artwork and narratives to obtain richer data and to discover how the artwork link to the narratives. This will hopefully assist in designing tailor-made therapeutic programs to address highlighted children’s issues.