Adjustment the circumstances influencing their
satisfaction.
*Introduction to Adjustment:*
Adjustment is a fundamental aspect of
- *Universal Challenge:* human existence, influencing our
- Every individual faces the challenge of interactions with the world and our overall
adjustment, regardless of age, status, or well-being.
background.
- The concept of adjustment has existed 1. Adjustment entails maintaining a delicate
since the dawn of humanity. balance between our individual needs and
our capacity to fulfill them.
- *Continuous Process:* 2. It involves adapting to diverse demands
and changes in our thinking and way of life
- Adjustment begins from birth and to meet the demands of various situations.
continues throughout life.
3. Adjustment encompasses both
- It involves both internal and external physiological and psychological aspects.
factors.
4. It is multidimensional, impacting various
facets of our lives.
- *Balancing Act:* 5. Ultimately, adjustment leads to
happiness and contentment.
- Adjustment entails achieving a balance
between individual needs and their
fulfillment.
- Maladjustment*:
- Individual needs are diverse and
multidimensional. - Maladjustment refers to the inability to
satisfy one's biological, psychological, or
social needs, leading to a disruption of
- *Relative Nature:* psycho-equilibrium.
- Adjustment is relative, with - It can stem from various social,
maladjustment as its opposite. biological, and psychological conditions,
including physical appearance, long
- Life is a continuous struggle for sickness, poverty, broken homes, personal
achieving and maintaining adjustment. inadequacies, and social disparities.
- *Definition and Meaning:* - *Social Conditions and Maladjustment*:
- James C. Coleman defines adjustment as - Religious beliefs, lack of recreational
an individual's efforts to deal with stress, facilities, mobility, and class differences
meet needs, and maintain harmonious contribute to maladjustment in children.
relationships with the environment.
- Differential treatment based on caste,
- Gates and Jersild describe adjustment as creed, and socio-economic status
a continual process of modifying behavior exacerbates conflicts and maladjustment.
to foster a harmonious relationship with the
environment.
- Vonhaller Geuner likens adjustment to - *Maladjustment and Conditions in School*:
psychological survival, akin to adaptation - Inadequate training of teachers,
for physiological survival. curriculum deficiencies, lack of recreational
- LS Shaffer defines adjustment as the facilities, and classroom climate affect
process through which an organism students' mental health.
maintains a balance between its needs and
- Examination stress, strained
relationships, and authoritarian
administration add to maladjustment. 2. *Long Sickness and Injury*: Prolonged
illness or injury can disrupt a person's
routine, social interactions, and overall
well-being, contributing to feelings of
- *Symptoms of Maladjustment*: isolation and inadequacy.
- Physical symptoms include stuttering,
restlessness, and vomiting.
3. *Poverty*: Socioeconomic status plays a
- Behavioral deviations manifest as significant role in shaping opportunities and
aggression, lying, and poor achievement. experiences. Individuals from low-income
- Emotional symptoms include excessive backgrounds may face barriers to accessing
worry, fear, and conflicts. resources and opportunities, leading to
feelings of frustration and hopelessness.
- *Detection of Maladjustment*:
4. *Broken Home*: Family instability due to
- Observation, interviews, and divorce, separation, or loss of parents can
psychological tests help identify impact a child's emotional stability and
maladjustment in children. sense of security, potentially leading to
maladaptive behaviors.
- Psychological inventories and rating
scales aid in screening maladjusted
children.
5. *Personal Inadequacies*: Internal factors
such as low self-esteem, unrealistic
expectations, or a lack of coping skills can
- *Causes of Teacher's Maladjustment*:
contribute to maladjustment, as individuals
- Lack of professional aptitude, struggle to navigate life's challenges
occupational hazards, frequent criticisms, effectively.
and poor salaries contribute to teacher
maladjustment.
6. *Social Conditions*: Societal factors such
- High moral expectations, excessive
as religious beliefs, lack of recreational
workload, and lack of recreational facilities
facilities, mobility, and class differences can
exacerbate stress.
create environments that exacerbate
- Interpersonal conflicts among teachers, maladjustment, especially among
strained administrator-teacher vulnerable populations.
relationships, and feelings of caste and
religious discrimination add to teacher
maladjustment. 7. *Conditions in School*: Inadequate
teacher training, restrictive curriculums,
- Insecurity of service and lack of facilities
strained teacher-student relationships, and
further compound the issue.
a lack of recreational opportunities within
schools can contribute to students'
maladjustment.
The causes of maladjustment are
multifaceted and can arise from various
factors impacting an individual's life. These
These causes interact with each other and
causes include:
with individual characteristics to influence
the development and manifestation of
maladjustment. Recognizing and
1. *Physique*: Physical appearance and addressing these underlying factors is
health can influence social interactions and essential for promoting mental health and
self-esteem. Individuals with physical well-being.
disabilities or perceived shortcomings may
face challenges in social settings, leading to Defence Mechanism*
maladjustment.
*Meaning*: Defence mechanisms are 9. *Withdrawal or Seclusion*: Avoiding
strategies individuals adopt to cope with situations causing frustration or failure,
anxieties and inadequacies, serving as a leading to timidity and weakness if
temporary escape from reality. overused.
*Important Techniques*: 10. *Sympathies*: Magnifying difficulties to
evoke sympathy from others, often
exaggerating personal challenges to gain
1. *Sublimation*: Redirecting innate urges support.
towards socially acceptable activities, like
channeling sexual energy into sports or
outdoor activities, promoting insight and 11. *Day-dreaming*: Imagining pleasant
rationality. events to escape reality, providing
temporary relief but not addressing
underlying issues.
2. *Repression*: Unconsciously pushing
painful memories or impulses out of
awareness to avoid discomfort, though *Caution*: Defence mechanisms offer
excessive repression can lead to outbursts. temporary relief but do not solve
underlying problems, and excessive use
can lead to further anxiety. Monitoring
3. *Regression*: Returning to earlier stages children's use of these mechanisms is
of behavior or memory, such as acting crucial to ensure healthy coping strategies.
childishly in response to frustration, though
extreme regression can pose risks.
Mental Hygiene*
4. *Compensation*: Making up for
deficiencies in one area by excelling in *Meaning and Definitions*: Mental hygiene
another, like excelling in extracurricular is a branch of science focused on promoting
activities to compensate for poor academic the mental health of individuals. It
performance. encompasses measures to prevent mental
illness, early treatment, and the promotion
of mental well-being.
5. *Identification*: Associating oneself with
the success of others, often beyond
conscious awareness, to find satisfaction. *Historical Context*: The mental hygiene
movement gained momentum in the early
20th century, spearheaded by Clifford
6. *Displacement*: Redirecting emotions or Beers with his influential book "A Mind That
behaviors from the original source to a Found Itself" (1908). Beers' personal
substitute target, such as venting anger on struggles with mental illness led him to
a harmless object after being scolded. advocate for improved mental health care
and awareness.
7. *Rationalization*: Justifying failure or
shortcomings with excuses, often leading to *Definitions*:
self-delusion, such as blaming a difficult
exam for poor performance.
1. American Psychiatric Association (1971):
Mental hygiene involves measures aimed at
8. *Projection*: Attributing one's own reducing the incidence of mental illness
failures to external factors or others, like through prevention and early treatment, as
blaming lateness on a slow bus, which can well as promoting mental health.
lead to avoidance of personal responsibility.
2. E. G. Boring: The goal of mental hygiene - Assisting individuals in maintaining a
is to assist individuals in achieving a more sound body and normal mental health.
satisfying and productive life by preventing
anxieties and maladjustments.
3. *Cure*:
3. Crow and Crow: Mental hygiene is - Recommending various forms of therapy
described as a science that concerns for treating specific mental illnesses and
human welfare and permeates all aspects disorders.
of human relationships, emphasizing its - Providing means for the rehabilitation
broad scope and relevance. and readjustment of mentally ill individuals.
*Conclusion*: Mental hygiene plays a *Conclusion*: The aims and objectives of
crucial role in maintaining individual well- mental hygiene encompass prevention,
being and fostering a healthier society by preservation, and cure, with a focus on
addressing mental health challenges promoting mental well-being, addressing
through preventive measures and early mental health challenges, and ensuring the
intervention strategies. rehabilitation and readjustment of
individuals experiencing mental illness.
*Aims and Objectives of Mental Hygiene*
*Notes on Mental Health:*
*Crow and Crow's Categories*:
- *Definition*: Mental health refers to the
state of well-being in which an individual
1. *Prevention*: can cope with the normal stresses of life,
work productively, and contribute to their
- Understanding the relationship between community.
wholesome personality development and
life experiences.
- Identifying various causes of - *Historical Context*:
maladjustment, both personal and social.
- Mental health has been a subject of
- Providing knowledge on drives, needs, interest since ancient times.
motives, conflicts, frustrations, and
tensions. - Early beliefs attributed mental illness to
supernatural causes like demons or
- Offering strategies for achieving witchcraft.
emotional and social adjustment.
- Hippocrates, a Greek physician,
- Resolving inner conflicts and frustrations recognized mental illness as stemming
to alleviate tensions, anxieties, and from biological factors like brain disorders
emotional disturbances. or nervous system decay.
- Pinel, a French physician, classified
mental disorders and emphasized their
2. *Preservation*: physiological nature.
- Developing an individual's total
potentialities.
- *Early Psychological Approaches*:
- Attaining emotional maturity and
stability. - Early psychological explanations of
mental illness focused on physiological or
- Ensuring personal and social security physical factors.
and adequacy.
- Mesmerism, introduced by an Austrian
- Cultivating healthy human relationships physician, involved treating mental illness
and group interaction. through suggestion.
- Janet and Morton Prince in America *Factors Affecting Mental Health of
contributed ideas that later became part of Children:*
Freud's psychoanalytic system.
*1. Hereditary Causes:*
- *Characteristics of a Mentally Healthy
Person*: - Offspring tend to inherit genetic traits
from their parents, influencing their
1. Adaptable and resilient mind. physical and mental health.
2. Cheerful and optimistic outlook. - Children of healthy parents are more likely
to be healthy, as they inherit genes
3. Emotional balance. associated with good health.
4. Enthusiastic and reasonable. - Conversely, children of unhealthy parents
5. Freedom from prejudice. may inherit genes lacking in good health,
impacting their well-being.
6. Good-tempered.
- Brain structure and cognitive abilities are
7. Definite philosophy of life. also influenced by hereditary factors.
8. Satisfaction with work or occupation. - Some children may exhibit sharpness or
dullness from birth due to genetic
9. Conscious control of life.
predispositions.
10. Well-regulated instincts and habits.
11. Insight into one's own conduct.
*2. Environmental Causes:*
12. Normal sex-consciousness.
13. Calm demeanor.
*a. Family Environment:*
14. Social adaptability.
- The most significant influence on
15. Capacity to think independently. children's mental health is their family
environment.
16. Realistic imagination.
- Harmonious and supportive family
dynamics reduce mental stress for children
- *Conclusion*: Mental health is essential and promote a tension-free atmosphere.
for overall well-being, and historically, its - Parents' expectations and behaviors
understanding has evolved from significantly impact children's mental
supernatural beliefs to biological and health.
psychological explanations. Mentally
healthy individuals exhibit a range of - Setting unrealistic expectations or
characteristics that contribute to their neglecting children's emotional needs can
resilience, adaptability, and positive outlook lead to frustration and mental health
on life. issues.
- Affectionate, sympathetic, and
cooperative parenting fosters positive
1. According to Ladell, "Mental health mental health development.
means the ability to make adequate
adjustments to the environment on the
plane of reality."
*b. School Environment:*
- School environments directly affect
2. According to Headfield, "In general we children's mental health.
may say that mental health is the full
- Well-equipped, supportive schools with
harmonious functioning of the whole
conducive learning environments positively
personality."
impact children's well-being.
- Teachers' attitudes and teaching methods
play a crucial role in shaping children's
mental health.
- Effective teaching methods, individualized
attention, and supportive interactions
contribute to positive mental health
outcomes.
- Fear of examinations and academic
pressure can lead to mental stress and
maladjustment in children.
*c. Neighbourhood Environment:*
- Children's desires and aspirations are
influenced by their surroundings, including
the neighborhood.
- Exposure to the achievements and
possessions of peers and neighbors shapes
children's ambitions.
- Achievable aspirations contribute to
mental well-being, while unattainable
desires may lead to stress and frustration.
- Fulfillment or failure to fulfill desires in the
neighborhood can impact children's mental
health positively or negatively.
