The Phenomenon of Otherness in the Self-consciousness of Adolescents with Mild Mental Retardation
Author(s)
Kuzmina Tatyana Ivanovna, Candidate of Sciences (Psychology), Associate Professor of the Department of Special Psychology and Rehabilitation, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-00032367-3390, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education
29 Sretenka St, Moscow, Russia, 127051, tel.: +7(499)9755629, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Senior Researcher of the Laboratory of Education and Complex Habilitation of Persons with Musculoskeletal Disorders and Multiple Developmental Disorders, Institute of Correctional Pedagogy of RAE
8, Bld.1, Pogodinskaya St, Moscow, Russia, 119121, tel.: +7(499)2450452, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract. Introduction. This paper describes the phenomenon of otherness in the self-consciousness of adolescents with mental retardation and notes its qualitative originality. Otherness is an immanently set characteristic of a person and a way of existence of a subject. In adolescence, this way of existence begins to become refl exive and aware of.
Materials and methods. The research involved an interview, observation, a phenomenological method, and content analysis. It also used a modifi ed version of the Dembo-Rubinstein technique for the study of self-evaluation, a modifi ed version of the age and gender identifi cation technique, and the techniques “It’s about me”, “Five good selves”, “Five bad selves”, and “Finish the sentence”. The techniques used to study the social self include “Beads”, “Finish the sentence”, “Learn about yourself”, “Ladder”, and “Situation”.
The results of the study. In adolescents with mild mental retardation, the “I – You (peer)” opposition is associated with violation of the boundaries of personal space and intimacy. The “I – We” opposition is implemented by shifting personal boundaries in the interests of a group, especially during the fi rst attempts to join it. The “I – You (non-peer)” opposition is associated with violation of the boundaries of subordination in interpersonal and group relations. The “We – They” opposition at the level of group otherness is implemented through the possibility of “uniting against someone who is not like us”. The ”I – They” opposition on the part of the team may imply bullying, rejection, or deliberate creation of the role of a ”whipping boy“ or outsider in the group.
Conclusion. The experience of otherness is a vast fi eld for scientifi c research and development of methods and techniques for studying this phenomenon.
Keywords: Self-awareness, Self-concept, otherness, teenagers, mild mental retardation, opposition, socialization, adaptation.
For citation: Kuzmina T. I. The Phenomenon of Otherness in the Self-consciousness of Adolescents with Mild Mental Retardation. Pedagogicheskiy IMIDZH = Pedagogical IMAGE. 2020; 14(2): 321-334
UDС: 159.99
DOI: 10.32343/2409-5052-2020-14-2-321-334