What is the technique?
When would I use this?
What resources do I need?
What do I do?
What am I looking for?
Warnings
Case Study
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What is the technique?
This technique involves taking a step back and simply observing the interaction between a carer and child in their own home. Research shows that the level of sensitivity and insight a carer shows their child is important to a child's healthy development. Carers who are unable or struggle with this are more likely to be frightening, confusing or even abusive or neglectful towards their child.
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When would I use this?
When you want to know more about the relationship between a carer and a child or if you are concerned that what you are being told verbally does not match the behaviour or development of the child. It can be used with any child still interested in playing with toys and alongside adults, including disabled children. It can be used with any carer the child is familiar with including parents, grandparents, older siblings and foster carers.
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What resources do I need?
Ideally, you need a video-camera to record the session. It is much more difficult to analyse the complexity of the interaction between a child and carer relying on your own observation skills and notes. If the child has no suitable toys / books, you will need to provide some.
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What do I do?
Inform the carer and child you will be visiting in order to observe them playing together. Do not give the carer details of the instructions beforehand.
Sit as out of the way as you can but somewhere where you / the video-camera have a clear sight of the carer and child.
Do not interact with the carer or child during the session beyond giving the following prompts: (this includes smiling at the child or making small-talk, which is more difficult than it sounds)
1. Ask the carer to just be with their child whilst they play, but not to join in.
2. Ask the carer to play with their child.
3. Ask the carer to get the child to tidy away all of the toys
4. Ask the carer to read a story book with their child
In total, the observation usually takes around 30-40 minutes.
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What am I looking for?
Is the carer acting differently because you are there? If so, the child is likely to seem surprised or confused and be more tentative in their responses and behaviour.
During the first task, notice how engaged the carer is. Does the child approach them for interaction and how do they respond? How interested are they in what the child is doing?
During the second task, examine how the carer plays with a child? Do they let the child take the lead or do they take over? Do they support the child or are they critical? How often to they make eye contact? How do they communicate with each other?
During the third task you are looking for how the carer imposes boundaries as most children will resist any attempt to tidy away the toys.
In the final task, look to see how comfortable the child is in close physical proximity to the carer. If they do want to get up and move away, how to they communicate this and how does the carer respond?
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Warnings:
Try not to over-analyse what you are seeing. There can often be a number of reasons for behaviour. It is best to use this observation to trigger some discussion, either in supervision or with the carer directly.
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Case study
Below is an example of an observation of some of the guided parenting tasks. The child was two years old. (Source: Alice Cook.)
The first task was to observe Daniel* playing on his own with a few toys. He explored each of the toys individually but particularly enjoyed playing with the cars.
When mum was asked to join in she picked up a toy car and gave one to Daniel. She then picked up a police car and crashed the cars together and said there had been an, 'accident'.
Daniel did not engage in this and was playing with a different car. Mum took this car away from him and hid it under her leg. Mum then started talking to me about the weather. Daniel wanted to push one of the toy cars down his slide. Mum asked Daniel to give her the car, when he did not respond she removed it from him and pushed it down the slide herself.
Analysis
Although mum was willing to engage in pretend play the re-enactment of a car crash and the police attending is not age-appropriate play for a two year old. When Daniel would not engage she removed the car he was playing with and hid it. Although she turned this into a game, it does appear insensitive. In addition to this, mum pushing Daniel's car down the slide first could indicate low mentalisation- or a lack of empathy with how this might make Daniel feel. This can be a common trait in adults who have not grown up in a secure and playful environment themselves.
The third task was asking mum to read a book with Daniel. Daniel would not sit and engage with the book. Mum responded by trying to restrain him and trap his legs between hers. Daniel became distressed but mum continued to hold him down.
Analysis
It is normal for a child of this age to not want to sit and listen to a story. However, we need to look at how mum manages Daniel's reaction to this. Her rough handling and failure to acknowledge the distress she was causing him is a source of concern.
*Names have been changed
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