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maladjusted children that they are insecure and unhappy, and that
they fail in their personal relationships. Receiving is difficult for them
as well as giving, and they appear unable to respond to simple measures
of love, comfort and reassurance. At the same time they are not readily
capable of improvement by ordinary discipline. Such children make
slow progress at school often despite high intelligence and potential
ability because their efforts are not sustained due to tension, and
interest and the urge to learn are lost. Their troublesome and peculiar
behaviour tend to make them unpopular with other pupils and a
nuisance to their teacher and form.
Maladjustment does not always show itself in aggressive or
troublesome behaviour; indeed quiet and passive conduct may overlay
deep emotional disturbance. However, often it is linked to bad behaviour
or delinquency, and symptoms commonly seen include truancy,
stealing, lying, cruelty, aggression, bullying, exhibitionism, or destructiveness.
On the other hand some children are unduly timid,
passsive, apathetic, depressed and withdrawn, with no intative or
enthusiasm. Others may develop such physical symptoms as soiling,
stammering, asthma, skin rashes, tics, speech defects, etc.
Gross behaviour disorders are readily recognisable but the lesser
degrees shade into what may be termed the lower extrer of normal
variation within the range of normal behaviour. As a rough guide a
child may be termed maladjusted when his developme is seen to
have a bad effect on himself or his fellows.
When they reach adult life maladjusted persons tend to get on
badly with their fellows and with society as a whole be use of their
shallow feelings and have a marked difficulty in settling wn to their
social responsibilities. Maladjustment in adults is close connected
with disharmony in the home, delinquency, and mental ess, and its
worst effects are seen in mental hospitals, divorce courts d prisons.
While it is true that the maladjusted child of yesterd can become
today's maladjusted parent and his offsprings the maladsted children
of tomorrow, it is fortunate that only some of the child subjected
to the factors which lead to maladjustment are affecte y them to a
significant degree. The reasons why one child succun rather than
another is at present obscure.
Size of the Problem
Although a formidable problem, maladjustment cases not a fleet
more than a small proportion of the child population, and of approximately
12,000 Barking school children, only eight are a present place
in residential special schools.
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