The maternal experience of Brazilian, French and Maghreb women and the development of the infantile Self

• Grant number: 11/02053-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: November 02, 2011
• End date: May 01, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Human Development Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Valéria Barbieri
• Grantee: Valéria Barbieri
• Host Investigator: Daniel Beaune
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7, France

Abstract

The experiences of a child along with his or her family, which include the way parents play their roles, are fundamental to emotional development. Such phenomenon is defined according to the psychoanalytic concept of complementary series, leading to a series of studies on parental styles and practices and their effects over the child. However, History and Anthropology have shown that such studies do not provide enough knowledge on such variables, if these studies are carried out without taking into account the meaning of such practices in a determined cultural community. In this context, the present study aims to investigate how mothers from different cultural realities (Brazilian, French and Maghreb) experience maternity, associating such experiences to the development of their children's selves. Thirty mother-daughter dyads are planned to take part of the study, in three groups of 10 dyads according to their place of origin (Brazilian, French and Maghreb), with the last group being composed of people living in France. The methodological strategy to be adopted consists of psychological narratives, using the Children Apperception Test - Animal version (CAT-A) as a communication mediator for both mothers and their daughters. Data will be analyzed qualitatively, with a synthesis of each group being built, in order to associate, in each of the cultural realities studied, maternal experiences and the development of daughters' selves. Finally, a comparative synthesis will be performed across all groups. (AU)