Abstract
From a psychological point of view asking a person to draw and comment about one’s place of origin means to activate a complex narrative re-elaboration that involves cognitive, emotional and relational processes. One’s home, neighbourhood and native place represent a peculiar geographical places closely connected with the individual’s first significant social relationships. As noted in attachment theory and post-rationalist cognitive approaches, repeated interactions with caregivers play a central role in the way individuals function on an emotional, cognitive and socio-relational level. The graphic representations and conversational analyses of such maps and their descriptions show that to draw and narrate one’s place of origin means to think and re-evoke scenes and relational moments that have contributed to the formation and maintenance of consistent, stable and temporally continuous sense of self. Maps of childhood places therefore could be seen as maps of self, that is to say maps of relational events that have led to the strengthening of specific relational and organizational modalities. From this point of view, the main focus of this study – the drawing of and commenting on one’s place of origin – constitutes an interesting way to analyse and share personal history and individual functioning, but also a way to re-represent and re-narrate one’s personal story, one’s relations and self within a relational frame.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
The term coping refers to the process through which individuals attempt to manage stressing or problematizing events through mental and/or behavioural modalities.
- 2.
Each level of analysis enables a number of meanings for the single elements considered. To reinforce the interpretative hypotheses is however necessary to compare the meanings that have emerged from different levels of analysis.
- 3.
In graphical tests and their interpretation the term “content” is used to indicate that the analysis focuses on specific graphical elements. For example, in the Human Figure Test, content elements concern parts of the body (head, mouth, eyes, chest, legs, arms etc.) that, following standard instructions, should be drawn with the aim of correctly and completely representing a person.
- 4.
The attribution of specific meanings to the elements of a drawing derives mainly from a corpus of studies and investigations, that, depending on the graphic task, (tree, human figure, house etc.), connect certain aspects pertaining the person and emotions to graphical, formal and content aspects of the drawing.
References
Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: a proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation: advances in research and theory (pp. 89–125). New York: Academic.
Bartlett, F. (1932). Remembering: a study in experimental and social psychology. London: Cambridge University Press.
Bateson, G., & Bateson, M. C. (1987). Angels fear: towards an epistemology of the sacred. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol I. Attachment. London: Hogarth Press.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss. Vol II. Separation: anxiety and anger. London: Hogarth Press.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Vol III. Loss: sadness and depression. London: Hogarth Press.
Breakwell, G. M. (1999). The identity of places and place identity. In C. Gallo Barbisio, L. Laura, & D. Maffei (Eds.), La rappresentazione del paesaggio (pp. 51–61). Torino: Tirrenia Stampatori.
Bruner, J. S. (1991). The narrative construction of reality. Critical Inquiry, 18(1), 1–21.
Buck, J. N. (1947). The House-Tree-Person Test. Virginia: Colony.
Canter, D. (1977). The psychology of place. London: Architectural Press.
Feldman, R. M. (1996). Constancy and changes in attachment to type of settlements. Environment and Behavior, 28, 419–445.
Fisher, R. P., & Edward Geiselman, R. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative interviewing: the cognitive interview. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher LTD..
Fisher, R. P., Geiselman, R. E., Raymond, D. S., Jurkevich, L. M., & Warhaftig, M. L. (1987). Enhancing eyewitness memory: refining a cognitive interview. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 15, 291–297.
Fried, M. (1963). Grieving for a lost home. In L. J. Duhl (Ed.), The urban condition (pp. 15–17). New York: Basic Book.
Furnham, A., Jenny, B., & Gunter, B. (2002). Memory for television advertisement-programme congruity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 525–545.
Giuliani, M. V., & Feldman, R. M. (1993). Place attachment in a developmental and cultural context. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 267–274.
Guidano, V. F. (1991). The self in process: toward a post-rationalist cognitive therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
Guidano, V. F. (1995). A constructivist outline of human knowing processes. In M. J. Mahoney (Ed.), Cognitive and constructive psychotherapies: theory, research, and practice (pp. 89–102). New York: Springer.
Guidano, V. F., & Liotti, G. (1979). Elementi di psicoterapia comportamentale. Roma: Bulzoni.
Guidano, V. F., & Liotti, G. (1981). Repertorio comportamentale e organizzazione comportamentale. Ricerche di Psicologia, 17, 75–88.
Guidano, V. F., & Liotti, G. (1983). Cognitive processes and emozional disorders: a structural approach to psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press.
Hidalgo, M. C., & Hernandez, B. (2001). Place attachment: conceptual and empirical questions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 273–281.
Hyman, I. E., Husband, T. H., & Billings, J. F. (1995). False memories of childhood experiences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 9, 181–187.
Kassin, S. M., & Kiechel, K. L. (1996). The social psychology of false confessions: compliance, internalization and confabulation. Psychological Science, 7, 125–128.
Knez, I. (2005). Attachment and identity as related to a place and its perceived climate. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 207–218.
Koch, K. (1949). Der Baumtest. Bern: Hans Huber.
Lenzi, S., & Bercelli, F. (1999). Riascoltando una seduta III. Quaderni di Psicoterapia Cognitiva, 3(1), 38–54.
Lenzi, S., & Bercelli, F. (2010). Parlar di sé con un esperto dei sé. L’elaborazione delle narrative personali: Strategie avanzate di terapia cognitiva. Firenze: Eclipsi Editore.
Loftus, E. F. (1977). Shifting human color memory. Memory and Cognition, 5, 696–699.
Machover, K. (1949). Personality projection in the drawing of the human figure. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publisher LTD..
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K., & Kaminoff, R. (1983). Place identity: physical world and socialization of the self. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3, 57–83.
Tomkins, S. S. (1979). Script theory: differential magnification of affects. In H. E. Howe Jr. & R. A. Dienstbier (Eds.), Nebraska symposium on motivation. Vol 26 (pp. 201–236). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Twigger-Ross, C. L., & Uzzell, D. L. (1996). Place and identity processes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 205–220.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mazzeo, G. (2018). Maps of Places of Origin or Maps of Self: A Graphic and Conversational Analysis. In: Visual and Linguistic Representations of Places of Origin. Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68858-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68858-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68857-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68858-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)