The Family Relationship In The Minds Of Left-behind Children

The main purpose of this research is to explore the family interaction of left-behind children in rural areas, through their Kinetic Family Drawings (K-F-D, by Burns&Kaufman,1970). We collected 39 K-F-D drawings from 6-year-old children, all of which are from families where their parents are continuously away for more than half a year to work and unable to take care of their children daily. One-way ANOVA and descriptive statistics were given to analyze features and interactions of characters in the K-F-Ds. Post-drawing inquiry(PDI) and interviews with their daily carers were conducted. Taking three factors, namely, features of the children's K-F-Ds, explanation by themselves, and their family real situation, we try to find how the family connection relates to the features of their K-F-Ds.The results show:(1)In perspectives of the order of character appearance and the character size, in their drawings,the phenomenon of that mother is the primary is common, which consists of the highest percentage(30.77%).According to our statistics and analysis,the character of mother is relatively bigger than other characters in a family,which indicate that mother plays the most important role in the eyes of the left-behind children. It suggests the primary of mother in their eyes. In contrast, the percentage of father-absence is more than half (53.85%), and father is also not in their favourite family members list. In the mean time, the rate of self-imagine-absence accounts for 15.38%. (2) The statistics and analysis shows the closest distance of characters in their drawings is between their self-imagine and siblings, indicating siblings are probably their closest playmates. (3) Through analysis, it is also found that the imagine of father and grandfather are positioned on the top place in their drawing compared to their siblings.Fathers and Grandfathers play a dominant role to children, indicating patriarchy is still left in rural areas. (4)Through character action analysis, grandmother's cooking behavior stands for its feeding role, maybe due to grandmother is the main carer to the children.(5) A few left-behind children's K-F-Ds shows other family members, suggesting children's affection is transferred to them, as they may provide daily and mental support that their grandparents don't.The educational suggestions can be drawn from the conclusions are:refresh grandparents' education conscience, stay connected with parents, enhance social support to left-behind families in rural areas.