The Traditional Patterns of Addressing a Toddler as a Projection of Childhood Image

摘要

The article deals with a cross-cultural analysis of traditional patterns of addressing a toddler that are used by the adults and their influence on the way the children name themselves. The problem is considered in the context of the psychological image of childhood that has historically developed in the society and determines the dominant system of the adults' attitudes towards the child as an object of action or a subject of interaction. The subject-object approach that is characteristic of Russian parents is based on patriarchal traditions and contributes to formation of paternalistic attitudes. The subject-subject approach that is typical of Western culture fosters child's own activity and appeals to his sense of personal responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Each system of interaction is fixed in traditions, customs, social and cultural representations and manifested in the behavior of adults dealing with children. The article presents the data of an empirical study, a participant observation and a natural experiment. It is shown that the implementation of both models of parental behavior is accompanied with crises of child development. The clash of two cultural patterns of interaction with a child in a bilingual family environment may cause more difficulties associated with the crisis period of personality development.