Date of Award

Spring 5-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy

Abstract

This research adds to the body of knowledge related to the human figure drawing as a useful tool in assessment and to art therapists’ understanding of children who depict the human figure in cross-cultural settings. This researcher obtained a sample collection of 148 human figure drawings from African children in rural Benin, West Africa to study in comparison to a set of human figure drawings collected under similar conditions in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

In this quantitative study, five of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scales (FEATS) were modified and used to tally the formal elements of each of the 148 drawings in the study sample. The scores on the study sample drawings were compared to scores on 108 drawings gathered from American school children. Findings in this research indicate that the drawings in the African sample scored significantly differently than from those of American children on all five of the Modified FEATS scales with an overall p value of .0000.

This research may provide information about the importance of understanding cultural contexts of the art that art therapists attempt to assess and understand. The concepts, such as developmental level and use of color measured in using the Modified FEATS in this study do not appear to be cross-culturally universal. They do however, appear distinct in one culture and absent in another culture’s drawings. The instrumentation used in the study is based on Western principles of artistic and child development indicating that there is further need in modifying use of these constructs in cross-cultural research in order to become more culturally competent in art therapy research and practice.

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