Document Type
Book
Original Publication Date
2024
Digital Publisher
VCU Libraries
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21974/v8j3-8513
Date of Submission
December 2024
Abstract
The G-BDT (Good-Bad Drawings Test) is a variation of the psychological projective test known as the Draw-a-Person test (DAP). The DAP requests a drawer to make two drawings: one of a person, and when it is completed and removed, another drawing of a person who is the opposite sex of the person in the first drawing.
There are currently many variations of the DAP including requesting drawings of a person, a house and a tree, drawing a family, a mother and child, or even animals, such as drawing a dog.
The G-BDT requests the drawer draw a person who is “good”, and after that drawing is completed and removed, drawing a person who is “bad”. Of course, good rapport needs to be developed prior to, during and after this drawing process. Standardized instructions are included, questions responded to and answered, and, after both drawings have been completed, a discussion of the two drawings follows.
While suggested interpretations are included, the best interpretations are often learned from the individual who created the drawings and then discusses them afterwards.
This book also contains examples, that is, the drawings of 74 children and young adults who were incarcerated, institutionalized and/or in special education at the time that they created these drawings. There are 148 example drawings included. (Two drawings per individual) and these drawing are presented in pairs next to each other so that the reader can view the two drawings produced at the same time without having to flip the page to make these comparisons.
A reference section, (at the end), includes information regarding the sources mentioned throughout the book so that the reader can find out more about what is in this book by examining these additional resources.
Note: The initial research and collection of drawings contained in this book were originally conducted in the early 1970s. The test itself was created in 1973.
Rights
© The Authors
Comments
About the Authors:
George A. Giacobbe earned a B.A. degree from the University of Tulsa with a major in psychology. He worked as a music therapist aide at the Hissom Memorial Center, an institution for children and youth with mental retardation (now called intellectual disabilities). He later served in the U.S. Army as a “psychology specialist” testing adults and dependent children at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. He earned a Master of Education degree in Special Education at American University, in Washington, D.C., at the Hillcrest Children’s Center Program under Nicholas J. Long, Ph.D. Giacobbe earned a Ph.D. in the education of children with special needs from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Later, he was a special education teacher at the Tulsa Boys’ Home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before becoming a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia; Virginia State University (VSU) in Petersburg, Virginia; Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago, Illinois; and Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. For 37 years, he was in higher education as a trainer of teachers in the area of special education. He is currently retired and resides in Wilmette, Illinois.
John D. Dooley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, in 1976. He later earned a Master of Education degree in Special Education from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, in 1997. He worked for over several decades as a special education teacher at the Richmond City Jail. He specialized in helping students who were working toward a GED certificate, and upon these students completing that, John worked by joining forces with them and guiding them as they helped other students to attain the same goal. John is currently retired, married and living in Midlothian, Virginia.