Two views of homeless children's art: psychoanalysis and Parse's human becoming theory

In the past decade there has been a dramatic rise in the number of children living in shelters in the United States. The traditional literature suggests that these children are at risk for various developmental, educational, and health problems, and that they are in need of assistance. Psychoanalytic theory and Parse's human becoming theory have fundamentally different views of human nature and of human activities such as artistic expression. While both theories can contribute to the present understanding of the experience of children in shelters and provide frameworks for a shelter-based nursing practice, it is suggested in this article that psychoanalytic theory is reductionistic and prescriptive and may close rather than open new possibilities.