Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 11

representations we make of our environment (Dethorre, 1997). According to her, "deafness sends back to the speaker the sensation of an absence, a partial emptiness in him-/herself, comparable to the loss of one of their parts (speech and by extension, language) leading to a significant narcissistic suffering." Relying on the psychoanalytical theories and some works of psychologists, Diderot (2004) got to the conclusion that there is no psychology of the deaf nor psychopathology of the deaf. The deafness disability is, however, particular since it is not seen. And yet, a trauma without wound, without visibility can prove to be all the more pathogenic that there is no narcissistic overinvestment of the suffering organ. But because of their organic damage and what this causes as a sideration and possible trauma in the family of the deaf, as well as the way in which the disability will be managed by the medical and educational teams of the family, all this generates for the deaf, a psychological potentiality or a borderline potentiality by building a false self which may break down with time. In a work of psychoanalytical family therapy engaged with a family, Dorey (2002) found that the inaugural and generally traumatic announcement of deafness provokes an experience of break in the experience of relational continuity; it staggers the emergence of a gap opening up to the establishment of intersubjective relations and initiates a defensive return to the concrete character of the undifferentiated link. Guillon (2011) found that certain social representations of deaf children’s parents, on all issues concerning deafness, remain. Indeed, she could see, for example, that sign language was still considered by some parents as a barrier language, but also as a "divine" language. In a study conducted in Burkina Faso, Bourcheix (2009) highlighted the representation of deafness, communication and integration of the deaf. The anthropological approach allowed him to get to social, psychological and cultural results of deaf people in their daily life. Deaf children are considered genius children; the parents present their child as a victim of God's will, meningitis or a congenital disease. Deafness is caused by a spell cast against the family or a curse, by witchcraft, which is in fact a warning, the punishment of the surrounding against the parents. He noted the reactions of fear, the feeling of rejection from society, the fear of the future of their child. This anthropological conception of deafness supports the conception of misfortune logic described by Sow (1971) in the African dynamic psychology. Parents of deaf children face stressors unknown to parents without children with a disability or chronic illness (Jutras et al . 2005). Beyond the formal diagnosis of deafness (Marschark, 1996), communication stress is emphasized by parents (Greenberg et al ., 1997). Throughout their lives, they will be subject to distressing experiences: rejection of their child by peers, difficulty for the child to participate in sports or social activities, intense parental supervision, financial costs, lack of time and energy for themselves and their families (Henggeler et al ., 1990). This booming literature on the representation of deafness on family relationships and observations of parents' attitudes at EPHATA, a care school for deaf children, motivated us to conduct this study. These attitudes can be broken down into attitudes of abandonment and overprotection. Indeed, some parents leave their very young child at school without asking for news, without a sign from them during a whole term or even a school year. On the other hand, others are determined to do what is best for their child, by keeping appointments and coming early to pick their child up. This study examines the factors that may explain, in a general way, the psychological suffering of hearing parents of deaf children. Thus, the objectives of the study are to describe the social representations of deafness and psychological suffering among parents of deaf children, to establish the link between their suffering and these social representations. II. M ethod a) Study framework This was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted in the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) department of the Sylvanus Olympio Teaching Hospital and at the school for the deaf (EPHATA) of the Assemblies of God Church in Lomé. The ENT Department is located in the north-east of the Sylvanus Olympio Teaching Hospital in Lomé. The latter is the most important hospital in Togo in terms of health. It receives an average of seventeen thousand visits per year. It is public with social character. It is located in the west of Lomé in the Tokoin district on the plateau. It is limited in the south by the Tokoin registry office, in the north by the Tokoin Seminary post office, in the east by the hospital pharmacy and in the west by the Alpha school. The ENT department receives annually, according to reports available at the secretariat of the department, 72675 patients. The EPHATA school is located in Djidjolé district of Lomé, along the street opposite the gendarmerie of the said district. The EPHATA school is a specialized confessional school. It focuses on the education of deaf children in sign languages. The education provided is based on the national program of primary education. Some of the deaf children are also accommodated in the school. The school provides classes for deaf children according to the national curriculum of Togo. Parents of deaf children also come to learn sign languages in order to better communicate with their child. At the said school, speech therapy sessions are also conducted. Volume XXII Issue XI Version I 2 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A Social Representations of Deafness and Psychological Suffering in Parents of Deaf Children