TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Therapeutic or traumatic: An exploratory study of play therapists' perceptions of toy guns and aggressive toys in the playroom JO - International journal of play therapy A1 - Parker, Maggie M. A1 - Glickman, Courtney P. A1 - Smelser, Quinn A1 - DeRaedt, Mary SP - 61 EP - 71 VL - 30 IS - N2 - Mass shootings and gun violence are becoming more and more commonplace in the United States. Gun control continues to be a controversial topic in America. This controversy extends to the playroom and play therapy literature, as play therapists grapple with the decision to include or exclude toy guns from the playroom. Within this phenomenological study, play therapists considered and defined their decisions to include/exclude guns within the playroom. Themes identified included the influence of personal and theoretical beliefs on inclusion and exclusion, child development, toys as metaphors, and boundaries and limit setting around toy guns in the playroom. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are explored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1555-6824 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pla0000141 ID - ref1 ER -