Calladita se ve más bonita: significaciones imaginarias de infancia y silenciamiento emocional de los padres de Ana: análisis desde un estudio de caso en un contexto familiar adulto céntrico

Abstract

This research sought to understand how the conceptions of childhood held by Ana's parents influence the way her emotions are read, regulated, and, in many cases, silenced within a family dynamic shaped by adultcentric practices. Interest in this issue arose from the experience of a three-year-old girl who, following her parents' separation, began to display marked emotional distress in response to the established visitation schedule. Her reactions—expressed through persistent crying, anguish, and other signs of suffering—reveal the tensions that can arise between what a child feels and expresses, adults' expectations, and the decisions made by family and institutional bodies. The methodology used to carry out this inquiry follows the qualitative paradigm, with the case study as the methodological strategy. Data collection involved unstructured interviews with artistic mediation with the parents, narrative observations of the girl's everyday experience, and an interpretive analysis of the data obtained. The findings reveal the presence of conceptions of childhood associated with obedience, adaptation to adult decisions, and emotional subordination. These ways of understanding childhood shape how adults interpret, regulate, and even delegitimize the emotions expressed by the girl. Several forms of emotional silencing were identified, reflected in withheld crying, anticipatory anguish, withdrawal, and certain physical manifestations, such as vomiting. Tensions were also evident between legal provisions, affective bonds, and the place the girl's emotional experience occupies within the decisions that affect her.