As you know, any disease is easier to prevent than then treat it. The same worldly truth may well be applied to the problem of preventing family dysfunction and child neglect.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the economy of our country has been shaken by constant crises. They, in turn, cause an increase in unemployment and the uncertainty of the population in the future. In such circumstances, many families are literally on the verge of survival. This fact leads to drunkenness of parents and their abuse of children. That is why the risk of growing trouble in families is so great.
Is it possible to protect the interests and rights of children and their parents? Is it realistic to help dysfunctional families? What will you need to do?
Family value
Our society consists of many basic cells or groups voluntarily created by people, all of whose members are connected by a common life. Such a cell is understood as a family, which is one of the greatest values created by our society. It serves as a strong and reliable protection for a person.
And for the child, the family is the first and most significant vehicle of social influence. After all, it is here that he receives his first life experience and learns the whole variety of home life and family relationships. Being among people close to him, a small person is formed as a personality with its psychological properties, character traits, habits and behaviors. Such a baggage of knowledge will be used by the child not only in becoming. Much of what he learned in life will be a defining moment of his qualities as a future parent and spouse.
The problem of modernity
On the one hand, a family is an association of people based on consanguinity or marriage. But on the other, it is a social institution. Its characteristic features are the relationships between people, within the framework of which the daily life of its members flows. Today it can be argued that this institution is undergoing a period of deep crisis. The reasons for this phenomenon are considered to be general social changes, urbanization, high mobility of the population, etc.
All these factors lead to the fact that gradually, but at the same time, the family foundations are shaken steadily. The community of close people has ceased to have its former significance and is no longer in the first place in the value orientations of a person. To undermine the moral, social and economic foundations of the family, the “prestige” of independence and loneliness, devaluation of marriage, and others “work”. Over the past 15–20 years, the number of young people striving for a long-term union has decreased. Moreover, many men stopped marrying at a young age. The number of single people has increased, most of whom are women. In addition, there is a tendency to a decrease in the birth rate and the growth of single-parent and small families.
Classification
Families are prosperous and not. In the first case, the spouses fulfill all mutual obligations with respect to children and to each other in a quality and conscientious manner. In addition, in a prosperous family, universally recognized values and moral principles are maintained. The system of relations in such a small social institution has only minimal coercion. This family is characterized by peacefulness, the ability to material support, as well as the birth of children and their upbringing. Only such a unit of society can reproduce human culture, preserve and increase it. The specific model of such an important social institution has its differences based on the characteristics of a particular state and the level of development of society.
But, unfortunately, not all families can be called prosperous. Based on the psychological, pedagogical and social internal atmosphere between close people, in general they are divided into four categories:
- prosperous;
- at risk;
- dysfunctional;
- asocial.
Such families have a different level of social adaptation. This indicator, depending on the category, gradually decreases from high to medium, after moving to low, and then to extremely low.
Risk group
What are the differences between prosperous families and those that cannot be attributed to this category? If we consider the family ties that are at risk, you can find in them some deviation from the norm. This does not allow us to consider them safe. An example is a low-income or single-parent family. In solving the problems of raising a child in this case, the parents or one of them has to make every effort. That is why work on the prevention of family problems should already be carried out here, which is assigned to the social worker or teacher.
It is important for such specialists to monitor the condition of the family and the existing maladaptive factors. In addition, in order to prevent family problems, it is necessary to monitor the extent to which they are offset by other positive characteristics. Timely assistance by specialists should be offered only if necessary.
Dysfunctional families
These cells of society are characterized by low social status either in one of the spheres of life, or simultaneously in several. Dysfunctional families are not able to cope with the functions assigned to them. They have reduced adaptive abilities, and the process of raising a child in such parents is slow, with great difficulties and generally ineffective.
Prevention of family dysfunction in this case is a necessity. Specialists should provide continued active support for such small social groups. Based on the identified nature of the existing problems, it will be necessary to provide psychological, educational or mediation assistance. All this is carried out as part of a long-term form of work.
Asocial families
With people representing this category of close relationships, the interaction is quite difficult. Asocial families include families in which parents lead an illegal, immoral lifestyle. People living in unsanitary conditions who do not meet basic hygiene requirements can be classified in this category. Such parents do not engage in raising their child at all. That is why children remain half-starved and neglected, lagging behind in development and are often subjected to violence, not only from relatives, but also from other citizens who belong to the same social layer. Prevention of child-family problems in such cases is carried out jointly with law enforcement agencies. Specialists of guardianship and trusteeship bodies should also be involved.
Problem identification
How is the need for early prevention of family dysfunction determined? To identify a child who is in a critical situation should be employees of subjects of social and educational spheres. Similar work is carried out, in particular, by teachers. Early prevention of family dysfunction should be provided when collecting data during the educational process, when studying the characteristics of teaching children in families, during conversations with them, as well as with their parents or legal representatives. Do not miss the danger signal also when receiving certain information about minors from third parties.
Key roles in the system for the prevention of family problems are assigned:
- educators of pre-school educational institutions;
- classroom teachers;
- curators (masters of industrial training) in institutions providing secondary specialized and vocational education.
Features of education
All educational institutions must certainly make plans for the prevention of family problems. One of its points is the regular study of the characteristics of the education of students by their parents and loved ones.
Prevention of early detection of family dysfunction must be carried out with a visit to trainees at home once a year. In the presence of alarm signals, such measures should be taken more often. An occasion for an extraordinary study of the living conditions of minors is, for example, a sharp decrease in the child's academic performance, a change in his behavior, the appearance of untidiness in his clothes, the constant arrival of sleepy people in an educational institution, etc.
The identification and prevention of family problems should be carried out in such a way as not to create tension in relations with parents or legal representatives of children. For this, teaching staff should first agree with them the day and time of arrival. Visits to families with revealing the peculiarities of raising children in them are not accompanied by writing acts.
Drawing up reporting documents
A visit to minor families undertaken as part of the social prevention of family problems is reflected in:
- kindergarten teachers in the column "Information about the pupils and parents", in the section "Visiting pupils at home";
- class teacher in his class journal;
- curator - in the journal of the study group he leads.
What to pay attention to?
Studying the features of family education in the framework of the prevention of family dysfunction, pedagogical workers should evaluate living quarters taking into account sanitary and hygienic conditions. It is also necessary to pay attention to the following:
- the child’s availability of basic necessities (clothing, seasonal shoes, personal hygiene items and school supplies);
- providing a minor with a place to prepare lessons, as well as for rest and sleep;
- relationships that take place in a family between its members.
It is unacceptable during such an event to clarify the issue of the amount of income, available cash deposits, etc.
The results of such visits after their completion should be considered at a meeting of the Council of the educational institution for the prevention of crime and family trouble with the participation of teachers.
Identifying children who need help
Prevention of family problems and orphans involves the involvement of various social organs. For this, after the teacher identifies those children who are in a critical situation, he should provide information to his immediate supervisor. This must be done either on the same business day, or no later than the next.
The head, having received such information, is obliged to report it to the department for the prevention of family distress of the guardianship and guardianship authorities, to the commission dealing with minors' affairs and to other state organizations that protect the legitimate interests and rights of children at their place of residence.
Taking necessary measures
The main activities of teachers and social workers in the framework of work on early prevention of family problems are:
- restoration of family function;
- optimizing the relationship between children and their parents;
- restoration of lost family ties;
- the formation of a conscious position of parents.
The main elements of this work are:
- the formation of minor healthy lifestyle standards, as well as the conscious attitude of parents to their duties;
- support of upbringing in the family at its various stages with the coverage of psychological and pedagogical issues;
- earlier warning of the negative impact of the family on the development of the child;
- propaganda of fatherhood, motherhood and a positive family image.
Specialists working to prevent family problems adhere to the following principles:
- Timeliness. This principle provides for the identification of difficult life situations and the facts of social orphanage and child neglect already at the earliest stages. With the timely identification of a dysfunctional family, in most cases it is possible to avoid such an extreme measure for adults as the deprivation of their parental rights.
- Humanism. Teachers and social workers are always ready to help the family in protecting its rights and interests.
- Individual approach. This principle takes into account the functional, psychological and social characteristics of a particular family and all its members in the process of choosing one form or another of influence.
- Stimulating the family of its internal resources. Specialists are setting up a family to change relationships with children and rebuild its lifestyle. An example of this is the decision to appeal to the appropriate specialist (narcologist, psychologist, etc.) if necessary.
- Integration efforts. To provide the most effective assistance to the family, not only social services, but also various government institutions, as well as public organizations, are included in the work.
When conducting an analysis of modern socio-pedagogical research, the growth of dysfunctional families in the state becomes apparent. This is becoming a global problem of society, which is subject to an effective and timely solution.
For Russia, social work with families is of utmost importance. Based on statistics, every year in the country, almost 1 million children are left without one of the parents. At the same time, single-parent families make up 15% of their total number. In addition, the problem of disability among children has significantly exacerbated with an increase in the number of those suffering from psychosomatic and mental illnesses. Juvenile delinquency continues to rise. Such is only the incomplete socio-demographic characteristic of Russian families.
One of the most effective ways to combat this phenomenon is considered informational. According to experts, people in their behavior deviate from social norms, as they simply are not familiar with them. To inform them, one should actively use various media (television, radio and print), as well as fiction, theater and cinema. These and other modern means have a significant impact on improving the moral and moral stability of a person and the formation of his legal consciousness. In this case, a large role is played by informing the population about the consequences that deviating forms of behavior have in themselves.