As you know, any disease is easier to prevent than to treat it later. The same worldly truth may well be applied to the problem of preventing family problems 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 uncertainty of the population about the future. In such conditions, many families are literally on the verge of survival. This fact leads to drunkenness of parents and their child abuse. That is why the risk of growing trouble in families is so great.
Can the interests and rights of children and their parents be protected? Is it possible to help disadvantaged families? What will it take to do this?
Value of the family
Our society consists of many basic cells or groups voluntarily created by people, all members of which are interconnected by a common way of life. Such a cell is understood as a family, which is one of the greatest values created by our society. She serves forhuman strong and reliable protection.
And for a child, the family is the first and most significant vehicle of social influence. After all, it is here that he gets 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 ways of behavior. Such a baggage of knowledge will be used by the child not only during the formation. Much of what he learned in life will be the 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. On the other hand, it is a social institution. Its characteristic features are the relationships between people, within which the daily life of its members takes place. Today it can be argued that this institution is going through 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 being 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. The growth of the prestige of independence andloneliness, devaluation of marriage, etc. Over the past 15-20 years, the number of young people seeking a long-term union has decreased. And many men stopped marrying at a young age. The number of single people has increased, most of them women. In addition, there is a trend towards 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 qualitatively and conscientiously fulfill all mutual obligations in relation to children and to each other. In addition, generally recognized values and moral foundations are maintained in a prosperous family. The system of relations in such a small social institution has only minimal coercion. This family is characterized by peacefulness, the ability to provide material support, as well as the birth of children and their upbringing. Only such a cell of society is capable of reproducing human culture, preserving and increasing it. A 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 inner atmosphere between close people, they are generally divided into four categories:
- prosperous;
- at risk;
- unfavorable;
- asocial.
Such families have different levels of social adaptation. This indicator, depending on the category, graduallydecreases from high to medium, then to low, and then to extremely low.
Risk group
What are the differences between we althy families and those that cannot be classified in this category? If we consider family ties that are at risk, we can find some deviation from the norm in them. This does not allow us to consider them safe. An example is a low-income or incomplete family. When solving the problems of raising a child in this case, parents or one of them have to make every effort. That is why work should already be carried out here to prevent family problems, which is entrusted to a social worker or teacher.
It is important for such specialists to monitor the state of the family and existing maladaptive factors. In addition, in order to prevent family problems, it is necessary to monitor the extent to which they are compensated by other positive characteristics. Timely assistance from specialists should only be offered when needed.
Disadvantaged families
These cells of society are characterized by a 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 that are assigned to them. They have reduced adaptive abilities, and the process of raising a child with such parents is slow, with great difficulties and generally ineffective.
Prevention of family problems in this case is a necessity. Long-term active support of such small social groups should be carried out by specialists. 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, interaction is rather difficult. Asocial families include families in which parents lead an illegal, immoral lifestyle. This category also includes people living in unsanitary conditions that do not meet the basic requirements of hygiene. Such parents are not involved in the upbringing of their child at all. That is why children remain half-starved and neglected, lag behind in development and are often subjected to violence, not only by relatives, but also by other citizens who belong to the same social stratum. Prevention of child and family problems in such cases is carried out jointly with law enforcement agencies. Specialists from guardianship and guardianship authorities should also be involved.
Identification of the problem
How is the need for early prevention of family distress determined? Employees of subjects of the social and educational sphere should identify a child in a critical situation. Such work is carried out, in particular, by teachers. Early prevention of family trouble should beprovided when collecting data during the implementation of the educational process, when studying the peculiarities of children's education in families, during conversations with them, as well as with their parents or legal representatives. It is also necessary not to miss the danger signal when receiving certain information about minors from third parties.
Key roles in the system of prevention of family troubles assigned:
- for kindergarten teachers;
- classroom teachers;
- curators (masters of industrial training) in institutions providing secondary specialized and vocational education.
Features of education
All educational institutions should certainly make plans for the prevention of family distress. One of its points is the regular study of the peculiarities of the upbringing of students by their parents and close people.
Prevention of early detection of family problems must be carried out with a visit to the trainees at home once a year. In the presence of alarms, such measures should be taken more frequently. The reason 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 untidy clothes, the constant arrival at an educational institution sleepy, etc.
Identification and prevention of family troubles should be carried out in such a way as not to create tension in relationships withparents or legal guardians of the children. To do this, pedagogical workers should first coordinate with them the day and time of arrival. Visiting families with the identification of the peculiarities of raising children in them is not accompanied by writing acts.
Drafting reporting documents
Visiting families of minors, undertaken as part of the social prevention of family ill-being, is reflected:
- preschool teachers in the column "Information about pupils and parents", in the section "Visit pupils at home";
- by a class teacher in his class journal;
- curator - in the journal of the study group he leads.
What to look out for?
Studying the features of family education in the framework of the prevention of family troubles, teachers should evaluate living quarters, taking into account sanitary and hygienic conditions. You should also pay attention to the following:
- Child has basic necessities (clothes, shoes for the season, personal hygiene items and school supplies);
- providing a minor with a place to prepare lessons, as well as to rest and sleep;
- relationships that take place in a family between its members.
It is unacceptable during such an event to clarify the question 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 Board of Educationinstitutions for the prevention of delinquency and family troubles with the participation of teachers.
Identifying children in need of help
Prevention of family trouble and orphanhood involves the involvement of various social bodies in the work. To do 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 troubles of the guardianship and guardianship authorities, to the commission dealing with the affairs of minors and to other state organizations that protect the legitimate interests and rights of children at their place of residence.
Taking necessary action
The main activities of teachers and social workers in the framework of the work on early prevention of family troubles are:
- restoring family functions;
- optimize the relationship between children and their parents;
- restoring lost family ties;
- shaping the conscious position of parents.
The main elements of such work are:
- formation of he althy lifestyle standards among minors, as well as a conscious attitude of parents to their duties;
- accompanying family upbringing at its various stages with coverage of issues of a psychological and pedagogical nature;
- previously warning negativefamily impact on child development;
- promoting fatherhood, motherhood and a positive family image.
Specialists who work to prevent family problems adhere to the following principles:
- Timeliness. This principle provides for the identification of difficult life situations and facts of social orphanhood 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 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 or another form of influence.
- Stimulation in the family of its internal resources. Specialists set up the family for changes in relations with children and restructuring of its lifestyle. An example of this is the decision to seek help, if necessary, from the appropriate specialist (narcologist, psychologist, etc.).
- Integrating efforts. To provide the most effective assistance to the family, not only social services, but also various state 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 obvious. This is becoming a global problem of society, whichsubject to effective and timely resolution.
For Russia, social work with families is of great importance. Based on statistics, every year in the country almost 1 million children are left without one of their parents. At the same time, incomplete families make up 15% of their total number. In addition, the problem of disability among children has significantly worsened with an increase in the number of those who suffer from psychosomatic and mental illnesses. Juvenile delinquency continues to rise. This is only an incomplete socio-demographic description of Russian families.
One of the most effective ways to combat this phenomenon is informational. According to experts, people in their behavior deviate from social norms, because they are simply not familiar with them. To inform them, various mass media (television, radio and print), as well as fiction, theater and cinema should be actively used. These and other modern means have a significant impact on improving the moral stability of a person and the formation of his legal consciousness. In this case, informing the population about the consequences of deviant forms of behavior also plays an important role.
