Fundamentals of family psychology. Psychology of family relations

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Nothing excites the human psyche as much as relationships with each other. Particular attention is paid to intersexual relations. This is confirmed by the folk art of the nation. A huge number of ditties, songs, proverbs are dedicated specifically to the relationship between a woman and a man. For some, building a family and the ability to communicate with the opposite sex is elevated to the degree of art. Let's talk about such a phenomenon as family psychology. Let's find out how important the knowledge of its basic principles is for each of us.

Why do we need family psychology?

Very often new concepts are heard. These are, for example, "family crisis and psychology" or "problems of the institution of marriage." This is due to the fact that divorce is no surprise these days. Every year, fewer and fewer couples live together for more than 10 years. Therefore, the methods of family psychologists are becoming so relevant and popular. For such courses, young (and not so) peopleclutching at straws in the ocean of problems and joint grievances. Why does it happen that newlyweds who love and dream of joint happiness are not able to build harmonious, long-term relationships that bring happiness to both?

Before starting any business - be it a hike in the forest or a trip to another unknown country - everyone tries to thoroughly study the issue, find out all the subtleties and possible pitfalls. This is how it should be in family life. It should, but in reality it looks different. Therefore, family psychology (as the science of family relationships) is so important for each individual. After all, many marry with:

• incomplete or not quite adequate idea of yourself as a full-fledged partner;
• not quite indicative examples of relationships among relatives, friends, acquaintances;
• ignorant behavior towards the opposite sex, etc.

What do family psychologists study?

Psychology deals with the study of interpersonal conflicts in the family. A family is a small social group based on the union of spouses, which provides for joint living and household activities. The social cell is characterized by functions, dynamics and structure. Let's consider each characteristic in more detail.

Family Functions

The family has a certain area of life processes, which is associated with some needs of each individual of the family circle. These are its main functions.

In psychology, there are classifications of family needs. There are three main ones:

• security;
• affection;
• achievements.

American psychologist Abraham Maslow invented a whole pyramid of human needs, in which there are 7 main steps. We will consider family functions based on needs.

Education

It consists in satisfying the mental maternal and paternal instincts of each of the spouses, as well as in raising children and self-realization in them.

The psychology of family relations begins with the individual needs of each member, but besides them, there is also a society that dictates its own rules of behavior. A family that has children and brings them up socializes the younger generation in a way. After all, they are engaged in the educational process of a daughter or son, adults educate a member of society. This function is very long, since it lasts from birth to adulthood, when the adult is able to give birth.

Economy and life

The main task of the household function is to please:

• elementary needs: food, sleep, food;
• material goods: food, clothing, comfort items;
• he alth of the whole organism.

This function of family psychology also provides for the restoration of mental and physical resources that are spent on work.

Exchange of emotions

Who does the family consist of? Fromindividuals capable of experiencing positive emotions for each other, which eventually develop into affection. The manifestations of such feelings are the experiences of one spouse in relation to the other, in the expression of certain emotions, which becomes a kind of rule. This turns into a necessity: to be understood, like a loved one, in mutual respect and manifestation of tender feelings, love. In other words, the function of the exchange of emotions in family psychology, in which the husband and wife occupy the main positions, provides for understanding the definitions of feelings, the ability to experience and transmit them.

Communication

The meaning of this function lies in the spiritual growth of each member of the family circle. This is achieved through communication, joint recreation and spending free time, cultural development. Thanks to the spiritual growth of each cell of the family, not only the growth of a single individual takes place, but the society as a whole also develops spiritually.

Control in society

The goal of any society is to help people survive. This is achieved through the introduction of certain rules of behavior between individuals. This is where the control function comes in.

Family in family psychology is considered as a small team in society. Not all members of such a group are able to adhere to social norms. Factors that affect their inability:

1. Age (old age or vice versa - infancy). Parents control their children and elderly family members.
2. Disability of someone from the family. In thatIn this case, the control function is performed by the guardians.

Erotic

The function of erotica in the psychology of family life determines the satisfaction of the sexual needs of spouses, regulates their sexual behavior. Thanks to the ability to give offspring, the family develops into a clan, and then into a whole generation.

Every individual is born and dies. So, for each family team there is a date of foundation and collapse. There are also stages of development.

Throughout life, the importance of some particular function becomes more, some - less. For example, at the initial stage of creating a family, the sexual-erotic function comes first, which is subsequently replaced by educational. At an older age, it goes into the background, or even the third plan, making room for emotional or communicative.

Functional is considered a family that harmoniously combines the performance of all functions. If one of them is absent or its implementation is violated, the family acquires the status of dysfunctional. These changes are studied by family psychology. The crises of family life are in the discord of functions and the task of the psychologist is to help all members of the family team, and not to a specific individual. Since all functions are closely related to each other, in most cases it is necessary to disassemble not one of them, but the whole complex.

Family structuring

Consists in determining the number of family members, as well as the interactions between them. Structuring is closely related tofunctionality. For example, if the family breaks up, all functions are violated.

Fundamentals of family psychology distinguish the following forms of families:

1. The nuclear family is fundamental. It is based on a triangle - two parents and a child. Agents of this form are two generations. There are complete and incomplete nuclear families.
2. Extended. The principle of such a family team is based on the unification under one roof of several generations of relatives by blood. The most common example is living with grandparents.
3. Big family - has a hierarchical nature. The main principle lies in the unification of different generations of relatives by blood, who freely run a common household from each other. At the head of such families, there must be a figure of the patriarch. An example of such a family is a settlement in a village or a small town, consisting of 3-5 houses, in which families of subsequent generations live. The patriarch under such circumstances is the parental family, which sets the temperament of the relationship of the entire composition and has a dominant effect on all members.
4. Clan - a group of blood relatives who are not burdened by the rules of cohabitation. There can also be several leaders in such a family. A clear example of a clan is the Mafia of Sicily.
5. Yard. This type of family was common in the 17th-18th centuries, now it is quite a rare case. The courtyard family collective includes several tribes of the clan not connected by blood ties (servants, servants).

Violation of the family structure also leads to various problems. The task of society is to harmonize and equalize the situation. This is possible in two ways:

• through psychics, dating services, religious figures, etc.;
• through psychologists.

Dynamic growth

Each family unit has its own founding date, which begins on the day of marriage. In family psychology, there are many different classifications of the stages of family existence, each of which has its own difficulties and crises, as well as options for overcoming them. Consider the main steps:

1. Young family (from 0 to 5 years of marriage). Its beginning lies in marriage and until the birth of the first child. The main task in such a family is the issue of adaptation of two essentially alien people to each other, which consists in sexual adaptation and the initial accumulation of material we alth. Relationships with other families are also formed at this stage, values and habits are formed that regulate the ethics and psychology of family life. Psychologists say that this stage is most prone to divorce, since many young couples are not able to withstand strong emotional stress.
2. Underage children in the family. This stage lasts at least 18 years, since it involves the period from the birth of the first child to the departure of the last adult child from the family. At this stage, the family team becomes mature. Household and educational functions come first. The most traumatic moment is birthchild. Men are especially sensitive to it. Indeed, until this moment, all the love of a mother-woman was given to them, and now it is distributed between her husband and first-born, the distance between spouses increases. The family becomes stronger and more stable. The largest number of divorces occurs for a child aged 2-5 years.
3. The final one, which is based on the empty nest syndrome. Approximately 18-25 years of marriage open a second family crisis. During this period, children enter adulthood, they form their own ego and worldview. Parents need to adapt and find new values. Often the conflict is reinforced by other complexes (loss of career, crisis of achievements, etc.). Spouses also adapt to new roles: grandparents begin to look at each other in a new way. There are problems of rejection of adult children, emotional exchange is disturbed. There is also a need for physical rest amid declining he alth.

It is important to understand that building a family is a purposeful process that involves the conscious participation of all its members. For the harmonious cohabitation of different people under one roof, it is necessary for all participants in this process to work in the same direction and appreciate each other.