Psychological support of parenthood (Ovcharova R.). Ovcharova R.V.

M.: Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2003. - 319 p. The overall picture of family upbringing and all life in the family is largely determined by how people imagine parenthood even before they actually become parents. With the great interest of researchers in the phenomenon of family and family relationships, insufficient attention is paid to such phenomena as parenthood and parental love. This manual is one of the attempts to fill the existing gap. It examines the theoretical foundations of the formation of parenthood, the psychology of parenthood, the basics of family counseling and psychotherapy, parenthood in the aspect of perinatal psychology, technologies for psychological support of parenthood.
The textbook is intended for students studying psychology. It can also be useful to specialists in the field of practical educational psychology, graduate and student psychologists, and social educators.
Content
Introduction.
Theoretical foundations of the formation of parenthood.
Theoretical approaches to understanding the essence of the phenomenon of parenthood.
Components of the phenomenon of parenthood.
Factors determining the formation of parenthood.
Parenting as a supra-individual whole.
Psychology of parenthood.
Family psychology in the aspect of parenthood formation.
The psychological essence of ideas about parenthood.
Parental love as a psychological phenomenon.
Parental love as the unity of the love of mother and father.
Parenting in the aspect of perinatal psychology.
Psychological studies of motherhood.
Psychological readiness for motherhood.
Psychological characteristics of pregnant women, ready and not ready for motherhood.
Psychological preparation of parents for the birth of a child.
Psychological support for parenting.
Parenting and parenting.
Basic concepts of parenting.
Models of psychological support for parenting.
Diagnosis of family and family education.
Methodological foundations of family counseling and psychotherapy
Family counseling techniques.
Correctional parent groups.
Child-centered family therapy technique.
Methods of family therapy for character accentuations in adolescents.
Technologies for psychological support of parenting.
The concept of “technology” in the professional activity of a psychologist.
Program for developing psychological readiness for motherhood.
A system of training exercises aimed at creating and developing a sense of parental love “Seven Steps”.
Technology of psychological correction of parent-child relationships in families of adolescents.

Ovcharova R.V.

Parenting as a psychological phenomenon: a textbook. - M.: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute, 2006. - 496 p.

Parenthood (maternity and paternity) is a basic life purpose, an important state and a significant socio-psychological function of every person. The quality of these manifestations, their socio-psychological and pedagogical consequences are of enduring importance. The nature of parenthood affects the quality of the offspring and ensures a person’s personal happiness and immortality. It can be argued that the future of society is the current state of parenthood.

The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students - psychologists, social workers and social educators. The materials may be useful to specialists in the field of practical educational psychology.

INTRODUCTION........................................................ .........................8

CHAPTER 1. PARENTING AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

1.1. A systematic approach to understanding the essence of parenthood as a psychological phenomenon....................................................13

1.2. The structure of parenthood as an integral formation of personality.................................................... ..........22

1.3. Factors determining the formation

parenthood........................................................ ...................33

1.4. Supra-individual level of parenting development... 42

CHAPTER 2. PSYCHOLOGY OF PARENTING FORMATION

2.1. Peculiarities of parenthood in one-child and two-child families.................................................... ....................................49

2.2. The influence of the personal maturity of parents on the nature of family upbringing.................................................... ............58

2.3. Dependence of family upbringing on family configuration: having many children or having one child....................................71

2.4. The influence of the ethnic factor on the nature of acceptance

and fulfillment of the parental role...................................83

CHAPTER 3. PARENTING IN THE ASPECT OF PERINATAL PSYCHOLOGY

3.1. General characteristics of ideas about parenthood... 98

3.2. Psychological readiness for motherhood.................................122

3.3. Psychological readiness for fatherhood...................................148

3.4. Psychological preparation of parents for the birth of a child.................................................... ...................................170

CHAPTER 4. PSYCHOLOGY OF FAMILY EDUCATION

4.1. Parental love as the basis of family

education........................................................ ....................181

4.2. Parental position as a system of parental relations................................................................. ................................224

4.3. Features of family education in incomplete

family........................................................ ...............................237

4.4. Gender approach in family education....................................256

CHAPTER 5. PARENTAL POSITIONS AS A FACTOR OF FAMILY EDUCATIONAL POTENTIALS

5.1. Parental position in the integral interaction of the positions of the parent’s personality.................................................. ..282

5.2. Peculiarities of maternal and paternal parental positions.................................................. ................................293

5.3. The influence of parental positions on the educational practice of the family.................................................... ...........................306

5.4. Psychological characteristics of adolescents as indicators of the adequacy of parental positions...319

CHAPTER 6. PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTING

6.1. Parenting and parenting...................................335

6.2. Basic concepts of parenting...................338

6.3. Models of psychological support for parenting.................................................................... .......................343

6.4. Diagnosis of parenthood...................................................351

CHAPTER 7. TECHNOLOGIES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTING

7.1. Training technology “Conscious Parenting”......403

7.2. A system of training exercises aimed at forming and developing a sense of parental love “Seven Steps”................................................. ...........................424

7.3. Program for developing psychological readiness for motherhood

“Happy mother - happy baby”................................433

7.4. Personal maturity training for parents...................................444

CONCLUSION.....................................................................465

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................. ................ 470

Review of the book by R. V. Ovcharova “Parenthood as a Psychological Phenomenon”

The book under review is, in fact, a single integral complex of various materials on the problems of the psychology of parenthood. It reveals the essence and diversity of real factual material, provides data from a socio-psychological study (carried out under the guidance of the author), discusses the main options for strategies and tactics, technologies for working with a practicing psychologist with a family. Problems of current parenthood are considered through areas of work with public and individual consciousness, and materials for practical work are presented. The book identifies and substantiates the author's position regarding the concepts of human values ​​relating to the problems of parenthood and family well-being in cases of raising children. The textbook by R.V. Ovcharova reveals the theoretical foundations of the formation of parenthood. The author describes a systematic approach to understanding the essence of parenthood, provides an analysis of the subjective psychological factors of its formation, and examines the levels of development of parenthood.

In general, we assume that the presented book implements informational, orienting, explanatory, heuristic, stimulating and developing functions. The author does not impose her point of view: R.V. Ovcharova invites readers to think, she does not convey a ready-made thought, she tries to awaken it. These reflections of the author allow the reader to form their own positions regarding the diversity of issues of existence, and to consider the possible consequences of mature and problematic parenthood. The main attention in the presented book is paid to the mental health of the family, the determination of parental love, which can become a stable basis against the deformations of parent-child relationships. In this regard, the work under review is quite novel and is of undoubted interest. The book is replete with wonderful ideas, stimulating questions, dialogism, and at the same time scientific and terminological clarity.

Of great scientific and practical interest are the new data presented in the second, third and fourth chapters, the conclusions of which are based on experimental psychological research conducted under the leadership of R.V. Ovcharova. In particular, we are talking about the analysis of the influence of subjective psychological factors on the formation of parenthood, the influence of the ethnic factor on the acceptance and fulfillment of the parental role, psychological readiness for fatherhood and motherhood. For the first time, a holistic concept of parental love as the basis of family education is presented, the influence of parental positions on the educational potential of the family is explored, and their specificity in an incomplete family is shown. The work presents materials on the psychology of family education of boys.

The main advantage of the presented book by Professor R.V. Ovcharova is the structural and dynamic reconstruction of the psychology of parenthood proposed by the author, the analysis of methodological, ontological and cognitive-theoretical aspects and implications of parenthood in the modern Russian family. The problem of parenthood is conceptualized by the author as a special, scientific, socio-psychological category that carries new heuristics and stylistics of reflection. The undoubted advantage of this book is the author’s high immersion in extensive factual, theoretical, empirical and journalistic material, and criticism of the character and style of presentation. This book is fully consistent with the educational and methodological objectives of any textbook. The correct combination of the conceptual apparatus of scientific psychology, facts of everyday life, journalistic specifics and practical orientation of the book makes the approach presented by the author an extensive integrative review, methodologically and methodologically sound.

The book solves a dual problem addressed to specific audiences of readers: the task of informing for the general public and the task of teaching for psychology students. The applied problems in the book were solved by the author through identifying the psychological ways of forming mature responsible parenthood through the study and implementation of paradigmatic, psychotechnical and diagnostic approaches by every working practical psychologist in different areas of psychopractice.

In general, the book under review has undoubted theoretical and practical significance and relevance. It replenishes the deficient bank of value-oriented and meaning-generating theoretical and practical psychological materials on the psychology of parenthood and can be recommended for representatives of all professions where specialists have to...

Ovcharova R.V.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTING

Tutorial

Publishing house of the Institute of Psychotherapy
Moscow
2003

Ovcharova R.V.
Psychological support for parenting. - M.: Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2003. - 319 p.
The overall picture of family upbringing and all life in the family is largely determined by how people imagine parenthood even before they actually become parents. With the great interest of researchers in the phenomenon of family and family relationships, insufficient attention is paid to such phenomena as parenthood and parental love. This manual is one of the attempts to fill the existing gap. It examines the theoretical foundations of the formation of parenthood, the psychology of parenthood, the basics of family counseling and psychotherapy, parenthood in the aspect of perinatal psychology, technologies for psychological support of parenthood.
The textbook is intended for students studying psychology. It can also be useful to specialists in the field of practical educational psychology, graduate and student psychologists, and social educators.
ISBN 5-89939-101-4
© R. V. Ovcharova, 2003
© Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2003

Introduction........................................................ .......................................... 5
Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations of parenthood...........7
1.1. Theoretical approaches to understanding the essence of the phenomenon of parenthood....7
1.2. Components of the phenomenon of parenthood...................................10
1.3. Factors determining the formation of parenthood.......27
1.4. Parenthood as a supra-individual whole...................................33
Chapter 2. Psychology of parenthood....................................44
2.1. Family psychology in the aspect of parenthood formation....44
2.2. The psychological essence of ideas about parenthood....................................54
2.3. Parental love as a psychological phenomenon........72
2.4. Parental love as the unity of the love of mother and father.................................96
Chapter 3. Parenthood in the aspect of perinatal psychology..........116
3.1. Psychological studies of motherhood...................................116
3.2. Psychological readiness for motherhood...................................119
H.3. Psychological characteristics of pregnant women, ready and not ready for motherhood.....138
3.4. Psychological preparation of parents for the birth of a child.................................. 148
Chapter 4. Psychological support for parenthood................160
4.1. Parenting and parenting...................................160
4.2. Basic concepts of parenting...................................169
4.3. Models of psychological support for parenting.................................... 173
4.4. Diagnosis of family and family education....................................178
Chapter 5. Methodological foundations of family counseling and psychotherapy 213
5.1. Family counseling technique...................................213
5.2. Correctional parent groups...................................221
5.3. Methodology of child-centered family therapy....................................228
5.4. Methodology of family therapy for character accentuations in adolescents.....237
Chapter 6. Technologies for psychological support of parenthood.................................242
6.1. The concept of “technology” in the professional activity of a psychologist.......242
6.2. Program for developing psychological readiness for motherhood...246
6.3. A system of training exercises aimed at forming and developing a sense of parental love “Seven Steps”................................................. ...256
6.4. Technology of psychological correction of parent-child relationships in families of adolescents......262
General list of references...................................................311

INTRODUCTION

Parenthood (maternity and paternity) is a basic life purpose, an important state and a significant socio-psychological function of every person. The quality of these manifestations, their socio-psychological and pedagogical consequences are of enduring importance. What it depends on and how one can intervene in the process of parenthood formation, in our opinion, represents a significant socio-psychological problem. The nature of parenthood affects the quality of the offspring and ensures a person’s personal happiness and immortality. It can be argued that the future of society is the current state of parenthood.
Unfortunately, at the moment we do not have a clear definition of the concept of “parenthood”. A large number of studies have been devoted to the study of the family as an educational institution, both in domestic psychological science and abroad. Scientific works reveal the various functions of the family, evaluate the role of parents in raising a child, study the relationship between children and parents, identify styles and strategies of family education, as well as much more related to the phenomenon of family. Despite the great scientific interest in the development of children in the family, much less attention is paid to the parents themselves. And in order to most fully possess objective information about the development of the family and be able to effectively provide psychological support for it, it is necessary to study the institution of the family not only from the child’s side, but also from the parents’ side.
This manual is one of the attempts to fill the existing gap. In its theoretical part, we try to define parenthood, describe its phenomenology, and identify groups of factors influencing its formation and functioning. Particular attention is paid to family psychology in the aspect of the formation of parenthood; such a component of parenthood as parental love is studied in detail. Parenthood is considered in the guises of fatherhood and motherhood.
In our deep conviction, the overall picture of family upbringing and all life in the family is largely determined by how
people imagine parenthood before they actually become parents. The manual presents the results of our research concerning ideas about parenthood among people of different genders, ages, with different education, profession, number of children in the family, and various personal characteristics.
The formation and functioning of parenthood requires psychological support. Therefore, the second part of the book contains our idea of ​​the technology of psychological support for parenthood. It reflects various areas of work with parents: psychodiagnostics, psychocorrection, psychotherapy, counseling. We considered it necessary to present specific programs for psychological support of parenthood: on the formation of psychological readiness for motherhood, correction of child-parent relationships, development of parental feelings, and others.
The book uses materials from research conducted under the direction of the author at the Department of General and Social Psychology of Kurgan State University in 1999-2002.
I express my deep gratitude to my graduate students and students, who made a serious contribution to the development of the problem of the psychology of parenthood with their research.
I am pleased that the book will be published by the Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy and will quickly find practical application. I thank the General Director of the Institute, M. G. Burnyashev, for the opportunity to release it.
Chapter 1
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PARENTING FORMATION

1.1. Theoretical approaches to understanding the psychological essence of the phenomenon of parenthood
A characteristic feature of the integrity of any system is the ability to self-preserve in the process of constant movement, change and development. All this can be fully attributed to parenthood as a complex education, which is a system.
When considering the phenomenon of parenthood, it is necessary to clarify the issue of its relationship with the family system. The generally accepted view of a family implies the presence in it, in addition to a married couple, of a child or children. The family is a historically specific system of relationships between spouses, parents and children, as well as a small group whose members are related to each other by marriage or kinship relationships, a common life and mutual moral responsibility. From this point of view, it is possible to include parenthood as a subsystem in the family system, as a relatively independent entity.
The systemic approach involves the recognition of the family as a single whole, a single psychological and biological organism, recognition of universal family relationships (E. G. Eidemiller, V. V. Yustitsky, 1999). Therefore, considering the phenomenon of parenthood from the point of view of a systems approach, we will describe it in close connection with the family system.
In the early stages of the development of human society, individual parenthood was not institutionalized; the entire community was involved in the care and upbringing of children (I. S. Kon, 2001). Later, among the feudalized and early feudal nobility, the institution of “upbringing” became widespread - the custom of compulsory education of children outside the parental family. Normative instructions and actual parental behavior have never completely coincided anywhere. Parental behavior varied not only from class to class, but also from family to family.
In the XV - XVI centuries. attention to children is noticeably increasing, but this was primarily due to increased demands and rigor. Theologians of that time speak exclusively about the responsibilities of children towards their parents and not a word about parental responsibilities. Until the middle of the 18th century. Parental feelings occupy an insignificant volume in personal correspondence and diaries. Only towards the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. child-centric orientation has firmly established itself in the public consciousness, making the love of parents one of the main moral values ​​(I. S. Kon, 2002).
B.F. Lomov (1991) proceeded from the fact that mental phenomena are organically inscribed in the universal interconnection of phenomena and processes of the material world, are systemic and express the organic unity of unique properties.
Using the principles of a systems approach, in relation to the phenomenon of parenthood, we can state the following.
1. The phenomenon of parenthood is systemically determined, that is, it is a relatively independent system, while at the same time being a subsystem in relation to the family system.
2. The phenomenon of parenthood is multifaceted. It can be considered at two levels: both as a complex complex structure of an individual, and as a supra-individual whole. Both of these levels are simultaneously stages of parenthood formation.
3. The phenomenon of parenthood simultaneously appears in several planes, different aspects of which reveal the complex structure of its organization. The analysis and description of parenthood must cover all aspects of the presentation of the phenomenon. First of all, this is a plan for the individual personal characteristics of a woman or man that influence parenthood. The next plan covers both spouses in the unity of their value orientations, parental positions, feelings, etc., that is, parenthood is analyzed in relation to the family system. The third plan captures parenthood in relation to parental families. Finally, the fourth plane reveals parenthood in relation to the system of society.
4. Factors influencing the formation of parenthood are hierarchically organized and presented at several levels: macro level - the level of society, meso level - the level of the parental family, micro level - the level of one’s own family and, finally, the level of a specific individual. We will consider the first three levels. 5. The phenomenon of parenthood is a dynamic phenomenon, including the process of formation and development.
To understand parenthood as a special psychological phenomenon, we used a phenomenological approach. It represents an intuitive disclosure of the essence of a phenomenon (object), which is identical to its givenness, that is, it is reliable. Moreover, when “grasping” the essence of a phenomenon, human consciousness itself reveals itself as a special phenomenon (E. Husserl, 1994).
A phenomenon in psychology is a general concept that refers to objects and phenomena of objective or subjective reality, cognizable and cognizable (K. K. Platonov, 1981).
The phenomenological approach uses the principles of understanding rather than explanatory psychology, in contrast to the orthodox and some other approaches. In this case, the phenomenon is considered multidimensionally, rather than interpreted unambiguously.
Phenomenological practice is based on four basic principles (V.D. Mendelevich, 2001): understanding, “epoch”, impartiality and accuracy. In relation to the phenomenon of parenthood, the principles can be interpreted as follows.
1. The principle of understanding, as mentioned above, is opposed to the principle of explanation. It requires taking into account the influence of the subjective factor that determines a person’s experiences and behavior, and based on this understanding, drawing general conclusions. This principle assumes only a deep penetration into the essence of the phenomenon, reasoning, and not an unambiguous explanation of the observed phenomena.
2. The principle of “epoch”, or the principle of refraining from judgment. Its essence is to abstract from the usual stereotypes and patterns during phenomenological research, not to try to attribute the observed manifestations of a phenomenon to certain standards, but to try only to feel it. That is, when studying the phenomenon of parenthood, we can assume the multivariance of this or that phenomenon, the manifestations of the phenomenon, and not make categorical judgments.
3. The principle of impartiality and accuracy of description requires excluding the influence of the researcher’s subjective experience, moral principles and other evaluative categories. Accuracy of description requires care in the selection of words and terms to convey the meaning of the observed phenomenon of parenthood.
4. The principle of contextuality implies that the phenomenon of parenthood does not exist in isolation, but is an integral part of a person’s overall perception and understanding of the world around him and himself. In addition, historical and cultural contextuality must be taken into account. As a complex psychological phenomenon, parenthood has a certain structure. Component structure is one of the leading characteristics in the context of system analysis. The fundamental connecting component between the properties of the whole object and the properties of its parts, as components of the system, is the complex interaction of the components (V.I. Stepansky, A.K. Osnitsky, 1977). The authors believe that the use of the term “complex” implies the presence of a certain structure of interaction, and the structure here is understood as a set of intercomponent functional connections that combine the components into a single whole.
Thus, parenthood as a psychological phenomenon is a complex structure that can be considered from the point of view of systemic, integrated and phenomenological approaches.

1.2. Components of the phenomenon of parenthood
Parenting is a socio-psychological phenomenon, which is an emotionally and evaluatively colored set of knowledge, ideas and beliefs about oneself as a parent, realized in all manifestations of the behavioral component of parenthood. As a supra-individual whole, parenthood inherently includes both spouses who have decided to give birth to a new life and, of course, the child himself.
During the period of formation, parenthood is an unstable structure, which is manifested in the lack of coordination of some components between parents, the periodic occurrence of conflict situations, and greater mobility of the structure (compared to the developed form of parenthood).
Formation is characterized by the harmonization of the ideas of a man and a woman regarding the role of parents, functions, distribution of responsibilities, duties, that is, about parenthood in general. Until the moment a child is born, coordination of ideas occurs at the “theoretical” level, during conversations with each other, building the future, dreaming and planning. With the advent of a child, the coordination of ideas receives a “rebirth” when the theory begins to be implemented in practice.
The developed form of parenthood is characterized by relative stability and stability and is realized in the consistency of spouses’ ideas about parenthood, the complementarity of the dynamic manifestations of parenthood.
We assume that in its developed form parenthood includes:
value orientations of spouses (family values);
parental attitudes and expectations;
parental attitude;
parental feelings;
parental positions;
parental responsibility;
family education style.
To determine the semantic content of the concept of “value orientations,” we turn to the interpretation given by M. Rokeach: by value he understands either the individual’s conviction of the advantages of certain goals, a certain meaning of existence compared to other goals, or the individual’s conviction of the advantages of certain types behavior compared to other types. It is known that values ​​are characterized by the following features:
1) the total number of values ​​that are the property of a person is relatively small;
2) all people have the same values, although to varying degrees;
3) values ​​are organized into systems;
4) the origins of values ​​can be traced in culture, society and its institutions and personality;
5) the influence of values ​​can be traced in almost all social phenomena that deserve study.
Values ​​always occupy a certain place in the relationships of people who accept these values ​​as the ultimate foundations of their thoughts and actions. From the point of view of the value approach, a moral rule or assessment is based on value premises, and since these premises are not universal, it means that each moral rule or assessment is justified only within the framework of the community that accepts the corresponding values.
Most researchers consider the family as an environment where the development and acceptance of values ​​by the younger generation occurs. Parents influence the formation of a hierarchy of values ​​in children not only as emotionally close people, but also as
representatives of the adult world with whom children identify (Pekarski Jacek, 1990).
A. N. Elizarov concludes that “as the leading activity of the family, it is legitimate to consider the activity of preserving, developing, transforming and transferring to subsequent generations certain values, which at the subjective level act as the value orientations of the family.” Value orientations unite people into a family and create prospects for its development. They determine the goals of producing and ways of raising children in the family (V.N. Druzhinin, 2000). Researchers also introduce the concept of “similarity of family values,” which is interpreted as a socio-psychological quality that reflects the coincidence, orientational unity of views, attitudes of family members to universal human norms, rules, principles of formation, development and functioning of the family as a small social group (V.S. Torokhtiy, 2001, p.8).
Thus, we can say that family values ​​are a powerful integrating factor for the family system - both at the level of interaction between spouses and at the level of interaction between parents and children. In addition, value orientations determine the dynamics of the family in general and parenthood in particular.
The cognitive component of the spouses’ value orientations is characterized by the fact that the information in it is at the level of beliefs. These are, first of all, beliefs in the priority of certain goals, types and forms of behavior, as well as beliefs in the priority of certain objects in a certain hierarchy.
The emotional component is characterized by the unidirectionality of emotions in relation to one or another value orientation. The emotional aspect is realized in emotional coloring and evaluative attitude towards what is observed. It is the emotional aspect that determines a person’s experiences and feelings, shows the significance of a particular value, and is a kind of marker for determining priorities.
The behavioral component can be both rational and irrational; the main thing in it is the focus: on the implementation of value orientation, achieving a significant goal, protecting one or another subjective value, etc.
The main feature of family values, their significant difference from other components of parenthood, is that all three components are a fusion of emotions, feelings, beliefs and behavioral manifestations, that is, the connection of the components with each other is very strong and the impact on one of them is immediately reflected on the rest.
Parental attitudes and expectations are another component of the phenomenon of parenthood. Parental attitudes are a certain view of one’s role as a parent, including the reproductive component of the attitude, based on cognitive, emotional and behavioral components. Parental expectations are closely related to parental attitudes; they imply the right to expect from others recognition of their role position as parents, the appropriate behavior of others consistent with their role, and also to behave in accordance with the expectations of others.
From our point of view, parental attitudes and expectations include three levels of presentation:
“we are parents” (reproductive attitudes of spouses in terms of their relationship);
“we are the parents of our child” (attitudes in child-parent relationships);
“this is our child” (attitudes and expectations regarding the child/children).
The first level of representation of attitudes is characterized primarily by the presence of a reproductive attitude and its features. The emergence of a reproductive attitude “is based on the need for children as a special psychological state of the individual” (Druzhinin V.N., 2000, p. 270). This is a generally accepted opinion, but among scientists there is no single point of view either on the nature of this need or on its place among others. Most researchers agree that children accumulate and satisfy a whole set of needs.
The need for children is not biologically predetermined or natural. A.I. Antonov (1973) believes that a person does not have a “reproduction instinct” or any other instinct that directly induces the birth of children. This is proven by the fact of conscious human intervention in the reproductive cycle, excluding the automaticity of the birth of children.
The need for children is “a stable socio-psychological formation in the individual, determined, firstly, by the desire to have a typical number of children in a family for a given society; secondly, love of children, that is, deeply internalized attitudes towards children in general. The reproductive attitude represents, first of all, norms regarding the number of children in the family” (A. I. Antonov, 1973, p. 62).
V.V. Boyko (1988) considers three components of the reproductive installation:
1) behavioral element of the attitude, expressed by actual reproductive behavior and planned reproductive behavior;
2) the emotional-evaluative aspect, which is a set of views, judgments, and positions of a person regarding the size of his own family;
3) the cognitive element of the attitude, relating to those aspects of judgment and behavior that are determined by the presence of certain knowledge about the object in relation to which the attitude is manifested.
The formation of the need for children and, accordingly, the formation of a reproductive attitude is influenced by a number of conditions: the lifestyle of the family, typical norms widespread in society and especially among the immediate environment regarding the number of children; the lifestyle of the parental family and the number of children in it; the attitudes of each spouse on the number and gender of children, on children as helpers and support in old age, on the continuation of their lineage, family, surname, on self-realization in children, etc. (L. I. Savinov, 1996).
Another manifestation of attitudes and expectations of the first level are the attitudes and expectations of spouses towards each other as a parent, that is, here we are talking about a public or unspoken distribution of functions and roles. The comparison of attitudes and expectations towards the spouse-parent influences, from our point of view, marital satisfaction.
The second level of presentation of parental attitudes and expectations “we are the parents of our child” is implemented in the style of education. This includes the attitudes of spouses, determined by their educational preferences, views on the parental role, preferences for one or another system of punishments and rewards, flexibility in communication (changing the position of leader and follower), views on the child’s initiative, etc.
And finally, the third level of representation of parental attitudes and expectations - “this is our child” directly concerns the image of the child himself, created by the parents, and is closely related to satisfaction with the parental role. It is at this level that there is a constant comparison (conscious or unconscious) of the ideal image of the child with objective reality. The result of such a comparison is expressed in the parental attitude and influences it.
Thus, parental attitudes and expectations are presented at three levels. The first level - “we are parents” concerns the reproductive attitude and relationship between spouses and parents and determines the real and desired number of children, as well as subjective satisfaction with the marriage. The second level - “we are the parents of our child” concerns attitudes and expectations in child-parent relationships and is implemented in the style of family education. The third level - “this is our child” concerns attitudes and expectations regarding the child/children and is expressed in the parental attitude.
It should be noted that parental attitudes and expectations, like all social attitudes, are settings for the goals and means of activity in the field of parenting and, accordingly, include three aspects: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. The cognitive aspect concerns knowledge and ideas about the reproductive norm of society, the distribution of parental roles, and also includes the real and ideal image of the child. The emotional aspect is a set of views, judgments, assessments, as well as the dominant emotional background in the implementation of parental attitudes and expectations. And finally, the behavioral aspect of parental attitudes and expectations is realized in reproductive behavior, in the relationship between spouses, in parental attitudes, and in the style of family education.
Another component of parenthood is the parental relationship, which is a multidimensional formation, in the structure of which four components are distinguished (A. Ya. Varga, 1986):
1) integral acceptance or rejection of the child;
2) interpersonal distance (“symbiosis”);
3) forms and directions of control (authoritarian hypersocialization);
4) social desirability of behavior.
Each of these components is a combination in various proportions of emotional, cognitive and behavioral components.
There are at least four types of parental relationships, characterized by the dominance of one or more constituents (A. Ya. Varga, 1986):
accepting-authoritarian attitude, which is characterized by the fact that parents accept the child and approve of him, but demand social success;
rejecting with the phenomena of infantilization, characterized by the fact that parents emotionally reject the child, low value his individual personal qualities, attribute to him socially disapproved traits and bad inclinations, and also see him as younger in age;
a symbiotic relationship is characterized by the presence of symbiotic tendencies in communication with a child, overprotection;
Symbiotic-authoritarian differs from the previous type by the presence of hypercontrol.
Thus, the style of relationship between parents and a child turns out to be not just a means of maintaining contact with him, but also a unique method of education - education through relationships, since these relationships are relatively stable (S. V. Kovalev, 1988).
Despite its relative stability, parental attitudes can change and acquire certain features under the influence of various events. In general, the content of the parental attitude is contradictory and ambivalent, since “opposite elements of the emotional-value attitude coexist in it in varying proportions” (A. S. Spivakovskaya, 2000, p. 149).
The cognitive component contains ideas about various methods and forms of interaction with the child, knowledge and ideas about the target aspect of these relationships, as well as beliefs about the priority of those areas of interaction with the child that parents implement.
The emotional component includes assessments and judgments about various types of parental attitudes, as well as the dominant emotional background that accompanies the behavioral manifestations of parental attitudes.
The behavioral component represents forms and methods of maintaining contact with the child, forms of control, education through relationships by determining the communication distance.
Parental feelings emotionally color the parental attitude. They represent a special group of feelings that stands out among other emotional connections. Their specificity lies in the fact that parental care is necessary to support the child’s very life. And the need for parental love is vital for a small child. The love of every parent is the source and guarantee of a person’s emotional well-being, maintaining physical and mental health (A. S. Spivakovskaya, 1998).
Parental feelings, in particular, parental love, are not an innate property of a person (D. V. Winnicott, 1995, A. S. Spivakovskaya, 2000). Parental love, as the highest manifestation of parental feelings, is formed throughout a person’s life. The path of this formation often turns out to be complex and contradictory, internally conflicting. This is a deep and meaningful feeling. “To love a child means to be able to build contact with him, to see changes in his development, to trust the child, to learn to accept him as he is. Love for a child creates not only the personality of a little person, it is capable of transforming and improving the personality of the father and mother, enriching their spiritual world” (10, p. 8).
The content and fullness of parental feelings, as well as the parental attitude, is often ambivalent and contradictory. In addition to parental love, depending on the situation, parental feelings may contain irritation, fatigue, guilt, etc. (D. V. Winnicott, 1995).
Despite the initial emotional coloring of parental feelings, this structural component of parenthood, like all others, contains three components: emotional, cognitive and behavioral.
The cognitive component manifests itself at two levels:
socially approved knowledge and ideas that parents should love their children;
knowledge and ideas about the image of the child (ideal and/or real) that evokes the full range of parental feelings; associated with the third level of parental attitudes and expectations. Ideas about parental love are different and depend on the structure of one’s own family.
M. V. Bratchikova (2002) conducted a study of ideas about parental love in two-parent and single-parent families. Using the “Parental Essay” technique, she proved that ideas about parental love among women raised in single-parent families are less associated with responsibility and control than among men. They are more characterized by irresponsibility and freedom. A man raised in an incomplete family more often takes responsibility and control over other family members. And a woman, as a weak creature, is under the control of her mother or father. For men raised by one parent, ideas about parental love are more associated with love of children, and for women - with love for humanity.
Young people from two-parent families more often point to positive parental ideas: respect for children, acceptance of them as they are. In single-parent families, they indicate more either negative ideas or exaggerated parental feelings.
The results of the “Semantic Differential” method showed that respondents raised in single-parent families had the following ratios of positive, negative and vague ideas about parental love (see Fig. 1):
1. FACTOR “POSITIVE-NEGATIVE” A. Single-parent families B. Two-parent families
4. FACTOR “OBLIGATORY-OPTIONAL”

2. FACTOR “SIMPLE-COMPLEX”
A. Single-parent families
B. Two-parent families

3. FACTOR “ATCHIEVABLE-IMPOSSIBLE” A. Single-parent families B. Two-parent families

A. Single-parent families
B. Two-parent families

Rice. 1. Ideas about parental love in two-parent and single-parent families
The emotional component of parental love is represented by the whole gamut of feelings and the dominant emotional background that accompanies assessments of the image of the child, one’s spouse and oneself as a parent.
The behavioral component is closely related to the parental attitude and parental position, and is expressed precisely in them. From our point of view, the behavioral component can be either congruent or incongruent with respect to the emotional component.
Parental attitudes are another component of parenting. A. S. Spivakovskaya (1981) gives the following definition of this term: “a real orientation, which is based on a conscious or unconscious assessment of the child, expressed in the methods and forms of interaction with “children.” From the point of view of A. S. Spivakovskaya, parental positions manifest themselves in interaction with the child and represent an interweaving of conscious and unconscious motives. As a set of attitudes, parental positions exist on three levels: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. Characteristics of positions can be given in the following criteria (A. S. Spivakovskaya, 2000).
Adequacy is the degree of orientation of parents in the perception of the individual characteristics of the child, his development, the relationship between the qualities objectively inherent in the child and the qualities visible and recognized by the parents. The adequacy of the parents’ position is manifested in the degree and sign of distortions in the perception of the child’s image. Thus, the adequacy parameter describes the cognitive component of the interaction between parents and child.
Dynamism - the degree of mobility of parental positions, the ability to change the methods and forms of interaction with the child. Dynamism can manifest itself:
- in the child’s perception: creating a changeable portrait of a child or operating with a static portrait created once and for all;
- the degree of flexibility of forms and methods of interaction in connection with age-related changes in the child;
- in the degree of variability of the impact on the child in accordance with different situations, due to changing conditions of interaction.
Thus, the dynamism parameter describes the cognitive and behavioral components of parental positions. Predictiveness is the ability of parents to extrapolate, foresee the prospects for the further development of the child and build further interaction with him. Thus, predictiveness determines both the depth of the child’s perception by parents, that is, it describes the cognitive component of the parental position, and special forms of interaction with children, that is, the behavioral component of the parental position.
The emotional component is manifested in all three parameters of the parental position (adequacy, dynamism, predictability). It is expressed in the emotional coloring of the child’s image, in the predominance of one or another emotional background in the interaction between parents and children.
Summarizing the content of the components of parental positions, it is necessary to note the following. The cognitive component includes ideas about the real and ideal image of the child, about the existing positions of the parent, about one’s own parental position. The emotional component represents the dominant emotional background, judgments and assessments of the child’s real image, their parental positions and parent-child interactions. The behavioral component contains the communicative positions of parents, the prognostic aspect (planning) of further interaction with the child.
A typical parental position is the “above” or “on top” position. An adult has strength, experience, independence. The child, on the contrary, is physically weak, inexperienced, and completely dependent. The ideal parental position that spouses should strive for is equality of position. It means recognizing the active role of the child in the process of his upbringing (A. S. Spivakovskaya, 2000).
From the point of view of T.V. Arkhireeva (1990), parental positions are realized in the behavior of the father and mother in one or another type of education, that is, in one or another way of influence and the nature of treatment of the child.
The next component of parenting is parental responsibility. Responsibility is one of the most complex concepts in personality and social psychology.
In domestic psychology of the Soviet period, the problem of responsibility was developed mainly in philosophical, ethical, pedagogical aspects, as well as in terms of specific psychological analysis, where the nature of assigning and accepting responsibility was interpreted as one of the significant indicators of the level of development of the group. Particular attention to the problem of responsibility was paid in pedagogical literature, in particular, in the works of A. S. Makarenko, who considered the emergence and formation of “natural responsibility” in a team environment.
As a rule, when authors talk about responsibility, they consider its social aspect. K. Muzdybaev defines social responsibility as an individual’s tendency to adhere in his behavior to generally accepted social norms in a given society, to fulfill role responsibilities and his willingness to give an account of his actions.
T. N. Sidorova (1987) identifies the unity of three components in the structure of social responsibility: cognitive, motivational and behavioral. The cognitive component is a system of knowledge acquired by an individual about the essence of social responsibility, about the norms of behavior through which this quality is realized. The motivational component includes a hierarchy of motives for socially responsible behavior. A.P. Rastigeev and E.A. Yakuba consider responsibility as a psychological state, an attitude, manifested in the form of “restlessness, anxiety, concern,” and hence activity. Responsibility is formed from free will, awareness of duty, social measures of influence on the individual in response to his socially significant actions (L. I. Gryadunova, 1979, p. 24).
An important area of ​​responsibility is the area of ​​family and household relations. This is responsibility in the relationship between spouses, the responsibility of parents for raising children, the responsibility of children for the fate of elderly parents. L. I. Gryadunova attributes family responsibility to personal social responsibility.
L.A. Sukhinskaya (1978) speaks of responsibility as a special social position of a person, characterized by the extent to which he accepts and implements specific norms of responsible behavior.
A family member may be responsible for other individual family members (wife, husband, children) and for the family as a whole. The role of the leader, the head of the family, presupposes responsibility for the family as a whole - for its present, past, future, activities and behavior of family members, to oneself and the family, to the immediate social environment and that part of society to which the family belongs. This is always responsibility for others and not just for individual close people, but for the social group as a whole (V.N. Druzhinin, 2000).
Thus, the birth of a child, the adoption of a parental role is the assumption by parents of responsibility for the fate of the child before their conscience and before society (V.V. Boyko, 1988).
Parental responsibility as a phenomenon is dual in nature: it is a responsibility both to society and to impersonal nature (one’s conscience). Responsibility, like the rest of the parenting structure, has several components. The cognitive component includes ideas about the responsible and irresponsible behavior of a parent, about the distribution of responsibility between spouses in other families and in one’s own family. The emotional component extends to attitudes towards the distribution of responsibility in the family, emotional experiences associated with this, and assessment of oneself as a parent from the point of view of responsibility. And finally, the behavioral component concerns control of one’s behavior and current events, characterized by one’s role in the family. In addition, a feature of responsibility is its temporal characteristic - responsibility can be directed to the past, localized in the present and oriented toward the future, that is, include an element of foresight.
And finally, the final component of the parenting structure is the style of family education. The style of interaction between parents and child is the most obvious, accessible to external observation. It is a kind of quintessence of the remaining structural components - the value orientations of spouses, parental attitudes and expectations, parental attitudes, parental feelings, parental positions, parental responsibility. Without detracting from the contribution of other components to the structure of parenting, it should be said that the style of family education, due to its obviousness, is very important, first of all, for the child himself, since it determines the parental role and generally influences his personal formation and development.
Researchers of family education style and interaction take different approaches to analyzing this issue. E. G. Eidemiller identified the main characteristics of the types of child upbringing:
degree of hyperprotection;
needs satisfaction;
requirements for the child;
sanctions imposed on him;
educational uncertainty of parents.
Based on these characteristics, a formal description of parenting styles is given: indulgent hyperprotection, dominant hyperprotection, emotional rejection, increased moral responsibility, hypoprotection.
E. Rowe studied such characteristics of interaction as emotional acceptance - rejection, presence - lack of control, stimulation - non-stimulation of the child’s activity.
E. T. Sokolova focuses on the relationship between mother and child (not both parents) and identifies the following parenting styles:
1. Cooperation: in communication, supportive statements prevail over deviating ones. The mother encourages the child to be active; communication is characterized by mutual compliance and flexibility.
2. Isolation: joint decisions in the family are not made; the child is isolated and does not want to share his inner world with his parents.
3. Rivalry: communication is characterized by confrontation and criticism, which is a consequence of the realization of the need for self-affirmation and symbiotic attachment.
4. Pseudo-cooperation: partners show egocentrism, the motivation for joint decisions is not business, but gaming. Considering various approaches to analyzing styles of interaction with a child, one can also trace the presence of three components: emotional, cognitive and behavioral.
The cognitive component is based on parental attitudes and expectations regarding the image of the child and the role of the spouse in raising the child. This component also includes parents’ general ideas about possible ways of interacting with a child and parenting styles. In addition, the fundamental basis of the cognitive component is the values ​​of the parents, which determine not only this component of the parenting style, but also the orientation of the parent’s personality, including all his behavior.
The emotional component of family upbringing style is determined by parental feelings, the emotional background in communication with the child, that is, the manifestation of parental positions, feelings towards the marriage partner, attitude towards the distribution of responsibilities and roles in the family, and assessment of oneself as a parent in general.
Finally, in the behavioral component, all components of parenthood are realized to one degree or another: parental attitude, attitudes and expectations, parental feelings, positions, implementation of family values ​​and position of responsibility.
The cognitive component is the parents’ awareness of the family connection with their children, the idea of ​​themselves as a parent, the idea of ​​an ideal parent, the image of the spouse as the parent of a common child, knowledge of parental functions, the image of the child.
The emotional component is a subjective feeling of oneself as a parent, parental feelings, attitude towards a child, attitude towards oneself as a parent, attitude towards a spouse as a parent of a common child.
The behavioral component is the skills, abilities and activities of the parent in caring for, providing financial support for, raising and educating the child, the relationship with the spouse as the parent of a common child, and the style of family education.
Analyzing the component structure of parenthood, it should be noted:
1) All components have three components (cognitive, emotional and behavioral), which are criteria for the implementation of the components of parenthood.
2) The components of parenting are connected to each other into a single structure through the intersection of component elements (cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects).
3) The quintessence, the total expression of all components, most accessible to observation, is the style of family education.
So, parenting is a complex dynamic structure, which in its developed form includes parental values, attitudes and expectations, parental attitudes, parental feelings, parental positions, parental responsibility, and family education style. The connection between the components is carried out through the intersection of the elements of their components: cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects, which are the criteria for the implementation of these components.
The peculiarity of family values ​​is that they, in fact, represent an alloy of emotions, feelings, beliefs and behavioral manifestations. Family values ​​are fundamental to the other components of parenting and are realized in the direction of the parent’s personality and the direction of his behavior. Parental attitudes and expectations include three levels of presentation regarding reproductive attitudes, attitudes and expectations in the parent-child relationship, and attitudes and expectations regarding the image of one's own child/children. That is, in general, they are attitudes towards the goals and means of activity in the field of parenting and are realized in reproductive behavior, relationships with a spouse in the field of raising children, parental attitudes, and family education style.
Parental attitude is a relatively stable phenomenon, including ambivalent elements of emotional and value attitudes and capable of changing within certain limits. It is implemented in maintaining contact with the child, forms of control, and education through relationships.
Parental feelings are a significant group of feelings that occupy a special place in a person’s life. The content of parental feelings, like the parental attitude, is also ambivalent and contradictory and is realized primarily in the parental attitude and parental positions.
Parental positions represent the real direction of interaction with the child, which is based on a conscious or unconscious assessment of the child. Parental positions are realized in flexible communicative positions, the predictive ability of parents to build relationships with the child. Parental responsibility has a dual nature: it is responsibility to society and to impersonal nature (one’s conscience). It is expressed in control of one’s behavior and family situation, and is characterized by one’s role in family upbringing.
The style of family education is an exponent of the interaction of the components listed above; its manifestation is most obvious. The style of family education, more than other components of parenting, determines the personal formation and development of the child.
Table 1 Components of the phenomenon of parenthood
Component Cognitive aspect Emotional aspect Behavioral aspect Family values ​​Beliefs in the priority of certain goals, types and forms of behavior; beliefs in the priority of any objects within a certain hierarchy Emotional coloring and evaluative attitude towards what is observed, demonstrating the significance of a particular value orientation Direction of the parent’s personality and direction of behavior: towards the implementation or protection of value orientation, achievement of a significant goal, etc. Component Cognitive aspect Emotional aspect Behavioral aspect Parental attitudes and expectations Knowledge and ideas about the reproductive norm of society, the distribution of parental roles, the ideal and real image of the child Views, judgments, assessments, as well as the dominant emotional background in the implementation of parental attitudes and expectations Real reproductive behavior, relationships between spouses, parental attitudes, parental positions Parental attitudeKnowledge and ideas about the methods and forms of interaction with the child, their target aspect, beliefs in the priority of areas of interaction that parents implement.Evaluations and judgments regarding various types of parental relationship, the dominant emotional background that accompanies the behavioral manifestations of the parental relationshipForms and methods of maintaining contact with the child, forms of control, education mutually

4. Psychological support for parenthood

Parenting and parenting

A number of hypotheses can be put forward regarding the essence of parenthood as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. Parenthood can be considered:

Biological, sociocultural and psychological phenomenon;

A social institution that combines two other institutions - fatherhood and motherhood;

Activities of a parent in caring for, providing financial support for, raising and educating a child;

A stage in a person's life that begins from the moment a child is conceived and does not end after the death of the child;

As being, state, being a person in the position of a parent;

The objective fact of the child’s origin from specific parents, certified by a birth record in the registry office;

A person’s subjective feeling of being a parent;

Consanguinity between parent and child; parents' awareness of family ties with their children. In our opinion, it is quite acceptable to distinguish the characteristics of parenthood according to certain criteria:

By form: motherhood and paternity;

By family structure: parenthood in a two-parent family; in an incomplete family with one parent, in a maternal family;

By degree of relationship: biological parenthood (the parents raising the child are related to him); social parenting (the child is raised by adoptive parents); “mixed” type of parenthood (in this case, only one of the parents is adopted, and the child is connected by blood ties with the second).

When exploring the phenomenon of parenthood, we are dealing primarily with two different, but interdependent phenomena - fatherhood and motherhood.

The traditional model of sexual differentiation, emphasizing the “instrumental” nature of male behavior and the “expressiveness” of female behavior, rests primarily on the division of extra-family and intra-family functions, as well as paternal and maternal functions.

The biosocial approach argues that innate traits shape the framework within which social learning occurs and influence how easily men and women learn the behaviors that society considers normative for their gender.

Since paternity and maternity are rooted in reproductive biology, their relationship cannot be understood without reference to sexual dimorphism. Observations of the interaction of mothers and fathers with infants show that maternal play is a kind of continuation and form of child care. The father, and the man in general, prefers power games and activities that develop the child’s own activity.

The specificity of the maternal and paternal style of relationships is associated with such supposedly innate traits as increased emotional sensitivity, a predisposition to respond more quickly to sounds and faces in women; better spatial perception, good motor control, visual acuity, and greater separation of emotional and cognitive reactivity in men.

Like other aspects of sex-role differentiation, parental behavior is extremely plastic. It has been experimentally proven that

Psychologically prepared fathers willingly admire newborns, experience physical pleasure from touching them and are practically not inferior to women in the art of caring for a child. This also contributes to the emergence of a closer emotional attachment between the father and the child; It is assumed that the earlier the father becomes involved in caring for the baby and the more enthusiastically he does it, the stronger his parental love becomes.

The concept of “maternal instinct” should not be taken unambiguously and literally. Motherhood evolves with the development of humanity. A woman's motherhood has less in common with the maternal instinct than love has with the sexual instinct.

It is characteristic that many peoples distinguish between physical and conditional, social kinship in relation to the mother. Thus, Africans have several different terms for motherhood: “the mother who gave birth,” “the mother who nurtured,” and “the mother who raised.”

Having traced the history of maternal attitudes over four centuries (XVII - XX centuries), researchers have come to the conclusion that the maternal instinct is a myth. They did not find any universal and necessary behavior of the mother. Mother's love may or may not exist, appear or disappear, be strong or weak, selective or universal. Everything depends on the mother, on her story and on History.

For example, until the end of the 18th century. maternal love in France was a matter of individual discretion and, therefore, a socially accidental phenomenon. In the second half of the 18th century. it gradually becomes a mandatory normative attitude of culture. Society not only increases the amount of social care for children, but also places them at the center of family life, with the main and even exclusive responsibility for them placed on the mother.

In the second half of the 20th century. tendencies hostile to “child-centrism” were clearly revealed. Socio-political emancipation and the increasing involvement of women in social and productive activities makes their family roles, including motherhood, less comprehensive and, perhaps, less significant for some of them. A modern woman can no longer and does not want to be only a “faithful wife and virtuous mother.” Her self-esteem has many other foundations besides motherhood - professional achievements, social independence, independently achieved, and not acquired through marriage, social position. Some traditionally maternal functions in caring for and raising children are now taken on by professionals. This does not cancel the value of maternal love and the need for it, nor does it significantly change the nature of maternal behavior. However, increasing the socio-pedagogical effectiveness of the family and family education is possible only within the framework of the successful combination of motherhood with the active participation of women in labor and social activities. This is sober realism in understanding the problems and trends in the development of modern parenthood.

Both ethnographic and historical data unanimously testify to the close proximity and decisive role of the mother in nursing and raising a child up to the age of five to seven years. The role of the father appears more problematic throughout.

Can the vagueness and diffuseness of the paternal role be considered a consequence of the fact that fatherhood reflects the social dominance of men, or is it the result of the fact that paternal functions are “objectively” less significant and difficult to describe?

I. S. Kon points out that the designation and actual content of paternal and maternal roles are closely related to both general sexual symbolism and sexual stratification, including the differentiation of marital roles - the statuses of mother and father cannot be understood separately from the statuses of wife and husband.

In humans, the difference between fatherhood and motherhood and the specific style of fatherhood depend on many sociocultural conditions and vary significantly from culture to culture. The elements on which the content of the father’s role depends, according to researchers, include:

The number of wives and children the father has and is responsible for;

The extent of his power over them;

The amount of time he spends in close proximity with his wife(s) and children at different ages, and the quality of these contacts;

The extent to which he directly cares for children;

The extent to which he is responsible for teaching children skills and values ​​directly and indirectly;

The degree of his participation in ritual events associated with children;

How much he works to support the life of his family or community;

How much effort he needs to make to protect or increase the resources of his family or community.

The ratio and significance of these factors depend on a number of conditions: the predominant type of economic activity, sexual division of labor, type of family, etc.

As I. S. Kon notes, despite all cross-cultural differences, the primary care of small children, especially infants, is carried out everywhere by the mother or some other woman (aunt, older sister, etc.). Physical contact between fathers and young children is negligible in most traditional societies, although in monogamous families it increases as the child ages. Many nations have strict rules of avoidance that limit contact between father and children and make their relationship extremely reserved, harsh, excluding expressions of tenderness. The cult of men has always been a cult of strength and severity, and “unclaimed”, suppressed feelings often atrophy.

The idea of ​​the weakness and inadequacy of “modern fathers” is one of the most widespread stereotypes of social consciousness of the second half of the 20th century, and this stereotype is to a certain extent transcultural, it “spreads” from West to East, ignoring the differences in social systems.

In particular, scientists and publicists state:

Increase in fatherlessness, frequent absence of a father in the family;

The insignificance and poverty of paternal contacts with children compared to maternal ones;

Pedagogical incompetence, ineptitude of fathers;

Lack of interest and inability of fathers to carry out educational functions, especially caring for young children.

Of all the listed elements of the stereotypical model of the “weakening of the paternal principle,” the only unconditional and sad reality is the increase in fatherlessness, associated primarily with the dynamics of divorce and the increase in the number of single mothers. The absolute number and proportion of children raised without fathers is steadily growing in most industrialized countries. According to demographic data, at least one fifth of all children are raised without the participation of fathers and stepfathers.

The remaining statements are much more problematic. Why do people think that fathers' contribution to education is decreasing?

Among other reasons, the breakdown of the traditional system of sexual stratification is affecting.

In a traditional patriarchal family, the father acts as

a) breadwinner

b) personification of power and the highest “discipliner”,

c) a role model, and often a direct mentor in non-family, social and work activities.

In a modern urban family, these traditional values ​​of fatherhood are noticeably weakening under the pressure of such factors as women's equality, the involvement of women in professional work, close family life, where there is no pedestal for the father, and the spatial separation of work and life.

The strength of the father's influence in the past was rooted primarily in the fact that he was the embodiment of power and instrumental efficiency. In modern conditions the situation has changed. The children do not see how the father works, and the number and significance of his family responsibilities is much less than that of the mother.

As the “invisible parent,” as the father is often called, becomes visible and more democratic, he is increasingly criticized by his wife, and his authority, based on non-familial factors, decreases.

A noticeable weakening of the polarization of male and female, father and mother roles and images is also reflected in the upbringing of children.

Traditional paternal authority is supported not so much by the father's personal qualities as by his social position as head of the family, while the actual distribution of family roles has always been more or less individual and changeable. Today's culture recognizes and reinforces this fact, modifying traditional social stereotypes, rather than creating something new.

When studying the phenomenon of paternity, many questions arise:

1. How does the modern situation and behavior of fathers differ from the traditional one?

2. How does the modern stereotype, the normative image of fatherhood differ from the traditional one?

3. What is the degree of coincidence between the stereotype of fatherhood and the actual behavior of today's fathers?

4. Is the degree of agreement between the stereotype and the actual behavior of fathers “here and now” the same, greater or less than “there and before”?

5. How do these real and imagined differences relate to the historical evolution of sexual stratification and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity?

6. What are the psychological consequences of the alleged changes in the nature of paternity and motherhood, how do they affect the personality and psychological qualities of the child?

The weakening and even complete loss of male power in the family is reflected in the stereotypical image of paternal incompetence. Such a stereotype also does not help maintain paternal authority. But the main thing is that the man is assessed according to traditionally feminine criteria. We are talking about an activity that fathers have never seriously engaged in before and for which they are socially, psychologically, and perhaps biologically ill-prepared.

According to I. S. Kon, the traditional separation of paternal and maternal functions, as well as other sex roles, is not an absolute biological imperative. A single mother and father can successfully raise and raise a child. Single fathers and single mothers are characterized by a number of common features: a more limited social life, a somewhat more democratic style of family life and the presence of certain difficulties when entering into a new marriage.

Along with this, they have their own specific socio-psychological difficulties. Single fathers receive more help from friends and relatives, but their social circle narrows more than single mothers. While single mothers have difficulty disciplining their children, fathers are concerned about lack of emotional intimacy with them, especially with their daughters. But although in both cases an incomplete family creates difficulties (of varying degrees), the absence of one of the parents does not exclude the possibility of normal development of the child and some kind of compensation for the missing paternal or maternal influence.

The first psychological and sociological studies that convincingly showed the importance of the father as an educational factor were devoted not so much to fatherhood as to the effect of fatherlessness. Comparing children raised with and without fathers, researchers found that having an “invisible,” “incompetent,” and often inattentive parent is actually very important. In any case, its absence has a very negative effect on children. Such children, especially boys, have a harder time learning male gender roles and the corresponding style of behavior, so they are more likely than others to hypertrophy their masculinity, showing aggressiveness, rudeness, pugnacity, etc.

But no matter how serious such data is, they are only indirect evidence. These problems are very complex and are often interpreted in exactly the opposite way, especially at the level of global theories. From the point of view of psychoanalysis, the weakening of paternal power in the family is the greatest social catastrophe, since along with fatherhood all external and internal structures of power, discipline, self-control and the desire for perfection were undermined. “A society without fathers” means the demasculinization of men, social anarchy, passive permissiveness, etc.

From a feminist point of view, on the contrary, we are talking about the affirmation of social equality of the sexes and the general humanization of interpersonal relations.

The formation of parenthood begins in the parental family and long before the appearance of one’s own children. Manifestations of parenthood depend on the individual typological and personal characteristics of the parents, as well as on the socio-psychological characteristics of the parent and the emerging family. Therefore, it is quite legitimate to pose the problem of parental education.

Parenting is an international term that refers to helping parents perform their functions as educators of their own children and parental functions. Research into family problems and family education shows that parents increasingly need the help of specialists. Consultations and recommendations are needed not only for parents of children at risk or problem families. They are necessary for every family at a certain stage of its development due to its internal needs and the growing demands of society on the family as a social institution.

Analysis of the content of the concept of “parental education” allows us to conclude that it takes into account the close connection of the child’s development with the well-being, internal atmosphere and lifestyle of the family, and not only with certain methods of raising children and shaping their behavior. The concept of “parental education” includes issues of the family’s influence on the formation of the child’s personality and his development as a whole, as well as issues of the family’s relationship to society and culture. Ultimately, we are talking about the child’s right to parents who are able to provide him with all-round development and well-being. In this form, parental education is part of the social policy of modern society. The concept of “family education” is broader than the term “parental education”, since it means the accumulation and mastery of the necessary knowledge and skills by all family members, and not just parents. In addition to parents, children and newlyweds can be the object of family education of parents. Consequently, parenting is, first of all, the accumulation of knowledge and skills in performing parental functions and raising children.

Parenting should be considered separately from family psychotherapy and family and marriage counseling, which are specific forms of work focused on the individual and interactions between people. Raising parents is largely an educational work aimed at the creation of man.

At the same time, the functions of raising children mean the creation of certain relationships between parents and children, as well as their prerequisites, that is, a certain way of life of the family and the relationships of its members. The function of comprehensive assistance in the development of a child means creating conditions under which his physiological, emotional and intellectual needs will be satisfied sufficiently and at the required quality level.

The purpose of educating parents is to create the perspectives they need as educators. Educating parents should, first of all, help them gain confidence and determination, see their capabilities and feel responsible for their children.

Different parenting programs have different goals. In some, attention is focused on guiding the child’s behavior, in others - on his intellectual development, in others - on the development of the social competence of the individual. Common to all parent education programs is the desire to expand their independence in solving various problems, in relationships with different people, and in choosing behavior in different situations. The tasks of raising parents can be classified based on the characteristics of each period of the child’s development and the range of problems that he must solve at each stage independently.

The need for work to educate parents is based, firstly, on the parents’ need for support, secondly, on the child’s own need for educated parents, and thirdly, on the existence of an indisputable connection between the quality of home education and social problems of society. Consequently, the need to educate parents can be justified either by reference to the well-being of the child and family as a whole, or by emphasizing the social significance of this problem. Raising parents while respecting the family's rights to self-determination and the principle of voluntariness is a healthy social function.

4.1.Basic concepts of parenting

Parental upbringing is always based on a system of values ​​(religious, social, aesthetic, moral, etc.). It always reveals the way of thinking and the level of culture of a given society, and takes into account the needs of the parents themselves. These provisions are reflected in a variety of concepts and models of parenting, the most common of which are the following.

Adlerian model (A. Adler). This direction of parental education is based on a conscious and purposeful change in the behavior of parents, which is determined by the leading principle of mutual respect among family members. The feeling of unity that arises in this case makes a person capable of cooperation with other people, that is, it forms a social character. Since the development of personality is determined by social motives, and a person is a social being by nature, a sense of belonging to a certain group is important for him. According to A. Adler's theory, the family atmosphere, attitudes, values ​​and relationships in the family are the main factor in personality development. Children learn social norms and perceive culture through their parents. Therefore, the family is the primary group in which the child forms his ideals, life goals, value system and learns to live.

The core concepts of Adlerian parenting are “equality,” “cooperation,” and “natural results.” The leading principles of education are also associated with them: refusal to struggle for power and taking into account the needs of the child. According to this model, assistance to parents should be educational in nature. They need to be taught to respect the uniqueness, individuality and inviolability of the child’s personality from early childhood. It is necessary to help each parent understand their children, enter into their way of thinking, learn to understand the motives of their actions, and develop their own methods of education and personality development. Natural logical reasoning used in the course of education allows the child to practically understand his behavior or actually experience the results of his actions. This contributes to the harmonization of relationships in the family and the child’s rapid awareness of the shortcomings of his own behavior.

Educational-theoretical model (B.F. Skinner). The model is based on the results of experimental studies, with the help of which an attempt was made to determine how attitudes towards parental behavior influence the child. This direction is based on the general theory of behaviorism. The model under consideration emphasizes that the behavior of parents and their children can be changed by retraining or teaching. Parents' education consists of teaching them quick behavioral techniques. Parents' behavior changes as they understand their own and their children's actions and their motives. They gradually master the skills of regulating behavior. The ways to shape behavior are positive reinforcement (reward), negative reinforcement (punishment) and no reinforcement (zero attention). Parents play the role of “agents” of the social environment who regulate the child’s behavior using the above means. During the training, parents are provided with scientific information about the regulation of behavior and become familiar with special terminology that helps describe these processes. Parents are taught to understand the child’s reactions and shape their stimuli. Behavior diagnostic skills are included in all educational and theoretical programs. The goal of the programs in this area is to train parents to observe and measure behavior and the practical application of the principles of social learning theory in changing behavior at home.

The model of sensory communication (Thomas Gordon) is based on the phenomenological theory of personality of Carl Rogers and the practice of client-centered therapy, the purpose of which is to create conditions for individual self-expression. This is achieved by smoothing out the difference between the “ideal self” and the “real self” under certain psychological circumstances. If every person has two main needs: a positive attitude from others and self-esteem, then the condition for the healthy development of a child is the absence of a contradiction between the idea of ​​how others treat him (“ideal self”) and the actual level of love (“real self”). . You can change a person’s behavior only by understanding and accepting his feelings. In this way, the therapist helps the client release his feelings and become aware of his behavior and take concrete steps to change it. In family education, the model of sensory communication means dialogical communication, its openness, emancipation of feelings, and their sincerity. This model of parenting strives from the development of sensory communications to self-expression of each family member. Parents mastering this model must learn three basic skills:

1) active listening;

2) it is accessible for the child to express his own feelings;

3) practical use of the principle of “both are right” in family communication.

Associated with these skills is the ability to pose, correctly formulate a problem and find its addressee. T. Gordon believed that parents should differentiate the problems of the parent and the child, teach children to independently solve problems, gradually transferring all responsibility for finding their solution to the child himself.

Model based on transactional analysis (M. James, D. Johngard). According to the theory of transactional analysis by E. Berne, the personality of each individual is determined by factors that can be called “I” states. This is a way of perceiving reality, analyzing the information received and the individual’s response to reality. A person can do this in different ways: like a child, like an adult, like a parent.

The “child” in personality is spontaneity, creativity, intuition. Biological needs and basic human sensations are associated with this beginning. This is the purest part of the personality, since it represents everything that is most natural in a person.

The “adult” in the individual acts consistently. The properties of this beginning, this part of the human personality are systematic observations, objectivity, adherence to the laws of logic, and rationality. In the development of personality, everything conscious is connected with the “adult” area. It begins with the development of the sensory-motor level of perception and reaches formal, abstract-logical thinking.

The position “born into personality” includes acquired norms of behavior, habits and values. The behavior of authoritative people in a social environment teaches the individual certain norms and ways of behavior through the “parental” part. Parental programming largely predetermines, according to Berne, the fate of the child. It is carried out, first of all, through transactions - units of communication, which can be complementary, that is, promoting mutual understanding, intersecting, causing conflicts and tension, and hidden, in which information during communication is distorted. The main task of parental education is to teach family members mutual compromises and the ability to use them in other social spheres. To do this, they must master the terminology of transactional analysis when considering their behavior and relationships in the family, learn to determine the nature of the child’s needs and requests and establish adequate communications with him. This is necessary because the key to changing a child's behavior lies in changing the relationship between parents and child.

Model of group therapy (H. Ginot). The model is based on the desire to teach parents to reorient their attitudes depending on the needs of the child. The model is of a purely practical nature and focuses on the consideration of problem situations: how to talk to children, how to praise a child, children’s fears, etc. Parenting according to Jinot is carried out in the form of group consultations, therapy and instruction. The goal of group therapy is to achieve positive changes in the personality structure of parents (for people with emotional disturbances who cannot cope with problems in the relationship between children and parents). Group counseling should help parents cope with the problems that arise when raising children. During the consultation, parents are helped to get rid of feelings of guilt by showing similar experiences in other families; parents share their experiences, experiences, and tell each other about difficulties. Gradually they begin to look more objectively at the problems of their family. Parent instruction also takes place in a group and resembles a group consultation.

What is common to the models considered is that each of them, in its own way, tries to convey to parents some idea of ​​the action necessary for them to perform educational functions, and puts forward some basic idea on the basis of which parents can build their own methods of education.

Model of parental universal education and preparation of youth for family life (I. V. Grebennikov). In the 70s and 80s, under the leadership of I.V. Grebennikov, a program for pedagogical education of parents was developed and methodically equipped, which was based on the assumption that a significant part of the shortcomings and miscalculations in family education and family relationships is associated with the psychological and pedagogical illiteracy of parents. The development of such education programs focused on the peculiarities of raising children of different ages, the specifics of families and family problems, as well as the active preparation of teachers of schools and preschool institutions for their implementation, the publication of special reference books, encyclopedias of family life and family education have significantly intensified attention to the problem of parenthood. The second, more preventive aspect of the work is the preparation of young people for family life, carried out through the special school subject “Ethics and Psychology of Family Life”, and the training of personnel to teach it. The main problem of implementing the model in its psychological aspects was the lack of practical psychologists in educational institutions and the inability of teachers to resolve psychological problems of the family and family education.

Thus, there are various methodological approaches to parenting, using which one can provide psychological support for parenting. Each of them is aimed at solving certain practical problems and must be correlated with both family values ​​and the psychological difficulties of parents.

Models of psychological support for parenting

The family can be both a powerful factor in the development and emotional and psychological support of the individual, and a source of mental trauma and various associated personality disorders: neuroses, psychoses, psychosomatic diseases, sexual perversions and behavioral deviations.

A person is sensitive to the family atmosphere, its condition and prospects throughout his life. However, the family has the greatest influence on the developing personality. In the family, the child’s attitude towards himself and the people around him is formed. It is where the primary socialization of the individual takes place, the first social roles are mastered, and the basic values ​​of life are laid. Parents naturally influence their children: through the mechanisms of imitation, identification and internalization of patterns of parental behavior. A unique catalyst for family education is related feelings. Family education is individual, and therefore it cannot be replaced by any surrogates of anonymous education. Its absence or defects are made up for with great difficulty in a person’s subsequent life.

The educational potential of a family is its ability to implement the function of raising, developing and socializing a child. Most researchers associate it with the psychological atmosphere, the system of interpersonal relationships, the nature of the attitude towards children, their interests, needs, the level of psychological, pedagogical and general culture of parents, family lifestyle, structure, individual typological characteristics of parents. According to experts, the greatest importance for Personality formation is determined by the moral and psychological climate of the family, which determines and mediates all other factors. In turn, the family microclimate itself depends on the nature of family and, above all, marital and child-parent relationships.

We determine the educational potential of a family, primarily through child-parent relationships. We classify families with high educational potential as families of adolescents in which family and parenthood are the terminal values ​​of life, in which there is unconditional acceptance of the child as an individual, a positive attitude of the child towards his father (mother) and parents as a family couple. The structure of family ties and functional-role interaction are not disturbed; the socially desirable type of parental behavior and the social adequacy of children’s behavior predominate.

Families with low educational potential have opposite characteristics.

Based on the importance of the family and family upbringing, the psychologist considers the family as one of the main objects of his professional activity, the most important component of the social situation of the child’s development. He must be prepared for various types of work with families: family diagnostics, family counseling, psychological and pedagogical education of parents, correction of parent-child attitudes, family psychotherapy.

From the point of view of the influence of the family on the development of the child’s personality, it is important for the psychologist to find out what role the personality of the parents, their attitude towards the child, and the family emotional and psychological microclimate that develops into a specific family development situation play in this influence. He is also interested in how this or that family situation is perceived by the child, what consequences it causes in his personal development, behavior and how this affects his emotional well-being.

Educational microsociety is a part of the social microenvironment that carries out directed and undirected educational influence and influences the formation of the child’s personality.

The family plays the main role in the educational microsociety, this small social circle. The family carries out educational influences and positive and negative influences depending on the personal characteristics of the parents, their attitude towards the child and his upbringing, and the style of family education. In each family, based on related feelings and attachments, a special emotional and psychological microclimate develops, and family roles are formed. These and many other parameters, intertwined with each other, define the family as an educational microsociety.

There are various models of family assistance that a psychologist can use when working with families.

1. The pedagogical model is based on the hypothesis of a lack of pedagogical competence of parents. The subject of the complaint in this case is usually the child. The consultant, together with the parents, analyzes the situation and outlines a program of measures. Although the parent himself may be the cause of the problem, this possibility is not openly considered. The psychologist focuses not so much on the individual capabilities of the parent, but on methods of education that are universal from the point of view of pedagogy and psychology.

This model is based on the assumption that parents have a deficit of knowledge and skills related to raising children. This model is preventive in nature. So-called problematic, dysfunctional families especially need it. It is aimed at improving the psychological and pedagogical culture of parents, expanding and restoring the educational potential of the family, and actively involving parents in the process of social education of children. For this, various forms of work are used.

The combination of theoretical knowledge, its consolidation in the experience of family education, discussions and workshops addressing the real difficulties of family education create a good basis for parental competence.

2. The social model is used in cases where family difficulties are the result of unfavorable external circumstances. In these cases, in addition to analysis of the life situation and recommendations, the intervention of external forces is required.

3. The psychological (psychotherapeutic) model is used when the causes of the child’s difficulties lie in the area of ​​communication and personal characteristics of family members. It involves an analysis of the family situation, psychodiagnostics of the individual, and family diagnostics. Practical assistance consists of overcoming communication barriers and identifying the causes of communication violations.

4. The diagnostic model is based on the assumption that parents have a deficit of special knowledge about the child or their family. The object of diagnosis is the family, as well as children and adolescents with behavioral disorders and deviations. The diagnostic conclusion can serve as the basis for making an organizational decision.

5. The medical model assumes that illness is at the root of family difficulties. The task of psychotherapy is diagnosis, treatment of patients and adaptation of healthy family members to patients.

A psychologist can use different models of helping a family, depending on the nature of the reasons causing the problem of child-parent and marital relationships.

The formation and functioning of parenthood requires psychological support, the content of which has its own specifics.

Comparing the two main models of psychological work with families that have developed in Russian practice (the support model and the support model), it is necessary to note the following.

Firstly, their opposition in the real work of a practical psychologist leads to hypertrophy of either a causal or symptomatic approach to working with families.

Secondly, they are essentially two sides of the same coin. They should be considered as naturally interrelated models of psychological services, because their priorities are determined by the uniform laws of development of the human psyche.

Thirdly, the similarity lies in the fact that the expected end result of work within both models is full mental development and the success of the educational process in the institution and in the family. They can both work on orders and design their activities on their own initiative; The main subjects of interaction in both models are children, teachers, parents, and administration.

Fourthly, their fundamental difference is concentrated in the area of ​​means, paths, priorities, dominance, and the proportion of the same components of the professional activity of a psychologist. Both models are aimed at the success and usefulness of development and the pedagogical process. But one is through assistance, through working with past troubles, and the other is through creating conditions that prevent troubles.

As a result, it should be emphasized that the support model and its methodology represent a stage in the future development of psychological educational services. The support model is a current solution to pressing problems of the current state of the education system (the identification of a current and promising area of ​​psychological service was proposed by I. V. Dubrovina).

In modern practical psychology, a unified methodological approach to determining the essence of psychological support has not yet developed. It is interpreted as the entire system of professional activity of a psychologist (P. M. Bityanova); general method of work of a psychologist (N. S. Glukhanyuk); one of the directions and technology of professional activity of a psychologist (P. V. Ovcharova).

As a system of professional activity of a psychologist, psychological support is aimed at creating socio-psychological conditions for emotional well-being, successful development, upbringing and education of a child in situations of socio-pedagogical interactions organized within an educational institution.

Moreover, the support system includes all participants in the educational process, including parents. The object of psychological support can be either a specific parent, a specific family, or a group of families.

The purpose of support is to create, within the framework of the social and pedagogical environment objectively given to the child, conditions for his maximum personal development and learning in a given situation.

N. S. Glukhanyuk (2001) considers psychological support as a method of creating conditions for making optimal decisions in various situations of life choice. The subject of development is a person; situations of life choice include multiple problematic situations, by resolving which, a person determines for himself the path of development - progressive or regressive.

Other researchers understand psychological support as a system of organizational, diagnostic, training and developmental activities for teachers, students, administration and parents, aimed at creating optimal conditions for the functioning of an educational institution that provides the opportunity for personal self-realization (T. Yanicheva, 1999).

An essential point is to work with all participants in the “educational space” - students, teachers, parents. Moreover, priorities associated with primary attention to certain groups are of fundamental importance.

The strategic goal of the functioning of the school psychological service is formulated as the creation and maintenance in an educational institution and family of a developmental environment that promotes the fullest development of the intellectual, personal and creative potential of each child.

In our opinion, as a direction (that is, a possible field of activity, its content), psychological support includes:

Supporting the natural development of parenthood;

Supporting parents in difficult, crisis and extreme situations;

Psychological orientation of the process of family education.

As a technology (as a real purposeful process in a general space of activity with specific content, forms and methods of work corresponding to the tasks of a particular case), psychological support is a set of interrelated and interdependent measures, represented by various psychological methods and techniques, which are carried out in order to ensure optimal social psychological conditions for preserving the psychological health of the family and the full development of the child’s personality in the family and his formation as a subject of life.

This technology differs from others, for example, psychocorrection, psychological counseling in the following features:

The position of the psychologist and other support subjects;

Methods of interaction and division of responsibility between the psychologist and parents;

Priorities of types (directions) of the psychologist’s activities in the work of parents;

Strategic goals (development of the personality of the parent as a subject of family education);

Criteria for the effectiveness of a psychologist’s work in terms of the subjectivity of the parents’ personality associated with the acceptance of parental responsibility.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the methodology of psychological support for families and family education provides for a variety of psychological practices in working with parents, and this trend will continue as one of the most important principles of organizing psychological services.

With fears for the outcome of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. c) Euphoric. All characteristics have an inadequate euphoric overtones, there is an uncritical attitude towards possible problems of pregnancy and motherhood, and there is no differentiated attitude towards the nature of the child’s movements. Complications usually appear towards the end of pregnancy. Projective methods show dysfunction in expectations...

That this attitude is projected after the birth of the child into real maternal behavior and determines its effectiveness. Chapter 3. Experimental study of the influence of value orientations on psychological readiness for motherhood 3.1 Organization and methods of experimental research Experimental study of the influence of value orientations on psychological readiness for...

The author's views also indicate the predominance of a subjective or object attitude towards the child. Meshcheryakova S.Yu., without claiming to be a complete and complete model of psychological readiness for motherhood, suggests that the selected indicators in the aggregate can reflect its level and serve as a basis for predicting the effectiveness of subsequent maternal behavior. Brutman...

Ovcharova R.V.

Parenting as a psychological phenomenon: a textbook. - M.: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute, 2006. - 496 p.

Parenthood (maternity and paternity) is a basic life purpose, an important state and a significant socio-psychological function of every person. The quality of these manifestations, their socio-psychological and pedagogical consequences are of enduring importance. The nature of parenthood affects the quality of the offspring and ensures a person’s personal happiness and immortality. It can be argued that the future of society is the current state of parenthood.

The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students - psychologists, social workers and social educators. The materials may be useful to specialists in the field of practical educational psychology.

INTRODUCTION........................................................ .........................8

CHAPTER 1. PARENTING AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

1.1. A systematic approach to understanding the essence of parenthood as a psychological phenomenon....................................................13

1.2. The structure of parenthood as an integral formation of personality.................................................... ..........22

1.3. Factors determining the formation

parenthood........................................................ ...................33

1.4. Supra-individual level of parenting development... 42

CHAPTER 2. PSYCHOLOGY OF PARENTING FORMATION

2.1. Peculiarities of parenthood in one-child and two-child families.................................................... ....................................49

2.2. The influence of the personal maturity of parents on the nature of family upbringing.................................................... ............58

2.3. Dependence of family upbringing on family configuration: having many children or having one child....................................71

2.4. The influence of the ethnic factor on the nature of acceptance

and fulfillment of the parental role...................................83

CHAPTER 3. PARENTING IN THE ASPECT OF PERINATAL PSYCHOLOGY

3.1. General characteristics of ideas about parenthood... 98

3.2. Psychological readiness for motherhood.................................122

3.3. Psychological readiness for fatherhood...................................148

3.4. Psychological preparation of parents for the birth of a child.................................................... ...................................170

CHAPTER 4. PSYCHOLOGY OF FAMILY EDUCATION

4.1. Parental love as the basis of family

education........................................................ ....................181

4.2. Parental position as a system of parental relations................................................................. ................................224

4.3. Features of family education in incomplete

family........................................................ ...............................237

4.4. Gender approach in family education....................................256

CHAPTER 5. PARENTAL POSITIONS AS A FACTOR OF FAMILY EDUCATIONAL POTENTIALS

5.1. Parental position in the integral interaction of the positions of the parent’s personality.................................................. ..282

5.2. Peculiarities of maternal and paternal parental positions.................................................. ................................293

5.3. The influence of parental positions on the educational practice of the family.................................................... ...........................306

5.4. Psychological characteristics of adolescents as indicators of the adequacy of parental positions...319

CHAPTER 6. PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTING

6.1. Parenting and parenting...................................335

6.2. Basic concepts of parenting...................338

6.3. Models of psychological support for parenting.................................................................... .......................343

6.4. Diagnosis of parenthood...................................................351

CHAPTER 7. TECHNOLOGIES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTING

7.1. Training technology “Conscious Parenting”......403

7.2. A system of training exercises aimed at forming and developing a sense of parental love “Seven Steps”................................................. ...........................424

7.3. Program for developing psychological readiness for motherhood

“Happy mother - happy baby”................................433

7.4. Personal maturity training for parents...................................444

CONCLUSION.....................................................................465

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................. ................ 470

Review of the book by R. V. Ovcharova “Parenthood as a Psychological Phenomenon”

The book under review is, in fact, a single integral complex of various materials on the problems of the psychology of parenthood. It reveals the essence and diversity of real factual material, provides data from a socio-psychological study (carried out under the guidance of the author), and discusses the main options for strategies and tactics, technologies for working with a practicing psychologist with a family. Problems of current parenthood are considered through areas of work with public and individual consciousness, and materials for practical work are presented. The book identifies and substantiates the author's position regarding the concepts of human values ​​relating to the problems of parenthood and family well-being in cases of raising children. The textbook by R.V. Ovcharova reveals the theoretical foundations of the formation of parenthood. The author describes a systematic approach to understanding the essence of parenthood, provides an analysis of the subjective psychological factors of its formation, and examines the levels of development of parenthood.

In general, we assume that the presented book implements informational, orienting, explanatory, heuristic, stimulating and developing functions. The author does not impose her point of view: R.V. Ovcharova invites readers to think, she does not transmits ready thought, she tries it awaken. These reflections of the author allow the reader to form their own positions regarding the diversity of issues of existence, and to consider the possible consequences of mature and problematic parenthood. The main attention in the presented book is paid to the mental health of the family, the determination of parental love, which can become a stable basis against the deformations of parent-child relationships. In this regard, the work under review is quite novel and is of undoubted interest. The book is replete with wonderful ideas, stimulating questions, dialogism, and at the same time scientific and terminological clarity.

Of great scientific and practical interest are the new data presented in the second, third and fourth chapters, the conclusions of which are based on experimental psychological research conducted under the leadership of R.V. Ovcharova. In particular, we are talking about the analysis of the influence of subjective psychological factors on the formation of parenthood, the influence of the ethnic factor on the acceptance and fulfillment of the parental role, psychological readiness for fatherhood and motherhood. For the first time, a holistic concept of parental love as the basis of family education is presented, the influence of parental positions on the educational potential of the family is explored, and their specificity in an incomplete family is shown. The work presents materials on the psychology of family education of boys.

The main advantage of the presented book by Professor R.V. Ovcharova is the structural and dynamic reconstruction of the psychology of parenthood proposed by the author, the analysis of methodological, ontological and cognitive-theoretical aspects and implications of parenthood in the modern Russian family. The problem of parenthood is conceptualized by the author as a special, scientific, socio-psychological category that carries new heuristics and stylistics of reflection. The undoubted advantage of this book is the author’s high immersion in extensive factual, theoretical, empirical and journalistic material, and criticism of the character and style of presentation. This book is fully consistent with the educational and methodological objectives of any textbook. The correct combination of the conceptual apparatus of scientific psychology, facts of everyday life, journalistic specifics and practical orientation of the book makes the approach presented by the author an extensive integrative review, methodologically and methodologically sound.

The book solves a dual problem addressed to specific audiences of readers: the task of informing for the general public and the task of teaching for psychology students. The applied problems in the book were solved by the author through identifying the psychological ways of forming mature responsible parenthood through the study and implementation of paradigmatic, psychotechnical and diagnostic approaches by every working practical psychologist in different areas of psychopractice.

In general, the book under review has undoubted theoretical and practical significance and relevance. It replenishes the scarce bank of value-oriented and meaning-generating theoretical and practical psychological materials on the psychology of parenting and can be recommended for representatives of all professions where specialists have to deal with educational work and the problems of current parenting. The book has undoubted theoretical and practical significance and is written at a high scientific and methodological level. This work will be useful both for those who are mastering the basics of socio-psychological science, and for certified specialists, teachers of university psychological departments, and practical psychologists.

In this regard, I consider it possible, useful and necessary to recommend for publication the textbook by Raisa Viktorovna Ovcharova “Parenthood as a Psychological Phenomenon.”

Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor of the Department of General Theoretical Foundations of Social Psychology, Moscow State Pedagogical University

L. B. Schneider

INTRODUCTION

The problem of parenthood arises especially acute due to the ambiguity of understanding of this phenomenon in modern psychological and pedagogical literature. The question about the nature of parental feelings and relationships from the point of view of ordinary consciousness looks simple and self-evident: parents, at least the mother, are the main and natural educators of the child; their behavior is determined by the need for procreation, and the absence or underdevelopment of parental feelings is nothing more than a violation or perversion of this universal biological and socio-moral norm. Comparative historical data convincingly show that modern everyday ideas on this issue are not universal, therefore, parenthood, as we understand it today, is the product of a long and very contradictory historical development.

In domestic science, this issue is most intensively discussed in the works of A. I. Antonov, A. Ya. Varga, V. N. Druzhinin, R. Zh. Mukhamedrakhimov, L. F. Obukhova, A. S. Spivakovskaya, V. V. Stolin, O. A. Shagraeva, L. B. Shneider and others. I. S. Kon focuses on the peculiarities of manifestations of paternity in the book “Ethnography of Parenthood. Parenthood as a sociocultural phenomenon." The study of motherhood as a psychological phenomenon began in Russian psychology relatively recently. Many researchers are addressing the problem of motherhood: V.I. Brutman, V.A. Ramikh, N.V. Samukina, M.S. Radionova, O.R. Voroshnina, etc. Attempts are being made to create a fundamental psychological theory of motherhood (G.G. . Filippova).

However, despite the importance of this institution, parenthood as a psychological phenomenon has not been sufficiently studied. Individual psychological components of parenthood (the psychology of motherhood during the period of expecting a child, parental attitude, child-parent interaction, styles of family education, etc.) are studied in isolation from the other components of its structure and outside the dynamics. The formation and functioning of parenthood requires psychological support.

Purpose of the study: consider parenthood as an integral formation of the personality of the parent (father/mother), describe its phenomenology, formation factors, develop diagnostic methods and technologies of psychological support.

Research objectives:

Determine the psychological essence of parenthood (maternity and paternity);

Identify socio-psychological factors and conditions for the formation of parenthood;

To study the phenomenon of parenthood as an integral psychological formation of the individual;

Develop a conceptual model of parenting as a psychological phenomenon;

Develop psychological support for parenthood;

Research methods: psychosemantic, psychodiagnostic and mathematical-statistical methods, theoretical modeling. The research is based on system-activity and phenomenological approaches.

General hypothesis: parenthood as a psychological phenomenon is an integral psychological formation of the individual, which in its developed form includes parental value orientations (family values), parental attitudes and expectations, parental positions, parental attitudes, parental feelings, parental responsibility and family parenting style. Each component contains emotional, cognitive and behavioral components. Parenting manifests itself both at the subjective-personal level and at the supra-individual level. As a supra-individual whole, parenthood inherently includes both spouses and presupposes an awareness of spiritual unity with the marital partner in relation to one’s own or adopted children.

Key Ideas

The formation of parenthood depends on socio-psychological factors of different levels: macro level- level of society; meso level- level of the parental family; micro level- own family level and the individual level of parents.

Analysis of literary works from different time periods allows us to draw a model of the image of parenthood and childhood and identify their dynamics in the historical aspect.

Young people's ideas about parenting largely depend on its image in the parental family and sociocultural stereotypes.

Parenting in complete (nuclear and non-nuclear) families with different numbers of children (one-child, two-child, large) has its own characteristics.

The hierarchical structure of parenthood in an incomplete (maternal) family has its own characteristics, due to which such a family can acquire additional compensatory capabilities and increase its educational potential.

The educational potential of the family is based on parental love, determined by parental positions and determined through child-parent relationships.

Psychological support for parenthood as direction, that is, the possible field of activity of a psychologist, its content, includes:

support for the natural development of the child’s personality in the family;

psychological information for parents;

family support in difficult, crisis and extreme situations;

psychological orientation of the process of family education.

Like technology that is, a real purposeful process in the general space of a psychologist’s activity with specific content, forms and methods of work corresponding to the tasks of a particular case; Psychological support for parenting is a complex of interrelated and interdependent measures, represented by various psychological methods and techniques, which are carried out in order to ensure optimal socio-psychological conditions for development parental feelings and parental responsibility, formation flexible parental positions and parental attitudes, becoming full-fledged parents subjects of family education.

This technology differs from others in the following features:

The position of the psychologist and other support subjects;

Methods of interaction and division of responsibilities;

Priorities of types (directions) of a psychologist’s activity in working with parents;

Strategic goals: development of the personality of the parent as a subject of family education;

Criteria for the effectiveness of a psychologist’s work in terms of the individual’s subjectivity associated with the acceptance of parental responsibility.

Novelty of the research: consists of studying the phenomenon of parenthood as an integral psychological structure, identifying the dynamics and functions of parenthood (maternity and paternity), developing a conceptual model of parenthood as a psychological phenomenon, and developing psychological support for parenthood.

Theoretical and practical significance. Theoretical level: parenthood (maternity and paternity) is presented for the first time as an integral dynamic and functional structure, as an integral psychological phenomenon.

Practical level: on a new theoretical basis, a set of methods has been compiled for studying the holistic phenomenon of parenthood in its structural-dynamic and functional aspects.

Conceptual model of parenthood as a psychological phenomenon;

The monograph is based on the results of many years of research into the main components of parenthood, manifested at the emotional, cognitive and behavioral levels (parental love, parental attitude, parental position, etc.), as well as the author’s practical experience in Psychological support of parenthood: family diagnosis and

family education, family counseling and psychotherapy, psychocorrection of parent-child relationships, etc. The last stage of research (2002 - 2003) was carried out with the financial support of the “Universities of Russia” program.