The structure of the modern family. The structure and types of the modern family in the Russian Federation; social and legal protection of the family and its individual types The structure and types of the modern family

Manifold social problems, accompanying transformations in society, today to a greater extent affected the family, often destabilizing its vital functions and reducing its ability to adapt to new conditions. Society is experiencing an increased need to predict the ways of development of the Russian family, which is destined to live in a new socio-economic situation. In conditions of exacerbation of social problems, the socio-pedagogical problems of the family were clearly exposed. Difficult-to-solve problems of housing, material well-being, and employment create a feeling of unpredictability in the family's development prospects, lack of awareness in matters of raising children, and socio-pedagogical discomfort. According to the State Statistics Committee, up to 85% of families daily feel the pressure of one or another urgent problem. Assistance to certain categories of families does not solve the problem of the nation today, since the number of problems for the other, larger part of the population, not included in the sphere of privileged categories, is growing faster than their own educational potential.

In an environment of dynamism of emerging socio-pedagogical problems in the family, the measures taken for its social support are late, and often remain unrealized due to the fact that the goals of the activities of specialists in various fields are not always focused on effective support for the family, and their implementation is hindered by organizational and personnel insecurity . The implementation of various problems of families in difficult life situations depends on the effectiveness of the current system of measures of social and pedagogical support, which is focused not only on solving these problems, but also on strengthening and developing the internal potential of families to perform their own socially significant functions.

Social and pedagogical support as a type of activity is aimed at helping a family in a difficult life situation, based on the activation of its social participation. However, the positive possibilities of socio-pedagogical support are used too little. Until now, the theoretical and methodological foundations of the socio-pedagogical support of the family have not been sufficiently developed, there are discrepancies in determining its essence and content.

Socio-psychological model family relations reflects the typology) of families, structure, forms, styles of education, as well as problems modern family. Researchers define it as a historically specific system of relationships between spouses, between parents and children; as a small group whose members are connected by marriage or kinship, common life and mutual moral responsibility; as a social necessity, which is due to the need of society for the physical and spiritual reproduction of the population.

Family relations are governed by the norms of morality and law. They are based on marriage - a legitimate recognition of the relationship between a man and a woman, which is accompanied by the birth of children and responsibility for the physical and moral health of family members. Important conditions for the existence of a family are joint activities and a certain spatial localization - housing, house, property as the economic basis of its life, as well as a general cultural environment within the framework of the common culture of a certain people, confessions, state. Thus, a family is a community of people based on a single family-wide activity, connected by ties of matrimony - parenthood - kinship (blood and spiritual), carrying out the reproduction of the population and the continuity of family generations, as well as the socialization of children and support for family members. The forms of families are diverse, their typology depends on the subject of study. The most typical modern models of families: monogamous family, polygamous, nuclear family, extended family, patriarchal (traditional) family, incomplete, maternal families, alternative families.

The following types of social and axiological orientation of the family are distinguished:

1) socially progressive (support for the values of society, unity of views, good interpersonal relations);
2) contradictory (lack of unity of views, relationships at the level of struggle of some tendencies with others);
3) antisocial (contradiction of value ideals to the ideals of society).

Distinguish also the capacity and activity of the family. The capacity of the family can be: limited (due to psychosomatic, age features its members are unable to earn their own livelihood and fit into the system social relations pensioners, the disabled).

The psychological structure of the modern family includes the family system as a single entity with certain features of functioning and development. Structurally, any nuclear family includes four main groups of subsystems. The first consists of individuals - family members; the second is formed by the husband-wife dyad; the third - siblings (brothers, sisters); the fourth - dyads parent - child. The subsystems of each group have certain boundaries, needs and expectations. A well-balanced family system is able to meet the needs of all its subsystems. In addition, the family must interact with various elements of the supersystem - other significant persons for it: friends, neighbors, representatives of society. On fig. Figure 2 shows the interaction between the various systemic elements of the family and its external environment.

Family counselors working with a nuclear family should be able to assess the features of its structural organization. A family, as a rule, arises at the moment when two people form a marriage union (although its different variants are possible). Each person, entering into marriage, brings into it his own ideas and expectations.

Rice. 2.

about how family relationships should be built.

At first, the main reasons for the rapprochement of spouses are the feeling of comfort and satisfaction that they experience in each other's company. Gradually, a married couple forms a certain system of relationships with unique style features that give her a sense of emotional and social well-being. Even before the appearance of children in the family, spouses, as a rule, have time to realize the needs that unite them, as well as to understand the requirements that the social environment makes of them.

With the advent of a new member in the family, i.e. child, intra-family relations, forms of communication and behavior of spouses must change to a certain extent. The dyadic union turns into a triadic one, involving communication between three people, the child has his own needs and style of behavior. The flexibility that characterizes the relationship of the spouses determines their ability to adapt to the child. If his temperament and style of behavior are compatible with the corresponding characteristics of the parents, their adaptation to the child proceeds successfully. If there are pronounced differences between the temperament and behavior of the child and the corresponding characteristics and expectations of the parents, the mother and father experience mental discomfort, and problems arise in their relationship with the child. This probability is higher in cases where the relationship of the spouses is unstable and if the husband and wife are unable to resolve the problems of their relationship on their own. Then often these unresolved problems are reflected in the relationship with the child. The only form of conservation good relations spouses is the participation of both in the care of the child.

If another child appears in the family, another subsystem is formed - siblings(brothers, sisters). Sibling relationships are unlike any other relationship that characterizes other subsystems. Sometimes, when siblings compete with each other or are in very close relationships, parents can experience difficult feelings. However, if the family is distinguished by a balanced relationship between all its members, parents usually adapt quite easily to the sibling subsystem. In addition, such families use the sibling subsystem as one of their resources. In contrast to the options when parents try to interfere in the relationship of siblings, this, as a rule, upsets the balance of this subsystem. If parents do not provide siblings with the opportunity to independently resolve conflicts that arise between them or, trying to influence their relationship, give preference to one of them, when they do not take into account the seniority of one child over another and shift responsibility from the older child to the younger, all this leads to an increase in family disharmony.

Due to this, as a rule, it is possible to determine the imbalance of intra-family relations. In order to better appreciate the variety of reactions of all family members to each other, it is very important for a counseling psychologist, psychotherapist to have the opportunity to communicate with them. It is impossible to understand the causes of emotional and behavioral disorders in a child without understanding the pressure that he experiences from his brothers, sisters and parents. If the counselor, trying to influence a problem child, enters into an alliance with the parents and does not take into account the influence and role of other siblings, it is highly likely that the TS will make all the efforts of the psychologist and parents in vain.

Structural organization of the family such that the distribution of roles among its members ensures their best functioning. On the nature of the distribution of roles big influence family values and norms.

Distribution of family roles largely depends on the relationship between representatives of various subsystems, it is largely determined by the conditions of education of the parents themselves. The distribution of roles is always associated with values and ideas about how family members should behave. There are two ways to assign roles. In some cases, the role is assigned to a person automatically, taking into account his gender and age; it can be the role of mother, father, son or daughter. In other cases, roles are chosen based on the social position and personal characteristics of a person - this refers to the roles of a leader, follower, "scapegoat", etc. The combination of prescribed and chosen roles in a particular family forms a certain set of them and reflects the family structure. Each family member behaves in accordance with a certain system of roles and can simultaneously play several roles. Roles can both limit a person and contribute to his personal growth and development. The roles of family members fall into three main levels:

1) individual roles at the family level;
2) roles at the level of subsystems: for example, at the level of the parent-child subsystem, sibling subsystems, etc.;
3) the roles that the family as a whole plays in society.

Family norms - generated set of installations

and expectations, regulating the behavior of spouses and significantly influencing the behavior of individual family members and the entire family system. These norms largely determine the nature of the culture of the family, as well as what behavior its members consider right or wrong, thereby performing the function of social control.

System of values consists of social, family and individual values, is the result of its cultural identification and the integration of family members' value systems, which are determined by their life experiences. Society dictates to the family what it should do, what structure it should have, how its members should behave. Family subsystems, supersystems, roles, norms and values are those characteristics of the family that help to understand the features of the family structure. All of them allow the specialist to draw a portrait of the family, and thanks to this, the counseling psychologist determines the treatment strategy and ways to improve functionality families.

For more details, see § 1 of this textbook.

Demographers associate the main trends characterizing the type of modern family that has dominated Europe and the United States since the mid-1960s with changes in the value system, primarily with the growth of individualism and rationalism. This is manifested in a decrease in the number of marriages, the spread of cohabitation, a decline in the birth rate and its "aging", the predominance of small families, as well as an increase in the number of illegitimate children and the spread of voluntary childlessness.

If the classical family (father-breadwinner and mother-housewife who lived in marriage from youth to old age and raised several children) determined the fate of a person, then the modern family is one of the projects that a person carries out throughout his life. According to the famous English sociologist E. Giddens, this is associated with the changing role of tradition in the life of modern man, and in the sphere intimate life expressed by a change in the ideal of love. The romantic ideal, which assumed the preservation of marital relations throughout life and the economic dependence of a woman on a man, is gradually being replaced by the ideal of a “pure relationship”. In them, the value of intimacy comes first, which implies emotional openness to each other and an equal “exchange” of emotions. “Pure relationships”, unlike romantic ones, are not, in principle, built for the purpose of marriage or even cohabitation. Based on these relationships living together continues only as long as there is mutual, emotional satisfaction, openness and trust in each other.

The modern family is characterized by the uncertainty of gender and parent-child relationships. The central point of contradictions in it (sometimes such a family is called post-modern) is the presence of strong centrifugal tendencies. Each member of the family strives to meet their individual goals, while blurring the norms that hold relationships together that were clearly spelled out in the traditional family. Such norms determined that the economic contribution of the male father was the basis of his family headship and that the duty of the female mother was to run the household and look after the children. In the modern family, on the contrary, everything is an object of discussion: parenthood, sexuality, the distribution of household work and finances. This makes the relationship more fragile and conflict. As men, women, and children are no longer guided by patriarchal subordination, their emotional needs and individual aspirations come to the fore.

Most researchers agree that today there is no single, normative family model. In Russia, in the last one and a half to two decades, the Soviet family model (“working mother”), which was more or less uniform for all segments of the population, has been replaced by the choice of family models. The results of sociological studies reveal an increase in the age at first marriage, postponement of marriage, and an increase in unregistered cohabitations. Someone regretfully states that the family in Russia is going through a deep crisis. Someone enthusiastically announces that we are moving towards a civilized Western society. One thing is certain: the family is changing and these changes are so significant that it is impossible not to notice them.

In its development, the family is rapidly moving from having many children and having medium-sized children to having few children. The birth rate has fallen sharply, especially in last years. In many regions of Russia, the death rate exceeded the birth rate. Now we have a one-child family. Having one child often negatively affects the character of the child, his personal qualities and, in general, child-parent relations, especially when there are grandparents in the family. The new structure of the family is determined by a clearly manifested process of its nuclearization. From 50 to 70% of young spouses want to live separately from their parents, which entails both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, a young family acquires independence and responsibility earlier, and the process of adaptation of young spouses to each other is easier. But, on the other hand, a young family is often deprived of the systematic help of parents, which they need, especially during the birth of a child.

In the family, there is an active process of egalitarianization and democratization of intra-family relations. In an egalitarian family, relations between spouses, parents and children are most often built on the basis of partnership, as well as the recognition of each family member, including the child, not only duties, but also the right to autonomy, initiative and freedom. In a modern family, spouses make more serious demands on each other in moral and psychological terms compared to a traditional family. Both husband and wife need understanding, respect, attention, care, support and tolerance in relation to each other, which is associated with the need to satisfy the emotional needs of the individual. The family becomes biarchal, i.e. such a family, which is based on the fair equality of two.

The democratization of relations in the family first of all changes the system of role relations between husband and wife. There is a transition from the complementarity of husband and wife, when certain duties and functions are rigidly assigned to each of them, to interchangeability, when everything is built on the principle of help and support. There is a redistribution of power in the family. The democratization of marital relations is faster in young families where the spouses are less than 40 years old. In families with a long family history, most often the relationship between spouses remains patriarchal. More and more difficult is the process of democratization of relations between generations. Many more parents adhere to authoritarian methods of education, using orders, categorical demands and prohibitions without much explanation, as well as physical punishment.

The development of a modern family is characterized by an increase in divorces. Divorce is no longer scary. Public opinion began to perceive it as a normal phenomenon, and in some situations even as beneficial. The causes of this process are often the inability to adapt and the rudeness of the spouses, as well as alcoholism.

IN modern world completely new types of families appeared. If in a socialist society, according to the criterion of professional activity, there were three social types of families: workers, collective farmers and intelligentsia, then in modern realities there has been a sharp economic stratification of society. Elite families, middle-class families, poor families, etc. appeared. On the basis of empirical data, one can also speak of different forms families. In the XX century. Along with families consisting of spouses with and without children, a number of non-traditional family models have become widespread. alternative complete families are single-parent families. Incomplete family - result of widowhood or divorce. Moreover, if in the first half of the XX century. incomplete families were mainly the result of widowhood, then from the second half - divorce. The divorce rate in relation to marriages is increasing all the time. This trend confirms new features family life- the presence of children is less and less an obstacle to divorce.

IN Lately Families alternative to marriage have become widespread. First of all, this is extramarital cohabitation, when spouses, living together and running a common household, do not register their marriage or register it when a child may appear or has already appeared. We note another peculiar form of marriage - the so-called Godwin marriage, which involves the separation of spouses. William Godwin, an English anarcho-socialist, argued that the cohabitation of spouses is an evil that prevents their independent development due to the imperfection of people, as well as the difference in their inclinations and needs. With this model of the family, the possibility of real equality of spouses, as well as ensuring the spiritual space and everyday emancipation of women, is associated.

With the advent of the "new Russians", another model of an alternative family became widespread, which the Serbian lawyer M. Bosanac called the "concubinage family", meaning the ability of a man to live in an official marriage and at the same time have a parallel union with another woman who has an illegitimate marriage from him. child, or, maintaining an informal relationship with the first wife, legalize marriage with a former concubine. In other words, a man has a family with a child, as well as a mistress who has a child from him.

At present, according to the famous Russian sociologist S.I. Hunger, we can say that the family in its development enters the stage of marriage. Husband and wife have always formed the basis of the family and were spouses, but their union was either economic, or reproductive, or educational, but not matrimony. matrimony it represents the personal interaction of husband and wife, regulated by moral principles and supported by values immanent to him. The principles that underlie it are being implemented as a result of social changes accompanied by the individualization of men (expansion of selectivity, growth of internal responsibility and autonomy from social communities), as well as the spread of these qualities to women, which would be impossible without their economic and civil emancipation. Family-marriage contributes to personal development, which is carried out through the disclosure of the individual identity of each of the spouses. Relations between spouses are determined in it not by kinship (as in a patriarchal family) and not by the birth of children (as in a child-centric family), but by property. Husband and wife do not unconditionally subordinate their interests to the interests of children, and their relationship is based on eroticism, understood as the key moment of the new family. Within the boundaries of one family type, various relations arise between the sexes and generations, and wide opportunities are created for the self-realization of each individual.

Recently, in the family, relations between husband and wife were built on the principle of interchangeability, where there was no rigid consolidation of duties. But at the same time, there is a trend associated with the traditionalization of family roles: a man is assigned the role of a breadwinner, a breadwinner, and a woman is assigned the role of a keeper of the family hearth, a mother. This is due to two points: firstly, rich men who have appeared in society can comfortably support their families, and the wife becomes the mistress of the house; secondly, the reduction in production primarily affected women, leaving them without work. Pre-school institutions that are closing everywhere are being replaced by fully maternal care. The service sector, having become expensive, is compensated by the ever-expanding household duties for women, tying them to the family.

The economic situation in the country leads to the stratification of society, which is expressed in the appearance of rich, middle-income and poor families. Among families with a married couple and one or two children, the proportion of low-income families has greatly increased due to insufficiently high earnings of parents (public sector), their non-inclusion in market economic structures, as well as paid education and health care. The economic disadvantage of the family affects, first of all, children, who do not receive much of what they need. Already with early age children from poor families are deprived of the opportunity to receive the necessary education and achieve a high professional level. In such families, the main task is to survive in this situation. Material problems, having become the main ones in the family, destroy its humanistic essence. This is manifested primarily in the formalization of family relations, when family life is based on the fulfillment of duties without any special mental costs, only material problems, and in communication there is a lack of warmth, care and attention. Formalization of relations is accompanied by emotional rejection of spouses from each other, and parents from children. Sociologists, psychologists, and educators are exploring the possibilities of optimizing crisis relationships between parents and children and developing positive socialization of adolescents even in the most difficult life situations.

All-children are not only born, they are brought up. The main task of the family is the formation of moral principles in the child. It is the family that should create such an atmosphere in which the child develops the ability to regret, sympathize and empathize with another person. Three types contribute to this family love: matrimonial, parental and child. Intertwined with each other, they create a special, child-friendly atmosphere. But the psychological discomfort that the family is currently experiencing is deforming the relationships that are developing in it, negative impact on its stability and educational potential.

History has not yet given an alternative to the family. The inviolability of the institution of the family is not questioned by any researcher. Public opinion polls both in the West and in Russia show that the family is perceived as one of the main values in life and as a condition happy life. Moreover, the stability or instability of public life, as well as the health of the nation, is directly dependent on the state of the family. A collapsing family is one of the conditions for the degradation of society.

Control questions

1. What are the biological prerequisites for the emergence of a family?
2. What is the definition of marriage?
3. What is meant by group marriage?
4. What is the meaning of the concepts "exogamy" and "endogamy"?
5. What is polyandry and polygyny?
6. What is polygamy and monogamy?
7. What are the characteristics of a pair marriage?
8. What are the economic, psychological and social prerequisites for the emergence of a family?
9. What is the essence of the family?
10. Which family is called nuclear and which is called extended?
11. What are the characteristics of a patriarchal family?
12. What is a harem?
13. What is feminism?
14. What is the essence of an egalitarian family?
15. What is a biarchy family?
16. What is meant by cohabitation?
17. What are the characteristics of a Godwin marriage?
18. What is a concubinage family?
19. What is meant by marriage?

SOCIAL WORK WITH THE FAMILY

INTRODUCTION

1. FAMILY IN MODERN RUSSIA

1.1. The concept of family and marriage

1.2. Classification of the modern family

1.3. Family Functions

2. PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

The family - the oldest institution of human society - has passed a difficult path of development. From tribal forms of coexistence, when a person alone could not exist at all, through a large family that accommodated several generations under one roof, to a nuclear family consisting only of parents and children. The family is also a small cell of society, its elementary cell, which performs the most important social functions. In addition, the family is the main source of continuation of life and, consequently, population growth.

family has great importance for the stability and development of the whole society. As a small group, the family performs the functions of the regulatory nature of the behavior of its members, both within this small group and outside. The family performs the functions of reproduction and maintenance of the new generation, is the primary institution of socialization - success, which affects the entire future life of the individual.

Thus, given that the family is one of the oldest institutions of socialization of new generations, which performs the function of ensuring the safety and security of any person, but in modern conditions is experiencing serious problems (disorganization of family ties, instability of marital relations, an increase in the number of divorces, a change in the position of spouses in the system of social labor, serious economic difficulties, a change in emotional and psychological manifestations, parental function, etc.), it can be reasonably considered that the role of a social worker in preserving and strengthening the social potential of this phenomenon of society is increasing.

1. FAMILY IN MODERN RUSSIA

1.1. The concept of family and marriage

Family and marriage relations can be traced in the history of mankind from fairly early eras. In the deep foundation of the family are physiological needs, which in the animal world are called the instinct of reproduction. Of course, it is impossible to neglect the biological laws that manifest themselves in the life of the family. However, the family is a social entity that has its own specifics in each specific historical type of society, its own traditions in each national culture.

With all the differences recorded in history or present in our time, there is something in common that unites all families. This is a family way of life in which mankind has found the only opportunity to exist, expressing its dual, socio-biological nature. The functions of the modern family, each of them separately, can be carried out with greater or lesser success outside the family. But in the aggregate, they all work in the best possible way.

The family is a special social institution that performs one of the most important functions of society - the reproduction of its members and their primary socialization.

In the sociological literature, a distinction is often made between the concepts of "family" and "marriage".

The first term is used to denote the social and legal aspects of social and kinship relations, the institutionalization of relations between husband and wife as citizens of the state. Marriage is a historically changing social form of relationship between a man and a woman, through which society:

IN scientific literature under family It is customary to understand a small group based on marriage or consanguinity, whose members are connected by a common life, mutual moral responsibility and mutual assistance, the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children. IN sociological research it is important to take into account the average family size, the composition of families, carried out on various grounds (the number of generations in the family, the number and completeness of married couples, the number and age of minor children), the division of families according to social and class characteristics.

In the family, the upbringing of the younger generation takes place, the foundations for the formation of personality are laid. It carries a code of moral ideas and values developed and accepted by society. The culture of family relations is an integral part and reflection of the general culture of society. Finally, the family is the most important link in the economic structure of society. Consumption and, above all, family consumption is the purpose and goal of social production. According to the level and structure of the benefits consumed by the family, they judge the level of well-being of society, the quality of life, and the degree of economic development. At the same time, the family farm is a significant part of production in any country.

Thus, the family is a fundamental institution, the most important social value, the fundamental basis of society. The family provides all its members with economic, social, spiritual and physical security, care for minors, the elderly and the sick; conditions for social protection of children and youth.

1.2. Classification of the modern family.

The family as a small social group is characterized by the presence of a number of social goals that change in different life cycles; partial difference in the interests, needs and attitudes of family members; mediation of joint activity. Therefore, the extent to which spouses and other family members are able and ready to take care of each other, sympathize, sympathize, empathize, join forces to overcome difficulties, show tolerance and condescension, the well-being and longevity of the family depend.

An important role in the family is given to communication in the unity of its three components: communicative(information exchange), interactive(organization of interaction), perceptual(perception of each other by partners). Since in real life relationships between people develop in different ways, the existence of different options families.

According to the nature of the distribution of family responsibilities and who is the leader in the family, they distinguish three main family types .

1. Traditional(patriarchal) family, where at least three generations live under the same roof, and the role of leader is given to the eldest man. Here there is an economic dependence of a woman and children on her husband; male and female responsibilities are clearly fixed; male dominance is unquestionably recognized,

2. Unconventional(exploitative) family: with installations on male leadership, a strict distribution of male and female in the family, roles in the family, delimitation of duties between spouses, a woman is also assigned the right to participate in social work along with a man. It is quite natural that in such a family, due to the excessive employment of a woman, her overload, her own set of problems appears.

3. Egalitarian family (family of equals), in which household duties are proportionally divided between spouses, other family members, decisions are made jointly, emotional relationships are permeated with care, love, respect, trust.

Other types of families are also known, for example, those where the role of the mother is played by the father, older brother or sister. These tendencies force social workers to assess in a different way the readiness of a certain family to implement the functions assigned to it and to choose ways to help it.

The range of types, forms and categories of the modern family is quite diverse. Family typologies are determined by different approaches to the selection of the subject of study. Let us give a classification of family types given by Gurko T.A. The basis for such typologies, in her opinion, can be:

1. Legal registration of marriage:

- families based on marriage;

- de facto families or extramarital cohabitations;

- legally registered, but spouses living separately - separation.

2. The sequence of marriage of persons constituting the core of the family:

- families based on the first marriage of both spouses;

— families based on remarriage(s) of the spouse(s) (remarriage).

3. Legal relationship between parents and children:

- both spouses live with their own children and did not have other children before their birth;

- families where at least one of the spouses already had children before marriage, children can live both in this and in another family - consolidated;

- foster family in which children are adopted;

- a temporary foster family in which the child lives for some period isolated from his parents;

- guardian family.

4. Family structure. Usually, the allocation of various structural types of the family occurs according to the dichotomous principle:

- extended (three-generation, related, "commune")

- nuclear;

- monogamous - polygamous;

– absence of minor children (under 18 in the Russian Federation)

- their presence (in turn, one-, two- or small, medium, large families are singled out);

- full (with minor children live native or step-mother and father)

- incomplete (only the mother or only the father lives with minor children), in turn, according to the source of formation, can be classified into: extramarital; after divorce; after widowhood; resulting from the separation of spouses for various reasons.

5. Socio-demographic characteristics of the husband and/or wife- age, professional status, education, attitude to religion:

— student family;

- a family of minors;

- the worker's family;

- rural family.

IN foreign literature:

- two-career (husband and wife are professionals);

- middle class family

- "black" families (in the USA),

- international;

family of the unemployed

- policeman's family

- homosexual, etc.

6. Families with specific problems.

Specific problems most often mean deviations in behavior (alcoholism, drug addiction, violence, genius, prostitution, crime, delinquency, suicidal tendencies) and mental and physical illnesses of its members: both adults and children.

7. Stage of the life cycle.

- a family of newlyweds without children;

- family with first baby;

- the family in which the first child enters school;

- a family in which youngest child goes to school, and the mother returns to work;

- "empty nest", families of elderly spouses, from which the last child separated;

- family of grandparents;

- a family of pensioners (loss of status and connections, change in financial situation).

You can also highlight the most relevant types of families for social work: large families, families with disabled people, low-income and poor families, dysfunctional families, single-parent families, etc.

Thus, each of the categories of families is characterized by a socio-psychological phenomenon and process occurring in it, its inherent marriage and family relations, including the psychological aspects of subject-practical activity, the circle of communication and its content, the features of emotional contacts of family members, the socio-psychological goals of the family and individual psychological needs of its members.

1.3. Family functions.

The sphere of family activity is very complex and finds its meaningful expression in the functions it performs.

Family functions in various environments of activity:

Sphere of family activity	public functions	Individual Functions
reproductive	Biological reproduction of society	Satisfying the needs of children
Educational	Socialization of the younger generation	Satisfying the need for parenting
Household	maintenance physical health community members, child care	Obtaining household services by some family members from others
Economic	Economic support for minors and disabled members of society	Receipt of material resources by some family members from others
The scope of primary social control	Moral regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life	Formation and maintenance of legal and moral sanctions for misbehavior in the family
The sphere of spiritual communication	Personal development of family members	Spiritual communication of family members
Socially - status	Granting certain status to family members	Satisfying social promotion needs
Leisure	Organization of rational leisure	Satisfying the needs of modern leisure activities
emotional	Emotional stability of individuals and their psychotherapy	Individuals receiving psychological protection
Sexy	sexual control	Satisfaction of sexual needs

Thus, performing such a number of functions, the family is the basis of society, a guarantee of its stable state and development. Violation of any of the functions of the family leads to inevitable problems and conflicts both within the family and outside it. A social worker is also called upon to contribute to the restoration of lost or damaged functions. For a social worker, knowledge of the functions of the family is important for the correct diagnosis of family problems and, in the future, quality assistance.

2. PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY

The complex of problems of all types of families is determined by the question of the purpose of the family in the modern world. Having emerged as the main form of life arrangement, the family initially concentrated in itself all the main functions of servicing human activity. Since the family gradually got rid of a number of these functions, sharing them with other social institutions; recently it is difficult to single out a specific type of activity inherent only in the family.

All the many problems associated with the modern family can be divided into the following groups:

1. Socio-economic problems: This group includes problems related to the standard of living of the family, its budget (including the consumer budget of the average family), the share in the structure of society of low-income families and families living below the poverty line, with the specific needs of large and young families, state system financial assistance.

2. Social - everyday problems: in terms of semantic content, they are similar to socio-economic problems. This group includes problems related to providing families with housing, living conditions, as well as the consumer budget of an average family, etc.

3. Socio - psychological problems: This group includes the widest range of problems: they are associated with acquaintance, the choice of a marriage partner, and further - marriage and family adaptation, coordination of family and intra-family roles, personal autonomy and self-affirmation in the family. In addition, they include the problems of marital compatibility, family conflicts, family cohesion as a small group, domestic violence.

4. Problems of stability of the modern family: This issue is made up of the state and dynamics of family divorces, their socio-typological and regional aspects, the causes of divorces, the values of marriage, satisfaction with marriage as a factor in the stability of a family union, its socio-psychological characteristics.

5. Problems of family education: In this group of problems, the state of family education, types of families according to the criterion of education, parental roles, the position of the child in the family, conditions for effectiveness and miscalculations of family education can be considered. these problems naturally associated with social psychological problems and problems of family stability.

6. Problems of families at risk: Factors that cause social risk may be of a socio-economic, medical and sanitary, socio-demographic, socio-psychological, criminal nature. Their action leads to the loss of family ties, an increase in the number of children left without parental care, a permanent place of residence, and livelihoods. Child neglect continues to be one of the most disturbing characteristics of contemporary Russian society. Families at risk include: single-parent families, families raising or having disabled people, families with many children, low-income and poor families, etc. based on the criteria described above.

So, the modern Russian family is going through better times: the decline in the prestige of the family, and even more so families with two or more children, economic instability, housing problems, etc. led to the urgent need for professional intervention of a social worker to maintain the functioning of the main social institution - the family.

3. ESSENCE AND CONTENT OF SOCIAL WORK WITH THE FAMILY

The modern family is called upon not only to solve numerous problems associated with the daily life of its members, with the birth and upbringing of a child, support for the incapacitated, but also to be a kind of psychological shelter for a person. It provides economic, social, psychological and physical safety and security to its members. Today, many families need help and support in order to fully implement the functions prescribed by society.

Single-parent and large families, families of single mothers, military personnel, families raising children with disabilities need such assistance. handicapped, adopted and foster children with disabled parents, student families, families of refugees, migrants, the unemployed, asocial families, etc. Social work in them should be aimed at solving everyday family problems, strengthening and developing positive family relationships, restoring internal resources, stabilization of the achieved positive results, socio-economic situation and orientation towards the realization of the socializing potential. Based on this, the social worker is called upon to perform the following functions:

Diagnostic (studying the characteristics of the family, identifying its potentials);

Security and protection (legal support for the family, ensuring its social guarantees, creating conditions for the realization of its rights and freedoms);

Organizational and communicative (organization of communication, initiation of joint activities, joint leisure, creativity);

Social-psychological-pedagogical (psychological - pedagogical education of family members, provision of emergency psychological help, preventive support and patronage);

Prognostic (modeling of situations and development of certain targeted assistance programs);

Coordinating (establishing and maintaining the unification of efforts of the departments of family and childhood assistance, social assistance to the population, departments of family troubles of the internal affairs bodies, social teachers educational institutions, rehabilitation centers and services).

Social work with the family is a specially organized activity aimed at small groups of people in need of social protection and support from outside. This is one of the varieties of social protection of the population, the main content of which is assistance, assistance in restoring and maintaining the normal functioning of the family. Social work with the family today is a multifunctional activity for social protection and support, social services for the family at the state level.

This activity is carried out by specialists in social work with the family of various profiles. It is implemented in the conditions of a particular society (federal or territorial) and is determined by its specifics.

Social work with the family consists of :

Family social protection- this is a multi-level system of predominantly state measures to ensure minimum social guarantees, rights, benefits and freedoms of a normally functioning family in a risk situation in the interests of the harmonious development of the family, personality and society. An important role in the social protection of the family is assigned to the family itself: strengthening parental ties; formation of resistance against propaganda of sex, drugs, violence, aggressive behavior; maintaining the normal psychological health of the family, etc.

Currently, there are four main forms of social protection for families with children in Russia:

Cash payments to the family for children in connection with the birth, maintenance and upbringing of children (benefits and pensions).
Labor, tax, housing, credit, medical and other benefits for families with children, parents and children.
Legal, medical, psychological, pedagogical and economic consulting, general education for parents, scientific and practical conferences and congresses.
Federal, regional targeted and social programs such as "Family Planning" and "Children of Russia" and others.

2. Family social support involves formal and informal activities and relationships between specialists and families temporarily in difficult circumstances on issues of professional retraining (education of family members), employment, income security, etc. it includes health insurance, as well as various forms (moral, psychological - pedagogical, material and physical) of the assistance of individuals and groups, offering models of roles, social sympathy and unity. Social support for the family involves preventive and restorative measures for the family in the event of death loved one, illness, unemployment, etc.

An important role in the social support of families in the conditions of the development of market relations is played by Employment Centers of all levels, which solve the following tasks:

collection and dissemination of information on issues of family social support;

Providing consulting services on vocational training and employment issues;

Assistance in opening family-type enterprises;

professional orientation of children and teenagers;

payment of benefits for temporary non-employment;

· advising on the selection and use of labor force;

Assistance in staffing;

social - psychological work with clients.

Social support is needed for families with reduced behavioral activity, pessimism and poor health. It is of particular importance in those regions, territories where there are few or practically no female vacancies. different kinds social support can stop personal and family disintegration, help people believe in themselves, orient them towards self-employment, home work, development of subsidiary farming.

Family social service is the activity of social services for the provision of social, social, medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and legal services and material assistance, social adaptation and rehabilitation of citizens in difficult life situations. In the narrow sense of the word, it is understood as the process of providing families, individuals who depend on others and are unable to take care of themselves, specific social services necessary to meet the needs of their normal development and existence.

All families are expected to need welfare services, at least occasionally, and many of these services can be provided by volunteers without special education. Family social services are at the same time a system of social services provided free of charge mainly to elderly families and families of the disabled at home and in social service institutions, regardless of the form of ownership.

Thus, after analyzing the areas of social work in relation to families, we can conclude that assistance to families is provided systematically and in large volumes. Despite all the efforts of state and non-state organizations in helping families, the problems of intra-family relations and, in general, preserving the value of the family remain relevant to this day.

An invaluable role in this today is played by 190 territorial Centers for social assistance to families and children, 444 departments for working with families and children, in social service centers and 203 other institutions of social services for families and children (40), whose attention covers at least four groups of families:

Large families, incomplete, childless, divorced, young, families of underage parents;

low-income people with terminally ill people;

families with an unfavorable psychological climate, with emotionally conflicted relationships, with pedagogical failure of parents and harsh treatment of children;

· families that include persons leading an immoral criminogenic lifestyle who have been convicted or returned from places of deprivation of liberty.

Their main tasks are:

Identification of the causes and factors of social ill-being of specific families and their need for social assistance.
Determination and provision of specific types and forms of socio-economic, psychological-social, socio-pedagogical and other social services to families in need of social assistance.
Support for families in solving the problems of their self-sufficiency, realizing their own capabilities to overcome difficult life situations.
Social patronage of families in need of social assistance, rehabilitation and support. (More on this in the next paragraph.)
Analysis of the level of social services for families, forecasting their need for social assistance and preparing proposals for the development of social services.
Involvement of various state and non-governmental organizations in solving issues of social services for families. In the system of social service institutions for families and children, specialized psychological and pedagogical assistance is actively developing. Today it is represented everywhere by the Centers for Psychological and Pedagogical Assistance to the Population, the main tasks of which are:
- increasing stress resistance and psychological culture of the population, especially in the form of interpersonal, family, parental communication;
- assistance to citizens in creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding and mutual respect in the family, overcoming conflicts and other violations of marital and family relations;
- increasing the potential of the family's formative impact on children, their mental and spiritual development;
- assistance to families experiencing various kinds of difficulties in raising children, in mastering the knowledge of their age psychological features, prevention of a possible emotional and psychological crisis in children and adolescents;

There are many different options for the composition, or structure, of the family:

the "nuclear family" consists of a husband, wife and their children;

"replenished family" - an enlarged union in its composition: a married couple and their children, plus parents of other generations, for example, grandparents, uncles, aunts, living all together or in close proximity to each other and making up the structure of the family;

a "mixed family" is a "reorganized" family formed as a result of the marriage of divorced people. A blended family includes step-parents and step-children, since children from a previous marriage merge into a new family unit;

A “single parent family” is a household run by one parent (mother or father) due to divorce, departure or death of a spouse, or because the marriage never took place (Levi D., 1993).

A.I. Antonov and V.M. Medkov is distinguished by composition:

nuclear families, which are currently the most common and consist of parents and their children, that is, from two generations. In a nuclear family, there are no more than three nuclear positions (father-husband, mother-wife, son-brother, or daughter-sister);

extended families are a family that unites two or more nuclear families with a common household and consists of three or more generations - grandparents, parents and children (grandchildren).

A.E. Lichko (Lichko A.E., 1979) developed the following classification of families:

Structural composition:

complete family (there is a mother and father);

incomplete family (there is only a mother or father);

a distorted or deformed family (the presence of a stepfather instead of a father or a stepmother instead of a mother).

Functional features:

harmonious family;
disharmonious family.

The family, like any system, implements a number of functions in a hierarchy that reflects both the specifics of it, the family, cultural and historical development, and the originality of the stages of its life cycle:

economic (material and production), household. In pre-industrial society, the family was the primary production group, providing for itself all the basic material conditions of existence or creating products for exchange. At present, the economic function of the family is determined by the pooling of the incomes of its members and the distribution of these incomes for consumption in accordance with the needs of each family member. The household function is realized in the form of organizing the life of the family and the personal life of each of its members. The distribution of household duties and their content are determined by the historical era, living conditions, family composition and the stage of its life cycle;

reproductive(childbirth and reproduction of the population). A.G. Kharchev considers this function the most important social function of the family, which ensures the reproduction of the country's population. The importance of the reproductive function of the family was recognized by society as early as Ancient Rome, where, under the reign of Emperor Augustus, laws were issued that stimulated the birth of children in the families of Roman citizens [Zatsepin, 1991]. Solving the problems of fertility planning and population reproduction is an important function of state policy in almost all countries, regardless of whether they are faced with the problem of a fertility crisis and a “deficit” of human productive resources or, on the contrary, the need to limit the birth rate;

child-rearing function. The family acts as an institution for the primary socialization of the child. It ensures the continuity of the development of society, the continuation of the human race, the connection of times. It is known that upbringing in the family, emotionally positive full-fledged communication of a child with a close adult determines the harmonious development of the child in early years. With the age of the child, the educational function of the family does not lose its significance, but only the tasks, means, tactics of education, forms of cooperation and cooperation with parents change. At present, it is the upbringing of children that is regarded as the most important social function of the family;

sexual and erotic. Only selective, stable sexual relations with a permanent partner, acting as a unique and inimitable personality, create the conditions for achieving the most complete sexual harmony of partners;

function of spiritual communication, assuming spiritual mutual enrichment of family members; information exchange; discussion of the most significant problems for the individual in socio-political, professional, public life; communication in the context of the perception of literary and artistic works of art, music; creation of conditions for personal and intellectual growth of family members;

function of emotional support and acceptance, providing a sense of security and belonging to a group, emotional understanding and empathy, or the so-called psychotherapeutic function. In the modern family, another aspect of this function is the formation of a person's need for self-expression and self-actualization;

recreational (restorative)- the function of providing conditions for the restoration of neuropsychic health and mental stability of family members;

the function of social regulation, control and guardianship(in relation to minors and incompetent family members) [Zatsepin, 1991; Eidemiller, Justickis, 1999].

Valeria Protasova

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In the modern family, not only has the traditional role of women changed, but the role of men has also changed. For example, in Western Europe no longer surprised if a man takes parental leave. Psychologists believe that it is important to be aware of how spouses perceive new situations, whether they are ready for and what determines leadership in your family.

According to the nature of the distribution of family responsibilities and how the issue of leadership is resolved in the family, sociologists distinguish the following classification of family types in Russia:

Patriarchal type, husband-producer.
In such a family, the husband earns much more than his wife, but they have common interests. They are doing great free time together. Psychologists note that with a wife’s small ambitions, such a family will have a long and happy history.
Patriarchal type, golden cage.
It differs from the previous version in the absence of common interests between husband and wife. They spend time apart, and meet only in bed and in the kitchen. Such a model can suit a woman interested in financial gain for a long time.
Patriarchal type, husband-loser.
The wife earns more than her husband, but he considers himself the main thing in everything. Of course, such a situation does not please a woman, and a man develops an inferiority complex. Such a family is doomed to conflicts, the result of which is a divorce or daily scandals.
Matriarchal type, wallet keeper.
The wife earns more than her husband or equally, she manages the finances herself. For example, the wife decides to repair, and the husband begins to move the furniture.
Matriarchal type, husband-household.
The wife fully provides for the family, and the husband takes care of the household with the children. For a happy long-term relationship, it is important that such a situation suits the husband in order to avoid an inferiority complex.
Matriarchal type, alcoholic husband or gigolo.
The husband does not work, and if he earns, he spends all the money on himself. The wife is not only the main breadwinner of the family, but also the keeper of the hearth. Read also:
partner type.
The most ideal option for most people. Both partners are working. Earnings themselves do not matter, because relationships are built on complete equality and trust. The family budget and household responsibilities are shared between both partners.
competitive type.
There is no chief in this family, but there is a constant struggle for power. Such families are built on adrenaline because of the unwillingness to negotiate and compromise. Usually in this type of family self-centered individuals are involved, but other people can come to this result for various reasons.

Now you know the definition of the type of family, and perhaps pay attention to fair distribution of responsibilities and duties . After all, the main one is not the one who decides, but the one who is responsible for the consequences of decisions.