Otwartość na dialog w mediacjach rodzinnych

The objective of this paper was to analyze the sociocultural and personal reasons pivotal to the openness of the conflicting parties to a dialogue in the framework of family mediation. In the quest to answer the question what factors can influence the development of the family mediation in Poland and its acceptance both by the society and the families in conflict, the author presented the results of international and Polish research on the efficacy of the family mediation process and the readiness of the parties to use the mediation in family conflicts. Two theoretical concepts characterizing the sociocultural origins of resistance to mediation were analyzed in detail, namely that of the social resistance proposed by B. Mayer and that of the moral resistance by R. Benjamin. Moreover, the paper addressed the issue of the promotion of mediation together with the unrealistic expectations as to what can be achieved through mediation, mythologization of mediation and dilemma connected with the neutrality of the mediator. Finally, an integrated systemic approach to family mediation was proposed, which could enhance the chances of acceptance of the mediation by the parties in conflict. In essence it is proposed that the promotion of mediation should be exercised on three levels: (1) general societal level (to promote the winwin solutions in family conflicts), (2) level of specific educational activities for the conflicted parties (e.g. organization of premediation consultative meetings), and (3) level of specific actions targeted at various professional groups (e.g. judges, lawyers, probation officer, employees of the family support centres, etc)

Akceptacja mediacji jako formy rozwiązywania konfliktów rodzinnych

The paper analyzes the benefits of using family mediation as an alternative method of family conflict resolution and problems encountered when introducing it into the social life in modern societies. The analysis shows that the development of family mediation in Poland resembles that of other European states. In Poland, as in other European countries, family mediation was first “discovered” by the professionals dealing with family conflicts, then it was given a proper legal status and became included in the civil codes. The next phase was a protracted process of accepting the method of mediation by lawyers, conflicted parties, and other professionals who would be in the position to support the growth of family mediation. While analyzing the benefits of family mediation, a state of art type of study was done on the effectiveness of the mediation process and the clients’ satisfaction indicating the short and long term advantages of family mediation. The paper proves no linear relationship between the effectiveness of the mediation procedures and the acceptance of this method in the court practice and in the society. Why people do not choose mediation despite its logical advantages over the adversarial court process? Trying to answer this question an analysis of potential sources of resistance to mediation is presented together with the relevant concepts of the moral resistance and the public resistance. These two concepts help us understand why do parties in conflict prefer adversarial court proceedings with the “winner” and “looser” over peaceful resolutions offered by mediation, enabling agreement and “keeping the face”

Interparental conflict and child adjustment: main concepts and research findings

W artykule zaprezentowano przegląd literatury na temat podstawowych modeli teoretycznych oraz wyników badań dotyczących wyjaśniania związków pomiędzy konfliktem małżeńskim a reakcjami dzieci. Głównym celem było zrozumienie mechanizmów łączących konflikty małżeńskie z problemami przystosowania dzieci. Przedstawiono dwa główne modele teoretyczne, tj. Cognitive-Contextual Framework (Grych i Fincham, 1990) oraz Emotional Security Hypothesis (Davies i Cummings, 1994). Analiza wyników badań empirycznych wskazuje, że konflikty małżeńskie wiążą się z licznymi problemami w przystosowaniu dzieci. Destruktywne konflikty rodzicielskie wiążą się z problemami w zachowaniu, podczas gdy pozytywna emocjonalność i konstruktywne sposoby rozwiązywania konfliktów powodują reakcje neutralne lub pozytywne u dzieci. Zaprezentowano również podstawowe wyniki badań nad skutecznością psychoedukacyjnych programów dla rodziców mających na celu prewencję negatywnych skutków konfliktów małżeńskich. This is a review study of theoretical frameworks and research findings concerning the relationship between marital conflict and children’s response. The main focus is on understanding the mechanisms connecting marital conflict to child adjustment. Two main theoretical models are discussed, namely, Cognitive-Contextual Framework by Grych and Fincham (1990) and Emotional Security Hypothesis by Davies and Cummings (1994). The analysis shows that marital conflicts are associated with a wide range of children’s adjustment problems. Parental destructive conflict patterns are associated with children’s behavioral problems, whereas positive emotionality and constructive conflict resolution lead to children’s positive or even neutral reactions to marital problems. Results are presented on how useful psychoeducational programs are for parents that prevent negative marital conflict effects on children

Ego-Resiliency and Parental Satisfaction Among Parents of Children with Down Syndrome

Parents of children with Down syndrome face many challenges related to their children’s disability. They manage to raise their children primarily thanks to their internal resources, protective psychological traits and help from other people. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of ego-resiliency as an important personality trait in a group of mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome. The relationship between ego-resiliency and parental satisfaction was also studied. The sample consisted of 126 parents (75 mothers and 51 fathers). Our results show that there is no difference in the level of ego-resiliency between mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome. Nevertheless, it is noticed that there is a difference in perceived stress, psychological well-being and some aspects of parental satisfaction between parents with high and low levels of ego-resiliency. These results give an interesting insight into the internal functioning of parents of children with Down syndrome

Rozwód i mediacje rozwodowe w aspekcie różnic płci

Rozpad małżeństwa sprzyja tworzeniu się odrębnych doświadczeń kobiet oraz mężczyzn (Volgy, 1991). Różnice dotyczą nie tylko interpretowania przyczyn rozpadu związku, ale również sposobów radzenia sobie z rozstaniem i rozwodem przez kobiety i przez mężczyzn (Beisert, 2000; Riessman, 1990; za: Brannon, 2002).Rozwód zapowiada zatem szereg problemów emocjonalnych i finansowych wspólnych dla obu płci, ale też różnicuje sytuację kobiet i mężczyzn po rozwodzie. Z tego względu można się spodziewać różnic w podejściu kobiet i mężczyzn do rozwiązywania konfliktu rozwodowego oraz wyboru mediacji jako formy rozwiązywania sporu (Pines, Gat, Tal, 2002). Joan B. Kelly i Lynn L. Gigy (1989; por. też: Kelly, Gigy, Hausman, 1988) przeprowadziły interesujące badania, śledząc różnice pomiędzy kobietami i mężczyznami wyrażającymi zgodę na udział w mediacjach bądź odmawiających uczestniczenia w procesie mediacji

Niechęć do uczestniczenia w procesie psychoterapii i mediacjach rodzinnych : opór i jego przyczyny

Patients’ resistance may occur at any stage of psychotherapy or mediation process. The focus of this paper is on the resistance to use psychotherapy or family mediation. We also explore psychological grounds for the difficulties behind the decision to seek professional psychological help. The resistance in psychotherapy is one of the fundamental problems, hence a lot of research studies and practical techniques can be found regarding the determinants of resistance and strategies how to cope with it. However, in the family mediation literature the conceptualisation of resistance to enter the mediation process has rarely been investigated. In the present paper five main factors of the avoidance of counselling or psychotherapy are analysed, namely: (i) social stigma, (ii) treatment fears, (iii) fear of emotion, (iv) anticipated utility and risk, and (v) problems with self-disclosure. As far as the decision to enter family mediation is concerned the main sources of clients’ resistance can be traced to negative convictions, attitudes and fears of the mediation process. The results of the author’s own research on this subject show that the main components of resistance are: (1) disbelief in effectiveness of mediation, (2) attribution of negative characteristics to mediation, (3) reluctance to involvement of third party, and (4) fear of disclosure of secrets. In the final part of the paper a discussion of similarities between the factors determining the resistance to participate in psychotherapy and family mediation is presented

Inteligencja emocjonalna i możliwości jej rozwijania w szkole

Od chwili ukazania się książek D. Golemana (1997, 1999) i popu­laryzacji takich terminów, jak inteligencja emocjonalna i interpersonalna, coraz więcej psychologów i pedagogów praktyków interesuje się rozwijaniem tych umiejętności u dzieci i młodzieży. Powstają programy oparte na trenin­gach umiejętności psychologicznych, przydatne w profilaktyce przemocy, redukcji zachowań agresywnych, w rozwiązywaniu konfliktów interpersonal­nych itp. Nie oznacza to oczywiście, że przedtem nie było, zarówno na świecie, jak i w Polsce, programów profilaktycznych nastawionych na tego typu rozwój ( Ostrowska, Tatarowicz , red. 1996

Depression and marital satisfaction: the mediating role of sexual satisfaction and perceived partner acceptance in women after mastectomy

Background Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer disrupts women’s functioning on both individual and dyadic levels. The main objective of the present study was to examine whether the partner’s acceptance of the woman and her sexual satisfaction can play a key role in mediating the relationship between depression and marital satisfaction in women treated for breast cancer after mastectomy. Participants and procedure The sample consisted of 97 women with breast cancer after mastectomy (mean age = 55.68 years). The participants completed the following self-reported assessments: Beck’s Depression Inventory, Scale of Assessment of Self- Attractiveness in the Relationship by Chybicka and Karasiewicz and the Good Marriage Questionnaire KDM-2 by Plopa and Rostowski. All women were married (89.70%) or in informal relationships (10.30%). Recruitment for the study was conducted among women from the Amazonki community. Results The time since the first diagnosis and the commencement of surgical treatment was a negative predictor (β = –.36, p < .001) of marital satisfaction in women with breast cancer after mastectomy, whereas acceptance by the partner was a significant positive predictor (β = .30, p = .023); the mediation analyses showed that acceptance by the partner fully mediated the relationship between depression and marital satisfaction. Sexual satisfaction can also be considered as a significant total mediator between depression and marital satisfaction in women with breast cancer after mastectomy. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of the analysed variables for marital satisfaction of women with breast cancer and can serve as a helpful guide for clinicians and other health professionals. One of the more important findings concerned the importance of acceptance by the partner as a direct predictor of marital satisfaction. The research also showed that the women’s conviction about their partners’ acceptance and their sexual satisfaction renders their depression impactless in terms of marital satisfaction

Psychological well-being of individuals after divorce: the role of social support

Divorce is a transition period in which divorcing individuals face restructuring of the family system and adjustment to changes. The psychological well-being of divorcees can serve as an important indicator of the adjustment process. The achievement of well-being does not come easily for many reasons, one of which is the experience related to a sense of loss associated with the marriage break-up. Social support is a major relational resource for overcoming the crisis and successfully adjusting to post-divorce life. The sample consisted of 157 individuals after divorce: 120 women and 37 men (mean age = 41.29). Instruments employed in the study included the Sense of Loss Scale (DS), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL), the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ-23), and sociodemographic data. Our results show that perceived social support is a partial mediator of the relationship between the sense of loss associated with divorce and the psychological well-being of individuals after divorce. For the vast majority of the respondents their parents, friends and acquaintances were the major source of support. About one third of the participants were given support by their siblings and their own children. The study confirms the mediating role of support in building well-being after experiencing loss related to dissolution of marriage. This means that for divorced women and men perceived social support is one of the key resources that have a significant impact on achieving psychological well-being after divorce, since it is related to mitigating the negative impact of the sense of loss associated with marriage break-up

Parental Monitoring of the Internet Activity of Young Children and Preadolescents

Th is study explores the infl uence of three psychological factors of the parental monitoring of children’s Internet activity: (i) parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of threat and risk, (ii) parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of benefi ts, and (iii) family closeness. Th e sample consisted of 161 parents (20 fathers and 141 mothers) of children aged 7-12. Results show that family closeness is the most signifi cant predictor for parental monitoring. Th e second signifi cant predictor is parents’ perception of the Internet as a source of threat or risk. As expected, the predictors for parental monitoring of children’s Internet activity depend on children’s age