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METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES OF STUDYING THE PHENOMENON OF
LARGE FAMILIES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Yangiboyeva Dildorakhon Rakhmon qizi
Teacher of the Department of “Psychology and pedagogy” of the ISFT institute
Xamroqulov Mirabror Muxtar ogli
2nd year student of “Psychology” (by types of activity) of the ISFT institute
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14748560
Annotation:
The types of large families are families in which the parents
consciously decided to have many children, families in which the parents did not
seek to have many children, families that have many children as a result of the
formation of two single-parent families and families with many children as a
result of disadvantage. A large family is a family with three or more children,
including adopted children under the age of eighteen.
Key words:
extended family, relationship, types of family, children, family
dynamics.
Extended family members usually live in the same residence where they
pool resources and undertake familial responsibilities. Multigenerational bonds
and greater resources increase the extended family's resiliency and ability to
provide for the children's needs, yet several risk factors associated with
extended families can decrease their well-being. Such risk factors include
complex relationships, conflicting loyalties, and generational conflict [7].
Complex intergenerational relationships can complicate the child–parent
relationship as they can cause confusion regarding the identity of the primary
parent. Such confusion can result in a child undermining the authority of her
existing parent (Anderson, 2012) and feeling uncertain about her environment
[6].
Extended families often value the wider kin group more than individual
relationships, which can lead to loyalty issues within the family and also cause
difficulties in a couple's relationship where a close relationship between a
husband and wife may be seen as a threat to the wider kin group. Another factor
that can add to the complexity of relationships in an extended family is the need
to negotiate the expectations and needs of each family member. Complex
extended family relationships can also detract from the parent–child
relationship.The literature points to various protective factors associated with
extended families that can help the parents and family meet the children's
various needs. Extended families usually have more resources at their disposal
that can be used to ensure the well-being of the children. Also, when the family
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functions as a collaborative team, has strong kinship bonds, is flexible in its
roles, and relies on cultural values to sustain the family, the family itself serves
as a lifelong buffer against stressful transitions [5].
Kinship care as a cultural value in extended families is associated with
positive child outcomes, yet this may not be the case when such families have to
take responsibility for a child because his parents are unable to do so. In such
cases, kinship care becomes similar to foster care. Situations like the latter
usually arise from substance abuse, incarceration, abuse, homelessness, family
violence, illness, death, or military deployment [4].
Although children in kinship care often fare better than children in foster
care, various risk factors can have a negative impact on the children's well-
being. Risk factors include low socioeconomic status, inability to meet children's
needs properly, unhealthy family dynamics, older kin, less-educated kin, and
single kin [1].
Kinship care as foster care is often characterized by complex relationships
and the trauma caused by the loss of an able parent. The family member who
assumes the role as parent often finds it difficult to balance his former
relationship with his new role as the person responsible for the child's well-
being. For instance, a grandmother may have to adapt to the idea of being a
strict parent instead of a loving, indulgent grandmother [3].
The study of family relations is very difficult, as it is an area of purely
personal and intimate life of a person. It is also worth noting that intra-family
relations are not reduced only to the relationship of spouses. At different stages
of its development, the family performs different functions, so the consideration
of the study of interpersonal relations in the family acquires a complex
character.
At present, a family with many children is a family with three or more
children (including adopted children, stepchildren and stepdaughters) under the
age of eighteen. According to E.F.Achildieva's classification, the following types
of large families are distinguished:
o
Families in which parents love their children and consciously wanted
to have them. In these families the child acts as one of life values, and parents do
everything in their power to make life better for their children.
o
Families in which the parents did not consciously want to have many
children. Third and subsequent children may have appeared in them mainly due
to lack of family planning. Such families may be formed as a result of twins or
triplets, fear of termination of pregnancy, medical prohibition of abortion due to
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the mother's health, refusal of abortion and contraception due to religious
beliefs.
o
Families formed as a result of the merger of two single-parent families,
each of which already had children.
o
Families in which the birth of a large number of children can be
considered a manifestation of disadvantage. Family dynamics is one of the
important parameters determining the characteristics of the family, as the stage
of family development, the period of life activity as a social group directly affects
the functions and structure of the family, thus creating a unique image of each
family.
The large family form of existence is defined by the number of children
from 5 and more. A large family is a special kind of family with its own specific
features and characteristics. A family with a large number of children is
characterized by great cohesion of spouses, divorces in such families are quite
rare and occur mainly due to the failure of husbands in bringing up children and
failure to fulfill other family and household responsibilities.
According to the studies of E.G. Eidemiller, V.V. Yustitskis, G.I. Osadcha, A.I.
Antonov, T.V. Andreeva, N.V. Aleksandrova, S.V. Kovalev, A.N. Obozova, V.M.
Medkov, F.O. Semenova, etc. the problem of a large family is multifaceted and
reflects often ambivalent assessments. Positively assessing large families,
researchers point to the progressiveness of this phenomenon, its importance not
only for simple population reproduction and stabilization of fertility in the
country, but also its advantages and positive aspects for children's socialization
[9]. One of the definitions of the family is Murdock's (1949), "The family is a
social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and
reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a
socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or
adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults". Extended families consist of several
generations of people and can include biological parents and their children as
well as in-laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Extended families are
typical of collective cultures where all family members are interdependent and
share family responsibilities including childrearing roles [8].
The extended family member who steps into the parenting role is often
overwhelmed by the stress caused by new parental responsibilities, attachment
difficulties, and possible feelings of resentment and anger toward the biological
parent, as well as having to deal with traumatic transitions after the loss of an
able parent. The relationship between the new parent and other family
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members may also experience strain due to loyalty issues. Besides complex
relationships, changes in the child's environment call for new routines, the
setting of new limits, and sometimes coparenting with the biological parent, all
of which can contribute to a less stable environment [2]
An extended family member who takes on kinship care faces many
challenges, although positive experiences associated with such care can also
serve as a protective factor buffering the child against the negative effect of
traumatic transitions. The new parent may find this transition meaningful in the
sense that it adds purpose to her life, and the child may also experience a sense
of security, consistency, continuity in family identity, emotional ties, and
familiarity.
The structure of interpersonal relations of the family is one of the basic
concepts of interpersonal relations, and according to M.S. Matskovsky
represents "the entire set of relations between its members, including, in
addition to kinship relations, the system of spiritual and moral relations,
including relations of power, authority, etc.". Based on this definition, family
structure includes such components as numerical, generational and kinship
composition (number of family members, number of generations, presence of
marital, parental and kinship relations), as well as power structure and role
structure.
Extended families composed of grandparents, aunts, and uncles can be
protective of children, given a nonabusive ideology. If there is an abusive
ideology, however, the extended family can pose as much a risk as a buffer to
children. Simple generalizations, therefore, about features of family structure
and their role in child maltreatment cannot be made. Once again, the indicators
of nonviolent parenting seem to be more lodged within parenting beliefs than in
the structure of the family. Coercive parenting engenders aggression in children,
either through modeling parental aggression or through the development of an
internal mental script or ‘working model’ of antagonistic interpersonal
relationships. Although there have been few direct studies to date, it appears
that parents who espouse a ‘partnership model’ with each other are more likely
to raise children to do the same, and to develop mutual respect for boundaries,
opinions, and interests that will benefit the child, as well as the parents. The
‘dominator model’, or the traditional patriarchal family, is a problematic
environment for successful child rearing, and can diminish children’s own self-
esteem and ability to forge intimate relationships.
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There are widespread beliefs that the presence of grandparents is a buffer
for children, and probably inhibits abuse. However, research findings on the
support provided by grandparents to young children are mixed. In one study of
African-American extended families children within single or divorced mother-
headed households, however, did show signs of better adjustment when a
grandmother lived with them. However, this effect did not seem due to the
grandmother’s parenting skills or direct care to the child, but to the support
these grandmothers provided their daughters. The daughters, therefore, became
more effective and less stressed during their own parenting tasks, and the
children subsequently benefited. In the United States, therefore, the
nuclear family relationships remain the most critical for the children’s health
and outcome. When single mothers are nested in supportive extended family
contexts, the children benefit from the direct aid offered to the mother.
There have been some studies on what kinds of skills promote nonviolent and
nurturant parenting. For example, researchers in child development found that
mothers who are able to develop higher levels of attunement or synchrony when
interacting with toddlers, and who are able to establish a mutual focus with the
child on some activity or thought, have children who are more compliant and
happier than mothers who are less attuned, so to speak, to their young children.
Flowing with the child rather than against her or him seems to be the best policy
for socializing cooperativeness and stability. Finally, the quality of the
relationship between parents has a profound impact on children’s coping
and mental health.
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