Research On Single-parent Families To Enhance The Resilience Through Group Work

With the social culture and values showing a trend of diversification,the traditional concept of marriage and family has been impacted,which has aggravated the changes of family structure in China.Family as the basic social unit,begins to take a different form,the number of single-parent families caused by divorce keeps growing.In addition to divorce,the formation of single-parent families can also be the result of widowhood,unmarried births,separation,infant abandoning and single parental adoptions.This unique family form begins to be a focus of social concern.Studies have shown that single parent families because of their incomplete family structure fall into dilemmas regarding to their economy,employment,emotional experience,family education and social integration,which have brought about many bad effects on family life,school education and social development.This study interviews with 14 single-parent families from the P community of G city,where they are facing economic problems in their families,stress in life,emotional depression,single gender education and poor parent-child relationships,and the problems of the children of single-parent families in terms of school adaptation,peer interaction,as well as the lack of formal and diverse social support networks.Although,the single-parent families don't show a cring situation in response to difficulties,but reflect their inherent advantages and potential for future development.the study found that the single-parent families show a certain level of potential or family resistance in the belief system,organizational model and communication process.Their actions in the face of dilemmas include the creation of meaningful dilemma,the integration of experience with beliefs,future hopes and dreams;the full use of the resources of the family,community and society,the establishment of a family support network;pay attention to the communication and interaction,so that family members on the basis of mutual understanding to grow.The study shall employ group work method of social work,guided by the theory of family resilience,Intervene in the family communication process,form the resilience group of single parent and child.The group work emphasizes the role of "common sense" and "group dynamics." The group's "common sense" comes from the incomplete family structure and similar dilemmas of single-parent families.The group's static structure such as name,content,etc.,shall work in collaboration with the group's dynamic structure such as leadership,decision-making,communication,interaction,thus constituting the content of group dynamic.In the group field,social worker,as a researcher,during their collaboration with single parents and children,exploring the effectiveness of the group's intervention in single-parent family resistance.The study shows that an effective family communication process is the key to the improvement of resistance.The single-parent families learn effective communication knowledge in the group,so to internalization.Positive "group dynamics" promote the participation and interaction of team members,forming the group's mutual support network,so as to meet the needs of single-parent family growth and enhance family resistance.