Więź psychospołeczna w cyklu życia rodziny na podstawie badań małżonków
Psychosocial bond in the family life cycle – based on the research of the spouses

Summary/Abstract: Married life involves several phases in which a woman and a man have specific tasks to accomplish. This article deals with the subject of the psychosocial bond in the family at different phases of its life. The analyses it provides can be used to make an initial, general assessment of the bond. Ultimately, the article aims to draw conclusions from the research and formulate pastoral recommendations in the field of accompanying spouses and parents in the development of their psychosocial bond at different phases in the family life cycle. The first part presents the theoretical basis of the issue and describes the study group and research methodology. The research was carried out using the method of diagnostic survey and it included a group of 345 people living in the Sandomierz diocese. The second part presents the results of research on the intellectual, decision-making and action proximity of spouses in the different phases of the family life cycle. The results of the research confirmed the assumption that the phase in the family life cycle that spouses are at is related to the frequency and topics of conversation with their spouse and the frequency and topics of conversation between parents and children. It was also taken into account who in the respondents’ family makes important decisions about the children and which forms of leisure activities the respondents prefer. The results confirmed that there is a linkage between the phase of the family’s life and the intellectual, partially decision-making and action proximity of the spouses. A small percentage of the respondents declared that they did not undertake important conversations with their spouse, and the majority of them were respondents at the phase with young children (6.5%). It was shown that the topics of the conversations undertaken with the spouse varied the most between married couples in the first phase M (marriage with no children) and the last phase PG („empty nest phase”), and respondents who are at the RMD (family with young children), RPS (family with pre-school and school-age children) and RD phases (family with children growing up), which is related to the adaptation of the topics of conversation to the developmental tasks occurring, which differ at different phases in the family life cycle. The strongest intellectual proximity between parents and children was noted in the phase with pre-school and school children. Therefore, activities in the field of pastoral care of the family were indicated, which may support the development of psychosocial bonds of spouses, especially those who have young children. A form of accompaniment for these couples could be weekend retreats for marriages, conferences and days of recollection, in which the need for marriage and family dialogue would be emphasized. It also seems important to include the topics of responsible parenthood, which is rarely addressed by spouses in conversations regardless of the stage of life of the family. It seems reasonable to take into account in pastoral care the importance of the marital-family psychosocial bond by directing pastoral care to support spouses in appreciating marital and family dialogue. Hence, the mutual accompaniment of couples who are at different phases as well as the activation and exchange of experiences may be helpful.

• Details
• Contents