The nature of developmental and educational dysfunctions of a modern family

The socio-psychological reality, in which the modern family functions, requires many interdisciplinary studies undertaken for diagnostic as well as corrective and therapeutic (aiding) purposes. This paper attempts to present, from the psychological perspective, the issue of dysfunction in terms of general developmental and educational problems that parents face in the upbringing process. In psychology, family is treated as the child’s socio  educational primary and natural environment, in which he can gather his first life experiences. These are of diverse character and may be drawn from a variety of actions: supportive and motivating activities, passive participation in the upbringing process or negative, inhibiting interactions. A wide spectrum of variables modifying the developmental and educational process includes the child’s age, level of psychic development but also broadly understood parental educational competencies shaped in objectively difficult reality and other factors modifying the family developmental and educational activities. In family educational interactions, as far as their form, content and educational methods are concerned, we should take into account current civilization-related determinants, understood as a number of social environment variables (school, peer groups, youth organizations, social movements) which influence the development of the child in a planned systematic and intended way. Susceptibility of young people to these influences gradually becomes more open and natural, often replacing the direct educational influence of the family.This paper focuses mainly on various manifestations of social life that pathologize modern developmental and educational interactions within the family, both of internal and external character.Current trends in psychoprophylaxis should also take into account interactions that would make the parents aware of numerous external threats to the modern family, indicate preventive methods, grouped in a system of actions particularly important for correct functioning of the family as well as aim at development or consolidation of parental competencies, developmental abilities, self-awareness and educational self-control. Multispecialty and multidirectional assistance to the family – the child’s developmental and educational environment – in self-diagnosis of its functioning should be a priority for many specialist centers on the national scale.