Beatriz Triana Pérez
University of La Laguna
Analysis of the Family Cycle from Different Family Models
Participants: Gloria Álvarez Bernardo1; Sonia Plasencia Carrillo2; Guadalupe Alba Corredor1; Guacimara Rodríguez Suárez2
1University of Granada; 2University of La Laguna
Symposium Summary
Nowadays, the growing family diversity observed has driven more positive and less prejudiced visions of family patterns other than the traditional nuclear model, still considered as the ideal. Numerous studies show that it is not the structure that guarantees the well-being of family members but its dynamics, the inherent challenges and the support opportunities they achieve, among other aspects. This symposium aims to deepen this premise, taking a tour of different moments of the family cycle, analysing different sources of support, framing the analysis in three types of family: the homoparental, the adoptive and the separated/divorced. For this, four non-experimental studies are presented ex post facto retrospective, based on non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where the greatest wealth lies in the qualitative analysis that is performed on these realities. The results show the important support and visibility role developed by the families of origin, in cases of same-sex couples facing the transition to motherhood; the lack of training of teachers in Early Childhood Education about the particular challenges of adopted children and how to facilitate their better integration; the greater presence of the father figure in the life of their children, after separation, regardless of the type of custody established, in stages before adolescence, but not later; and the experiences, not always adequate, that children receive about the parenting exercised by their fathers and mothers, after breakup, especially with regard to the paternal model. These results highlight the importance of support to adequately face the challenges of diverse families, and the need for a greater formation of society on these realities, to benefit their dynamics and members adaptation.
Short CV
PhD in Psychology and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Canary Islands). She is member of the Family, Development and Education (FADE) research team, which is focused on studies about the Family, Development and Education, and also of the Centre for University Studies of Mediation and Convivencia (CUMECO) of the University of La Laguna. She is a specialized academic in topics related to Parental Education, with the construction of social knowledge and the analysis of family dynamics in contexts of Family Diversity, especially regarding unconventional families such as adoptive, separated and reconstituted families. She has led and has participated in different research projects on related topics and also has taught various expert, postgraduate and doctoral courses at different universities. She is co-author of book chapters of important reference in Spain related to family diversity, such as the one entitled Family and human development, several times re-edited by the Allianza Editorial, or the one entitled Psychological development in new family structures, published by the Editorial Pirámide (2010). In addition, she has been a technical advisor to the General Directorate for the Canarian Child and Families Protection, from 1999 to the present, and co-author and director of different training courses for adoption applicants carried out in the Autonomous Community of Canary Islands during this period. Among these collaborations, the follow-up study carried out on Canarian adoptive families, entitled The adoption seen by the adoptive families from the Canary Islands (2010), stands out. Likewise, and within the development of the online training programme aimed at fathers and mothers, entitled Educe Positive, carried out by members of FADE group, she has co-authored and led related modules to adoptive and reconstituted families. Recently, she has participated as a member of the study on the Situation of Children and Families in the Canary Islands, and in the publication of the Canary Strategy for Children, Adolescents and Families, which provides guidelines to be followed by the Government of Canary Islands during the period 2019 and 2023.