The work examines the contemporary trend of raising a child with one parent, usually the mother. It deals with the various reasons that lead to this family arrangement, and highlights the problems with which a lone parent is struggling. It focuses namely on difficulties in reconciling work with caring for a child and a household, and on the resulting financial distress. The target group is introduced to readers through case studies of women living in a shelter for mothers and children in distress; the case studies are further evaluated, particularly in terms of the benefits of social services. Various types of assistance from the state are discussed, which single-parent families can benefit from; these are mainly financial support and social services. The next chapter describes alternative kinds of state aid. Attention is drawn to the pitfalls associated with the use of aid, such as dependence on social services and lack of motivation to activate one's own capabilities and to utilize one's own social environment. Possible solutions of the issue are outlined in the conclusion.

O recasamento tem ocorrido com bastante frequência, principalmente, como decorrência do número de separações e divórcios. A adaptação entre os diversos membros, nesta nova família, pode trazer-lhes muito sofrimento, dada a necessidade de conhecimento, tempo e flexibilidade que tal configuração demanda. Os filhos, especialmente, podem sentir solidão, abandono, conflitos de identidade e de lealdade, entre outros, e desenvolver sintomas ou dificuldades que precisam ser compreendidas e enfrentadas. Pela presente pesquisa buscamos compreender a percepção dos filhos ante as mudanças ocorridas em suas vidas devido ao processo de recasamento de um ou de ambos os genitores no âmbito da convivência familia. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, da qual participaram quatro adolescentes e jovens adultos, com idades entre 15 e 24 anos, solteiros, de camada média, que responderam a uma entrevista conduzida de forma semidirigida, composta por questões referentes aos objetivos do estudo e a dados sóciodemográficos dos participantes. As respostas à entrevista foram analisadas com base nos seguintes temas: relacionamento dos genitores antes e após o recasamento; convívio com o(a) padrasto/madrasta; organização do subsistema fraterno; peculiaridades do relacionamento fraterno; nova família, novas regras; expectativas dos filhos na família recasada. Pode-se concluir que, apesar das dificuldades iniciais devidas às alterações na estrutura física (perda de privacidade), na rotina (novos hábitos e regras) e na dinâmica da casa, com a introdução de novos personagens (padrasto/madrasta, meio-irmãos e irmãos políticos ou de convívio), os participantes relataram mais aspectos positivos do que negativos nesta configuração, exceto em um caso que apresenta dificuldades na interação e no convívio com a madrasta. Espera-se poder contribuir no sentido de ampliar a compreensão e a visibilidade dessa configuração familiar, como também proporcionar subsídios para o trabalho de profissionais que lidam com famílias, adolescentes e jovens, uma vez que pesquisas relacionadas ao tema são escassas na realidade nordestina / Remarriage is occurring with great frequency, mainly due to the number of separations and divorces. Adaptation between the several members, in this new family, can bring them a lot of suffering, due the need of knowledge, time and flexibility that such configuration demands. The children, especially, can suffer loneliness, abandonment, identity and loyalty conflicts, among others, and develop symptoms and difficulties that need to be understood and faced. The present research has investigated how children understood and experienced the changes that occurred in their lives in due to remarriage of one or both parents. It is a qualitative research attended by four adolescents and young adults, aged between 15 and 24 years, single, middle-class, who have answered a semi-directed interview, composed of questions referring to the study goals and socio-demographic data of the participants. The answers to the interview were analyzed based on the following themes: parent relationship before and after remarriage; living experience with the stepparent; organization of the fraternal subsystem; fraternal relationship peculiarities; new family, new rules; children expectations in the remarried family. It can be concluded that, besides initial troubles due to changes in the physical structure (loss of privacy), routine (new habits and rules), and house dynamics, with introduction of new characters (stepparent, stepbrothers and political or convivial brothers), the participants referred more positive than negative aspects in this configuration, except in one case that presents troubles in interaction and living with the stepmother. It is expected to contribute in a way to broaden the understanding and visibility of this family configuration, as well as provide subsidies for the work of professionals that deal with families, adolescents and young adults, since research related to this subject is scarce in the northeastern reality

The single parent family in an inner city context is confronted with a problematic life situation. The demands, which are brought about by single parenthood as well as residence in an inner city environment, often lead to inappropriate parenting. The single parent child is often disrupted on an emotional and social level as a result. In many cases the child handles this disruption inappropriately. The single parent family has a need for resources in the community in order to ensure the continuous emotional, social, psychic and physical well being of its separate members. Involvement in gestalt group work can already be regarded as such an important resource available to the single parent child. Through this research study an investigation was made into the efficiency of a gestalt group work programme in the empowerment of the single parent child to handle the negative experiences of the single parent situation, such as feelings of guilt, anger, confusion, fear, inadequacy, loss, and sorrow and depression. Gestalt group work offers an opportunity to the child to share feelings and experiences regarding the single parent situation within the group context and to receive support from the therapists and other group members. This process strengthens the child’s inner self and the child is empowered to self-support. A complete and refined gestalt group work programme was developed and evaluated from the findings of a literature study and empirical study. The process of intervention research was followed during the empirical study. Data was obtained from seven single parent children in their late middle childhood years in an inner city context and their single parents. The combined quantitative-qualitative approach was used for this purpose according to the dominant-less-dominant model of Creswell. The single-systems design was used to test the effectiveness of the programme. The quantitative findings were obtained by self-developed questionnaires for the child respondents and their single parents, before and after the gestalt group work programme. The qualitative findings were obtained by unstructured observation during the gestalt group work sessions. According to the integration of the quantitative and qualitative findings, the conclusion can be made that the gestalt group work programme brought about an improvement in the child respondents’ emotional and social levels of functioning and their appropriate handling of feelings. The findings obtained, suggest that the developed gestalt group work programme can be implemented with confidence with single parent children in their late middle childhood years in an inner city context. Further research on the development and evaluation of a gestalt group work programme, specifically presented to the single parents, in order to guide and support them in the handling of their experiences of the single parent situation, is strongly suggested. / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Submitted by Biblioteca Central (biblioteca@unicap.br) on 2017-11-16T22:18:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_daniela_heitzmann_amaral.pdf: 1298561 bytes, checksum: 6b609e81cfc6789b95a26447fd08fefc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-16T22:18:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_daniela_heitzmann_amaral.pdf: 1298561 bytes, checksum: 6b609e81cfc6789b95a26447fd08fefc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-22 / Remarriage is occurring with great frequency, mainly due to the number of separations and divorces. Adaptation between the several members, in this new family, can bring them a lot of suffering, due the need of knowledge, time and flexibility that such configuration demands. The children, especially, can suffer loneliness, abandonment, identity and loyalty conflicts, among others, and develop symptoms and difficulties that need to be understood and faced. The present research has investigated how children understood and experienced the changes that occurred in their lives in due to remarriage of one or both parents. It is a qualitative research attended by four adolescents and young adults, aged between 15 and 24 years, single, middle-class, who have answered a semi-directed interview, composed of questions referring to the study goals and socio-demographic data of the participants. The answers to the interview were analyzed based on the following themes: parent relationship before and after remarriage; living experience with the stepparent; organization of the fraternal subsystem; fraternal relationship peculiarities; new family, new rules; children expectations in the remarried family. It can be concluded that, besides initial troubles due to changes in the physical structure (loss of privacy), routine (new habits and rules), and house dynamics, with introduction of new characters (stepparent, stepbrothers and political or convivial brothers), the participants referred more positive than negative aspects in this configuration, except in one case that presents troubles in interaction and living with the stepmother. It is expected to contribute in a way to broaden the understanding and visibility of this family configuration, as well as provide subsidies for the work of professionals that deal with families, adolescents and young adults, since research related to this subject is scarce in the northeastern reality. / O recasamento tem ocorrido com bastante frequência, principalmente, como decorrência do número de separações e divórcios. A adaptação entre os diversos membros, nesta nova família, pode trazer-lhes muito sofrimento, dada a necessidade de conhecimento, tempo e flexibilidade que tal configuração demanda. Os filhos, especialmente, podem sentir solidão, abandono, conflitos de identidade e de lealdade, entre outros, e desenvolver sintomas ou dificuldades que precisam ser compreendidas e enfrentadas. Pela presente pesquisa buscamos compreender a percepção dos filhos ante as mudanças ocorridas em suas vidas devido ao processo de recasamento de um ou de ambos os genitores no âmbito da convivência familia. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, da qual participaram quatro adolescentes e jovens adultos, com idades entre 15 e 24 anos, solteiros, de camada média, que responderam a uma entrevista conduzida de forma semidirigida, composta por questões referentes aos objetivos do estudo e a dados sóciodemográficos dos participantes. As respostas à entrevista foram analisadas com base nos seguintes temas: relacionamento dos genitores antes e após o recasamento; convívio com o(a) padrasto/madrasta; organização do subsistema fraterno; peculiaridades do relacionamento fraterno; nova família, novas regras; expectativas dos filhos na família recasada. Pode-se concluir que, apesar das dificuldades iniciais devidas às alterações na estrutura física (perda de privacidade), na rotina (novos hábitos e regras) e na dinâmica da casa, com a introdução de novos personagens (padrasto/madrasta, meio-irmãos e irmãos políticos ou de convívio), os participantes relataram mais aspectos positivos do que negativos nesta configuração, exceto em um caso que apresenta dificuldades na interação e no convívio com a madrasta. Espera-se poder contribuir no sentido de ampliar a compreensão e a visibilidade dessa configuração familiar, como também proporcionar subsídios para o trabalho de profissionais que lidam com famílias, adolescentes e jovens, uma vez que pesquisas relacionadas ao tema são escassas na realidade nordestina.