18 May 2008
Bilbao Campus
Some of the issues that will be discussed during this Congress include those related to the adjustment and adaptation of both children and adults, post-divorce family relationships, the added difficulties involved in single parenthood, community support services for families ?legal, clinical, psychosocial services- custody evaluation and agreements, the legal or economic difficulties, mediation, etc.The fact is that the number of divorced people has increased considerably, and although this is becoming a more usual and normal phenomenon, it has a significant impact that cannot be minimised and has to be dealt with.
The lecturer at the Facultad of Philosophy and Education Sciences, Dr.Ana Martínez Pampliega is one of the coordinators of this meeting that will feature a number of guest experts and professionals in the field of clinical and forensic psychology, law, psychiatry or sociology. It also seeks to provide researchers and professionals with the opportunity to present their own ideas or just attend the lectures.Its ultimate aim is to increase understanding, to facilitate the exchange of experiences and actions, and promote the development of appropriate psychological, psychiatric, sociological, political or legal measures.
The idea of organising a Congress of this kind emerged from the substantial increase in the number of divorced people in western societies, both European and American.Data from the National Institute of Statistics (2007) reveal that the gap between the number of marriages and break-ups has gradually decreased, which seems to confirm the prediction that an equal number of marriages and break-ups will take place in Spain by 2010.
The growth in the number of divorces has favoured a greater social awareness of the effects that parental break-up has on all the family members, especially on children, whose experience of their parents? divorce is one of the most significant vital crises in their lives. This is a result of the multiple changes it usually causes:changes in the relationship between the parents and other family members, changes in domestic routines, change of residence, school and/or neighbourhood, uprootedness, presence of new childminders, etc.On the other hand, we should not forget the changes in the family economy and the impoverishment of single-parent families (mainly under the care of their mother), which involve risk situations that increase stress in children.As a result, children go through great suffering, which can lead to physical or psychological symptoms.Parents do not find this transition easy either, and they often suffer from different kinds of emotional problems, to a greater or lesser extent (depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sense of failure, guilt, anger, etc.).
It is evident that the impact of divorce will depend not so much on the fact itself, but on the process and all the events occurring around it, with special emphasis on the relationship patterns with their parents or the rest of the family:the time spent with each parent, the quality of their relationship, different upbringing or behaviour practices, emergence of new family figures, the type of judicial process, the degree of interparental conflict before and during the divorce process, child custody patterns and parents? custody agreements, etc.
In Spain, unlike in Anglo-Saxon literature, there are very few studies that are systematic and methodologically correct on the evolution of family members following separation or divorce.However, there is a growing awareness by Mental Health and social services professionals of the need for attention and care, both for parents going through this experience and for their children.Divorce has become a public health issue, and it is our society?s responsibility to develop and implement prevention programmes and support services.From a legal perspective, lawyers, forensic psychologists and mediators aim to ensure that the necessary conditions that may facilitate the adaptation of all the family members are met.
Thus, it is necessary to understand the factors that involve risk situations, and that make it possible to prevent the physical, psychological and social impact to which both children and parents are exposed. Therefore, new intervention resources and programmes at a social, judicial, health or psychological level must be developed, which may reduce the impact of this vital crisis or transition.All these issues will be discussed during this Congress.
Further information on our web page at: www.familiaydivorcio.deusto.es
