The family as the primary environment in society

Family as a primary environment in society

Introduction

Baby crying accompanies the baby from the first moments when it comes into the world. First, he expresses hunger, thirst, discomfort and all unpleasant feelings with it. Later on, the baby learns to talk and communicates its needs before it starts crying. The most vulnerable human being is undoubtedly a child. The primary subject of his personal development is the family, which is the place of origin, formation of his character and acquisition of values ​​as the most valuable potential.

The family is not always able to fulfill its functions, as nowadays it is increasingly exposed to the influence of economic and social disharmony. It is the birthplace of disturbed dysfunctional families in which children are neglected, abused, or their parents do not take care of them properly. In such a situation, the child does not know and cannot help himself. This is when a wider support network of entities such as state administration bodies, local government, non-state entities, the church or experts in the social field comes to the rescue.

Family – Família

Every family is the primary context of human experience from cradle to grave. It is a kind of institution that has irreplaceable importance for the development and life of a person. In addition to satisfying physical, psychological and social needs, it provides the background necessary for social self-realization, it is a source of experience and patterns of behavior for the next life of a person. (Fischer, Skoda, 2009).

The family is a complex process, a work created by human personalities, which is constantly evolving and transforming over time. A grouping of people with different human needs, whose effort is to create harmony or unity based on verbal and non-verbal communication. It exists in time and space, its roots are in the past and its direction is in the future. Is it perhaps something that should be broken, reduced, kicked off, disparaged, lost to today's society and unknown to the next generation? After all, the family is the place where the first interpersonal relationships are born and formed, everyone has their place and role in it. Schaeffer (1995) was right when she wrote that "the family is like a human work of art, for a work of art takes years to create and is still not finished. Imagination, creativity, originality, talent, interest, love, compassion, excitement, determination, and time create the diversity of the family that challenges every intelligent human being to work in the studio of life itself." Family - it means belonging to each other, influencing each other, sympathizing with each other, worrying about each other, being interested in each other. This is what a healthy, functional family should look like. However, she is also constantly in motion. No two years in it are the same, and the family has many forms and combinations before it. Just as individuals transform, their personality grows and matures, so does the image of the family. A grouping of individuals who can share both work and fun together, and in their communication there can still be an ever-increasing exchange of ideas. It is a struggle for continuity that cannot be achieved anywhere else than in the family. André Maurois said: "A friend may like you for your intelligence, a lover for your charm, but a family loves you for no reason... And yet it can anger you like any other human group."

Knowing that there are people close to you who want to share pleasant or unpleasant matters with you is a double blessing not only for a child, but for people of any age. It is protection against not doing the worst thing that comes to mind in anger or self-pity, it is protection against danger. Secondly, it is an inspiration for how to continue life. It helps the child to know that someone else really cares whether we are doing well or not. It is good for an individual to know that he can survive difficult times and overcome obstacles, just as he can recognize that a relationship needs to be worked on with a certain amount of selflessness and understanding. (Shaefferová, 1995). If a child grows up in such mutual relationships, he transfers experiences from generation to generation.

Throughout history, the family has gone through various stages of development and the functions it performed have changed. It came mainly with changes in social conditions. Some receded into the background or disappeared altogether, while others gained importance.

The family represents a certain system that is constantly searching and finding its place in society. It functions to its full extent and has its justification only when it satisfies the needs and requirements of each of its members, which are placed on it and at the same time by society. In order to meet all these demanding requirements, it must fulfill the basic functions that ensure the life of a person in society at all stages of his existence.

Position of the family in society

From birth, every human being needs a strong bond with their parents in order for their physical and mental development to be normal and complete. It also includes direct and regular physical contact as a source of emotional expressions in the form of caresses or kisses. (Peltová, 1995). This is a natural part of the life of a normal family. The family is a place where interpersonal relationships are born and formed, and a person's personality and behavior is shaped or deformed in it. A place where individuals constantly transform, influence each other, inspire and help each other. Every individual grows, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally develops or withers. By doing so, he influences or inspires other individuals. If people develop in creative areas, if they reach deeper spiritual knowledge, if they enrich themselves with knowledge, experience stimulating discoveries of ideas, then they are affected positively. If a child grows up in a creative environment, he gets interesting stimuli that will influence him in life. As the oldest basic social group, it is most closely connected by various relationships, both externally and internally – functions and activities ensuring the needs of its members and society as a whole. Throughout its history, it has undergone constant changes in terms of size, importance and integration into society. The basis of the family is the spouses together with the children, i.e. the nuclear family. A family is also considered a mononuclear type of family, or a divorced partner with a child or children, as well as spouses or persons who have a child in foster care.

The most important features of a functional family system include the fulfillment of functions towards its members, but also towards the state, satisfying the needs of all its members, which is facilitated by effective communication and feedback. Adequate adaptation to changing conditions inside the system, but also in the external environment, which helps in overcoming crises. This makes the family a functional system.

Despite all the crises that the family is going through in the past and now, it forms the basis of society and fulfills its basic functions, which are:

1. Biological-reproductive function

• it should ensure the maintenance of life already by conceiving and giving birth to a new person. It is sometimes referred to as sexual function, implying the simultaneous separation of sexual activities "for pleasure" from sexual activities "for reproduction". Basically, the relationship between a man and a woman finds its own meaning here. This function can be applied outside the family, but it takes on its full meaning in the family: it is not only about bringing a child into the world, but also mainly about ensuring the necessary living conditions and further normal development. (Dúnovský, 1999). Part of the biological and reproductive function of the family is also overall care for the family members - that is, providing food, taking care of the health of the family members. (Levická, 2004).

2. Economic security function

• however, this does not apply only to the child in the family, it applies to all its members. In the past, its production component was particularly important, nowadays the family has become a consumption unit, completely dependent on the production activity of the company. However, even today's family maintains certain elements of production, for which we can consider the internal activity of the family, creating its material security. The security function is not only related to the material area, but gradually passes into the social, mental and even spiritual areas. It also has the broadest concept of providing life insurance to its members. (Dúnovský, 1999).

3. Emotional function

• the emotional function in the family is tied to a fully developed person, responsible, for whom the emotional relationship is not a momentary thing, but a permanent base of security and an emotional background for all its members. Emotionality thus becomes the most important factor in the family. Although in recent times, at least in some circles, factors of a material nature appear again in this direction. (Dúnovský, 1999). In a family whose members have strong emotional ties to each other, there is enough peace and security for all its members. Loving parents and siblings provide each other with love and the necessary care, which affects their mental and physical health. (Levická, 2004).

4. Socialization and education function

• "The educational function of the family is a deliberate influence on a young person in the sense of fulfilling the most general goal of education - the formation of a well-developed personality. In a broader understanding, it is the influence of older family members on younger ones without realizing it. It is a kind of copying, a certain natural interaction that is transferred to the consciousness of the forming generation." (Laca, 2011).

As Thurzová (2006) says, family law regulates relationships arising in the family, established by marriage or on the basis of kinship. These are relationships between spouses, parents and children and through them also between other relatives, especially between grandparents and children, but also between siblings. In addition, it also regulates the relationships of individual substitute family education, such as adoption, foster care and entrusting a child to the education of another citizen or parent. The basic source in our country is the Family Act, which is followed by other normative acts. Another important source of Slovak family law is the Civil Code and its provisions, which regulate, for example, property relations between spouses.

The influence of the family on the child's life

The family is a means of continuity from the past through the present to the future, it ensures an intergenerational connection and, if it functions optimally, creates an irreplaceable environment for all members, but especially for children. A child is born defenseless, unable to survive on its own, therefore it needs a well-functioning family as an ideal group ensuring its survival. In most cases, the family is the first model of human coexistence, where the child meets, shapes his development, influences his life path, the child finds support in it, but at the same time learns to build his individual difference in the family. A child is a gift above all for the family, especially for the mother, who is the primary educator. In every family, therefore, the priority should be the proper upbringing of the child, which forms the basis for the acquisition of moral human values ​​and for the further development of the child's personality.

The foundations of important areas such as emotional stability, character, personality traits and many others are laid and built in the first years of life. Many habits that last a lifetime begin to form in the early and preschool years. Thus, in the formation of personality, the early and preschool period is clearly considered to be the most important stage in the life of each person, which is the starting point for the development and development of the personality of each individual. At this age, the elementary foundations of human values, feelings, love, intelligence, relationships and maturity of a future adult are formed. The development of a child's personality is conditioned biologically and socially, it is influenced by conditions in human society.

Under the influence of economic, cultural, social and political conditions, the organization and structure of the family is gradually changing. Functions were changed and created based on the needs of individuals and society. When we talk about family, we tend to think of it as a so-called complete nuclear family - that is, father, mother and their children. However, many people think that this is what most families look like. The opposite is true. A family's ability to raise children and cope with difficulties depends on how the family is connected to its social environment. This connection is called the social network of the family. The social network of the family is a coalition of families that are dependent on each other, sometimes including other unrelated people (friends, acquaintances, or even professionals working in institutions that come into contact with the family). A family is an institution that arises from the coexistence of people, usually of different sexes, who raise offspring. Relationships between parents are transferred, or they can transfer to children's relationship: relations between mother and children, siblings, grandparents to grandson or daughter-in-law, son-in-law. The family is a very important institution for society, which performs many important functions. These functions change in historical context. The basic mission of the modern family is to ensure a suitable environment and optimal conditions for meeting the needs of family members.

The family should be an oasis of peace and happiness in today's world. Of course, a family that fulfills all its functions. When the whole world disappoints us and leaves us, the family should be the place where we can safely "lick our wounds" and find strength to move forward. As the oldest human institution, it is not immune to the effects of the limitations and mistakes of each of its members. In order to overcome their consequences, we need to maintain communication between individual family members. (Peltová, 1995).

Relationships in the family form the basis for the development of every person. His survival and social development depends on a relationship, a bond that begins to be built, first of all, with his parents. It is the need for life security, the need for a close person, the need to belong somewhere. Living near the person with whom the child forms a bond. The maternal bond is already formed during prenatal development. The child perceives her voice, feelings, experiences and reacts to them. This inimitable relationship is a loving bond between two individuals that endures in space and time and serves to connect them emotionally. Research has shown that children get sick, even die, if they lack significant contact with another human being, even though their physical needs are met. This is how it turned out in the case of Emperor Frederik II's experiment, which was supposed to clarify the original language of man. He collected several children and employed wet nurses to care for them under specific conditions. They were not allowed to speak to the children, nor sing to them and carry them in their arms. He assumed that without human contact, these children should develop in the most natural way. But he never found out, because the children gradually died without apparent causes and despite care. Children who do not receive enough attention are at serious risk of mental, social, emotional and physical retardation. If their psychological needs are not met, the child may experience emotional deprivation.

When it comes to the primary environment of the child, which is at least during pregnancy and shortly after it, it includes two levels: the environment as a factor in shaping the child's personality and the environment as a place for the implementation of the educational process. (Škoviera, 2007). Psychologists talk about a close person who takes care of the child, satisfies his needs and to whom the child subsequently builds bonds, trust and devotion. You can't live without shackles. Our relationships, bonds, attachment, devotion condition our human development. It gives us a sense of mutual importance. The need to have one's background, one's island of security, is satisfied primarily in emotional relationships. We feel safest when we have someone with us who likes us and who belongs to us.

According to Miklošek (2008), the mental life of a small child is something like the far side of the moon - an unknown country in sight, and we only have a vague idea of ​​what might be in it. A child and its development proceeds according to certain laws, but each of them has its own individual dynamics, so each child becomes a unique human being. Children come into the world not knowing who they are. They gradually collect information about themselves and the world around them. They get an idea of ​​themselves from the people who take care of them. Parents or caregivers are the child's first mirror. Our positive reactions to the child will support the idea that he is loved, worthy of interest. And that has a positive impact.

The family environment probably has the strongest influence on a child's behavior. Educational practices, the atmosphere in the family, mutual relations between parents, parents and the child, the degree and method of satisfying the child's needs, moral values, social ties of the family, all this affects the child's behavior. Behavior has a purpose and is learned. In the family, the child learns to handle simple tasks up to complex social integration. (Krajčirova, Mikloško, 2004).

The task of parents is to help their child unseal his specificity, to help him discover what he should be and what he should do according to God's plan. We don't just have to train the child in life's truths and ways, but also help him to a special, specific for this child, style of life. (Christenson, 1988). Each family has certain specific features. It is irreplaceable in raising children, it forms the child from birth, it affects not only his character traits. An organized family considers raising a child as its primary duty. The influence of the family and the upbringing of children is the duty of parents, enshrined in the Family Act no. 36/2005 Coll. It is controlled by the company and can be enforced if the parents do not properly fulfill the stated obligation. In its provisions, the Family Act lists the measures that society, through the relevant public administration bodies and courts, can take for the benefit of minor children if parents neglect their children's education. This fulfills this function of the family.

Another characteristic is the designation of the family as complete and incomplete. An incomplete family is if: a complete family was not created at all, e.g. single mother, and the entire family temporarily ceases to fulfill its function, e.g. execution of a sentence by one of the parents, long-term treatment or abandonment of the household by one of the parents, the complete family ends naturally or by decision of the competent authority, for example death of one of the parents, court decision on divorce. (Kečkéšová, 2005).

A dysfunctional family is a family where there are serious disorders of some or all family functions. They seriously threaten and damage the family as a whole, but also the child's development. When the family is no longer able to handle such problems alone, it is necessary to support such a family and stand up for the child's interests. (Fischer, Skoda, 2009).

When assessing the dysfunctionality and functionality of the family, attention is naturally focused on the fulfillment of its basic tasks. As part of the PRIDE educational program, experts focus on five parent competencies. On the basis of these competencies, we can metaphorically perceive a troubled family and look for the problem in which area. The following areas are evaluated:

• relationships between spouses, between siblings, between parents and children, relationships with the extended family, to what extent other relationships are supported, created and maintained in the family - friends, classmates, neighbors..., this is the so-called ecomap of the family;
• ensuring protection and care for family members – employment, economic management of the family, provision of food, clothing, heat, hygiene, housing;
• creating safety in the family - atmosphere in the family, communication, solving conflict situations, reasons for tension - abuse, bullying;
• fulfillment of developmental needs - we monitor whether the family has the prerequisites and is able to fulfill the needs of individual members in connection with their age, illnesses, delays;
• cooperation with the social environment - the ability to work in a team, to be involved in the events of the wider community in which the family is located, cooperation with teachers, doctors, other experts.

Mikloško (2008) says that the failure of the family is mostly a long-term process, and thus there is rarely a breakdown of its functions from one day to the next. Therefore, it is very important to catch the first signs of these breaking situations and intervene professionally in terms of the needs of the whole family.

Pathological manifestations of the family system

The family is considered the most important social group in which a person lives. His physical, psychological and social needs are met in the family. In some cases, the family can become a burden on itself. It can thus become the source and development of various psychological problems and, consequently, sociopathological phenomena. There can be a serious disruption of the psychosocial development and functioning of all its members, but most often children. There is a whole range of phenomena that can have a negative effect. The most serious include:

• the problem of family function dysfunction, especially if it is associated with psychological deprivation;
• the problem of anomalous parental personalities, when parents cannot, do not know, or do not want to properly take care of children for various reasons, when parents themselves commit antisocial and antisocial behavior;
• the problem of completeness of the family, surrogate parents, surrogate education and institutional education;
• the issue of abused, abused and neglected children (CAN syndrome).

Often, the loss of family functionality and its disintegration occurs precisely in connection with deviant pathological behavior (addiction, delinquency, etc.).

Parental role disorders - there are a number of factors that are related to the inability to accept and manage the parental role. In general, it can be characterized as parents, for various reasons, cannot, do not want, are unable to do what is necessary and necessary for the proper development of the child. These disorders are collectively referred to as parenting disorders.

Parents cannot take care of their child - the reasons are, for example, unfavorable natural conditions and situations (natural disasters, environmental devastation), malfunctions in the functioning of the entire society (wars, poverty, poverty), or a disrupted family system as a whole (illness, death, disability, adverse health status of the child that makes it impossible for him to live at home).

Parents don't want to or don't know how to take care of their child - this is a situation where they are unable to ensure their children's at least adequate development and satisfy their basic needs due to their own immaturity, inability to cope with more serious situations such as the birth of a child out of wedlock, a handicapped child, a child adopted into a surrogate family and situations where they are unable to accept basic social norms.

Parents do not want to take care of children - the reasons lie in the personality disorders of the parents (disharmonious personalities, psychopathy, maladaptation), who do not fulfill their parental duties properly.

Parents take care of the child excessively and are hyperprotective - the child receives more attention than it should. Excessive care and interest in the child leads to spoiling. The consequence is unpreparedness for an independent life, disrespect for others, etc.

From the point of view of society, the family fulfills a number of functions. If it does not fulfill some functions, it can become a source of potential negative development, behavioral disorders and the development of socio-pathological phenomena for its members. In that case, we are talking about a functional or dysfunctional family. Such a family is not able to ensure the normal development of the child and fulfill society's requirements for his upbringing. In a dysfunctional family, as a rule, there are tense relations between the partners.

Functional family: a family in which the child's good development and benefit are ensured. Such families are the majority in the general population, up to 85%.

Problem family: a family in which there are more severe disorders of some or all functions. However, they do not seriously threaten the family system or the development of the child.

Dysfunctional family: a family where there are serious disturbances in some or all of the family's functions. These directly threaten or damage the family as a whole and especially the development and benefit of the child.

A dysfunctional family: a family in which the disorders are of such a large scale that it ceases to fulfill its basic role and seriously harms the child, or even threatens his very existence. Rehabilitation of such a family is pointless and useless. The only solution that can benefit the child is to take him from her and place him in a surrogate family.

Disturbed relations between parents are usually accompanied by frequent arguments. Such cohabitation increasingly ends in divorce. Divorce of parents is a serious pathogenic factor in a child's mental maturation. The disintegration of the familiar environment, safety and security occurs precisely in the period of its development, when it excessively needs this security. He cannot fully orientate himself yet. Therefore, a feeling of guilt and disappointment arises, which is subsequently reflected in the formation of his life values. Therefore, children from dysfunctional families very often encounter a feeling of psychological deprivation. Such children are then often characterized by some psychological peculiarities, sometimes even disorders that negatively affect their gradual integration into society. Parents often do not pay as much attention to them as they should and do not consistently monitor the content and spending of their free time. Possible educational measures are not more effective. They usually come late and, moreover, are often inadequate (corporal punishments, strict prohibitions, etc.). When dealing with difficult life situations, such children quite often fail, and many turn to alcohol and drugs, but also to more serious sociopathological forms of behavior.

The source of the feeling of safety and security for a child in a normal family is primarily the mother. The needs of safety, security, and love are human essentials and are satisfied by emotional acceptance and the provision of a specific experience of experiencing a safe emotional relationship. This experience is the basis for:

• inner security and balance;
• the ability to maintain a positive relationship with the world and with oneself;
• the ability to establish and maintain lasting relationships with the environment.

One of the other negative possibilities of the influence of the family environment and its members on the child's psychological development is the situation when the child suffers from a deficiency in the area of ​​meeting needs. The negative impact and consequences are primarily associated with lack in the emotional and emotional sphere. In that case, we are talking about psychological deprivation. Psychological deprivation is the failure to satisfy the needs of emotional security and safety to a sufficient extent and for a sufficiently long time.

About a third of the world's six billion people are children. According to the findings of UNICEF, about 56 million children report being exposed to violent or aggressive behavior in the family. 16 percent of children encounter a fight in the family. According to statistics, physical violence in the family is the highest in Central Europe, up to 21 percent of children experience it. In Western Europe, it is 16 percent. Eleven percent of children say that they often encounter violence in the family and aggressive behavior.

It is not known exactly how many abused and neglected children there are in Slovakia. Estimates say one to two percent, but these estimates are anecdotal. Aggression is a complex phenomenon. It has its positive and negative sides. Aggression and violence is a matter not only of individuals, different social groups, but also of the entire society as a whole. A number of factors contribute to the social climate in its creation and development. Vágnerová draws attention to the merging of reality and symbolic forms of these presented phenomena. It draws attention to the fact that these phenomena are becoming part of ordinary experience. They are gradually starting to be considered normal, i.e. j. part of the sociocultural norm. This increases society's level of tolerance for aggression and violence. A number of studies are focused on children's television viewing. The results showed a higher frequency of aggression in children who watched films containing violence. While for adults the impact of media violence is more or less short-term, for children it interferes with the development of the emerging personality. A child acquires violent behavior from an early age. The critical age is between 6-8 years. The European Union criticizes Slovakia for not conducting surveys on child abuse. A survey conducted in Slovakia in 1999 on a sample of 5,230 children aged 15 to 16 by the SLONAD association showed that up to a quarter of children had experienced physical abuse from their parents, such as beating, kicking or cutting. A third of those abused said that the experience still traumatizes them, a third that they have not yet confided in anyone. The most common forms of domestic violence against children include repeated physical and psychological abuse, verbal attacks, especially threats.

In his concept of abused children, Professor J. Dunovský states that any child who is not loved is actually abused.

Clinging to parents is the first and probably the most important relationship of a child. It helps him to form opinions and ideas that will become an example for other relationships in the future. But when nothing serious happens in early life and negative experiences only appear in later life, the risk of breaking this bond is greatly reduced. If children have a personal experience of a broken bond with their parents, it is more likely that they will mistreat their own children as parents in adulthood. We acquire the first emotional foundations regarding empathy already in infancy - from parents who are emotionally attuned to us. The following example is telling: A little girl cannot solve a puzzle and asks her mother for advice. If the mother reacts kindly and is happy to help her, it will strengthen the child's confidence. However, if the little girl is met with irritated disinterest, she will be unsettled. If rejection becomes the norm, the child will take a negative attitude towards people and will expect nothing but rejection from people.

Most at risk are children whose parents are emotionally immature: they take drugs, are constantly depressed or angry, or live aimless, chaotic lives. Such parents are usually unable to provide the child with the necessary care, not to mention their sensitivity to the child's emotional needs. Parents' inattention is also a stressful factor for the child, which is often overlooked. Observation of children from at-risk families (D.Goleman 1997) revealed that neglected children were also anxious, unfocused and apathetic, alternately aggressive and withdrawn. 65 percent of such children had to repeat the first grade. Intense stress during this period can weaken the function of the brain centers responsible for learning and damage the intellect. Children who come from families where there is tension, hatred, bickering, bickering, can manifest themselves as emotionally unstable, prone to jealousy and crying, can be relational and oversensitive. Some find it difficult to establish friendships, others have no sense of cooperation or collective play. The most affected are children in families in which they are exposed to permanent traumatization (constant scenes due to infidelity or alcoholism, or a mental disorder of one of the parents). Children brought up in an atmosphere of constant fear, worry, anger or jealousy are more or less almost always emotionally unstable and have many difficulties in life. Alcoholism affects marital and family relationships in the most pernicious, massive and destructive way, which brutally disrupts, destroys the love of spouses, mutual trust and family harmony, causes marital breakdowns and is the main cause of the crisis of family life. Added to this are the incalculable damages caused by alcoholics by disrupting the psychological balance of their children, by creating an unsuitable educational environment for them and by neglecting their education. Alcoholism causes various psychological disorders and social defects in the children of alcoholics, which in adulthood are a serious obstacle to their social application and turn them into conflicted persons. Alcoholism in the family causes tense situations and causes a crisis in family life, which often results in divorce. Under the influence of alcohol, men and women often commit marital infidelity, because alcohol loosens and destroys inhibitions. An alcoholic seeks sexual satisfaction where he can have momentary success. Alcoholism causes the greatest damage in the field of raising children, in the parent-child relationship. The child usually sees in his parent a natural authority that has no flaws and that cannot be wrong or have negative qualities. When parents annoy, insult and humiliate each other, the child gets into a conflict situation that he is unable to handle, his ideas collapse, he loses confidence due to his inexperience.

Protecting a child from abuse is, of course, not the prerogative of a select few professions. The main role is often played by the environment, which is, or has witnessed, harming the child. Whether we are in the position of an observant neighbor or a random passer-by who witnesses the mistreatment of a child on the street, in a store, or perhaps on a playground. Then we have the opportunity to admonish the aggressive adult, defend the child physically, call or file a report with the police or social workers, contact a medical facility, etc. On the other hand, it is true that the public is not well informed about the options for reporting suspected neglect, abuse, sexual abuse or any harm to a child, and people tend to ignore and not care about others.

Conclusion

The quality of life in any society is directly dependent on the quality of family life. The changes that accompany the transformation of our society also directly affect the family. The family, as well as the family environment, goes through many quantitative and qualitative changes, which in the period when the child enters the school process, greatly affect and influence its entire course. The family environment a child comes from determines the course of his entire functioning. In connection with social development, constant changes, the accelerating pace of life, the family has recently become more fragile and often needs more support than ever before. We agree with the statement as described by Šatánek, that creating a favorable family environment, the ability to realize a quality family life is one of the most difficult tasks of a person. A harmonious family, a harmonious family environment with good emotional ties, with an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect, instilling in family members a sense of security and safety, has a positive effect on the entire educational activity of the family. The most suitable conditions for the overall development of a child are those of a complete family. Each function of mother and father is irreplaceable, while the mutual relationship of parents shapes the dynamics of family life. Parents act as an authority for the child, they are the embodiment of natural protection, and at the same time they are a role model and model of behavior (Šatánek 2004, p. 106 - 107). The family is closely connected with society and at the same time has its own special independent existence.

Author: PaedDr. Slavomír Laca, PhD. Used literature:

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