فصلنامه خانواده و پژوهش
سال هفتم شماره 3 (پاییز و زمستان 1389)

The purpose of the present article is to investigate the religious and national identity of adolescents and the youth considering their significant role in the future of the country. In fact, in this study different dimensions of the national and religious identity of the youth have been examined with regard to familie's socio-economic status, parent's career, and the impact of the media: In the present survey, which is based on the theory of symbolic interactionism as well as the impact of information society on identity, stratified-random sampling was utilized. The instrumentation consisted of a questionnaire which was administered to 350 boy and girl high school students in districts 11 and 2 of Tehran. It is worth mentioning that districts 11 and 2 were respectively considered to be representative of districts in which families with low and high socio-economic status reside. The results of the study revealed that girl's religious identity is stronger than that of boys. In addition, the religious identity of students with low socioeconomic background is higher than that of those with high socio-economic background. Taking national identity into account, no significant difference was observed between girls and boys as well as students with high and low socioeconomic status and it can be concluded that all students had strong national identity. Students who used computer and the internet for useful objectives (research) significantly had higher religious and national identity. On the other hand, the individuals who used the virtual space for a long period of time and for other purposes had low religious and national identity. And finally, girls were influenced by the media more than boys.

Severe marital conflict is one of the factors challenging the system of family relationships and is detrimental to family member's peace of mind. It directly affects children and results in states such as self-absorption, lack of happiness, poor academic achievement and lack of belief in capabilities. Nowadays, tendency towards resolving conflicts is an inevitable necessity and using empowerment training models has been taken into account alongside individual counseling. The present study was carried out with the purpose of investigating the impact of an empowerment program developed based on the theory of love on parent's marital conflicts and their children's perception of competence in the fourth and fifth grades. The population of the study comprised couples who sought advice or were referred to counseling centers in Hamedan. The couples were evaluated and a sample of 30 couples with children in the fourth and fifth grades was drawn. These couples received 12 sessions of group empowerment training program which was designed based on Strenberg's theory of love. In order to assess the effectiveness of the program, a test of perception of competence was administered to the students with the aid of their parents. In the next step, the parents sat a marital conflict test. Another evaluation was carried out at the end of the training and the findings indicated that the empowerment program reduced marital conflicts at the levels of irritability, support to children, sexual relations, relationships with relatives, and collaboration. In addition, the children achieved a high level of perception of competence and the reduction of conflict within the family system resulted in higher competence in students. Hence, the empowerment program which is based on love can be an efficient method when couples or their children complain about the quality of relationships.

Family forms the foundations of socialization as well as personality structure of children. Parents’ fulfilling the educational role within the family framework is the prerequisite to the establishment of children’s healthy character. Children’s delicate temperaments and the favorable setting each child has within the family environment are the best conditions in which the most impeccable seeds of child development can be cultivated. As Imam Ali (PBUH) utters: ‘A child’s soul and spirit is similar to a fertile land in which no plants have grown and is ripe for cultivation.’ This Hadith enjoys a significant and high status in modern principles of education. On the other hand, family is the natural environment in which children are brought up and it influences children’s physiological, emotional and social development. Due to the critical role of this institution in raising individuals, it should be the core of treating children with kindness, attention, and respect and at the same time maintaining order and discipline. As a result of receiving deep parental affection, children adapt themselves to their parents and parents establish themselves as positive role models. Considering the aforementioned issues, it can be asserted that family is the cornerstone of human’s personality. In other words, attitudes, interests, desirable and undesirable behaviors towards different phenomena originate from family. Hence, appropriate education and upbringing, as the most important role and mission of family, is the most fundamental basis for individual and social prosperity of members of society.

Computer is one of the consumer goods which have become a critical element of individual's lifestyle through pervading their free time. In the present study an attempt has been made to analyze and identify the role of computer use in the formation of student's lifestyle and their perception of social classes through conducting a case study of computer use by Tehrani primary school girl students belonging to the rich upper class. The results revealed that patterns of computer use leads to the formation of two types of distinction irrespective of the content of computer use. The first instance is social class distinction in which students stabilize their social class distinction through conformity with the prevailing behaviors of the consumer society and the social class they belong to. The second instance is generation distinction and formation of identity and independence which induce students to use computers independently (or with a feeling of independence). This results in a distinct computer use compared to that of previous generation and consequently children can achieve definitions of independent identity and individuation.

Family is the most significant and fundamental social unit. Despite the fact that the most important commitment of architecture in every country is creating spaces with high quality of life, creating high quality spaces for familie's use is a part of this spectrum which has primary importance. Family and the institution of house, as its framework, are the most important parts of architecture both quality- and quantity-wise. If these environments do not provide an appropriate space for common family behaviors, we cannot expect healthy family environments. In order to achieve this goal, family and its behavioral territory should be first known and then we can focus on residential complexes. The present article examines the two concepts of designing and sociology of architecture with the aim of focusing on family-friendly environments, their quality, and the extent to which they are used in spaces of residential complexes. To gain this objective, the meaning of family and its environment in social context was probed and then residential complexes were studied as environments which are used as the most significant space by different classes of people and most important of all by families. In this study, an indirect assessment was carried out and through using semiotics of communication theory and analysis of Simmel theory the obtained results were analyzed. More specifically, the behavior of users in residential complexes and the way through which the users used public spaces in these complexes were examined. In addition, a comparison was made between the behavior of different groups of space users. As a result, appropriate spaces for users especially the proper ones for families were identified and the effective factors in individual's use of these spaces were indentified and categorized.

Nowadays, different institutions play a role in socialization, acculturation, and internalization of values in new generation. It is evident that consistency of these institutions in value affairs positively affects children and adolescents. On the other hand, inconsistency and contradiction in the emphasized values, especially in the two institutions of family and school, adversely influence the processes of acculturation and internalization of values and result in student's confusion, uncertainty, and concern about values. This can eventually lead to individual's conduct disorders and an increase in social abnormalities. Considering the population structure of Iran and the significance of the young generation in the future of society, the present study was carried out with the aim of indentifying the value systems of students, parents and school staff, comparing these systems and their hierarchy, as well as specifying the predictive power of these two institutions in identifying student's value system. The theoretical framework of this applied research is Parson's AGIL analytical model. For the purpose of sampling, random multi-stage sampling method was used and the sample which was drawn from 19 districts of Tehran comprised 894 boy and girl students in the third grade of high school and 420 of their parents (mothers and fathers). The required information was collected through a self-devised questionnaire. The results of the study showed that there is a positive correlation between parent's and student's value systems and parent's value system can predict that of students. On the other hand, no correlation was observed between value system of school staff and that of students. Therefore, it seems that one of the important components of the socialization process has not efficiently played its role. In addition, the findings revealed that the hierarchies of values in the three groups are different and none of them are consistent with Parson's model. More specifically, the hierarchy of student's values comprised cultural, economic, political, and social values respectively. Nevertheless, the hierarchy of parent's values consisted of economic, political, cultural, and social values respectively. The hierarchy of values of school staff included cultural, political, economic, and social values respectively. Nevertheless, the hierarchy of values in Parson's model is cultural, social, political, and economic values respectively.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between parental stress, coping strategies, and family functioning among parents of educable mentally retarded students. The research method was correlational and the research population comprised the parents of educable mentally retarded students in Eslam Shahr from whom 104 individuals were chosen through simple random sampling. For the purpose of data collection, Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Family Assessment Device (FAD-I), and the Billings and Moos Coping Scale (BMCS) were utilized. The data were analyzed through correlation, regression, and path analyses. The obtained results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between parental stress, strategies for focusing on emotions, gaining social support, as well as somatization of problems; a significant negative relation was observed between parental stress and family functioning. Furthermore, there was a significant positive relationship between strategies for focusing on problems, cognitive appraisal, and family functioning; the results were indicative of a significant negative relation between somatization of problems and family functioning. In addition, there was a significant path between parental stress and family functioning, with somatization of problems functioning as a mediating variable. According to the findings of this study and for the purpose of promoting parental functioning, it is suggested that in addition to designing and implementing psychological interventions for reducing parental stress, parents are trained to decrease the use of strategies for focusing on emotions and somatization of problems through an increase in the use of strategies for focusing on problems and cognitive appraisal.