DECEMBER 5, 2018

VOLUME 20 ISSUE 5

Building and maintaining positive

relationships with children and with
all family members is not always easy.
All families have times when tempers
flare, feelings get hurt and
misunderstandings occur. It helps to
have good communication, flexibility
and creativity to manage these
situations and maintain positive
connections.
Making time for family members,
communicating effectively and
supporting each other are important
ways to strengthen families and build
positive relationships. Working
together as a family is also helpful in
building strong and caring family
relationships. In times of conflict,
families who are able to work together
find effective ways to manage and learn
from the experience. As conflict is a
The meaning of home for normal and healthy part of family life,
children can learn to manage it.
children and young Parents and carers can help children
identify the problem behind the
people after parental conflict and guide them through a
process of peaceful problem solving.
separation
By: Dr. Monica Campo

Home is a crucial site for the development of trust in the constancy of

people and things, identity, a sense of belonging, the capacity for social
agency, and emotional and mental well-being. It follows that children and
young people may suffer when their need for home is overlooked. When
children felt at home, they described:
a sense of ease and comfort, a sense of belonging or feeling welcome,
shared interests and experiences with parents and other household
members and having access to things that they enjoyed or that mattered to
them.
Conversely, when the factors described above were absent, children did not
feel that the parent’s household was their home. Children who conveyed
not feeling at home described: A lack of emotional connection (to a parent
or more usually a new step-parent) and
a lack of control over space and objects (often due to the actions of a new
step-parent and/or step-siblings).
Researchers suggests that relationships underpin children’s sense of home.
It suggests the value of exploring and highlighting children’s descriptions
of home (including space, routines, events, personal belongings and
logistics) as a way to encourage the formulation of post-separation living
arrangements that work for them.