“Río Sereno, also known as Sereno, is a township and head city of the Renacimiento district in the province of Chiriquí, Republic of Panama. The town has 5,463 inhabitants (2010). It is a rural region on the border with Costa Rica, where traditional coffee is produced, gourmet coffee, tomatoes, bananas, paprika, beef cattle, milk, beans, yucca, chayote, poultry, pork, among others. Río Sereno is surrounded by nature, it is an ideal place to rest, observe birds and endemic plants ”.
Due to the fact that in this community there are different types of families that are struggling to satisfy the different needs of their home and the demands of a society in constant change, it is considered important to take into account some aspects of theories that can guide the proper functioning and development of this in society.
The family constitutes the first basic unit for society, which is linked by kinship ties and they live together for an indefinite time. From the perspective of family psychology, this influences each period of the life of its members, whether in the family, at school, in society and also in the groups with which it is related, since each one will associate according to with the group to which it belongs.
Currently, the family goes through a number of circumstances that often make them stronger or weaken, because the processes in some cases are traumatic and the most affected are the children and adolescents who are responsible for living these experiences.
According to positive psychology, in the theory of logotherapy this always implies finding a meaning in life no matter how hard and difficult the situations that human beings have to face seem; which indicates that this as a social being develops the ability to recover from any adversity.
For Mihály, the flow of emotions exerts that motivation that focuses us on the things we want and if what we want are well-founded families, our greatest concentration will be on the healthy development of this so that it has a better integration into society.
BACKGROUND
The family by constituting an open system that is receptive to all the components that surround it; whether it is home, school, peer groups and society indicates that sustainability and positive development are primarily the responsibility of parents for their integration into society. Since through the teachings and values many advances can be achieved and also form a relay for the new generations. Therefore, it is necessary to mention some authors who are making an impact with their theories in positive psychology or happiness.
History of positive psychology
Positive psychology is the study of the foundations of psychological well-being and happiness, as well as human strengths and virtues. Traditionally, psychology has devoted a great deal of effort to studying the negative and pathological aspects of the human being (anxiety, stress, depression, etc.), ceasing to focus on the study of positive aspects, such as creativity, emotional intelligence, humor, wisdom, happiness, resilience, etc. The definitive impetus for the creation of positive psychology was given by Martin Seligman, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former Director of the American Psychological Association.
At the end of the 1990s, this well-known researcher, after highlighting the need to decisively investigate the healthy aspects of the human being, proposed the creation of positive Psychology as a specific current within Psychology and relied on researchers from great renown, such as Mihály Csikszentmihalyi (who was director of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago).
Antecedents of positive psychology can be found in philosophers such as Aristotle, who dedicated part of his writings to (eudaimonia, a Greek term usually translated as happiness), but also in psychologists such as Abraham Maslow or Carl Rogers, belonging to the current called «Psychology humanist". One of the defining characteristics of positive psychology, with respect to its historical background, is that, within its principles, it is established that it will be framed within the scientific method. In this way, the findings obtained, as well as the applications, will have the guarantee of having been scientifically validated.
“For more than 20 years, Sonja Lyubomirsky has scientifically studied what happiness consists of and how to develop it. She is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Riverside in California. In 2002 Lyubomirsky received the Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology. This author focuses her work on three questions: What makes people happy? Is happiness a good thing? And how can you make people even happier? ".
Considering the subject of study, it is very important to refer to this approach since the human being tends to learn to form those habits of looking within himself for the way to be happy and not only refers to individual happiness but to that which infects the environment and it changes the perspective of seeing things in a positive way.
Structural model (Salvador Minuchin 1974).
According to Salvador Minuchin's structural model, the life of each individual is not an internal process but an interaction with their environment where experiences are shared in the family, social and cultural sphere; which in turn will produce changes in the internal behaviors of each member of the family, depending on the family dynamics, so will the results.
Following this structure that the family is an open system that interacts with the environment that surrounds it, the parents responsible for it must establish clear limits to protect its members and also make alliances between it to make it a functional family. On the contrary, Minuchin establishes that dysfunctional families do not give rise to change because they are generators of conflicts and relationships with the family and its environment are inadequate; since when the limits are rigid and there is little communication, it is difficult for the protective function of this to develop for a healthy integration into society.
Cognitive Theory (Ellis 1962).
Cognitive family therapy has its roots in individual practice that was later applied to the treatment of families. This model is of great importance for the development of the family and its growth since it proposes that the behavior of each one of the members of the family with respect to the other will only change if the personal concept of how each one sees itself changes and that is what to depend on how are the interactions with others. Emotional emotional therapy tells us that it does not matter so much the facts that are involved in a certain situation, but the way to evaluate each event as positive or negative, the latter will determine the emotional response. Therefore, you must modify your thinking and look at each event as part of life and learn to enjoy each moment.
Model of positive psychology ((Martín Seligman 1998)
The PERMA model is based on something simple to explain. The main objective of this theory is to enhance the optimal functioning of the human being and try to discover and promote those factors that allow both individuals and societies to prosper. We can also point out that in his theory of well-being he measures and encourages personal growth through five factors: Positive Emotions, Commitment, Positive Relationships, Purpose and Meaning, Success and Sense of Achievement.
We can mention that each of these elements contributes to the well-being of each person and therefore of each family, the basis is that it must be chosen voluntarily for its operation to be successful. According to Seligman, we can describe that each person chooses his own well-being and tries to seek satisfaction in the things he does.
For Mihály, learning to flow is a capacity that every human being has to do the things he or she most desires, everything is in the effort and interest that he has to improve. Learning to live does not only refer to the things we can do for ourselves, even more so, those we do for others. This model contains three basic assumptions: the first is related to the teachings of our ancestors and that these have been modified with the passing of time, however, the ideals of this are fundamental for the new generations. The second assumption is based on the new knowledge that is acquired and it is important to know that everything changes over time,But it is necessary to focus on making a difference, learning from our mistakes and recognizing that everything that human beings can learn will serve them in future generations. And the third assumption is based on the fact that if we really want to understand living today, it is convenient to listen to our ancestors or get back on track on the old paths and through that wisdom integrate their knowledge to the new generations.
CONCLUSIONS
The family is the oldest and most transcendental system, since as the years go by it becomes even more relevant and influential in the environment that surrounds it. Which indicates that this is the main source for their integration into society. Emphasis is placed on this issue because it is of great importance to make known that there are many theoretical bases that have been dedicated to the study and observation of different families and their ways of behaving in the society in which it develops.
According to the analysis of these theories, family dynamics progressively develops through physical, emotional and intellectual changes. It is of great satisfaction to be able to affirm that for this to be a healthy development it is necessary that there is a bond of family union so that each family can cope with the different stages that it has to go through. Many times the family structure disintegrates precisely because the order of the hierarchy is altered and this results in a reversal of the role that each member of the family should play.
However, in such a materialistic world it can be said that not all is lost since the new currents of positive psychology offer us the opportunity to know that there is much hope that the family will return to its normal structure, establishing the bases in the motivations that each individual should have. But of course this can only be achieved if from the formation of this family nucleus each member is taught to satisfy their basic needs and to enjoy every moment, no matter how insignificant it may be, even the most important.
It is convenient after pointing out, each of these models make reference to the fact that in society we will see reflected the results of the proper functioning of each family and the motivation with which it is formed. Since it will be easier to integrate children, adolescents, youth and adults in the different activities, both individually and in groups. Therefore, all the tools should be used to achieve the greatest satisfaction of forming and integrating happy families for a healthy society.
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Prepared by: Delia Lezcano
Psychology student
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- «Superficie, población y densidad de población en la República según provincia, comarca, distrito y corregimiento». Censos de 1990 a 2010. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo (INEC).Psicología positiva: análisis desde su surgimiento: www.scielo.edu.uy/pdf/cp/v4n1/v4n1a05.pdfPor Sonja Lyubomirsky – Seminarium Internacional files.seminarium.com/internacional/Letter63_web.pdfModelo Terapéutico Estructural Salvador Minuchin Antecedentes. Disponible en: https://maestriaterapiafamiliarunam.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/1/9/6119077/modelo_estructural_monografia.pdfEl ABC de la Terapia CognitivaPsicología positiva: una nueva perspectiva en psicologíapepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1794
