Unfavourable family environment and alienation of children

Abstract

Today, almost all countries are faced with the social and economic crisis, work abroad, instability, multiple divorces, an increase in the number of natural disasters, etc., which puts children in a precarious position and has a certain negative impact on the attitudes and actions of the younger generation. Although legislative initiatives and legal documents regulating family and family relations are regularly changed and updated, the number of estranged children continues to grow. This article analyzes the phenomenon of alienation of children in child–parent relations. Today, the problem of alienation of children in families is very relevant for Armenia and many other countries of the world. Among the drivers listed here is the lack of parental skills among parents, disrespect of parents for each other in front of their children, lack of rights and obligations on the part of family members, neglect of children due to parents’ career growth, financial difficulties, etc. Particular attention is given to the role played by social networks, computer games, making money on the Internet and a huge amount of information that generates cognitive dissonance and interpersonal conflicts in the alienation of children. This article presents the data of a study conducted in schools in several regions of Armenia in 2023–2024 among 278 alienated children aged 7–18. The interview and testing methods used include the method of diagnosing interpersonal relationships by R. Gilles, the diagnostic anxiety questionnaire by Spielberger and Khanin, emotional intelligence questionnaire by N. Hall and Karpov’s diagnostic reflexivity questionnaire. The results show that alienated children aged 11–12 and older often make friends with children who are alienated too. Therefore, they need help such as socio-psychological trainings involving both an individual child and his/her reference group.