Research On Application Of Parent-child Parallel Group In The Parent-child Relationship In A Family With A Mentally Retarded Youth

The family with a mentally retarded youth will face a lot of pressure and problems, and domestic conflicts are likely to break out. If the conflicts between parents and the retarded child can't be settled in a proper way, irretrievable tragedy may happen. Based on ideas of empowerment and construction in social work, Satir's family therapy, and group dynamics, this paper intends to use the service method of parent-child parallel group to study the parent-child relationship in a family with a mentally retarded youth and verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of this method. Thus, this paper can help establish harmonious relationship between parents and the youth in a family with a retarded youth to some extent.Six kind of activities are organized: icebreaker is going to make a treaty between members of the group; handcraft workshop for mother and the youth will prepare a present for Mother's Day; parents-youth sports meeting intends to enhance the tacit understanding of the family; By watching movies the family can be inspired by the optimistic atmosphere in the movie; while the singing competition will make parents see the sparkling part of the youth; in the parents-youth class some living knowledge will be taught to parents and young people. By assessing three stages pre-activity, mid-activity and post-activity, the result shows that the parent-child parallel group work basically has achieved success. For parents, these activities help them to see the sparkling part of their mentally retarded children and a positive psychology has been constructed; For the youths, their appreciation to their parents are enhanced, and they know how to show their gratitude to their parents. Through various group activities, the interaction between parents and children is enhanced, and thus it creates more opportunities for the communication between parents and children.This study shows that parent-child parallel group is beneficial to improve the relationship between parents and children in a family with a mentally retarded youth, and changes the past practice which emphasizes one side, parents or children, should be responsible for domestic conflicts and ignores the defects in the interactional relationship between parents and children. This service method encourages parents and children to participate in the activities and work together to change themselves, in order to have a good interaction experience, establish a good interaction relationship and master some communication skills.