Esteban Gómez

Familias Multiproblemáticas y en Riesgo Social: Características e Intervención

El articulo comprende a la familia multiproblematica (FMP) como un sistema vulnerable de alto riesgo para el desarrollo infantil, tanto por la accion de sus mecanismos internos, como de fuerzas sociales que potencian su disfuncionalidad. Tras una extensa revision bibliografica, los autores proponen como caracteristicas centrales de la FMP, la polisintomatologia, la desorganizacion, el abandono de las funciones parentales y el aislamiento, focalizando la discusion especificamente en aquellas familias en situacion de riesgo social o pobreza dura. En una segunda parte, se desarrolla un esquema de intervencion profesional, que incorpora la funcion de los servicios sociales y su relacion potencialmente nociva con estas familias, y las principales estrategias sugeridas para implementar buenas practicas en el trabajo con FMP en riesgo social. Palabras clave Familia multiproblematica Intervencion psicosocial ABSTRACT MULTIPROBLEM FAMILES AND SOCIAL RISK: CHARACTERISTICS AND INTERVENTION The paper understand multiproblem family (MPF) as a vulnerable system of high risk for child development, in part due to their internal mechanisms and in part by the action of social forces that reinforce their dis-functionality. After an extended bibliographic review, the authors propose as central characteristics of MPF, poli-symptomathology, disorganization, abandonment of parental functions and isolation, focusing the discussion specifically on those families at social risk situation or chronic poverty. In a second part, it developed a schema of professional intervention, that include the function of social services and their potentially noxious relationship with this families, and the principal strategies suggested to implement good practices in the work with MPF at social risk. Key words Multiproblem family Psychosocial intervention

Intervención Familiar Preventiva en Programas Colaboradores del SENAME: La Perspectiva del Profesional

Clients characterization and conception of intervention, from the perspective of psychologists and social workers of 6 family support programs of Child Protection Services of Chile, are analyzed. Subjective theories were reconstructed by means of a qualitative design based on Grounded Theory, with 12 semi-structured and 11 episodic interviews. Findings revealed families with multiple problems and children whose rights had been violated, living in environments of poverty and social exclusion. The intervention is conceived as an integral preventive process of orientation, support, empowerment, and family repair. In the conclusion, the challenge of considering with equal importance clientsproblems and strengths is analyzed, showing the limitations of a preventive strategy developed in a social context of serious difculties and damages.

Paternidad: Representaciones Sociales en Jóvenes Varones Heterosexuales Universitarios sin Hijos

Se presenta los resultados de una investigacion cualitativa acerca de Representaciones Sociales sobre Paternidad, en jovenes varones universitarios sin hijos, entre 18 y 25 anos de edad. Se utilizo metodologia cualitativa con un diseno de caracter descriptivo-analitico, recolectando los datos mediante cuatro grupos focales, y analizando los resultados a traves del metodo de la Teoria Empiricamente Fundada. El fenomeno principal consignado en esta investigacion consiste en la transformacion de la Paternidad-Tradicional y el surgimiento de una Nueva-Paternidad, en donde las cualidades evaluadas como positivas de la Paternidad-Tradicional se conservarian, pero transformadas mediante el proceso central de incluir la afectividad en la representacion social de paternidad.

Una Escala de Evaluación Familiar Eco-Sistémica para Programas Sociales: Confiabilidad y Validez de la NCFAS en Población de Alto Riesgo Psicosocial

Se presenta evidencia sobre la consistencia interna y validez de constructo de la version en espanol de la Escala de Evaluacion Familiar de Carolina del Norte (NCFAS). El estudio utilizo los registros de informacion de 528 participantes de 8 programas chilenos de intervencion familiar para la prevencion del maltrato y negligencia infantil. Los resultados indican que la escala tiene una consistencia interna apropiada, mostrando un comportamiento similar al de la version original de la escala. El analisis factorial exploratorio replico parcialmente las dimensiones teoricas del instrumento. Se sugiere distribuir los items de la dimension Interacciones Familiares e incorporar un nuevo factor llamado Bienestar del Cuidador. Se discute la necesidad de adaptar la NCFAS al contexto latinoamericano en futuras investigaciones.

Características, efectividad y desafíos de la visita domiciliaria en programas de intervención temprana

The authors reviewed papers published between 1999 and 2009 in journals indexed in PsycInfo, PubMED, EBSCO and ProQuest concerning the characteristics, effectiveness and challenges of home visit programmes orientated towards early childhood intervention, clarifying the researchs scope and limitations and its applications. Home visiting has been shown to be effective for a variety of relevant areas, especially for developing parent skills and child-caregiver relationships. The most effective programmes have started at pregnancy, lasted more than a year, had specially trained staff and have focused on building a trustworthy relationship and on modelling the infant-caregiver interaction. The importance of considering target population characteristics, the visiting model used and the visitor agent was identified in designing these programmes. In spite of the evidence accumulated in Anglo-Saxon studies, the costs associated with these programmes can be very high, thereby implying barriers which can make their dissemination difficult in Latin-American countries. The authors discuss the need for developing and evaluating other variants (i.e. including community agents), considering their cost/effectiveness ratio for treating early childhood problems, needs and characteristics in Latin-America.

Home Visits to Mothers with Children Between the Ages 0 to 4 Years: A Mental Health Intervention Strategy in Emerging Countries

According to recent investigations both in Chile and other countries, mental health of mothers show a special vulnerability during the post-partum period. This is an especially disturbing knowledge, because of the relevance of the first three years of life in the posterior development of children. The connection between the mental health of the mother (→ mother-son/daughter relationship→ attachment style→ regulation of the child experience→ development of the brain cyto-architecture→) and the present and future mental health of the child is solidly established, based on a large amount of empirical and multidisciplinary evidence (Shore, 2001). Strengthening and parental skills of the mother, especially in the first upbringing stages are then a priority focus of action for health policies in every country.