This is an introductory article which presents a part of research led In Department of Group Dynamics and Psychotherapy in Catholic University of Lublin. The papers published here dealt with works done within the frameworks of Central Research Program No 08.3 and II.4-VI.1 coordinated by Institute of Social Pathology and Rehabilitation in Warsaw University. This program is untitled "Interpersonal relations in families with ill or maladjusted offspring” and is directed by the author.The research is based on the assumption that every illness is a phenomenon occurring within a family, thus dependent from family life and influencing it. This assumption is showed clearly by the example of schizophrenia disease.The author briefly presents the articles published below and shows their importance as far as the problems of family life are concerned. Some papers not published here but connected thematically with the contents of this "Annals” are also presented. These are: reports of T. Molenda and E. Sztomberska dealing with parental attitudes of parents of schozophrenics, report of K. Międlarz concerning the communication defects in parents of schizophrenics and some papers dealing with the ways of helping problem families. The last mentioned ones include the concept of family pathology and therapy by H.E. Richter described by D. Przewoźnik, the trial of applying group dynamics techniques in family education made by M. Borucka and a theory of interpersonal relations in family by Th. Gordon worked out by B. Dural.

The above article presents the problem of differences In parental attitudes perception in schizophrenics and their normal siblings. Those differences were related to the needs structure of schizophrenics and their siblings.A group of 30 schizophrenics was compared with the group of their 30 normal siblings. The methods used were: Adjective Check List and a Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire.Actually, all researched persons suffering from schizophrenia perceived their parents in a different way than their siblings. There were considerable qualitative differences between the way of perceiving mother's attitudes and father’s ones. Schizophrenic patients perceived their mother in categories of emotional coolness as domineering, requiring and punishing while normal siblings saw her in categories of emotional warmth as loving, involved in contact with the child, trying to understand and help the child. There was a reversal tendency in perceiving father's attitudes. Schizophrenic saw him as a warm and forgiving man who used to be effusive towards the child, helped the child, paid much attention and tried to prevent the child from unpleasant experiences. In siblings perception fathers imposed demands and watched their fulfillment, was not much involved in motional contact with the child and remained cool in their relations.The parental roles of mother and ffcther were reversed In ill children perceptions. Those differences were greater among women than among men. Thus sex appeared to be an important variable influencing the perception of parental attitudes.Some differences were also noticed in the needs structure of researched persons. Schizophrenic showed greater intensity of the following needs: succordance by others, abuse, submission and guidance and lower intensity of the need of dominance, autonomy, aggression and change. They were characterized by a smaller strength of needs connected with activity and task functioning and by a greater strength of needs motivating to submit to the environment. A reversal tendency could he observed among their normal siblings. Again those differences were greater between ill and normal women than between ill and normal men.The research proved that there was a relationship between some needs and parental attitudes perception. However, it was not possible to establish which of these two variables determine another. Also the problem - why and how some needs Influence a certain way of perceiving one's parents still remains to be researched and explained.

The purpose of the paper was to collect review several theoretical approaches towards the Borderline Personality Disorder which is a new diagnostic category in American "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM).First, the paper presents the historical development of borderline concept and then the contemporary views on this disorder. The trials of gathering the diagnostic criteria are also presented. Kemberg's view is a psychodynamic one; he gave the description of borderline personality organization. The borderline syndrome circumscribed by R. Grinker et al. was one of the first trials of utilizing systematic empirical studies of patients with statistical analyses. J. G. Gunderson's borderline personality disorder is the most close up to the DSM-III criteria. And the work of J. C. Perry and G. L. Klerman was a trial of generalizing the views mentioned above.The second part of the paper presents some problems of differential diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, especially the differences between Borderline and psychoses.

This article deals with a problem of family functioning with a diabletic child. It was assumed that child's diabetes influences the family life as other long-term illnesses. The research was suspected to answer the following questions:1) What are the adaptive behaviors showed in family life space diagrams and in interviews with parents?2) Are these adaptive behaviors similar to those in case of other long-term illnesses?3) Is there an association between effective or non-effective ways of adaptation and the course of illness and using the method of self-control which is the basis of treating diabetes?In order to analyze the ways of functioning of families with diabetic children Mostwin's method of family life space drawing was used. The author presents this method very circumstantially, as well as the way of conducting the research and Interpreting its results. The second method used was a directed interview based on adaptive behaviors strategies described by R. Lesser.The research led in six families showed that each family was characterized by different structure and functioning. However, it was possible to establish some interesting regularities. The results led to the following conclusions:1) Mostwin's method of family life space diagram proved to be effective in analyzing the ways of functioning of families with diabetic children.2) Some irregularities in family functioning were attached to treating the illness as a disgrace or misfortune. In these cases the famines avoided thinking and talking about the illness.3) The illness might be treated by parents as an instrument |n interpersonal competition or by a child to force some behaviors.4) The biggest maladjustment of families was attached with avoidinginformation about the illness and the lack of prompting to independence. Ill children in these families were characterized by less advantageous development and worse personal functioningThe adjustment of a family correlated with openness in imparting information and expressing feelings as well as with child's independence.4) Adaptive behaviors in families with diabetic children were similar to those applied in families with children suffering from other long-term illnesses

This article deals with the interpersonal relations between siblings in families with a child mentally handicapped in light degree. An assumption was made that those relations differ essentially from those in families without a mentally handicapped child.The research was led among 10 pairs of siblings (one of them mentally handicapped in light degree) using the following methods: Family Relations Indicator (FRI) by Howells and Lickorish and Family Drawind Test by Braun-Gałkowska. The small number of the researched population was due to the difficulties and time-consuming but it enabled the author to analyze profoundly each case and trace some psychological phenomena occurring in those pairs.The results (arranged into certain categories) showed that relations between siblings were various but some general properties could also £e indicated. The relations were not positive. They lacked proper contact between siblings, mutual understanding, respecting rights, sharing interests and activities. Healthy children rivaled their handicapped siblings for parental love and position in the family. The rivalry arose in majority from the subjective feeling parents showed favoritism to the handicapped siblings. Some normal children granted their siblings ambivalent, emotions but negative ones (among them aggression) were more frequent. Mentally handicapped children rather tended to show considerateness to their siblings and emphasized their value. Both handicapped and normal children had difficulties in family communication, did not accept the present family situation (mainly normal children) and in majority experienced separation from the family. They showed anxiety (mainly normal children) and the most frequently used defense mechanism was repression.Some hypotheses elucidating the results and conclusions were also introduced.

The research presented here is concerned with the children perception of relations in their step families in comparison to natural families. Two groups of children were examined. The experimental group consisted of 30 children aged 5 to 6 coming from step families. The control group contained 30 children from natural families. The data were gathered by the means of the Family Relations Test, Family Drawing Test and interview about the family.Some considerable differences were established concerning the relations between children and their relatives in natural and step families. Children from step families gave more positive feelings (love, closeness, warmth) to their parents than they acquired. They felt the lack of parental love, acceptance, close connections. Often they showed emotional disorders, inhibition, lack of courage and strong anxiety. Those! children had less positive feelings towards their fathers than step-fathers and felt more distant from them. However the relations between children and fathers in step families were weaker than in natural ones. Generally - children from step families were less attached to their step-father than to their father. The emotional relations with mother were also weaker. Children (especially boys) felt more negative feelings from her than in natural families.The only-children arid siblings were compared within the group of step-children. Siblings proved to have better relations with their parents. But the emotional relations between siblings in stepfamilies were weaker than in case of natural families. On the other hand, step-children had significantly stronger relations with their distant family (especially grandparents).The comparison of drawings made by single-mother-children and step-children proved that the former had worse relations with parents. They showed higher level of anxiety, inhibition, shyness and did not accept the present family situation.In spite of all difficulties connected with the family reconstruction the children in such families seem to be in a better situation than single-mother-children.In the discussion the author proposes some explanations of the phenomena occurring in step families. They are usually due to the fact of divorce and reconstruction of the family.

This report deals with problems of step family. The point was how a child*s situation changes if a divorced parent (bringing the child up alone so far) decides on a second marriage. In the course of the research an attempt was made to establish an influence of reconstruction on deadening harmful consequences of splitting up a family in children. The particular aim of this research was description and explanation of an influence of family reconstruction on the self-image and self-concept of children belonging to this family. The self-concept was defined as a complex structure including many different elements which controls the mechanism of self-perception and self-understanding.On the basis of literature review the author formulated the following hypotheses:1) Family reconstruction has an advantageous influence on the situation of a child brought up so far by single mother.2) The reconstruction causes the change of self-image in single-mother-children.3) The relationships between children and their relatives are better in step families.The research was led among two groups of children. One of them consisted of single-mother-children and the second consisted of children whose mothers contracted a second marriage some time after divorce. In sura sixty six children, in school age were tested, thirty three in each group. The following methods were used: a categorized interview, a questionnaire of author’s own construction used to select well-functioning families, a a list of fifty six adjectives of author's own construction by the means of J. Kostrzewski.The research allowed to catch some statistically significant differences of self-image between children in both types of families. Children from step families more often than single-mother-children described themselves as aggressive, absent-minded, courageous and careless. Those children had worse relations with their siblings. They accepted their step-father and had good relations with him. On the other hand single-mother-children described themselves as dependable, truth-telling, ambitious, timid, shy and excitable. They saw their relationships with their friends in better light. Children from both groups had good relations with mother and with other people. Very often they experienced fears and anxiety.Reconstruction seems not to increase or to decrease the child's self-concept but it seems to be rather advantageous for the child.The author suggests continuing these studies. More adequate methods should be used and other aspects of child's functioning should be taken into consideration.

In this paper the author deals with such phenomena as delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse and their relations with family factors. He notices that family is a source of two types of inheritance. These are genetic inheritance and cultural one. The research led in a field of genetics proved that genetical factors are of great importance in the origin of delinquency and alcohol abuse. A part of this research, however, showed that In spite of biological factors the influence of social factors (especially family atmosphere) is also important.The author cites the results of research led in Polish juvenile delinquents concerning their family conditions. A conclusion may be drawn from them that disadvantageous features of family environment correlate with the appearance of Juvenile delinquency. It was also observed that the families of juvenile delinquents were often characterized by "clear pathology".As far as the origin of alcohol abuse is concerned the author formulates a conclusion that three factors may contribute to it. These are: genetical factor, ethnical one and deprivation of important emotional needs in childhood.Also the families of drug addicts were analyzed. In most cases they were disturbed. Drug abusers usually remained in infantile relationships with their parents. Also the family hierarchy was unproper, as the children had higher positions than their parents.In the end the author describes the self-help groups movement in America. They help improving the functioning of whole social environment and especially children of groups members. It may be stated that the knowledge about family problems and social pathology should help in healing the' society and the families themselves may have a serious contribution to it.

The article describes a therapy of six families. A new method of therapy - Short Term Multidimensional Family Intervention CSTMFI) by D. Mostwin was used. STMFI Is a time-limited, crisis oriented approach of a therapy team towards a family group. It is based an ecological orientation. Thus it is interested in the society in which a family lives and concentrate on communication processes among systems. An assumption was made here that family dysfunction is a result of its alienation. There are three basic rules of communication in interpersonal systems: a rule of homeostasis, a rule of behavioral sequence and a rule of symptom centralization. A notion of sub-systems is also important In tills therapy. It is said that the lack of clear borders of subsystems leads to dysfunction of a whole family system.The main aim of the STMFI is restoring the subjective picture of a family and its environment and reconstructing the functioning of sub-systems. A team of therapists is used as a main curative instrument. Each family member has his own therapists-spokesman. There is also one therapist-coordinator not Involved in any individual contact with family members. This therapy has the following goals: 1) restoring and widening the communication among the family members; 2) teaching cooperation; 3) reconstructing the family system; 4) improving communication between family and society. The therapeutic contact with a family according to the STMFI is planned for six weekly sessions. If necessary they may be repeated.The experiences of Lublin team with the STMFI model led to the following conclusions:1) Family therapy led after the STMFI Is particularly effective in those families where teenage children with their Indocile behaviors are the problem.2) When family crisis has some other reasons (e.g. personality disorders in family members) the STMFI is a good Instrument of family diagnosis but six therapeutic sessions are too little to cause positive changes in family structure.3) The main advantage of this model lies in the therapeutic team itself. It gives a profound insight in a disturbed family system.4) The different verbalizations of a "family problem" make it easy to understand by the family members and increase the chances of getting out of crisis.5) Getting into touch with institutions is an important therapeutic element.6) The homework is very difficult to do, especially in the first phase of the therapy. It requires a special motivation.7) The method gives the possibility of holistic look at family crisis.The experiences with six families gave the authors much satisfaction and sense of effective work.

Family therapists from many countries met from 11th to 15th May 1987 in Praga on international congress. The congress was organized under auspices of World Health Organization by Family Therapy Section of Psychiatric Association which Is part of Czech Medical Association. The list of the participants contained about 1380 names. In "Abstracts" there were summaries of 316 pronouncements: reports, films, poster announcements; 20 of them were from Poland. Four plenary sessions (and one special) were held, each contained a lecture of a world-famous therapist and a panel discussion.It was mentioned by some therapists (La Perriere, Bloch) that family therapy is an exciting experience which brings about changes not only into a family but into a therapist too. Socio-political problems were also discussed. The therapists pointed at their connections With family life and family therapy, L.C. Wynne shared his observations on family therapy language. The conceptions of G. Bateson were reminded by his daughter M.C. Bateson and L.R. Allman. D. Reiss showed that studying family history and family code may be a way to understanding and restructuralisation of a given family. V. Satir demonstrated her skills by showing three different types of Interactions. The lecture of S. Minuchin was a presentation of his own view on history and present situation of family therapy. He characterized briefly the main ways of family therapy. J. Langmeier from Praga held a lecture under the title "From studying child deprivation to researching family Interaction". It was stated that children living in families also suffer from deprivation. I. Namysłowska from Warsaw compared Polish and Western family therapy. Two reports of participants from Lublin were placed in poster session; they both dealt with own experiences coming from using the Mostwin’s method in family therapy j Strojnowski presented a research led with use of the method in the Department of Group Dynamics and Psychotherapy in KUL and a medical experiment made in Youth Clinic of Lublin.The congress, however organized by World Health Organization, was only a meeting of the therapists from Western culture. Practically we did not learn anything about the family life and working with families in different cultures, especially African and Asiatic. On the other hand, those participants who were familiar with those cultures expressed the opinion that all family systems on our planet had the same bases and In* spite of their cultural background deal with similar problems.