In the research, “young families” are considered the couples who are a man and a woman of the age under 30 in an officially registered marriage.
The process of young family building and the nature of the relationships are influenced by the engagement, the officialization of their marriage in accordance with the laws of the country, the wedding ceremony and the Holy Sacrament of the marriage, the premarital development of the relationships in the interaction with the surrounding, as well as the existence of various forms of a modern family. In order to compare the specifics of how a young family functions, the author analyzes the main characteristics of the traditional family as a social institution. The characteristics that relates to young families are: age and demographic characteristics; vision and nature of interpersonal and intersex relations in the family; motivation for marriage, marital relations, cohabitation; readiness for family life; adaptation to cohabitation; views on the male and female roles; compatibility of partners; crises in a young family. The young family today is characterized by the peculiarities of starting the family, the position of the individual in the family and the interaction of partners with each other.
It is theoretically substantiated that violence is proved to be one of the negative tendencies that leads to the devaluation of family values and results in the decline of the family as a social institution. The specifics of the formation and manifestation of physical, economic, psychological, and sexual violence as types of family violence directed to a man, woman, child, and other family members have been analyzed. Realizing what the family violence is can serve as a basis for a properly organized preventive work with an abuser, victim, violence witnesses, where the violence specificity, types, features of distribution, formation and manifestation should be defined.
The author analyzes the development and implementation of legislative and regulatory acts; social organization, practical achievements, and the opportunities provided by various institutions, agencies, and organizations to prevent violence in young families. The characteristics of preventive, correctional and rehabilitation work with potential and actual victims of violence, abusers, violence participants, as well as the differentiation of prevention of violence against women, men, children, and also work directed to deal with offenders, victims, witnesses have been identified. Analysis of the studies on the prevention of family violence abroad has resulted in the conclusion that foreign experience should be transformed in accordance with the capabilities and resources of our country taking into account progressive approaches such as a preventive approach, selection of prevention subjects, intensifying work with young people, applying strict sanctions to abusers, social assistance to victims and/or potential victims of domestic violence.
The study has established that in order to prevent problems in a young family, the content of violence prevention should be specially focused. The author's vision of the definition of “prevention of violence in young families” is taken as a basis since the tern is regarded as a set of legal, social, pedagogical, psychological, moral and spiritual measures aimed at eliminating the determinants of violent acts and developing the readiness of young family members to build relationships without violence. The result of preventive work should be “the readiness of young family members to build relationships without violence” and, according to the author's interpretation of this concept, it means the process of individual’s acquisition of the values, knowledge and skills compatible with the ethical requirements of family life, with their own and partner’s interests and rights, which determine awareness, emotional expression and responsibility, development and self-improvement in the family.
It is substantiated that preventive work with a young family can be effective if it affects all the main personal spheres of a married couple such as values, cognitive, emotional, volitional, and behavioral aspects. The author outlines the essential directions of preventive work content which aims at preventing the emergence, formation and manifestation of violent actions in young families against each other. The preventive measures include formation of family values; improvement of the culture of marriage and family relations; development of moral and spiritual qualities; developing responsibility as a mechanism for regulating behavior; raising legal awareness and legal culture; development of communication culture; enhancing self-realization skills; formation of a responsible attitude towards parenthood..
Key words: young families, violence in family, relationships, diagnosis, prevention of violence, social and pedagogical conditions.
