Comparison of family solidarity, mental health and religious orientation in runaway and normal girls in Tehran

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree

Field: Psychology, Orientation: Clinical

Persian Abstract

Aim: This research was conducted with the aim of comparing family solidarity, mental health and religious orientation in runaway and normal girls in Tehran. Method: Causal-comparative research method and its statistical population were 200 runaway and normal girls in Tehran in 2013, out of which 200 people, 100 normal girls were selected by simple random method and 100 runaway girls were selected by accessible method and answered questionnaires of family solidarity, mental health and religious orientation. The obtained data were analyzed by parametric analysis of multivariate analysis of variance using spss software. Findings: The results of the research showed that family solidarity, mental health and religious orientation are different among runaway girls located in welfare and normal care centers in Tehran. Family solidarity is different between runaway and normal girls in Tehran. Mental health is different between runaway and normal girls in Tehran. Religious orientation is different between runaway and normal girls in Tehran.

Key words: family solidarity, mental health, religious orientation, runaway and normal girls. is Understanding the causes, antecedents, as well as the consequences and outcomes of the phenomenon of absconding, is of particular importance in preventing the harmful outcomes of absconding (Tyler and Kaus[2], 2002). The nuclear family (which consists of a husband, wife and children) is traditionally regarded as the main provider of social education for young children and adolescents and the supporter of cultural traditions. Also, nuclear families are considered as a social group in which the society considers sexual relations only within the privacy and framework of the law. However, the core of the traditional family is getting smaller and smaller, so that it currently constitutes only about 25% of all types of families. Family health changes during the life of the family. The fact that the family is healthy at a certain point in time does not guarantee that this condition will continue. In fact, achieving and maintaining health requires the continuous work of each family member as well as the whole family as a system. One of the family actions is cohesion or family solidarity [3], which shows the emotional relationship between parents and children (Samani, 2014). According to the systemic view, the family is a set of elements in which each element has defined roles and at the same time is dynamic. Elson[4] (1999) presented a model of family communication with a systemic view, which includes three dimensions of family cohesion, family flexibility, and family communication. Coherence or solidarity in this model shows the emotional bond between children and parents and includes the components of emotional relationship, family interaction, marital relationship, parent-child relationship, the amount of interaction in terms of time and place, altruism and interests, and finally the way of spending free time (Saeidi and Hassanzadeh, 2015). Undoubtedly, mental health[5] plays an important role in ensuring the dynamism and efficiency of any society. Since students are among the talented classes, the chosen ones of the society and the builders of the future of every country, therefore their mental health is of special and necessary importance in learning and increasing scientific awareness (Ebrahimi, 2014). In the perspective of psychoanalysis, the continuum of health and illness can be analyzed based on the levels of unconsciousness. Psychoanalysts emphasize the role of intrapersonal conflicts such as impulses, anxieties and unconscious defenses during psychological health analysis. In the view of modern psychoanalysis, the role of self and self-awareness in psychological health has been emphasized a lot. In the view of humanism, contrary to psychoanalysis, mental health has been studied only within the limits of extremely healthy people. According to experts in the field of humanism, mental illness and mental health should not be considered two sides of the same continuum, but a difference should be made between them. Healthy and developed people are not necessarily the product of refinements and analyzes in the field of psychopathology.For this reason, humanists believe that if helpless, immature and unhealthy people are to be examined, what will be observed in them are only negative human aspects and not positive aspects. Therefore, mental health means promoting positive aspects in humans. In the cognitive perspective, like the humanists, positive human aspects are emphasized in mental health (Pirkhafi, 2011). Based on the approach of the World Health Organization, health means complete physical, mental and social well-being and not the absence of illness and disability. Mental health is formed in the shadow of how a person feels about the world around him, his place of residence, the people around him, the amount of his income, and his location and time (Nawabinejad, 1373). Mental health is one of the important topics that is effective in the growth of the family and society. In general, mental health is the creation of mental health through the prevention of mental illnesses, control of factors affecting its occurrence, early diagnosis, prevention of factors caused by the return of mental illnesses, and creating a healthy environment for establishing correct human relationships (Milani Fard, 2013). Mental health is a constant adaptation to changing circumstances and an effort to achieve a balance between internal demands and the requirements of a changing environment (Goldenberg et al., 1997). Not having mental health prevents the progress of the individual and the society; Because in such a situation, a person does not have the ability to properly perform assigned duties and fulfill social roles; Therefore, both the individual and the society are deteriorating. Another definition considers mental health to be mental health and states that mental health indicates the positive state of mental health of a person who can act to create a value system for mobility, progress and evolution at the individual, national and international levels (Khosravi and Aghajani, 2013). Religion and spirituality[6] today are known as a tool that can bring peace of mind and guidance and inner knowledge and maintain intellectual balance and are related to the physical and psychological health of a person. Spirituality makes a person not lose his life when faced with problems and adversities and has the strength to face them, because he moves forward with faith and belief in a powerful force and confronts problems, for this reason many psychotherapists have tried to use religion and spirituality in the treatment of psychological disorders (Argel [7], 2009).

Based on this, the motivation of the researcher in this research is to compare family solidarity, mental health and orientation religious [8] in runaway and normal girls of Tehran city. 1-2-Statement of the problem Running away from home is a phenomenon that has grown in recent years so that it has gradually become a concern and a social problem. Running away from home means going away from home without the permission of a parent or legal guardian, a situation in which a teenager is absent from home or residence for at least one night without permission. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 1 million young people run away from home each year. In the years between 1999-2002, Singapore's official police reported 2,433 cases of runaways under the age of 16, an average of 600 cases per year, of which 60% were girls (Khang [9], 2009).

According to studies by the Youth Protection Committee in a national survey of Korean high school students in 1998, 11.7% of them had a history of running away from home, while the biggest concern is that 74.2% of these students considered running away from home as a choice. The history of running away in the United States shows that 90% of runaways return home within a month and more than 99% return home within a year. Research shows that this phenomenon is more common in teenage girls. In Iran, the results of published reports indicate that the phenomenon of running away from home among girls has increased significantly in recent years. According to Share et al.'s report (2005), the number of runaway girls in 2018 was 20 times more than in 2015, and in the last four months of 2016, 6,156 runaway teenagers were arrested.