單身父母之兒童的心理危機及其教師與諮商者的角色

Single-Parent Children:Mental Crises， Roles of Teacher and Counselor

本文主要目在闡明單身父母之兒童的心理危機，並探討回對此類兒童、教師及諮商者所應扮演的角色地位。在英國，有三分之一的人其婚姻是破碎的，尤其再婚者的破碎婚姻比例更高。近來，美國幾乎有十分之四的人其婚姻最後步入離婚之途，其中百分之六十以上的離婚者均已有子女。據估計，這類兒童需單獨與父親或母親居住的時間平均長達四年。 父母離婚對其子女的影響總是包括：強烈的失落感、因受傷而不能自制、對「忠誠」迷惘、面對經濟拮据的家庭生活、離去熟悉的環境、監護權的爭紛、父母的暫時性疏忽、對父母新偶伴的妬嫉、與繼父母相處及親情的溺愛等。 目前，已研究出一些策略，足供教師對此類兒童提供特別的協助，其中教師的角色地位多從教室經營、其與父母的聯絡、與諮商者的聯繫等三方面探討。 至於諮商者主要從下面五個方面協助此類兒童：即離婚的防犯、離婚前諮商、監護權調解、離婚後諮商、及社會與教育措施的改變。 總之，離婚對父母及兒童是一種危機的時刻。此時，教師尤其較一般家人更為需要，因為他們是此一家人外花費最多時間在兒童身上的人，如果教師具備有效的技能與做法，對此類兒童及父母的成長是有助的。

The purpose of this article is to describe the mental crises of single-parent children and discuss roles of teacher and counselor for such children. In England， one in every three marriages breaks down and second marriages are failing at an even higher rate. Currently almost four out of ten marriages in the United States end in divorce. More than 60 percent of these divorcing couples have children at home. An estimated average time is four years in which the child resides with a lone parent. Effects of divorce on single-parent children often include: a deep sense of loss， a feeling of vulnerability to forces beyond one’s control， a conflict of loyalties， a life-style modified by financial straits， removal from familiar surroundings， custody battles， temporary neglect by troubled parents， jealous toward parents’ new sexual partners， problems with step-parents， and parental kidnapping. To date， few strategies have been published concerning ways that teachers can provide specific assistance to the child involved in divorce. The teacher’s role is discussed in three sections: working in the classroom， working with parents， and working with counselors. The counselor can be helpful in the following areas: preventing divorce， pre-divorce counseling， custody conflicts， post-divorce counseling， and changes in social and educational practices. In short， divorce is a time of crisis for parents and children. Teachers are especially significant to the family during divorce since they maybe spend as much or more time with the children than any other adult outside the family. When teachers have efficient skills and concerns， they can help children and parents grow through divorce.