The CoPInG project - Constructions of parenting on insecure grounds. What role for social work - coordinated by the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences of the University of Trento with the Free University of Bolzano, the University of Trieste and the University of Calabria as a research project of national interest (Prin), is coming to an end. It involved one hundred social workers who collaborated with families for three years, with one goal: to build new tools to help families facing difficulties. During these years, the researchers examined the context, studied the political and cultural framework, listened to the families and are now ready to present the results of their work. The guidelines to build actions and methods to prevent and manage family uncertainty will be presented to the public on 28 February in Rome at a conference that will be held at the CNEL. The event will also be attended by representatives of the National Board of Social Workers, that supported the project.
But what are the forms of uncertainty that families have to face? The researchers started by studying the general conditions of our society, which is constantly evolving: poverty, job insecurity, social pressures, the difficulties faced by of extended and multicultural families are among the primary causes of concern for families, but extreme ideological positions are also on the increase. These are highly complex factors that can trigger conflict. Social services know this well, as they are called to help families and individuals through difficult times and when they have to make important choices for themselves and their children. Understanding current trends and knowing the family situation is not always enough to provide adequate answers to each individual case. For this reason, it is necessary to provide social workers with new tools to interpret the reality, with new training courses that start from a principle that has always been the basis of the profession: giving voice to everyone, first of all to parents.
And parents, who are responsible for the care and education of children, need to be supported in doing their best. Silvia Fargion, full professor at the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science of UniTrento and coordinator of the project, provides some more details on the subject: "We have seen how the rapid spread of a neoliberal ideology has strongly influenced social family policies, clearing the State of any responsibility in the care and education of children and leaving parents and families alone in their task. In line with the neoliberal approach, a current has developed that in the Anglo-Saxon area has been called 'intensive parenting', that we can see in place in Italy too. Its fundamental aspects are a tendency to individualize and 'privatize' the education of new generations; a vision of parents as totally and individually responsible for the education of their sons and daughters, but also as incapable, insecure and in need of guidance from experts, especially mothers. This is a 'professionalization of parenting', which is understood as a set of skills that must be learned based on a performing model that requires parents to be constantly virtuous, patient, open to dialogue, positive. It's really hard to bring this model in line with reality."
"This systematic dramatization of parental shortcomings is seen every day in the 'society of perfection', in the communication that comes even more aggressively through the internet and social networks," Fargion added. "An idea that ends up being very judgmental and that creates frustration in moms and dads. And when reality is very far from an optimal ideal it becomes even worse. Intensive parenting is deeply rooted in the culture and resources of the middle classes and research has often ignored the perspective of parents, particularly in delicate and challenging cases. The goal of our project is to find ways to support parents through trained social workers who are able to recognize and enhance original and personal solutions that parents themselves create to face everyday life in the care and education of their children.
The method proposed by the CoPinG project takes a different perspective, opposite to the narration of family roles, and very close to the roots of the social work profession. Its foundations lie in listening to parents. It compares their views of care and education and their reaction to dominant ideologies, with the discourse on parenting that emerges from family policies and the positions expressed by social workers who work with the families. The key is a personalization of the way of being close to people, to families. A relationship that is based on mutual recognition, that values the solutions that the parents themselves propose to face their specific situation.
The team that conducted the research is interdisciplinary and inter-university and takes advantage of specific and diversified skills. The research unit of the University of Trento, coordinated by Professor Silvia Fargion, studied issues related to serious conflicts. The research group of the University of Calabria, coordinated by Professor Alessandro Sicora, focused on forced migration. The research group led by Professor Urban Nothdurfter of the Free University of Bolzano dealt with LGBTQ parenting, while the research group of the University of Trieste, with Professor Luigi Gui, concentrated on poverty.
The programme of the 28 February event at the CNEL is available at https://www.unitn.it/riconoscere-genitorialita