Competencias Personales y Sociales en Familias en Situación de Pobreza y/o Exclusión Social

Abstract

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to get to know the personal and social skills of families that are in a situation of poverty and/or social exclusion in the Region of Murcia, through th e construct of Effective Personality. There are two basic circumstances that are essential to consider that the families are in a situation of poverty and social exclusion: first, they belong to priority action areas and second, they do not meet the minimum economic requirements . The sample of the study includes the members of the families with whom works th e Columbares Association in the Caixa Proinfancia program in the Region of Murcia, to whom a adapted questionnaire for each age group is applied (children, adolescence and adulthood). The instrument contemplates ten dimensions grouped in four categories: the Strengths of oneself (self-concept and self-esteem), Demands of oneself (motivation, expectations and attribution), Challenges of oneself (dealing with problems and facing challenges) and Relationships of oneself (empathy, assertiveness and communication). The research questions that we set out to solve are: What are the personal and social competences of families in situations of poverty and social exclusion?, What interrelati on exists between the personal and social competences of the members of the same family? and is there any connection between socio-demographic aspects and personal and social competences? In the first place, a bibliographic review is made for the elaboration of the theoreti ca l framework, where the most relevant literature is included with respect to the subject matter of the study: the personal and social competences, the construction of the personality, th e construct of Effective Personality, the families in situation of poverty and social exclusion and the researches carried out in this field. Secondly, the empirical framework is elaborated , which includes the objectives, the methodology (of a qualitative research), the instruments for collecting information, the analysis of data (with the statistical program SPSS) and th e results. Finally, the discussion and conclusions are written that reveal useful information for all those people that work with families in a situation of poverty and / or social exclusión, and that they highlight the importance of a socio-educational intervention, which includes th e development of personal and social skills, not only in childhood and adolescence, but also with adults.