OBJECTIVES:
AİLEMER was established within Üsküdar University on December 20, 2012, by the regulation published in the Official Gazette with the issue number 28503. In alignment with national and social policies, and in parallel with the joint goals and efforts of the relevant units of the Ministry of Family and Social Services of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, the Center aims to conduct applied and academic studies that strengthen the family structure and protect its welfare and integrity.
To this end, it approaches family issues from a solution-oriented framework within the context of a holistic, partnership, interdisciplinary, and wellness model.
- HOLISTIC APPROACH: Evaluating the institution of family through a holistic approach centered around the social, cultural, and environmental factors it is embedded in.
- PARTNERSHIP APPROACH: Establishing partnerships with the government, non-governmental organizations, universities, municipalities, mother and child health centers, schools, guidance and research centers, and police departments, transforming these into social and cultural capital, which is the greatest capital of the global world.
- INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH: Working in academic, clinical, and social collaboration with nurses, family physicians, psychiatrists, sociologists, social work and child development specialists, psychological counselors, and law enforcement officers.
- WELLNESS-CENTERED APPROACH: Approaching family problems with a perspective of health and well-being rather than pathology, and conducting preventive and empowering studies on changing family dynamics (values education; self-sacrifice, loyalty, trust, empathy, unconditional love, etc.).
AREAS OF ACTIVITY:
Demographic Studies :
Our preventive approaches to family problems must be built upon data and information that guide social policies and define the demographic structure of the family. To this end, the objectives of demographic studies are:
- Generating information that will guide family policies by creating statistical databases
- Identifying the current and priority needs of the changing and transforming "Turkish Family Structure" and conducting preventive studies in light of theoretical and clinical knowledge
- Conducting field studies to determine the current status of the family and define its demographic structure, examining the physical conditions, psychological, and social living conditions of metropolitan cities and regions with high migration, and carrying out preventive studies against the risk factors that this socio-cultural mobility brings to the marriage process and family life quality.
- Providing proposals and methods against divorce and to increase the quality of family life through relational, factorial research that identifies the impact of factors increasing stress within the family (e.g., financial problems, migration) on individual development and marriage stages.
Cultural Studies:
It is important to study the preventive role of our collectivist cultural structure against family problems through interdisciplinary, qualitative research, ensuring that preventive measures for the family are sensitive to cultural values. It is necessary to study the cultural dynamics of the Turkish family structure through contextual research. Accordingly, the objectives of cultural studies are:
- Providing social and psychological support to families through educational programs, taking into account the risk factors of early marriages
- Engaging in preventive activities against domestic violence by conducting awareness-raising studies regarding traditional discourse and beliefs that encourage violence, which is a cyclical process
- Utilizing the protective role of respected male role models in society against sexual abuse, harassment, and violence against women in general to prevent domestic violence
- Teaching effective communication techniques as a preventive measure against communication problems in marriage; encouraging effective emotional sharing within the family through emotional intelligence studies such as the language of love
- Providing awareness-raising and informative programs regarding gender differences in communication, thereby instilling protective communication skills against sexual identity and role differences
- Studying the impacts of the global process and media on the family structure
- Evaluating the socio-cultural validity of Couples Therapy and Family Counseling approaches for our society and conducting academic studies on the identified issues.
Educational Activities:
- Adopting a holistic approach to the institution of family within the framework of social, cultural, and environmental factors:
- Supporting the planning and implementation of Family Counseling Certificate Programs within Üsküdar University,
- Providing pre-marital family education to candidates intending to establish a family, and offering guidance, education, and support services to those experiencing problems within the family institution,
- Offering educational programs on functional problems in the family system; loss of family life quality; family life cycle problems; and intra-family roles and responsibilities,
- Providing guidance, education, and support services targeted at individuals and couples who have decided to terminate the family institution, are divorced, or are experiencing a separation-divorce process.
- Strengthening the family structure and protecting its welfare and integrity:
- Conducting courses, seminars, and thesis studies at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels that address subjects within a social, cultural, economic, legal, and political framework.
- Carrying out research, education, review, event, and project studies.
- Organizing meetings such as congresses, conferences, workshops, courses, and seminars.
- Conducting awareness-raising activities for the public on family-related issues.
- Creating an archive consisting of relevant domestic and foreign resources on the subject of family, and introducing, publishing, and sponsoring various publications are among the educational activities undertaken by AİLEMER.
Professional and Ethical Issues:
- Contributing to the structuring of professional standards for programs that guide social policies, such as Family Counseling Certificate Programs.
- Supporting the opening and operation of master's and doctoral programs to train staff who develop projects, academic research, and clinical applications that strengthen the Turkish Family Structure and protect its welfare and integrity, as well as advancing these studies.
The scope of professional and ethical work includes training qualified family counselors and supporting guidance and educational services through preventive measures via theoretical and applied services.