Mokslo ir tikėjimo dialogai

The aim of the article is to reveal the value dimensions of the expression of neighbourly love, analysing it in the context of the family system and the anthropological (theological) context. Based on the assumption that the basis of neighbourly love is formed in the family, and the acquired moral and spiritual attitudes are later transferred to social life, the study emphasises the importance of the family for the transmission of values. Representatives of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, interviewed using the qualitative semi-structured interview method, revealed that neighbourly love is manifested through respect, care, forgiveness, responsibility, faith, and service to another person. Although there is a noticeable isolation and limited perception of neighbourliness in society, from the point of view of all three nations, the family remains the main space in which the ability to love one’s neighbour is developed, and, through faith and daily work, to expand the boundaries of this love beyond the personal environment.

The affiliation of the family with the land, ownership rights as necessary for a sufficient means of existence on one hand, and God’s blessings on the other, is a founding triangle constituting the basic principles of every ancient society. The triangle is also described in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. For many centuries, the ‘nation-land-God’ triangle has been an undisputed foundation for the sustainability of every society. The ancient intuition foresaw the inalienable constituents of society as still being worth remembering for modern man. However, in the 21st century, all three constituents could be described and named differently. Our reflections go far beyond the ancient book (or rather, collection of 39 books) composed more than 2,000 years ago for the needs of society in Ancient Israel. The house, the household, was the key concept for both the family, posterity and economics in Biblical times, and so it is today. We tend to think that family ties and economic relationships are separate concepts, but they are made by affiliation with the land, and changes in relations between the three elements have a deep impact on the stability of the nation, with far-reaching consequences.

Research presented in the article reveals emotional expressions of early age children with developmental disorders who are brought up in families. In article discussed emotional state and factors that influence development of emotional expression. It is set up that character of relationships could vary depending on the active communication in the aspect of quantity and quality. Parents communication based on the close emotional interaction is not Always successful; and another implication supports idea that child’s closed environment must ensure satisfaction of basic emotional reactions in the process of forming and development child’s psychosocial needs.

The situation of families in children disability situation is very complex affected by many factors and their integral interaction. The families often feel balancing between the reveal and ideal discourse of reality, between life before and after disability fact. Therefore, researches constantly face a methodological challenge transferring families’ life into the scientific research. According to Smith (2010, p. 33), a researcher is always at least one-step is distinct from the picture that (s)he needs to draw. Potentially method is very helpful to reveal family life as reality, however we have to be creative in applying a method, because the method is not a collection of neither a learned nor repeated procedures that was done by another masters. Research of family in disability situation is perceived as sensitive therefore in this variable process social reality is created in a “sense of family”. The article introduces analysis of different epistemological approaches towards qualitative research in social sciences and in particular in the field for families of children with disabilities.

The article analyses John Paul II’s activities and ideas in the light of his attitude towards the family. Some of his informal and formal writings and their familistic themes are therefore discussed. The analysis shows that even before the beginning of the pontificate, there was a distinct focus on the marriage and family, which was revealed both in his practical pastoral work and in the themes of his educational, theological, philosophical and fictional writings. After becoming Pope, John Paul II continued to maintain this priority and devoted much of his written and unwritten activities to the pastoral care and current affairs of the family, detailing the tasks of the family in the society and the church, and highlighting its social and theological foundations. Through his teaching, he formed the concept of the family as a “civilization of love” encompassing different generations, which becomes especially relevant in today’s sociocultural context experiencing the consequences of pathological individualism.