FAMILY LIFE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM THROUGH BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

The objectives of this research included: 1) to study the concept and theory of family life development based on psychology and Buddhist principles; 2) to create and evaluate family life development programs according to Buddhist psychology principles. Key informants were 5 experts in the field of Buddhist psychology, western psychology and group activities. The research instruments were group discussions to review and verify the consistency of Buddhist family life development programs. The qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis methods. The results of this research were as follows. 1) Family life development program according to Buddhist psychology principles consists of Dhamma principles including: (1) Brahmavihara 4, (2) Trisikkha by designing activities under the framework of the Bhavana 4 namely physical development, social development, mental development and intellectual development; and the principles of psychology i.e. (3) Bandura theories of learning. 2) Family life development program according to Buddhist psychology principles assessed by the 5 experts consisted of 9 activities including: (1) My home; (2) Dhamma for pleasant; (3) Moral stories through creative media; (4) Dhamma before bedtime; (5) Morning Dhamma; (6) Laughter yoga; (7) Creative communications in family; (8) Food for happiness; and (9) Trust of parents in 5 rooms of life. All activities were designed through Bandura's Theory of learning integrated with the principles of Trisikkha and Yonisomanasikara by practicing common thinking methods for understanding the truth of natural laws. The principles and teaching styles were in forms of integrated activities. Techniques for conducting group processes were selected so that parents could learn together with their children and provide opportunities for the trainees to develop themselves and learn with others that could lead to changes for a better behavior.