This study explored caregivers' views on play and play areas in Salvokop, Tshwane. Specific focus was placed on children's play, play between caregiver and child, and the importance of play spaces. Five relevant categories were identified for investigation including biographical details, the child in early childhood, caregivers' opinions on play, play between caregiver and child, and public play areas. The research methodology for this study was clearly defined and outlined where a qualitative research approach was utilised with a semi-structured interview schedule as data-collection method. The literature chapter focused on early childhood, theoretical perspectives on play, defining play, the advantages of play, as well as play between parents and child and the importance of public play areas. Research findings for this qualitative study were presented using tables which were fully discussed in the study in order to describe caregivers' views on play, play between caregiver and child, and play areas. Research findings showed that not all caregivers are aware of the importance of play for child development and do not consider play on its own as the most important activity during early childhood, yet caregivers indicate that their children spend most of their time playing. The types of play that children engage in have numerous advantages and are more varied than what caregivers deem important. Caregivers believe that children need long periods of play on a daily basis and most children do actually play for long periods every day. Children in this study also participate in more physical activity than children in some developed countries. Children have uninterrupted time to play where they are not hurried or directed by anyone. Caregivers play with their children and enjoy different types of play with their children. However, there is a lack of physical play between caregivers and children. There is no public play area in Salvokop but caregivers would like to have a public play area and indicate that their children will make use of a public play area extensively. Finally, conclusions and recommendations were made following the key findings for this study. The research question for this study was fully answered in that the empirical investigation provided a comprehensive reflection of caregiver's views on play and play areas. / Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW / Unrestricted

Decades of research have shown long-term effects of early caregiving adversity on stress physiology and limbic brain regions, two key biological systems that are implicated in risk for internalizing disorders. Although stress physiology and limbic brain structure undergo significant maturational change during childhood and adolescence, and reciprocally influence each other, the effects of early caregiving adversity on these developmental processes is not well understood. In the current study, we used an accelerated longitudinal design to assess the development of stress physiology, amygdala, and hippocampal volume following early institutional care. Previously Institutionalized (PI; N = 93) and comparison (COMP; N = 161) youth (ages 4-20 years old) completed 1-3 waves of data collection, each spaced approximately 2 years apart, for diurnal cortisol (N = 239, providing a total of 380 diurnal datasets), structural MRI (N = 156, providing a total of 306 scans) and parent-reported internalizing symptoms (N = 133, providing a total of 227 time points). We observed a developmental shift in morning cortisol in the PI group, with blunted levels in childhood and heightened levels in late adolescence. PI history was associated with reduced hippocampal volume and reduced growth of the amygdala, resulting in smaller volumes by adolescence. Results also suggested feed-forward brain-to-hormone mechanisms, such that both amygdala and hippocampal volumes were prospectively associated with morning cortisol levels two years later. Finally, amygdala and hippocampal volumes were independently associated with internalizing scores across the entire sample. These results indicate that adversity-related physiological and neural phenotypes are not stationary during development but instead exhibit dynamic and interdependent changes from early childhood to early adulthood.

Autism is one of the fastest growing childhood disorders in the world, and the families that have children with autism experience frustration and stress due to many practical problems. with the increase in the prevalence of autism, it is urgent to raise awareness of autism and to provide services and support for children with autism and their parents to improve the parent-child relationship and moderate the parental stress. with regard to families with children diagnosed as autistic, the purposes of this study are to: (a) examine the group differences in parental stress and parent-child relationship between Taiwan and the United States based on racial and cultural differences; (b) identify factors, if any, that influence the parental stress and parent-children relationship; (c) investigate if there are differences in the results of child development when children are diagnosed with autism in these two countries; (d) establish the Battelle Development Inventory-II in Mandarin Chinese version for use of evaluation with development delays in Taiwan. Findings revealed that: (a) the Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II), is highly reliable with a great value of internal consistency in the use with parents and children with autism in Taiwan; (b) there is no significant difference in child development and parent-child relationship based on geographic region (Taiwan and the United States); (c) parents of children with autism in the United States overall have a more positive parent-child relationship and parenting attitude than parents of children with autism in Taiwan; (d) Children with autism who have a positive relationship with their parents have a higher pass rate on the evaluation of child development; (e) fathers reported higher pass rate on BDI-II than mothers in one of the standard deviations of over BDI-II performance; (f) parent-child relationships are positively correlated with parental stress; (g) parents who received services and support from a government agency or school in Taiwan have significantly lower scores on the parent-child relationship inventory; (h) fathers of children with autism have higher stress level than mothers; (i) parents who received services and support from parent groups (such as PTA or parent association) and from a government agency or school feel less stress than parents that did not receive those supports in Taiwan.

No description available.

El siguiente trabajo de investigación ha sido desarrollado con la finalidad de disminuir el impacto negativo que la alta exposición y uso de dispositivos tecnológicos tiene en los niños. Doggy & Friends soluciona este problema ofreciendo una alternativa de entretenimiento sana para los niños mediante el juego con un peluche que pueden personalizar totalmente, de acuerdo con sus gustos. Esta actividad les permite compartir tiempo con su familia, reforzando los lazos que mantienen, rellenando, vistiendo y caracterizando a su peluche en miles de aventuras gracias a su creatividad e imaginación, convirtiendo a Doggy en un amigo importante que lo acompañará en los momentos especiales de su vida. El mercado de entretenimiento infantil en el Perú es atractivo debido a su crecimiento constante, tanto en consumo, como en tamaño. Así mismo, de acuerdo con las validaciones de producto realizadas, se ha encontrado que 4 de cada 100 leads es una venta; dato con el cual se pueden asegurar atractivos márgenes de ganancia para la compañía y sus inversores con un tamaño de mercado más de 2 millones de familias y un crecimiento anual esperado de 2.4%. Este proyecto, después de un análisis financiero detallado, ofrece a los inversionistas un valor presente neto de s/.1’853,166, a una tasa de retorno del 88.46%. No obstante, a un horizonte de 5 años, el valor presente neto estimado supera los S/. 235,000 soles a una tasa de retorno mayor del 45%, tras una inversión aproximada de s/.100,000. / The following research paper has been developed with the purpose of diminishing the negative impact of high exposure and usage of technological devices on children. Doggy & Friends solves this problem by offering a healthy entertainment alternative for children through a teddy that they can personalize to their taste. This activity allows them to spend time with their family, strengthening their bond, by filling, dressing and characterizing their teddy in thousands of adventures thanks to their creativity and imagination, turning Doggy into an important friend that will be there in the most special time of their life. The children entertainment market in Peru is attractive due to its continued growth, regarding consumption and size. Furthermore, according to the product validation made, it has been found that 4 in every 100 leads turns into a sale. This data assures attractive benefits for the company and its investors with a market size of more than 2 million families and an expected growth rate of more than 2.4%. This project, after a detailed analysis, offers investors a net present value of s/.1’853,166, with a return rate of 88.46%. However, to a 5 years investment horizon, the net present value is over s/. 235,000 soles with a return rate higher than 45%, to an approximate investment of s/.100,000. / Trabajo de investigación

Adapt -- “to make suitable to requirements; adjust or modify fittingly." Adaptability is a trait which has been attributed to Navajo2 Indians by anthropologists, educators, novelists, psychologists, artists) -- in fact, by almost everyone who has had dealings with them over a period of time. Yet, to identify specific examples of their adaptability and the attempt to measure the effect upon interpersonal relations of evidences of adaptation has proved to be no easy task.

This study was done to determine whether maternal employment affected the child's perception of male roles. The study was designed to see if the child viewed the male in a more negative or positive way or if he perceived the male as taking more instrumental or expressive roles when the child's mother was employed. The hypotheses predicted that there would be no difference in the children's perceptions of male roles between mother-employed and mother-not-employed groups, and that there would also be no difference between the sexes on children's perceptions of male roles . The questionnaire was designed with some parts adapted from questionnaires used by Kagan and Lemkin (1960) and Aldous (1 967). The questionnaire made use of drawings of family members which the children pointed to in response to questions about adult roles and sex role perceptions. The children were from Cedar City, Utah . Twenty were children of employed mothers , and 20 were children of non-employed mothers . There were ten girls and ten boys in the employed group and the same in the non-employed group. The data did not permit rejection of the four null hypotheses. There was no significant difference found, with girls or with boys, on the frequency of negative and positive expression of attitudes on male role perception tests of children of employed and non-employed mothers . There was also no difference between the sexes on the frequency of instrumental and expressive responses between the employed and nonemployed groups. Each question was tested by chi square to determine if the distribution was due to chance. On only one question was the probability of a chance distribution rejected. The question dealt with who was the nicest between the mother and the father. When boys' mothers were employed, they viewed the father as the nicest, whereas girls viewed the father as being the nicest when the mother was not employed. When the results were analyzed With all the girls in one group and all of the boys in a different group without regard to maternal employment, some interesting differences were found. The boys perceived the father in a significantly more positive way than did the girls. This was a T-score test which was significant at the .01 level. The boys also viewed the father as taking many more expressive roles than the girls. This was significant at the . 05 level. It was concluded that sex had a greater effect on the child's perceptions of male roles than did maternal employment. (98 pages)

The purpose of this study is to assess children's perceptions of the nurse as they are related to children's age, the amount of contact children have had with nurses and children's sex. An oral picture test, consisting of 10 photographs, was administered to 45 children in the Edith Bowen Elementary School at Utah State University. The children were interviewed about their perceptions of the nurses in each photograph and their responses were rated as being positive, negative or neutral. The findings of this study indicate that although significant differences exist in children's perceptions of the nurse in terms of positive, negative and neutral responses, these differences are not due to the effects of the age of the children, the amount of contact they have had with nurses or the sex of the children. The conclusions are that children's perceptions of the nurse are affected by a variable which was not tested in the present study and that children seem to reveal the more positive aspects of their feelings about nurses. The author suggests that children's negative feelings about nurses are too powerful to be verbalized and have been internalized by the children due to the influence of social pressure to conform.

The problem to be investigated in this study was to examine the association between the educational training program of an Urban Job Corps Center and the reading performances of trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds. A sample of 100 trainees was randomly selected to represent the total population of Job Corpsmen in an urban center. The Job Corps Center in Clearfield, Utah, was the initial site in this study. The sample selected from the Job Corps was from four racial-ethnic groups: Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Whites, and Mexican-Americans. Each trainee was given a reading test upon arrival and another test six months after training had begun. The test scores were analyzed in four categories: (1) mean reading levels by ethnic groups, (2) individual differences in reading performance by ethnic group, (3) those with one year performances compared with those with less than one year performances, and (4) comparison of those with seventh grade performances with those with sixth grade and below performances. From these four ways of measuring reading skills, the results indicated that most of the trainees improved in their reading performances during the first six months in residence at the Job Corps. However, due to low reading levels in the individual initial test scores, all trainees did not improve at the same level of performance. Of the four racial-ethnic groups, the significant gains made in reading after six months of training was substantiated by the progress made between the initial reading level and the second reading level mean scores. Mean scores, between the first test scores and the second, showed that most trainees, by racial-ethnic groups, made sufficient improvements in reading. These improvements were made in a six-month period of training in the Job Corps. Of the four measurements used in this study, three were tested using the chi square statistical method to substantiate the significance in reading performances of these trainees. Level of confidence was accepted at the .05 level of significance. From the results of this study it was evident that potential for learning can still be obtained by disadvantaged young men when opportunities favorable for learning are present. The rehabilitation Urban Job Corps Center in Clearfield, Utah, was shown in this study to be a means of achieving these potentials.

The views held by children about the ere at ion and birth of babies are of importance in child development and developmental psychology. However, most of the research done in this area has been of a theoretical nature rather than empirical. The research shows controversy in the child's concept of human conception and birth, and because of this controversy a study was deemed necessary to find out more of what the young child's concept is of human conception and birth. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to attempt to determine the extent of children's awareness of the nature of human conception and birth. The objectives of this study were to investigate the nature of the child's understanding and awareness of human conception and birth, as well as to investigate the influence of such factors as the child's sex and age, and the social class of the family. The hypotheses were that young children would have a realistic awareness and understanding of human conception and birth and that there would be differences between children of different social class backgrounds, children of different sex groups, and children of different age groups in their understanding and awareness of human conception and birth. In order to test these hypotheses, a questionnaire consisting of eleven questions was devised to explore what concepts these young children have i n their awareness and understanding of human conception and birth. The children studied were selected according to age and social class and consisted of sixty children: 20 kindergarten children, 20 nursery school children, and 20 Head Start children. Each of these groups was fairly equal in the number of boys and girls questioned. The questions were administered in the same order. A few of the quest ions were eliminated if the child could not answer a preceding one. The responses to questions were t hen recorded by the frequency of the response. Because of the nature of this study, no statistical data could be applied; rather, the three groups were compared according to their responses and the number given to each response. The results of this study show that young children are realistically aware of human conception and birth but they do not have a full understanding of the total process. This study also reveals a great difference in the children's responses among the social classes studied, with the Head Start children being deviant from the other two groups in that they're much less well informed. Among the different age groups, the older group was better informed than were the younger children. A frequency test was done on the two sex groups, in relation to their response s, but no differences were found.