Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology) / Divorce is an international problem that implicates children, affecting their best interests. In the United States of America, education programmes for divorcing and separating parents have been offered for decades. In South Africa the law has made provision for such education programmes. This study concerns the efficacy in a South African context of an already existing education programme for divorcing and separating parents, called Children in the Middle (CIM). This programme is widely used in the United States, has been widely researched, and is based on foundational theory. There are many factors that determine the outcome of divorce for children. There is a need to assist families in order to ensure the most favourable outcome. It is considered to be of the utmost importance to impart information to parents and build their awareness and skills. This research concluded that despite the lack of statistical evidence, the programme had many benefits for the participants, based on the feedback received from them. Parents had become sensitised to their children’s needs. Based on the qualitative data and attendance, it was concluded that psychoeducation at the time of divorce is a much-needed resource for parents in South Africa. Psycho-education for divorcing parents does not replace litigation, mediation or therapy; it should be offered as a mandatory alternative or an addition to the family at the time of divorce and should lead the process. The research has therefore proposed that psycho-education programmes should be mandatory for all divorcing parents regardless of the process that their divorce follows, as although there is no guarantee of outcome, it adds an extra dimension that may lead to a more favourable outcome and that parents are more likely to act in the best interests of their children.

See Afrikaans / Dissertation (M(Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

This study was designed to assess the difference in litigation between two courts: one mandating For Kids' Sake, a psycho-educational seminar for divorcing parents, and the other not so mandating. The level of difficulty of children's adjustment to divorce has been positively correlated with parental hostility. More hostile parents would have more contested cases, interim motions, and relitigations. This research compared final dispositions, interim motions, and relitigation between parents in two courts in Collin County, Texas. The treatment group was from the 219th District Court which mandated all divorcing parents with minor children to attend the For Kids' Sake Seminar and the control group was from the 199th District Court which did not so mandate. Archival data was collected from a computer generated list for the Total group data to assess final dispositions and directly from District Clerk files for the In-Depth group data to assess interim motions and relitigation. The Total group was comprised of 679 research subjects with 330 cases in the treatment group and 349 cases in the control group. The In-Depth group consisted of 182 cases from both courts with 84 cases in the treatment group and 98 cases in the control group. Chi square analysis of the total group revealed significantly more parents in the treatment group who non suited the divorce suit and remained married (p. < .05), a significantly lower number of cases in the treatment group with interim motions (p. < .10), and a significantly lower amount of relitigation in the treatment group (p. < .05). The results showed that the court that mandated For Kids' Sake evidenced a reduction in subsequent litigation which not only benefits the legal system but also hopefully reflects lower parental hostility and higher parental cooperation, thereby benefiting the children of divorce.

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Les questions que nous avons posées à quarante parents autochtones dont les enfants avaient été pris en charge par la Société d'aide à l'enfance (SAE) entre 2000 et 2018 se situaient sur deux axes : 1) la manière dont l'intervention de la SAE prenait en compte la difficulté d'être à la fois parent et autochtone dans un contexte traumatique colonial et 2) la façon dont les cultures autochtones étaient ou non intégrées dans le processus de réajustement parental qu'entreprend la SAE. Pour aborder ces deux axes, nous sommes partie du principe que les Indigenous Studies constituaient un cadre à la fois incontournable et indépassable pour étudier toute une série de thématiques liées au domaine institutionnel de la protection de l'enfance : définition de la famille, approche de la parentalité, conception de l'intérêt de l'enfant, hiérarchie des savoirs et de leurs valeurs respectives, régulation de la précarité, etc. Malgré diverses stratégies de diversification, nous avons eu devant nous quarante expériences quasi similaires en ce qu'elles témoignaient toutes d'une impossibilité pour les parents d'être reconnus institutionnellement comme partie prenante de décisions impliquant pourtant directement leurs propres enfants. Faisant fi de l'histoire coloniale et de ses diverses conséquences désastreuses notamment sur les plans affectif, parental et économique, les intervenants apparaissent pris dans une socialisation professionnelle qui ne reconnait ni le contexte (colonial), ni leurs cultures, ni leurs points de vue, ni leurs souffrances. Pas plus que leurs efforts pour (enfin) devenir des parents. Faisant comme si rien ne s'était passé, les intervenants de la SAE imposent alors aux parents des décisions aussi absurdes qu'injustes comme seule possibilité de gagner leurs galons de bon parent. Mais l'analyse montre encore autre chose : il ne s'agirait en effet pas seulement pour les parents de se désoler du fait que les intervenants perdent de vue ce qu'être un parent aux multiples vulnérabilités veut dire. Il ne leur serait pas seulement demandé de penser, d'agir et de réagir comme un parent blanc. Leur serait également communiquée, dans une forme d'injonction contradictoire, l'impossibilité de remplir le statut et le rôle que le SAE leur demande pourtant d'endosser.

Abstract The difference in educators’ and immigrant parents’ definition of parent involvement has led to the view that immigrant parents are less involved in their children’s education than native parents from the middle class (Crozier & Davies, 2005). The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of three immigrant parents born in Africa and the Caribbean with parent involvement in their children’s education at the elementary level. This phenomenological study utilized semi-structured interviews to gain a better understanding of the various ways in which immigrant parents are involved in their children’s education, and the factors that influenced how they became involved. The findings revealed that the essence of the parents’ experience of involvement in their children’s education was maintaining nurturing relationships. Participants guided their children into a relationship with God, they cultivated a loving relationship with their children, and had a cooperative relationship with their children’s school. The parents’ experience is explored using the themes spiritual leadership, creating and nurturing relationships, and anticipatory socialization. The description of the parents’ experiences provides some insight into how immigrant parents view and enact their role in their children’s education. The study also highlights how different cultural beliefs influence the ways in which parents contributed to their children’s development. The parents were already making contributions in a variety of ways to their children’s education. However, for the most part their activities were home-based and geared towards only their own children. There were opportunities for the parent to become more involved in ways that would extend to other members of the school community. The implications of this study for practice are that educators should give an orientation to parents new to Canada about strategies they can use to incorporate school based involvement activities into their busy schedules. This will suggest ideas that parents may not have considered and could be effective in increasing their involvement on the school compound. Implications for future research include the need to investigate how culture delimits the ways in which parents become involved. There is also a need to explore what factors would motivate immigrant parents to become more involved in their children’s education on the school site.

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