Texte remanié de: Ph. D. th.--Jérusalem, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 243-268. Index.

abstract: Prior research has found links between family environment and criminal outcomes, but research is lacking on why these factors often occur together within families. Parental criminality, family size, and family disruption have been analyzed as risk factors for juvenile delinquency, but their relationships with each other have gone largely unexplored. This thesis explores the relationship between parental criminality, having children, number of children, and patterns of residence with children. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth '97 are used to associate likelihood of having children, likelihood of having any children out of residence, percent of children in residence, and number of children with arrest prevalence and self-reported offending. Results were generally supportive. Moderate effect sizes were found for likelihood of having children, with large effects on likelihood of having any children out of residence. Moderate effects were found for percentage of children in residence, and large effects were found for number of children. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2011

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Previous research conducted in regular public and private schools has shown that parent involvement in a child's schooling is positively related to student outcomes (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). Though the creation of charter schools has purportedly expanded the possibilities for families to participate in their children's schooling, little is known about actual practices of parent involvement in charter schools. This case study explores the nature of parent involvement in a sixth- through twelfth- grade, urban charter school in order to verify and extend findings from research conducted in other school settings. The data come from surveys of and group interviews with faculty members, families, and students; observations of parent involvement events; and individual interviews with the school's founders. Two prevalent themes emerged from this study. The first reveals a sharp contrast between the founders' philosophical orientations with respect to home-school relationships and those of the families, students, and faculty members. The founders believe that the school and home are, and should be, distinct and separate institutions of support for student achievement and adolescent development. The second theme uncovered in this study concerns the faculty's citations of "cultural difference" as a key justification for why involvement at the school has proven challenging. The study shows that these perspectives shape the school's practices of partnership with families and that the philosophical and ideological positions taken by school personnel are best understood against a broader socio-historical context. The problems with parent involvement exhibited in this study are viewed as both a product of the underlying philosophical assumptions about school and family partnerships held by the founders, as well as a continuation of historically grounded patterns of home and school interaction as articulated by the faculty. The case study of this charter school verifies previous research and extends our understandings of home-school partnership into the new context ofthe charter school. / 2031-01-01

Whether or not major changes in family structure during adolescence have positive or negative consequences for adolescents has not been empirically investigated to any extent. The separation-individuation process is considered to be facilitated when adolescents can express themselves in a family context characterized by emotional connectedness (Grotevant & Cooper, 1986). This individuation process is not concerned exclusively with separation or autonomy but rather with the continuing embeddedness of the individual in relationships with others (Karpel, 1976; Youniss, 1983). The impact of parental death on the process of separation-individuation in adolescence was examined in this study. Thirty male and female adolescents, ages 12 to 16 years, from families in which the father had died participated in this study. They were compared with thirty adolescents of comparable age from intact families. The adolescents completed instruments that provided information about development of autonomy (Emotional Autonomy Scale), attachment to mother, father and peers (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment), and adolescents’ perception of family functioning (Family Functioning in Adolescence Questionnaire). Adolescents from the father-deceased group are more autonomous than the intact group in some of the scales. Males from the father- deceased group scored significantly higher than males from the intact group on the emotional autonomy subscales. Adolescents in the father-deceased families showed similar attachment to fathers and mothers when compared with adolescents from intact families. Adolescents’ perceptions of their family functioning showed similar results for both the father-deceased and intact groups with adolescents who scored high in family functioning being less autonomous. Similarly adolescents from the father-deceased group who were more attached to mothers showed less autonomy according to their scores on the Emotional Autonomy Scale. Adolescents’ attachment to peers was unrelated to their level of autonomy. / Graduate

No description available.

The study explores perceptions of nursery education held by staff, parents and children in three state nursery classes in a single local education authority. I have adopted a theoretical framework combining ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979,1992) and phenomenography (Marton, 1981,1988a and 1988b) which have not been combined in previous research in early years education. Such a paradigm synthesis allows me to interpret perceptions within the context of the nursery class, of the broader social milieu and of the research process itself. The research employs a variety of interviewing techniques, observation and documentary analysis. I have developed an interviewing technique specifically for the study in order to overcome some of the problems associated with obtaining young children's perceptions of their educational experience. I consider textual representation of voice, context and processes as problematic, a situation which has effected a change in my epistemological position and my move towards postmodernism. Therefore, I present the research within the context of my development over time. The research suggests that young children are able to voice their own perceptions of their nursery education, and that these perceptions, and children's ability to voice them, may be influenced by certain characteristics of the nursery class setting. Also illustrated is the complex and relative nature of adult perceptions, which must be considered within their situational and temporal context

M.A. / South Africa is facing a high proportion of children in need of care due to the high escalation of HIV/AIDS related illness. Most of the orphaned children are left with either paternal or maternal families. As a result the families are facing challenges to perform “social, emotional, and educational tasks” and to cope with the additional family members. The study was exploratory and aimed to explore the challenges faced by foster parents, and their coping strategies in Johannesburg. The targeted area was Hillbrow. Twelve foster parents namely, three child-headed, three single parents, three in marital relationship and three grandparents headed families were selected from the researcher’s caseload. The goal of the study was to explore the challenges foster parents are experiencing in relation to foster children and to raise awareness of the social services providers concerning these challenges in order for them to take it into account in the planning of programmes or strategies that will assist with the coping mechanisms. The researcher has conducted a literature study on the tasks and responsibilities of foster parents; criteria on selecting foster parents and the demands made on foster parents. Semi-structured interviews were utilised as a data collection method. The interviewees responded in African languages and data was translated to English. The findings from the study were as follows: • Some of the foster parents have a challenge of accommodation in Hillbrow since this area is characterised by overpopulation. For example, they share one bedroomed flat as different families, and they have no privacy. • Some of the children are left in the care of their grandparents who are pensioners. Even though they receive foster care grants to supplement their income, they still unable to meet the teenagers’ needs. • Children react differently after the death of their parents and the following reactions were reported: lack of interest in their studies, crying, and difficulties to adapt to a new environment, withdrawal, attention seeking and anger. • Most of the foster parents are receiving support from the family members while some families are sources of conflict, especially when it comes to Foster Care Grants. • Foster parents have their own different ways of coping with foster care placement such as communication, family support, religion, working hand in hand with the professionals and foster care grants. Conclusions in this study indicated that: • The Department of Social Development should network with the Department of housing to give a priority of providing foster parents with Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. • Workshop Programmes and Support Groups for Foster parents should be established.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The White Paper on Education and training defines ECD as the process by which children 0 – 9 grow and thrive in all respects. The main focus of ECD’s is to ensure that children are thriving, by providing a solid foundation for physical, emotional, cognitive and overall healthy development of children (UNICEF, 2005). Therefore a critical factor for educational achievement is access to ECD. In redressing the exclusion of the past in ECD the equity enshrined in the white paper on Education and training (1995) and the Reconstruction and development program (RDP) suggest that government act as the key agent for ‘levelling the playing field’ . This would greatly benefit the historically disadvantaged children which are the majority within South Africa (Department Basic Education, 2001). The challenge is to establish in which way the playing field are bring levelled to increase ascertain ECD programs for all children in general, and poor children in particular. Thus the implementation of quality programs becomes a matter of urgency (UNICEF, 2005). Many ECD centres have been established around the world and in South Africa, very few studies have been conducted concerning the implementation of government policy in terms of ECD centres. As stated in the Convention on the Right of the Child and the African charter on the Rights and the welfare of the child. The South African constitutions in regard to Act 108 of 1996 include the Bill of Rights, with policies and plans that are in one place to ensure that the rights of children in the Early Childhood Developmental stage are met (Child institute, 2007/2008). This research investigates the implementation of government ECD policy in the three sectors of government policy which need to be adhered to. Namely the criteria stipulated by the Educational Department, Social Development as well as the Department of Health. The study shall ascertain whether these policies are indeed being implemented. New ECD programs include the ECD integrated Plan with a focus on parent education, in addition to Expanded Public Works Program which also includes the training of parents (Biersterker & Kvalsig, 2007 :pp 1200). The research objectives are namely to examine the implementation of ECD policy which covers all three departments that of; Education, Social Development and Health. To develop a legislative and conceptual framework to underpin the study Identify challenges and opportunities from primary data and draw conclusions Make recommendations Specific research questions addresses in this study: •To determine what processes are in place to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the ECD policy. •To ascertain what specific challenges are faced by ECD centres staff during the implementation of policy. •The relevance of the policies to the intended Institutions. A qualitative study method shall be adopted. The instrument (questionnaire) will be issued to participants namely head/principal or teacher in charge of ECD centres. The questionnaire shall be followed up with a focus group, which shall include head of ECD’s as well as active parents from communities/governing bodies. The researcher undertakes the responsibility of providing and examining the level of competences. The researcher shall be responsible in conducting the research, with integrity and maintain honesty and fairness at all times. The participants are assured that the information shared during the discussions would be used solely for the study and no other publications. The researcher shall uphold the right for any participant to withdraw from the process if they no longer wish to participate. Only respondents who provide consent to being a part of this process shall participate.

In general there is very little research on the coping styles that the fathers of children suffering from Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) use in order to cope with the day-to-day demands and stressors that result from their child‘s unique condition. The research study focuses on the fathers of children on the autistic spectrum and how they cope with the stressors resulting from their children‘s condition on daily basis. The study made use of Bronfenbrenner‘s Ecosystemic Theory of Human Development as the guiding theoretical framework in exploring and describing this specific research domain. This was a qualitative study and it was phenomenological, descriptive and analytical in nature. The reason for this was to hear the voices of the fathers and explore in-depth how they deal with the daily stressors resulting from their children‘s condition. Semi-structured interviews were utilised where the fathers were asked to respond to an open-ended question. The data that was obtained from the fathers was analysed by means of content analysis. The sample size of the study was small (n=5) and other limitations included a small number of previous studies done on the fathers of children on the autistic spectrum. The literature that is available that focused on the fathers of ASD children are often old and might possibly be out dated. However, this study aimed to hear the voices of the fathers of children on the autistic spectrum and explore how they cope with the daily stressors. Therefore, this study will contribute to the literature on the fathers of ASD children.

The effect of separated home background on students' perception of the school environment as measured by the School Environment Assessment Scales (SEAS) is explored. Three hypotheses are advanced. The first proposes that students from separated homes will have a different perception of the school environment when compared with students of intact homes. The second suggests that there will be a difference in perception depending on the age of the student when parental separation took place. The third hypothesis indicates that there will be a difference in perception between male and female students of separated homes. In the first part of the study, 120 students from separated homes are compared with 120 students from intact homes. Results from this comparison demonstrate that there is a statistically significant difference at the .01 probability level between these two groups of students on Authoritarian Press, one of the eight SEAS scales. Contrary to expectations; students from separated homes perceived the school environment as less authoritarian. On the seven remaining SEAS scales, there is no statistically significant difference between these two groups. However, there is some indication that students from separated homes perceived a few more aspects of the school environment in a more favorable way. This more positive perception, even though conjectural in nature, cannot be neglected; implications of this trend are explored. In the second part of the study, intra-group comparisons on 117 students from separated homes on two variables, age at onset of parental separation and sex, are examined. There is no statistically significant difference on any of the SEAS scales between students whose parents separated when they were age 0-6, and students who were over age 6. On the variable sex, the female group scored significantly higher on two scales. On the Heterosexual Social Expression Scale, the level of significance reached the .01 level. On the Creative Self-Expression Scale, the level of significance reached the .05 level. Females perceived themselves as being more encouraged to interact with members of the opposite sex, and as being more encouraged to express themselves creatively. On the other six SEAS scales, there is no statistically significant difference between male and female groups. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate