Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / This study was made to analyze the function of the "Child Welfare Worker," who is the first caseworker in the history of social work in Japan. It is traditional for our historians in this field to describe Japanese social work practice as starting to modernize itself on a systematic scientific basis about three decadee ago, particularly during the past decade with the rise of socialism. However, we have never had caseworkers using a well-recognized social work technique before. All books and articles in magazines concerning social work were concerned with social service institutions but no, or at best casual, attention was paid to the skills of the workers who were working with their clients in connection with these institutions. This new Child Welfare Program that currently is focusing upon the metrhod, skills and techniques of the case worker is something unique, unheard of and unknowm to our traditional social work practice, even more so to the people in the community. But it seems to be growing rapidly and is receiving increased attention both from the social work profession and from the community. This study is being made to examine this new setting in the perspective of its past, present and future through a conscious and critical analysis of twenty cases carried by these new case workers.

Thesis (Ph.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. / The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the development of cognitive functions and role-taking behavior in children. The study focused on the relation between achievement of concrete operations according to Piaget's theory (as an index of cognitive function) and achievement of the ability to be aware of the point of view of another. Cognitive development was measured by a series of concrete operations. The tasks used involve the formation of classes, serialization of asymetrical relations and conservation of quantity. The development of the ability to see the point of view of another was hypothesized to be dependent upon the acquisition of concrete operations. It was suggested that achievement in one area would be paralleled by achievement in the other. That is , with the development of the mental structures called concrete operations the child is able to perform with certain modes of thought in the social world as well as in the physical world. The role-taking task developed by Feffer was used in this study as a measure of ability to shift perspective--that is, to see another's point of view. This task consists of telling a story including three actors and then retelling the story from the point of view of each of the other actors. Relationships between the three concrete operations tasks, and variations in subtasks within each were explored. Piaget has stated that proficiency in the several concrete operations tasks used in this study develops simultaneously. The following predictions were made: 1. There will be a positive correlation between the total concrete operations score and the role-taking task. 2. The relationship in A1 will hold with the effects of age, grade, and conventional I. Q. partialled out. 3. There will be a positive correlation between the three concrete operations tasks individually with the roletaking task. 4. The relationship in A3 will hold with the effects of age, grade and conventional I.Q. partialled out. Ninety children from kindergarten, first and second grade were used in the study of concrete operations. Sixty of these were also used for the examination of the relationship between concrete operations and the role-taking task. The relationships between concrete operations and age, I.Q. and grade were explored, as well as the relationship of performance on the role-taking task with age, I.Q. and grade. Data for the performance of subjects on all the tasks was correlated to see if inferences could be drawn for the sequence of emergence of particular concrete operations. The hypothesis of correlation between concrete operations task and the role-taking task was confirmed with and without the effects of age, conventional I.Q. and grade partialled out. Predictions positing the relationship between the three concrete operations tasks were partially confirmed, suggesting a sequence in development of concrete operations rather than parallel development. / 2031-01-01

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Introduction: Research suggests that parents of disabled children are dissatisfied with inpatient care delivery to their children. Objectives: - To explore the inpatient care of disabled children - To determine the rewards and challenges of working with disabled children and young people and those with complex health needs - To analyse contemporary nursing curricula in order to ascertain areas of teaching pertinent to disabled children and young people and those with complex health needs - To consider compliance with policy benchmarks for disabled children and young people and those with complex health needs Methods: This project is part of a service evaluation for disabled children and their families that utilises different approaches. Three components of the project were designed: 1. To conduct focus group meetings using the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) with nursing staff 2. To conduct an in-depth content analysis of contemporary nursing curricula 3. To conduct an audit of compliance with policy benchmarks for disabled children and young people and those with complex health needs Results: Four themes have been generated from the integrated data analysis of the current service evaluation, namely: effective communication, provision of training, provision of equipment, unfavourable environment. Conclusion: This service evaluation has revealed that nursing staff need to improve their knowledge and expertise in the field of communication with disabled children and their families, and also enhance the quality of care delivered to this population. Additionally, it is vital that more equipment be provided, and the number of expert nursing staff caring for disabled children increased, in order to improve the quality of care for disabled children and their families.

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Recent years have seen an increase in self-harm behaviours amongst children and young people. In tandem, the amount of research on the phenomenon has also grown. However, despite the evident importance of care staff attitudes in the treatment of those who self-harm, an examination of the literature indicated a limited number of studies on how clinicians view such behaviour in the young. The aim of this thesis was to examine the attitudes of health care staff toward child self-harm. Within the study, it is argued that factors pertaining to both patients (age, gender and rate of admission) and care staff (role and clinical experience), will influence how an incidence of child self-harm is viewed. To answer the question, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Within the former, a questionnaire was developed that contained hypothetical case vignettes of child self-harm. Once constructed, the instrument was distributed to the care staff of four Accident and Emergency departments, each of which treated self-harming children. Examination of the completed questionnaires (n = 152), showed significant differences in both staff and patient variables, confirming that attitudes toward child self-harm should not be viewed as a single entity but rather as constituent parts of a whole phenomena, each worthy of examination in its own right. In order to explore these issues in more detail, a series of focus groups were undertaken amongst care staff. Use was made of a Foucauldian discourse analysis framework devised by Kendall and Wickham (1999). This revealed intrinsic differences in the way clinicians view self-harm in children and the constituent parts therein. Comparison of both experienced and inexperienced nurses and physicians produceda raft of reasonsw hy child self-harm elicited responsesp articular to each group, ranging from personal experiences to the use of medical jargon. In conclusion, this thesis has explored a particular aspect of the self-harm spectrum, touching on topics that appear to have been neglected by the literature. The dissemination of its results to a wider audience, it is hoped, will generate debate aroundt his sensitiveto pic andt husi ncreasea n understandinogf the needso f those clinicians who deal with such vulnerable patients.

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