The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between classroom environmental quality and early literacy outcomes amongst a sample of Latino children from various Latin-American countries. Participants included 116 preschoolers that attended various childcare centers in Southeast Florida. Participant’s literacy knowledge was assessed using the Test of Preschool Early Literacy. Classrooms were assessed on environmental quality using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. A regression analysis revealed that classroom environmental quality did not account for Latino children’s early literacy outcomes. However, a multiple regression analysis was significant (R2= .15, F(5, 115) = 3.86, p< .05) indicating that quality has a varying impact on children’s early literacy skills based on children’s region of origin. Findings suggest that high classroom environmental quality does not necessarily mean better literacy development for Latino children. Additionally, Latino children should not be viewed as a homogeneous group, particularly in relation to their development of literacy skills in English.

Studies on African fatherhood represent African fathers as problematic and in South Africa, they are identified as ‘‘emotionally disengaged, physically absent, abusive and do not pay for their children's upkeep'' (Morrell &amp; Ritcher, 2006:81). Many studies link the high rates of absent fathers to poverty and irresponsibility. Such literature is devoid of cultural factors that might be contributing to the high rates of absent fathers in most African communities. Across Southern Africa, intlawulo, a customary practice that involves the paying of a fine by a man responsible for impregnating a woman out of wedlock and his family to the pregnant woman's family. Historically, intlawulo served as a critical means of regulating and mediating unmarried fathers' involvement in their children's lives. Therefore, this explorative qualitative research project explores African fathers' experiences of intlawulo and its subsequent links to father involvement. To gauge their experiences and interpretation of intlawulo and father involvement, I conducted face-to-face in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 8 black Xhosa speaking South African fathers from Cape Town who have gone through the intlawulo negotiations for the past five years or less. This study aimed to explore how the customary practice of intlawulo or ‘paying damages' influences a father's involvement in his child's life in Khayelitsha, an urban township within Cape Town. It argued that the payment of intlawulo regulates a father's involvement in childrearing, his interaction with and access to his child. In contrast to how fathering has been described in previous literature, this thesis argues that becoming a father is a process and intlawulo is the entry point where it can be denied, stopped and negotiated.

This investigation is a response to the lack of research concerning the use of language in social service reports. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of language in childcare investigations. This is a qualitative study that looks at four Childcare investigation reports, recorded in the city of Malmö, with the purpose of examining the role of language in the investigation process. Furthermore, the study investigates what demands are placed on parents based on Bordieau´s notion of capital. This study also looks at how the language used in these reports can either be interpreted as accessible or inaccessible. According to the results, the language used in the investigations is characterized by difficult words and native concepts which places a certain requirement on the families involved to comprehend an academic language. Furthermore, the fact that the language in these reports is framed by an establishment separate from those affected by the investigation should be considered as a limitation to the families involved. It is of importance to consider how a Childcare investigation can often invoke emotional responses in those involved, as well as how the investigation process can mean personal exposure for the families in question. Consequently, for the social worker, this might entail a very complex work situation with tasks that can include high demands and difficulties fulfilling expectations. Another point to consider is that the investigator and the family are part of the investigation process under very different conditions, where one is there to assess whereas the other is the one being assessed. Therefore, it is of outmost importance to reflect on how their positions may vary based on their social class.

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Grandmothers are known to increase the health and well-being of their grandchildren in many different populations. However, grandmothers may vary in their contributions based on their relatedness to their grandchildren. In some populations, maternal grandmothers decrease the risk of mortality and increase the health of their grandchildren more than paternal grandmothers. Grandmaternal influence also sometimes varies based on the gender of the grandchild. The behavioral mechanisms of grandmaternal investment are not well understood and have not been explored in the heavily intergenerational context of Eastern Europe. This study examines the behavioral variation of sixty-two Ukrainian grandmothers through interviews and a semi-structured questionnaire. I test whether maternal and paternal grandmothers differ in face-to-face contact with their grandchildren and whether the gender of the grandchild influences the frequency of face-to-face contact. Additionally, I examine qualitative responses from grandmothers on various aspects of childcare to determine whether maternal and paternal grandmothers have different childcare strategies and experience grandmotherhood in different ways. I found that maternal grandmothers have significantly more face-to-face time with their grandchildren (173.8 days out of the year as compared to 87.5 for paternal grandmothers, p

Participants will be able to: Explain the concept and advantages of the Family- and- Child-Centered Care (FCCC) approach. Describe the components of the FCCC as applied to individuals with CLP and their families. Explain the EB strategies of FCCC be applied by the SLP and its positive effects.

Bakgrund: Under en längre tid har man sett sjunkande amningsfrekvens trots flera nationella satsningar för att skydda amningen. Idag vet vi mer om amningens påverkan på kvinnan och barn och därför är det av största vikt att utforska eventuella hinder samt befintliga styrkor som kan påverka amningen i positiv eller negativ riktning. BVCsjuksköterskan står för den senare del av vårdkedjan, där ett stort antal kvinnor väljer att avbryta initierad amning av en eller annan anledning, och har därmed en chans att påverka utfallet. Motiv: Trots allt sjunkande amningsfrekvens i Sverige återfanns få artiklar som berörde BVC sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av amningsstöd. Genom att undersöka BVCsjuksköterskans upplevelser av att ge amningsstöd på barnavårdscentralen görs det möjligt att lyfta fram hinder och styrkor i att ge amningsstöd till nyblivna föräldrar. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att belysa BVC sjuksköterskors erfarenheter kring amningsstöd på barnavårdscentralen. Metod: Individuella, semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. Resultaten analyseradesmed kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Sex distriktssköterskor yrkesverksamma på barnavårdscentraler i en mellanstor svensk stad ingick i studien.  Resultat: Studiens resultat visade att BVC sköterskornas erfarenheter kring amningsstödpå barnavårdscentralen varierar. Efter analys av intervjuer kunde tre olika kategorier identifieras: ”BVC sjuksköterskans utmaningar”, ” Det kan vara svårt att nå föräldrar med rätt information” samt ”Att stötta amning på föräldrarnas villkor”. Dessa kategorier kunde sammanföras i ett gemensamt tema ”Det är utmanande för BVC sjuksköterskan att ge amningsstöd”.  Konklusion: Att ge amningsstöd på BVC är utmanande. Det framkom vara betydelsefullt med riktlinjer för likvärdig amningsrådgivning samt behov av bättre amningsutbildning och kompetensutveckling. Tidspress framhävdes i samtliga intervjuer vilket påverkade möjlighet till att upptäcka och förebygga amningskomplikationer. Det framkom som viktigt att nå kvinnorna med rätt information för att kunna stötta realistiska förväntningar kring amning, kvinnornas självkänsla samt mående. Det belystes hur viktigt det är för BVC sjuksköterskan att arbeta med föräldrar mot samma mål och stötta deras val kring amning. Att synliggöra utmaningar BVC sjuksköterskor står inför, kan ge en riktlinje om vilka somförändringar behövs för att BVC sjuksköterskor ska få det stöd de behöver för att vända amningsfrekvensen uppåt. Studien kan även hjälpa den enskilda BVC sjuksköterskan att reflektera över sitt arbete med amning. Mer omfattande forskning krävs för att få en djupare förståelse kring BVC sjuksköterskors erfarenheter kring amningsrådgivning på barnavårdscentralen. / Background: For a long time, declining breastfeeding frequency has been contribute to several national initiatives to protect breastfeeding. Today we know more about the impact of breastfeeding on women and children. Therefore, it is of most importance to explore obstacles and strengths that can possibly affect breastfeeding in a positive or negative direction. The BVC-nurse is responsible for the later part of the care chain, where a large number of women interrupt initiated breastfeeding for one or another reason, and thus have a chance to influence the outcome. Motive: Despite the declining frequency of breastfeeding in Sweden, few publications were found concerning the BVC-nurse's experience of breastfeeding support. By examining the BVC-nurse's experiences of providing breastfeeding support at the childcare center, it is possible to highlight obstacles and strengths in providing breastfeeding support for new parents. Aim: The aim of the study is to high light the BVC-nurse's experiences regarding breastfeeding support at the childcare center. Methods: Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results wereanalyzed using qualitative content analysis. Six district nurses working at a childcare centers in a medium-sized Swedish city were included in the study. Result: The results of the study showed that the BVC nurses' experiences of breastfeeding at the childcare center varied. After analysis of interviews, three different categories were identified: "BVC nurse's challenges ", “It can be difficult to reach parents with the right information" and "Supporting breastfeeding on parental terms". These categories could be brought together in a common theme "It is challenging for the BVC nurse to provide breastfeeding support.” Conclusion: Providing breastfeeding support at BVC is challenging. It turned out to be important with guidelines for equivalent breastfeeding counseling and the need for better breastfeeding training and competence development. Time pressure was emphasized in all interviews, which affected the ability to detect and prevent breastfeeding complications. It emerged as important to reach the women with the right information to be able to support realistic expectations about breastfeeding, women's self efficacy and well-being. It was highlighted how important it is for the BVC nurse to work with parents towards the same goal and support their choices about breastfeeding. By highlighting the challenges BVC nurses face, can provide a guideline on what changes are needed for BVC nurses in order to receive the support they need to turn the frequency of breastfeeding upwards. The study can also help the individual BVC nurse to reflect on her work with breastfeeding. More extensive research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of BVC nurses' experiences of breastfeeding counseling at the childcare center.

Islamic Kafalah is a guardianship system that enables a child to be brought up within a family environment without inheritance rights and ‘assimilation’ as the legal child of the new parents. This study analyses Kafalah within the context of alternative care for children deprived of their environment. Compares Kafalah to other forms of alternative case and examines the extent to which Kafalah is recognized and practiced internationally. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof Julia Sloth-Nielsen, University of the Wstern Cape, South Africa. / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

In recent years, the traditional nuclear family, as defined by social role theory with mother at home and father in the workplace, is no longer the norm. Nearly three out of every four women with children under the age of 18 are part of the workforce. Mothers are frequently juggling multiple roles as well as most of the responsibilities that are inherent in these roles. The current project examined diurnal ambulatory blood pressure influences associated with the responsibility of having a greater number of roles. We investigate differences between a self-reported healthy population of 112 married stay-at-home and 112 married employed mothers, all of whom have children under the age of 18 currently living in the home. Using a mixed multilevel model analysis, we found that the perception of equity in the division of childcare responsibilities between mothers and their husbands significantly contributed to lower systolic ambulatory blood pressure. We also found that married couples in relationships containing high positivity and low negativity had lower systolic ambulatory blood pressure than those which contained simultaneously high positivity and negativity. Additionally, there was a crossover interaction between these variables such that effect of relationship quality on both systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressure was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of childcare responsibilities between spouses. Lastly, we found that there were no ambulatory blood pressure differences between the employed and SAH mother conditions. These findings have applicable implications regarding dynamics and processes within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important social and relational influences on mothers' cardiovascular health.

The spread of Covid-19 led to social restrictions of various kinds, of which closing schools was one. This paper studies the effect of school closures on parental labor supply. To this end, I use repeated cross-sectional data on households at the monthly level from the US Current Population Survey (CPS), and employ a difference-in-differences methodology where I compare the labor market outcomes for parents to school-aged children that require supervision with parents to slightly older children, before and after March 2020. The results show that there is a significant reduction in the labor supply of parents to younger children as a result of school closures, and that the effects are larger for mothers than for fathers.