The main aim of this research was to identify a family support programme which could be used as a primary prevention strategy against child abuse as a first positive step within the family, the basic unit of society, towards reducing community violence. The central focus of this intervention was that it should be appropriate for use in a multi-ethnic South African context and implementable by community health nurses or related lay health personnel with minimal training. No such programme was identified. The researcher attempted to integrate the most appropriate and scientifically substantiated features of existing programmes and develop a unique South African programme. This programme was developed and tested in a participatory manner with multiethnic communities. Community health nurse facilitators were trained and evaluated and the developed programme was then implemented by these facilitators in several sites. The influences of the developed programme were extensively evaluated. Changes in attitudes, feelings and behaviour of the child, the mother, the maternal-child interaction and the family system were explored. A quasi-experimental design with pre and post testing of the experimental group and two control groups (control 1 received social support and control 2 receiving routine clinic nursing only) was utilized. Completed analysis has yielded some exciting and provocative results. There are clear differences in each of the groups attitudes to their children. On the Mother-Child Relationship Evaluation (MCRE) positive gains in maternal-child relationship were established for the experimental group and this was greater than that of both controls (t-test = 4.151 @ alpha = 0.0013; H=4.0734 @ alpha = 0.04 and F=7.031 @ alpha = 0.0004). On the Family Assessment Device (FAD) some limited changes were observed in the experimental group over the controls (F= 3 .33 @ alpha = 0.05). This is a positive outcome indicating that the family support programme evidenced significant changes in the participants relationships with their children and in their families and wider social life. Mothers and facilitators qualitative feedback reported positive interaction with young and older children and changed maternal and child attitude and behaviour. Despite the critical shortage of staff in community health settings facilitators continue to implement the programme voluntarily in their service settings. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

This study employs interviews to measure the perceptions of sixteen teachers, nine school principals, and seven School Resource Officers on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, offered to grade six students in one small (population approximately 70,000) city in western Canada. Perceptions in three areas are examined: curricular content, program delivery, and efficacy. Subjects overwhelming viewed the curricular content favourably. Similarly, there was strong agreement that the program was well delivered. The efficacy of the program was judged less positively; however, this did not mitigate the subjects' strong desire to continue implementation of the program. These results are consistent with the research literature on DARE which documents the popularity of the program, but acknowledges that it appears to have limited effects upon reducing student drug use. The results of this study are used to examine five options for delivering an in-school program for preventing or reducing drug abuse and violence among students. The options explored range from retaining the DARE program in its current form, to eliminating it, reforming it, implementing an alternative program, or designing an entirely new drug and violence prevention program. The conclusion drawn is that the DARE program should be withdrawn and replaced with an entirely new drug and violence prevention program and curriculum specific to community realities and needs. / vii, 109 leaves ; 28 cm.

No description available.

The research examined the relationship between knowledge of faith-based church leaders regarding the facts of child sexual abuse and the practice of child sexual abuse prevention steps utilized within the church. It examined the historical, theological, biblical, and ethical concerns about child sexual abuse and the church. The biblical accounts of David and Bathsheba along with the story of Tamar and Amnon were reflected upon within the historical and biblical context of sexual abuse. The theological understanding of sin and its results was analyzed in the context of child sexual abuse. A chronological exploration of the history of child abuse in the United States along with statistics for the represented years was included in the study. Exploration of the abuse of power, the multileveled aspects of denial, the victim, the perpetrator, prevention steps available to the church and parental partnership were included. The common prevention steps discussed were: a written policy and procedure manual, screening form, interview, reference checks by phone or written, criminal background checks (fingerprinting), keeping doors open, windows in the classrooms, hall monitor system, a 2-adult rule, computer on-line check for sexual offenders, waiting six months from membership, prevention training at the local church, prevention training at denominational level, adequate church insurance, and a team of members ready to deal with any accusations that may occur. There was a description of the research process. The study was descriptive quantitative research by use of a research instrument (developed from the precedent literature and validated by an expert panel) that examined the relationship between knowledge and practice of faith-based church leaders regarding child sexual abuse and prevention. The research instrument consisted of five sections: Demographics, Likert Response Scale, Prevention Steps Checklist, Hindrances, and Comments. The Likert Response Scale included questions on knowledge of child sexual abuse facts, knowledge of prevention steps, higher education, and the issue of denial among church leaders. There were 213 seminary students who were church leaders that participated in the research study. Displays of the data, analysis of the data, and interpretation of the data were included along with a description of the research implications and applications, along with possible further research. Pearson r correlation was conducted to determine if there was a relationship found between knowledge and practice of church leaders. Recommendations were made to the church on the subject of child sexual abuse prevention. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

School administrators are required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse. They create serious legal and moral consequences for their school districts when they fail to report suspicions of child abuse occurring in the school setting. Studies consistently find that child sexual abuse is under-reported and that allegations of sexual abuse by school personnel are increasing. School administrators may not be responding effectively to the abuse that does occur in schools because they have not been trained to recognize indicators of abuse nor to effectively investigate allegations of abuse. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether specially designed training would significantly improve school administrators' performance on child sexual abuse case simulations. Subjects were from a convenience sample of 40 practicing administrators from five school districts in Yamhill County, Oregon. A one-group pretest-intervention-post-test (A-B-A) design was used, and data were collected using three instruments: (1) an administrator questionnaire developed through a Delphi Process, (2) a pre-evaluation case simulation, and (3) a post-evaluation case simulation. The t test of alpha was used to examine the correlated means and determine the significance in changes in performance between the pre- and post-test results. A standard level of significance (p<.05) was employed throughout the study. This study confirms that the administrators in this sample were lacking in knowledge in the six areas addressed by the training modules and that the gains they made were significant in each of the six training areas and on the overall post-test. No significant differences were found among the subjects on the basis of gender, age, experience level, and longevity in their current positions. This study concludes that school administrators may lack sufficient knowledge about child sexual abuse to adequately protect children in their schools. It also suggests that specially designed training sessions will increase reporting and reduce the number of child sexual abuse cases occurring in public schools. Districts may better fulfill their moral and legal obligations to protect children and reduce their legal costs and exposure to liability by providing specialized training in child sexual abuse for administrators. / Graduation date: 1997

Not available / text

Substance use among adolescents in South Africa is a growing concern. While a growing body of research is outlining the ability of parents to influence and moderate the uptake of risk behaviours, limited literature is available in South Africa on the links between parenting practices and substance use. The present study explored adolescents’ perceptions of parenting practices with respect to their substance use behaviours. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with grade 8 and 9 school-going learners from four purposively selected public high schools in the eThekwini region of KwaZulu-Natal. The discussions were informed by constructions of the Integrated Model of Change (I-Change Model) and appropriate literature. Data was analysed thematically. This study provides further evidence that parenting behaviours can influence adolescent behaviour. The findings suggest that specific parenting practices pertaining to parent-child communication, parental support, warmth, and monitoring can have an influence on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use. Negative parenting may lead to disruptive behaviour, vulnerability to peer pressure and subsequent substance use. It is recommended that early intervention and prevention programs for substance use include aspects of parenting practices that influence adolescent substance use. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Clients involved with child protection systems due to issues of neglect are known to have multiple needs. The issues that they confront are personal, situational, and social in nature. The emphasis on risk reduction in many jurisdictions within North America has meant that needs have been given less priority. The aim of the exploratory study was to gain a better understanding of both the nature of needs and risks in cases of child neglect in Ontario, as well as the similarities and differences in the views of clients and child protection workers. It is posited that through the acquisition of knowledge in those areas, that improvements can be made in assessing and planning, in creating agreed upon expectations about the objectives of intervention, and in developing a better balance between the addressing of needs and risks. / For the study, an instrument was designed to measure client perceptions of their problems and needs. It was compared with workers' perceptions of risk as contained in the risk assessment instrument completed by all child protection workers in Ontario. The Client Perception of Problems and Needs Scale was administered to 77 parents receiving services from Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County due to concerns about child neglect. / The finding that participants felt their needs were greatest in dealing with issues of stress, child behaviour and mental health issues, and in coping with socio-economic disadvantage was congruent with the few studies that have been conducted on the perceptions of child protection clients about their needs and problems. The analysis of the risk assessment data provided evidence that reliance on risk reduction at the expense of needs-based approaches, is not warranted. Few similarities were found in the perceptions of clients and workers about the issues of greatest concern. However, it was surprising that few concerns emerged about the clients' living conditions, or the affective interaction between clients and their children. Finally, the study demonstrated that the participants were able to recognize their problems, used various coping strategies for dealing with them, and were able to articulate strengths and resources on which they relied.

This study addressed the efficacy of a multimodal substance abuse prevention program with elite-level athletes. By utilizing components of substance abuse information and education, coping skills training, and self-esteem strategies, the study examined the effect of these variables on the subsequent alcohol and drug use behaviors and attitudes of the participants.In addition, measures of self-esteem and stress were examined to determine the effect of prevention on these variables. Gender differences were examined regarding substance use behaviors and attitudes, and change score measures were utilized to observe for behavioral changes from pretest to follow-up testing.Results indicated no differences on any of the dependent measures. Utilizing a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), no significant differences in substance use behaviors and attitudes between athletes in the treatment and control conditions were found. There were also no gender differences reported on the dependent measures. In addition, chisquare (X2) analyses demonstrated no behavioral or attitudinal differences. A significant finding indicated that control group subjects had more substance abuse changes (both positive and negative) than the treatment condition. The hypotheses of the study were unconfirmed as a result of the statistical analyses.Limitations of the present study include the small sample size (although representative of the population), the small amount of actual reported use behaviors, and the length of the program (not sufficient time). It is recommended that future research in this area maintain the multimodal approach, while lengthening the time of implementation. Future dependent measures must be able to accurately detect small fluctuations in reported substance abuse behavioral changes.The survey data suggest that athletes at the elite level do demonstrate alcohol and drug use behaviors that may be detrimental to their personal and professional potential. Substance abuse education programs are necessary components of holistic prevention for athletes at all levels of training and competition. Future programs must consider the present study in the development of more successful and practical substance abuse education for athletes. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study examined the relationship between attachment and adolescent sex abusers through a literature review. Due to the dearth of literature on this subject, separate literature reviews were conducted on attachment theory and on predisposing factors to adolescent sex abusing. The results indicated that a causal relationship between attachment and the development of adolescent sex abusers is unlikely; however, insecure attachment styles were found to be one of many factors related to adolescent sex abusing. Theories related to emotional stress, the developmental stage of adolescence, intergenerational transmission and sibling incest were generated within the theoretical context of attachment. A typology was constructed that suggests how different attachment styles may be associated with various types of adolescent sex abusers. Implications for primary prevention, treatment interventions and research were discussed.