The developmental assessment of children is very important so that adequate resources and intervention programmes can be initiated. Updating psychometric assessments is mandatory for different reasons, which include to update norms and to add new psychometric information. It is important for psychometric assessments that measure child development to ensure that they continue to accurately reflect stages of development in a modern context. The Association for Research in Infant and Child Development (ARICD) is currently in the process of revising the Griffiths Scales. One of the many unique changes includes the newly formed Foundations of Learning Subscale. This Subscale was constructed from definition, sub-constructs and items, which encompassed the critical sub-constructs from the previous Performance and Practical Reasoning Subscales, while providing greater depth to the overarching construct. This study therefore, forms part of a larger study of developing the Griffiths III and aims to compare the performance of three to six-year-old children on these three Subscales. The study employed a mixed method approach, which included 259 children matched on the Griffiths Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised and the Griffith III. The quantitative aspect of the research included descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests as well as pearson correlations. Differences and similarities were found from the results. The relationships varied from high correlation, strong relationships to low correlation, definite but small relationships. This was further explored through a qualitative analysis between the constructs assessed on each of the Subscales, as well as a qualitative analysis on the items of Subscale A, brought from Subscale E and F and the new items.

There have been many changes in the focus and direction of social casework since Mary Richmond published Social Diagnosis in 1917. Casework in her day emphasized the socio-economic aspects of the family's adaptation to society. With the advent of psychoanalytical concepts, the focus shifted from the family's social reality to the individual's subjective response to it, as one way of understanding the client's maladjustment to his life circumstances. In agencies and clinics, office interviews with individuals replaced home visits to the family. Consequently, the caseworker's knowledge of the day-to-day social functioning of the client and his family was often incomplete. Caseworkers and psychiatrists in Child Guidance Clinics learned that the child could not be helped with his emotional difficulties unless the parents were included in the treatment process, since the child's maladjustment so frequently stems from unhealthy relationships with his parents. While the focus was upon the child and his family, the emotional aspect of each parent's adaptation was emphasized. The interplay between family members' personalities and the problems for which they were seeking help was still too complex for full understanding. The search for helpful concepts is still in process. Current casework emphasis on the client's social functioning is attempting to integrate psychological and social concepts in casework theory. Role theory, combined with psychological concepts, holds the promise of providing a method by which the caseworker can diagnose and treat the problematic aspects of the individual's and family's adaptation. In order to understand the individual, it is necessary to know how he interacts with family members, they with him, and his group with society at large. This study is an exploratory assessment, from casework recording alone, of the extent to which psychosocial diagnosis and treatment has been adapted to casework practice for families with disturbed children in the Children's Clinic of the B.C. Mental Health Centre. Twenty cases of disturbed children were selected: between the ages of five and ten years living with their own parents; capable of attending public schools; and not suffering from physical handicaps. Most of the children had siblings. They were active cases in which treatment had proceeded a substantial distance. Two rating scales were: (a) the child's emotional and social adjustment and (b) parental and family relationships and strengths. These pointed up the areas of information obtained by the caseworker for the psychosocial diagnosis of the child's family, and also made it possible to compare the child's adaptation with that of his family's. The evidence is that the social functioning of the family as a unit is not apparent from the recording, that most emphasis is upon the mother-child relationship, and that the child's relationships with other family members are not sufficiently explored. The Casework contributions to the diagnostic study of the child's problems are largely in the area of the parents' (particularly the mother's) emotional adjustment, and the child's particular development. The original intention was to measure the child's and parents' social functioning between two points in the treatment process, but the recorded data was insufficient for this purpose. Only descriptive comparisons are possible, also a descriptive evaluation of the outcome of treatment in relation to the casework focus. The recording which described the greatest improvements in family relationships, and in the parents' and child's social functioning, was oriented, in the treatment phase, to the client in his family, even though this focus was not evident in the diagnostic study. Those cases which showed the least movement emphasized the emotional adjustment of individual members of the family. The main reference point in the former cases was the client's interaction with people and situations in his current life circumstances; in the latter cases, the worker's efforts were directed towards helping the client with his emotional conflicts, which stemmed from his early life experiences. This is an exploratory study of areas highly significant for family casework in the Children's Clinic. Although the conclusions require repeated research to verify their validity, they nevertheless suggest that a casework focus on the client in his family holds more promise of helping than a focus which emphasizes the client's emotional adjustment alone. Such an orientation contributes to the definition of the casework function, and distinguishes the caseworker's role from that of the psychiatrist. It has contributions to make also, in the task of integrating theory and practice in family casework. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The financing of child welfare services is not widely understood. It is commonly known that "the government" provides services in rural areas, but the division of costs between the provincial government and municipalities, and the organization to provide necessary services has not been the subject of definitive research. The financing of services which are provided by the children's aid societies is also not well understood, nor the legislative basis upon which services are provided. Child welfare services have two aims; to prevent the neglect of children and strengthen families so that they will remain together, and to provide good substitute care for children when they cannot remain in their own homes. These services are provided by a combination of provincial, municipal and private agency administration, in British Columbia. Child welfare services were begun in British Columbia by private agencies. As population and needs developed, legislation was passed, which provided that the care of wards who had been committed by court, would be provided for through public funds. While all child welfare services are provided for through public funds in most areas in the province, preventive casework services have continued to be provided by private, or voluntary funds in Victoria and Vancouver, through the children's aid societies. In recent years the societies have reviewed the present arrangement for providing services, including the need for additional public support for preventive services. At the same time questions were being raised about the continuing use of private funds, to support work which is being financed elsewhere in the province by public funds. The position of the private agencies is that a "mixed system" of providing services offers strength to the entire child welfare programme, and that private agencies with community support can continue to make a valuable contribution in maintaining standards of service. The present study first sketches in the background of the development of financial responsibility for children in ward care. The formula for reimbursement, known as the per capita per diem rate, is then analysed in budget terms (e.g. maintenance for children, clothing, health care, etc.) to show what has been provided for children in care of the Catholic Children's Aid Society, in a typical recent year (1957). The per capita per diem rate for maintaining children in care, is the average cost of maintaining and supervising a child in care for a year, and is a clear cut administrative device in that reimbursement for service is calculated on the actual number of days care provided for children. An important part of the analysis is the clarification of the distinction between (a) maintenance reimbursement, and (b) the cost of preventive service. Other methods, or formulae, are referred to in the study. The relevant statistics of Catholic Children's Aid Society operations (to which this thesis is specificall limited) are assembled for a period of years. Some of the questions of financial responsibility under present legislation for the various services provided are thereby clarified. The study shows that the provision of ward care for children under the supervision of children's aid societies has been soundly financed through the present per diem formula. The questions and issues which have been raised about the continuing support of services by the Community Chest are reviewed. The approach taken is that the provision of funds should not be the main criteria for deciding the best continuing method of providing preventive services in Vancouver. The conclusion is that additional public funds could be provided to the private agencies, and that a formula should be established to do so, if this is to be done. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Casework with neglectful parents has particular problems, influenced by the special responsibility and function of the protection agency. All casework is concerned with bringing the client's personality into adjustment with his environment; in the neglect situation the agency has the added responsibility of making the decision regarding a child's removal from his home. Superficially, these two responsibilities may seem incompatible: on one hand, the worker uses acceptance and understanding to treat the client; on the other hand he may have to use authority to render the necessary services. Workers have difficulty in fusing the two responsibilities into a meaningful casework process. Two cases were used in this study; one is an example of emotional rejection, the other an illustration of both emotional and physical neglect. The cases were presented to emphasise the worker's use of diagnostic information in giving casework help to the clients. The work done was compared with some concepts of social work that are usually considered essential for productive casework. The elements of social work philosophy and practice generally recognized as indispensible to effective casework were often absent in both cases. There was little practical use of the concepts that each individual has worth, potential and ability to change. Moreover, the use of relationship as a helping tool was hindered because of the misuse of authority; it was either over-used or under-used, and in either case was not helpful to the client. Vitally important to any casework progress, but seldom apparent in either case, was a sound treatment plan. Many of the casework difficulties were centred in the fact that the workers were not sure of their function, of the use of authority, and perhaps of their ability to help. It would appear that if the worker has a genuine belief in the basic principles of casework (which must be carried out in relationship with the client), a sound knowledge of human behaviour, and a belief in his own ability to help, many of the foregoing casework difficulties could be remedied. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

In families which are seen by social agencies the first child of a forced marriage would appear to be rejected to a greater degree than his siblings. This study attempts by examination of 10 cases to discover some reasons for the rejection of the first child, to estimate the kind and degree of rejection and its effect on the child, and finally to suggest some measures which may help the child develop more normally and prevent him being a rejecting parent in his turn. The cases used were taken from the files of the Child Guidance Clinic, the Juvenile Court and the Family Welfare Bureau. They did not all provide such complete information as would be desirable, but represent a cross-section of families coming to the agencies. In every case examined the forced marriage was unhappy and the first child rejected by one or both parents. The rejection was overt when the parent showed direct hostility to the child or covert when it took the form of over-protection or overindulgence to compensate for guilt feelings of the parent. The rejected first child was unable to develop a mature, well-integrated personality; he showed inability, to form satisfactory personal relationships within and without the home. Consequently he developed behavior problems, physical symptoms or habit disorders. The fathers and mothers were rejected by their own parents; their consequent immaturity and unmet needs resulted in the forced marriage and their inability to love and accept the child who was the cause of it. Therefore he, in his turn, was unable to develop normally and is likely to be an inadequate and rejecting parent himself. It should be the aim of social agencies to break the chain of rejection. Case-work treatment of the child may be accompanied by treatment of the parents, where possible, to assist them in meeting their needs and becoming mature persons who can accept and love their first child. Some forced marriage may be prevented by case-work help to the unmarried mother which may aid her in surrendering her baby for adoption. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The procedure known as the pre-clinical conference is used routinely as a diagnostic screen in certain child guidance clinics in the United States, with advantage to both clinic and client. This study surveyed in brief the extent of the use of the procedure in Canadian mental health clinics giving service to-children. In the Child Guidance Clinic at Vancouver, the procedure is used only infrequently. The study analyzed certain cases from the Vancouver Clinic - one group of cases in which the procedure was used, and another group in which it was not - to throw light on the purposes and results of the procedure. The background survey showed a wide variation in pre-clinical procedures in Canadian mental health clinics. A small minority used a conference of the full team, in all cases; a majority did not use the procedure at all; a small group used a partial team conference pre-clinically in selected cases. The purposes for which the pre-clinical conference was used were identified by each clinic, with results similar to those shown by the case analysis. Consideration of the use of this procedure is of concern to social, workers functioning as members of a clinical team, because of the growing emphasis placed by leaders in the field on the integration of professional skills and service. Conferencing is an important way in which this principle is implemented, and pre-clinical conferencing, an extension of the method, is a further possible means of translating this principle into practice. The first group of 12 cases in which pre-clinical conferencing was used, contained four sub-groups of three cases each, selected according to the reasons for the conferencing, and classified for convenience according to medical, psychiatric, psychological or multiple reasons respectively. The second group of cases, in which pre-clinical conferencing was indicated but not used, contained three representative cases. The case analysis identified the uses served by a pre-clinical conference (in the first group of cases), or the possible uses (in the second group). The uses included any or all of the following: (1) selection of cases-and intake; (2) referral to or from other agencies; (3) planning diagnostic study and exploration; (4) allocation of diagnostic responsibilities; and (5) delineation of a tentative treatment plan. The results identified by the analysis included facilitation of any or all of the following: (l) diagnostic process; (2) establishment of treatment goals and (5) economical use of staff time. While the routine use of pre-clinical conferencing for diagnostic screening is held to represent the ideal practice, it was seen to be unnecessary in some clinics, impracticable in others and inadvisable in others for specific reasons. In many clinics the need was met by use of the procedure in selected cases. This is the practice in the Vancouver Clinic, where it is employed at the discretion of the social worker. This places a serious responsibility on the professional skill of the social worker, necessitating alertness to indications for use of the procedure and awareness of the desirability of extending its use, where possible, in the interests of the wider application of the principle of integration. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The purpose of this-thesis is to explore the relationships between (a) the behaviour disorders of a selected group of children who have been referred to the Vancouver Child Guidance Clinic and (b) some of the influences affecting their parents. As an essay in classification and analysis, it is hoped to point the way to further research in the field which will give attention to social work implication. All material was gathered from case records made available by the Child Guidance Clinic. The sample is composed of forty-five boys and girls who were referred by private sources to the clinic between March 1948 and April 1951, and represents approximately one-sixth of all private referrals for that period. The sample was so chosen in respect to age, intelligence and home situation, as to be representatives of the majority of all children referred privately over that period. The children were classified according to the nature of their behaviour disorders, and an attempt was made to depict some measure of the severity and complexity of each child's disorder. The adequacy of the respective parents was evaluated by the use of a schedule and a rating-scale; and the influences affecting parents were categorized and weighted. Comparison was then made between the children's disorders and the limiting influences affecting their parents. The comparisons of the groups reveal many interesting features but the small size of the sample prevents any purely statistical conclusions. A number of features reveal themselves, however. In one sub-group of children, relationship was discernible between mothers who were considered inadequate and a certain kind and severity of behaviour disorders in the child. In another sub-group of children, there were indications of confused or disturbed parental identifications at an early age. Above all, the study emphasized the high incidence of emotional instability among the parents of these children, which points to the need in Vancouver for an adult or family mental health clinic. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Among the methods that have been developed to help parents in their important task of raising mentally healthy children, parent group education is of particular interest to social workers. This thesis examines the essentials of social workers' participation in parent education through the use of group methods. It is based on the writer's training in social work and experience in adult education, and on research into the programmes of a number of social agencies, child guidance centres, children's treatment centres and hospitals, school social services and recreation centres. A range of examples was chosen to show the ways in which social workers were key figures in the parent education projects. The development of parent education on this continent is briefly outlined. Major principles of parent group education are stated, and an analysis is made of the knowledge and skills necessary for professional leadership in this field. It is observed that parent education principles correspond closely to those of social work itself. A good deal of the knowledge and skill required of parent education leaders is actually acquired through social work training. Furthermore, parent group education and social work strive toward the common objective of higher standards of mental health. It would seem, therefore, that social work agencies and social workers should be able to make significant contributions to parent education both directly, through sponsoring such programmes in their own agencies, and indirectly, through co-operating with other similarly-interested organizations and individuals. The programmes selected for study support this assumption. They illustrate the variety of settings in which social workers are participating in parent group education programmes, and reveal similarities and differences in approach and methods. Specific questions relating to principles and methods are proposed as requiring further experimentation and study. The thesis emphasizes the need for coordination and co-operation amongst all professional and lay groups interested in parent education as a method of promoting mental health, and suggests directions for development. It is concluded that social workers can and should participate in parent education programmes, with certain stipulations: before mass programmes are undertaken, careful experimentation on small projects is essential to augment the present limited knowledge of theory and practice, as well as to provide a basis for training workers. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The subject of this study is the disturbed child, who has been emotionally and physically neglected. The area of concern is the agency's decision whether to continue service with the child removed from his own family, or with the child retained in his family. For the welfare of the child, it is essential that the caseworker, drawing on the growing body of knowledge regarding parent-child relationships and on her own individual skill, make the choice which will give the child the greatest opportunity for normal development. The seriousness of the child's disturbance, the parents' attitude and maturity, the quality of other feelings, must all be carefully weighed in this difficult decision. Several obstacles to an objective decision are present. These are the quality of the caseworker's skill, the inadequacies of the protection of children's act, and the existence of some administrative limitations. With these handicaps to casework already in mind, the actual reasons for the decision, as they became apparent from a comparison of ten removed children and ten retained children, were considered. A number of factors were found to be more often the determinants of the decision than the caseworker's careful assessment of the parent-child relationship. These were (a) the parents’ and the community's awareness of a problem, (b) the disturbing events produced by the child's behaviour, rather than the emotional deprivation, (c) the amount rather than the quality of parents' rejection, (d) the professed function of the agency (whether specializing in children's or family service) in which the child neglect case appeared. Accordingly, an overall implication of the study is the need to strengthen procedures which offset this tendency for agencies to let circumstances be the determinant and which will place more responsibility for the decision on the caseworker and her professional assessment. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study, undertaken at the Children's Aid Society of Vancouver, B. C., was an attempt to isolate and identify certain social and environmental factors which precipitate agency care of children. Such a study should be of value to any Child Welfare Agency concerned with strengthening the family and maintaining the child, whenever possible, in his own home. The rationale for the study was based on three major assumptions: 1. that service to families and children in need of protection has been hampered by lack of foster home resources. 2. That in providing substitute care for children Child Welfare agencies have emphasized the psychological dynamics of the family situation, attributing the need for agency care to the personal pathology of one or more members, and have paid insufficient attention to the possibility that social and environmental conditions may have contributed to the need for foster home placement. 3. That whenever feasible the child should remain in his own home. In fomaulating these assumptions we were influenced by the findings of other researchers. Alfred Kadushin in his article "Introduction of New Orientations in Child Welfare Research" (The Known and Unknown in Child Welfare Research, Miriam Morris & Barbara Walters eds., Child Welfare League of America, N. Y., 1965) pleads for greater understanding of the social situation of families, since it is his opinion that adverse environmental conditions play a significant role in the placement of children. Similarly Jenkins and Sauber (Paths to Child Placement, Community Council of Greater New York, N. Y. City Department of Welfare, 1966) emphasize the importance of social conditions, particularly income, housing and health on a family's ability to remain together and function effectively. From both these research findings it was apparent that the provision of community resources such as homemaker service and day care centres could reduce the number of children requiring placement away from their own home by supporting and supplementing the family during periods of situational stress. With this in mind our study was to be concerned with identifying the social and environmental factors which played a role in developing conditions requiring agency care of children. In addition we were also concerned with the process that went on prior to agency contact, specifically how families coped with their adverse situations before accepting or requesting agency intervention. Such information would serve as a basis for developing community resources to increase the family's ability to withstand pressure and stress. We hypothesized that the findings of other researchers as mentioned above were as valid in Vancouver as elsewhere and should therefore be of equal concern to Child Welfare Agencies here. Our original design was to develop a schedule to provide data for testing the significance of certain social and environmental factors that we had identified by consulting the literature and agency personnel. The variables to be tested were: 1. Household composition 2. Housing 3. Neighbourhood 4. Health 5. Income 6. Employment 7. Education In order to discover the problem solving activities of the families in relation to these variables, coping questions were inserted into the schedule. These questions were designed to elicit information about the client's perception of the problem, his initial response and its effect, and the people and/or organizations he involved in his coping attempts. A draft schedule was devised to be administered over a one month period during the intake process to all persons requesting or referred for service with the exception of transients. The schedule was to be. readministered six months later and a comparison made to determine the differences, if any, between the social and environmental situations of those families whose children were placed and those families who remained together. Unfortunately at this time the agency was unable to participate in such a project and the administration of the schedule was abandoned. We were not free to take on this task ourselves and it had been our intention from the beginning to introduce a research element into the agency as part of professional practice by the involvement of personnel in this effort. We still believe that the agency would find the schedule useful and have included it in Appendix I with the recommendation that it be considered for inclusion in any future project in this area. As an alternative, agency personnel suggested that we examine existing Intake data to see if the information we sought might not be already available in the files. Thirty-six files were examined and thirteen workers consulted. We found that information regarding the variables was either inconsistently recorded or absent entirely. Where information regarding the coping patterns of these families was recorded it tended to be limited to the source of referral without any further elaboration. Our findings indicated that a review of agency records was not adequate for research purposes since the variables sought were not systematically recorded during the intake process. Time ran out on us following an examination of the files and we were unable to consult again with staff or to discuss alternative ways of obtaining the information. We did, however, make a number of recommendations based on our experience which may serve as a guide for continuing research in this area: 1. That an exploratory study be conducted using an interview schedule which includes the variables suggested above. Our draft schedule is available in the body of this report. 2. That the schedule be administered through the Intake Department with a follow-up study several months later. The use of an independent researcher seems to be warranted since agency personnel are not available to take on this added task due to time pressures of their own. 3. That the intake face sheet be revised to include in formation pertaining to the social and environmental situations of clients as an aid in identifying recurring patterns of stress that may necessitate substitute care of children. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / [additional authors Joan Konon, Shirley Langstaff, Pam Manson, Donna Moroz, Miriam Schachner, Thomas Williams] / Graduate