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This research thesis is a small exploration of attachment theory in child welfare practice. The researcher investigated the extent of knowledge that child protection workers had of attachment theory and the extent to which they integrated attachment theory into child welfare practice. A purposive non-probability sample was used to recruit General Authority child welfare workers in Manitoba. Five workers participated in the exploratory qualitative descriptive research study. Participants responded to a demographic survey investigating their education, training, years of service and the participants provided a brief description of attachment theory. Participants also reviewed vignettes and responded to semi-structured interview scripts eliciting practice information related to the vignettes. The data elicited was analyzed using content analysis. The degree of exposure to attachment theory, opportunities to engage in theory informed practice, and external and internal agency pressures were observed to influence theory integration into child welfare practice. Participants acknowledged the attachment theory concepts of transmission of parenting behaviours and attachment strategies through relationships. Participants considered the therapeutic capacity of relational and attachment focused interventions to bring about change to maladaptive parenting behaviours.

An analysis of the various forms of child labour since the industrial revolution illustrqtes that the primary focus was on working children and regulating their admission to employment and conditions of work, as demonstrated by the eventual adoption of the International Labour Organisation's Convention No. 138 concerning the Minimum age for Admission to Employment in 1973. Although the 20th century also ushered in the International censure for human rights violations in the form of supra-national binding conventions on slavery, forced labour and trafficking, these efforts had no specific focus on children and there was no internationally binding legal instrument that recognised the economic exploitation of children extended far beyond mere working conditions and employment issues to commercial sex exploitation, debt bondage and slavery. This thesis sought to evaluate the theoretical and practical soundness of Convention 182 generally in relation to South Africa more specifically. / Doctor Legum - LLD

Older motherhood (after 30 years) is increasingly common, yet relatively little is known about the relation between mother age and child development. Mother age has been linked to offspring cognitive and motor development, but those studies measured mother age with crude categorizations (e.g., older vs. younger) and varied their focus from one developmental period to another (e.g., infancy vs. early childhood). The present study used a more sensitive measure of mother age and examined both motor and language development in the same children at the same age. Mother age was considered within an ecological systems framework as a predictor of variability in offspring walking and talking. Survival analysis was used to examine a large archival dataset in Study One to create an initial snapshot of mother age effects. Study Two used online methodologies to clarify mother age effects by examining early motor (walking) and language (gestures) development in a heterogeneous sample. Older motherhood was associated with delayed walking and talking during infancy (0 to 18 months), but advanced receptive vocabulary in childhood (4 and 5 years). Such results confirm the general idea that variation in mother age has implications for offspring development, but the pattern and direction of influence appears to vary by content domain and by age. The use of a one-size-fits-all norm for typical development and for assessing developmental delay is ill-advised because children of younger and older mothers may differ in systematic ways.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this thesis is to show the development of certain personality traits, such as cooperativeness, kindness, reliability, making wise choices, and worthwhile use of leisure time, in fourth grade elementary pupils. These traits will be developed within the classroom, under control of the teacher, by means of conferences, activities, the use and study of subject matter, particularly reading, and play at recess periods. The research made by the writer will be from close observations, anecdotal records, sociograms, rating scales, interest inventories, personality tests, a general intelligence test, and achievement tests.Personality traits begin to be quite clearly evident by the time boys and girls enter the fourth grade in the elementary school. Many habits have been formed by their experiences in previous classrooms, on the playground, in their small social groups, and in their homes. These are caused by their work and play associations in the classrooms with former teachers and pupils, by home training, and out-of-school activities.Most children eight or nine years of age enjoy going to school, they like to play with each other, and look forward to being more grownup by having been promoted to the fourth grade. They feel they are no longer babies, because with the added fourth-grade subject matter, such as Social Studies or Geography and History, Science, and Health, they are getting to be "big" boys and girls.

The purpose of the study was to determine if differences exist in scores on reading achievement subtests and ratings on social development subscales for children exposed to four reported patterns of child care practice.The sample consisted of 143 children that experienced different patterns of child care practices between ages of three to five and who were presently enrolled in grade two in four elementary schools in Muncie, Indiana.Three assessment instruments including a parent questionnaire, subtests from the, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and social development subscales adapted from Preschool Attainment Record (PAR) were employed in this study.A two way (2x4) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted for testing the equality of vectors for the mean scores on reading achievement subtests and mean ratings on social development subscales. The two independent factors considered were patterns of child care practice and sex of the child. For purposes of the analysis, a testing sequence of effects was conducted since unequal cell sizes obtained produced a nonorthogonal design. The interaction effect between the two factors was obtained following the tests of the two main effects within the sequence. Preliminary to testing the hypotheses it was necessary to first test for a significant interaction between the factors of patterns of child care practice and sex. Although no hypothesis was specified for sex factor, this factor was used to eliminate any possible unexplained variance from the within variability.No significant differences were found between vectors of mean scores on the basis of patterns of child care practice. Consequently, the first null hypothesis that there is no difference among vectors of mean scores on reading achievement subtests could not be rejected. The second null hypothesis that there is no difference among the vectors of mean ratings on social development subscales, too, could not be rejected. There seems to be little influence exerted by pattern of child care practice on reading achievement and social development of children in this sample.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of preschoolers' perceptions of parental attributes to the behaviors exhibited in nursery school. The study was designed to test the following hypotheses:I. Preschool children who perceive their parents as controlling and accepting exhibit positive socializing and independent behaviors in nursery school.II. Preschool children who perceive their parents as punitive and/or overindulgent exhibit negative socializing and dependent behaviors in nursery school.A pilot study, using a semi-structured doll play instrument constructed by the researcher, was conducted to determine significant scenes which would evoke necessary information for the categories of the research study. Twelve scenes were selected on the basis of highest scoring averages as the most reliable scenes. Instructions to the child and order of the scenes to coincide with normal home activity were established.Forty-two preschool children, ages four and five, were administered The Doll Play Technique to determine their perceptions of parental attributes. The attributes measured were categorized as 1) control, 2) acceptance, 3) punitiveness, and 4) overindulgence. The subjects were thirty-two males and ten females of normal intelligence. They were Caucasian, from nuclear type family structure, and represented lower middle class socio-economic status.The subjects were tested and observed in two east central Indiana nursery schools during the Fall of 1969. Twelve three-minute behavioral observations on each subject were gathered and coded into the following basic categories: a) positive socializing, b) independent behavior, c) negative behavior, and d) dependent behavior.The Pearson product-moment correlation statistic was used to test the hypotheses. The level of significance was determined by use of the t test. Inter correlations of the variables were determined along with multiple regression correlations indicating greater variable significance.Findings on the hypotheses indicated a significant relationship between preschoolers' perceptions of their parents as controlling and accepting and their exhibition of positive socializing and independent behaviors in nursery school. There was a probable relationship between preschoolers' perceptions of their parents as punitive and/or overindulgent and their exhibition of negative socializing and dependent behaviors in nursery school. Other findings indicated that: control and acceptance, which were posited as positively related, had an inverse relationshipcontrol and overindulgence, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshipacceptance and punitiveness, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshipoverindulgence and independent behavior, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshipacceptance and independent behavior, which were posited as positively related, had a positive relationshipacceptance and dependent behavior, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshippunitiveness and negative socializing, which were posited as positively related, had a positive relationshippositive socializing and dependent behavior, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshipindependent behavior and dependent behavior, which were posited diversely, had an inverse relationshipnegative socializing and dependent behavior, which were posited as positively related, had a positive relationship.Greater predictability of the dependent variables in the hypotheses occurred when the independent variables were considered in combination rather than separately.Beyond support for the hypotheses, the study indicated that preschool children's perceptions of parental attributes appear to be antecedent to socializing and independent behaviors in nursery school. The Doll Play Technique gave indication of effectively obtaining preschoolers' perceptions of parental attributes in the rearing process.

"Children's campus” as paradigm in community of faith. The purpose of this research is to examine the possibility of a structure (outside of the current, secularised school system) where the child, in context of his family, can experience socialising in relation to his or her faith so as to experience Christian values and norms, as well as gaining knowledge of God and being allowed to live according to this knowledge. The current situation of South African children belonging to Reformed churches has been explored, in context of their participation in their community of faith. Specific problems these children have to cope with in their society were looked at. It is obvious that a lot of factors influence spiritual growth in children, and that the church is not capable of handling these factors effectively at the moment. This study shows that the way of life prescribed by the Benedictine Rule is compatible with both the Word of God and Reformed Theology, and can as such fulfil a need in the spiritual life of modern people. This study shows ways in which the problems currently being experienced by children can be handled using the Rule of Benedict in a children's campus functioning under the supervision of the community of faith. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.