Thesis (Dip.App.Psych.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1978. / Computer printout in end pocket.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Psychology, June 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This study explored children’s experiences and perceptions of adults and child-adult relations and relationships. Child-adult relations involve the conceptualisation of adults and children as distinct social groups and child-adult relationships are inter-personal relationships between individuals that cross the boundary between these groups. The focus of this study was children’s contacts and relationships with adults and how these relationships informed children’s constructions of child-adult relations. The study took place in the context of concern about distance between child and adult worlds generating negative stereotypes and distrust between the two social groups and an interest in children’s perspectives. A multi-stage, multi-method study was undertaken with children aged 10/11 years living in the relatively deprived, ‘Social Inclusion Partnership’ (SIP), areas of a Scottish city. A period of familiarisation, through participant observation, was undertaken with Year 6 children in one school, followed by paired and individual interviews with 17 children. A survey was then conducted with 375 children in primary schools across the SIP areas. In general it seemed that ‘relationships’ with individual adults, other than with parents, were not particularly important to the children, who, with a few exceptions, did not seek out such adults and generally indicated a preference for spending time with other children. However, knowing and being able to identify adults within and beyond their families was very important to children’s sense of self and to their feelings of belonging to a family and within a neighbourhood. The children did experience their worlds and those of adults as separate. Mobility beyond their neighbourhood without adult accompaniment, to visit swimming pools, cinemas, and retail facilities, provided children with opportunities to observe and experience a range of ‘unknown’ adults, and particularly ‘public workers’. This experientially confirmed their conceptualisations of adults as a separate social group occupying a higher status than children. The research process in itself indicated that in some circumstances children did have an interest in interacting with adults, and that time, negotiation, testing and trusting were part of the relationship forming process. The child-adult relationships formed in this study through engagement in ‘joint enterprises’, of play and research project, provide evidence for the possibilities of positive ‘generational proximity’ between children and adults.

Various levels of research over the past three decades have concluded that children are harmed by constant changes to where they reside when they are removed from the care of their parents. Regardless of that, minimal research has been conducted to investigate this problem from the perspective of the social worker. This study explores the problem of placement instability among adolescent populations from the perspective of foster family agency social workers in Riverside County, California. Interviews with foster family agency social workers were conducted using a digital voice-recording device. The audio files were transcribed to text and thematically analyzed for relevant commonalities among participants. The data provided more detailed information regarding what the social workers believed to be the factors involved in placement instability. Four main categories were observed and explored in detail; trauma, inter-agency communication, mental health access and foster parent education were consistent themes of the data set. This research provides the groundwork for further research from people who work in a central role that is pivotal to lessening the instances of placement instability.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-138).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Given that working is something parents cannot avoid in our society, understanding the ramifications that work stress can have is an important tool in today's society. This study sought to investigate the impact of parents' work stress on young children in the context of work-family spillover, parenting stress, marital stress, and perceptions of parenting. As part of this study, 106 working parents of children who ranged in age from 1- to 5-years rated their stress levels across multiple domains (i.e., work, marriage, and parenting), their perceived parenting behaviors, and their young child's emotional and behavioral functioning. Correlational results of this study supported the hypothesis that these variables would be related significantly to young children's emotional and behavioral functioning. Further, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that a single variable did not predict significantly young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors but that a combination of work stress, work-family spillover, parenting stress, marital stress, and perceptions of parenting were important in accounting for variance. The results of this study emphasized the importance of studying the selected variables collectively so that employers can evaluate current workplace policies and resources to help minimize work stress and work-family spillover.

Although there is little official data, early girls’ marriage before the age of 18 appears to have increased in Tajikistan over recent years, due to the limited socio-economic opportunities. This study aimed to explore the main causes behind the fall in the age of marriage for girls. As Tajikistan is based on patriarchal values, where family is the core of decision-making, the study looks into the family dynamics and interrelationships to analyse the driving forces behind the decision to arrange marriage for the girls at an earlier age. Using triangulated methods of qualitative data collection, such as interviews, focus group discussions and case studies, the study was conducted in urban, semi rural/semi urban and rural areas of Tajikistan. The findings confirm that early marriage exists in Tajikistan. Although marriage has always been important for Tajiks, recently early age of marriage has been more prioritized. The young girls today leave school when they reach puberty, limit their socialization with their friends outside of the house and rigorously learn skills that qualify them as a ‘desirable’ kelin [bride] to increase their chances of getting a marriage proposal within what is a short marriage window. At the same time, the study argues that the family decision to pursue an early age of marriage for daughters is not because of the low status of the women as it has been suggested in some earlier research. Instead, the study argues that marriage is a strategy to provide girls with what is often the only opportunity of an economically and socially secure future in the country under the current socio-economic and political context. Relations within the families are more complicated than dominant-subordinate as previously portrayed but are based on respect, love and responsibility towards each other. This ‘connectivity’ assists in shaping the girls as potent Tajik women ready for their future roles of mothers and wives. The young girls, as this study suggests, are usually not completely powerless either, as they exercise the limited agency provided by the patriarchal system and actively engage in negotiating their interests. Thus, the study aimed to (1) draw attention to the issue of early marriage among girls in Tajikistan and (2) to contribute to the scholarly discussion on early marriage and on gender and family dynamics in Tajikistan. Based on the findings, it is recommended that more research needs to be conducted to discuss the phenomenon of early girls’ marriage in Tajikistan. Further, legal, political and social changes are necessary to provide a safety net for women married at an early age but divorced or abandoned later. Although bringing changes to the marriage values might be a challenging task, it is hoped that this research and others similar to this one will demonstrate the importance of the issue and will result in appropriate attention and an effective policy response.