Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / The changing landscape of parental responsibilities and rights, and the protection of children’s rights create an ever-changing phenomenon in social science. Limited research has been conducted regarding social workers in private practice, and in particular, regarding their professional and personal experiences in dealing with care and contact matters, pertaining to the South African Children’s Act 38 of 2005. This study aimed to provide insight and knowledge regarding the roles and experiences of social workers in private practice, particularly of those rendering services in the greater Gauteng area, in family law matters related to care and contact disputes.

This study investigates the effects of postmodern factors on the relationship between maternal distress and children's delinquency. It seeks to understand the factors associated with distress levels of mothers whose children exhibit delinquency in order to potentially decrease the cost associated with mental health problems especially in mothers. Another goal of this study is to contribute to the sociological analysis of mental health problems which seem to be the reserved domain of the discipline of psychology and related subfields. The data came from the third wave of the 3-city study with N = 1835. The ages of the children range from 5 to 18 years old. The analysis of the data using regression analysis suggests children's delinquency significantly affects maternal distress in mothers. The study also indicates postmodernity factors did not moderate the association between maternal distress and children's delinquency. However, postmodern factors have significant, separate, and direct effects on maternal distress. For example, employment and religion have positive influences on maternal distress. The research points toward weakness in the postmodern perspective. It also underlines the importance of a sociological approach to the assessment and treatment of distress problems among mothers with low-income. Agencies working with low-income families should integrate the sociological approach in their intervention programs. Additionally, the study uncovers possible problems with assessment criteria used by these agencies to determine eligibility for assistance among low-income families such as education levels; and consequently calls for further investigation.

The study employed a qualitative multiple case study approach to investigate second-grade students’ perceptions of their classrooms’ physical learning environment. Data were collected through interviews, participant-generated photographs, and observations. Participants in the study were 16 students in four classrooms in three school districts. A physical learning environment tool, Assessing the Pillars of the Physical Environment for Academic Learning (APPEAL), developed by Evanshen and Faulk and published in 2019, was used to select classrooms to participate in the study. According to the scale, the top-scoring classrooms were more learner-centered (more constructivist) than the lowest-scoring (more traditional) classrooms. Generally, participants believed that classroom physical learning environments that were best for them were meaningful, offered easy access to resources and materials, and provided active learning and social engagement opportunities. Both physical and emotional comfort were important to participants. There were more similarities than differences between the participants’ perceptions in the classrooms that scored highest on the APPEAL and the classes that scored lowest. The findings suggested that young children’s perceptions of the environment can be influenced by their experiences or contexts and their differences. The results encourage teachers of young children to think about their students as actively affected by their environment and challenge them to design classroom physical learning environments that support the diverse needs of students within these spaces.

Thesis advisor: Susan Roberts / The young adult fiction classification features a number of novels that center on the experience of chronic illness in children. This thesis examines the subgenre known as “sick-lit” and its use of illness and gender as themes. Through this study, a repetitive narrative of a beautiful teenage girl falling ill becomes clear. When examined in context, this trope can be traced through several of the most popular “sick-lit” publications. This project is comprised of four chapters, each of which focuses on a specific work, series, or author: Little Women, The Baby-Sitters Club, Lurlene McDaniel, and The Fault in Our Stars. Fleet argues that the representation of these characters is a complex narrative that does not align with the lived experience of chronically ill girlhood while still containing a degree of truth. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: English.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Parental involvement in their children’s schooling has been found to be an important factor with regard to children’s experience of schooling including their academic performance. This quantitative study focused on parental involvement at a school of skills in the Cape metropole, Western Cape. Epstein’s (2009) six typologies of parental involvement in their children’s schooling provided the theoretical framework of the study and guided the formulation of the research instrument and the data analysis of the study. A survey research design was used and 74 parent/caregiver participants were conveniently sampled after all ethical protocols were followed. The findings indicated that participants: (i) indicated a very positive attitude towards being involved in the education of their children at the school of skills and were inspired to be involved in the education of their children, (ii) were highly involved in the following typologies of parental involvement: learning at home, parenting and collaboration with community, (iii) communication between school and the parents as a form of parental involvement was found to be at a moderate level, (iv) participants were found to be minimally involved in decision-making as a form of parental involvement, (v) volunteering as a form of parental involvement was represented by low to moderate levels of involvement, (vi) participants’ marital status, forms of kinship relations with the learners at the school of skills (e.g. biological mother, foster parent) and levels of formal education were not found to have a significant statistical relationship with their levels of parental involvement in their children’s schooling. (vii) The challenges that participants faced with regard to their involvement in their children’s schooling included the following: a) a fair number of about 30% participants frequently found language as a barrier for them to assist their children with homework, b) about 46% of the participants indicated that they were seldom or never recruited by educators to volunteer at the School of Skills, c) about half of the participants indicated that their challenge was that they were not trained on how to offer their talents for volunteering at the school, d) participants also found it difficult to share information with the school about their child’s cultural background, talents, and needs.

Magister Legum - LLM / Euthanasia is controversial topic that attracts conversations on grounds of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The opinions of legal scholars are inconsistent because while some view euthanasia as a gross violation of one’s human rights, others argue that it should be regarded as a fundamental human right. Extending the ‘right to die’ to children is more controversial because they are considered to be a vulnerable demographic and generally presumed to be legally incompetent to exercise their rights autonomously. The State aims to protect children by restricting their rights rather than enhancing their autonomy and including them in the discussion. To that end, children are often excluded from decision-making on the understanding that they are legally incompetent and cannot comprehend the consequences of their decisions.

This thesis aims to examine the role of children as agents of change in an urgent climate context. This thesis uses a normative method with an argumentative structure. The material is mainly based on secondary sources, with predominantly emphasis on the interests, concerns and rights of the child, their agency and intergenerational justice. This thesis argues for a shift in the perception of the child from helpless victims of climate change to active agents. With the use of intergenerational justice theory and children’s agency into the discourse of childhood studies and environmental studies, this thesis suggests that a updated perception on the role of children in the climate change context is needed to account for children’s right to participation and for the survival of the environment and the future of mankind. The thesis concludes that this issue is a matter of rights, future life, and justice.

In the past decades, the Swedish society has gone through multiple changes as a result ofglobalization and migration. Sweden went from being a homogenous country to a nationcharacterized by ethnic diversity. This had led to many debates on how to correctly representdifferent ethnicities in literature and media. The current example study aims to analyze andcompile how ethnicity is being represented in three children's picturebooks. With scientificstudies and ongoing debates, we gain an understanding of how ethnicity has been representedin literature over time.Our findings show that noncaucasian characters lack fair representation in our chosenchildren's picturebooks. The picturebooks are: Rally och Lyra och Limpa written by MarieNorin, Pippi långstrump på kurrekurreduttön written by Astrid Lindgren and Varför bråkarsyrran? Written by Kristin Murray Brodin . These characters mostly have a minor role in thecentral theme of the story and are poorly and stereotypically portrayed. Rare protagonistportrayal of non- caucasian characters is mostly the intent of publishing houses that aim at aholistic, inclusive approach. Therefore, it is very vital that educators analyze children'spicturebooks before using them in their classrooms, so that every child regardless of ethnicitycan be seen and represented in a manner which leads to growth of their inner selves.

Sociologists of childhood have stressed the importance of children’s experience in the present and children as agents who actively construct their own lives and influence relationships with family and friends. Current thinking in the field of child well-being emphasises the need to consult children as experts in their own lives. Findings from research with children have led to important insights about what contributes to well-being. Relationships with family and friends have been found to be central to well-being whilst bullying by peers deeply impacts on their well-being. Shared activities appear to be the context for children to not only master competences but also learn about and negotiate relationships. The Growing Up in Ireland interviews with 9 year old children were re-analysed with a view to exploring these crucial domains and how they impact on the children’s well-being. The children were found to have a wide circle of family connections and were particularly close to their mothers although also close to their fathers. Grandparents played a significant role in their lives and their relationships with siblings were often positive but did fluctuate. Reasons for closeness centred around trust. Lack of availability due to work was a key contributor to children feeling less close to a family member. The children were involved in a wide range of structured activities after school and at the weekend, This was usually balanced with free time although some ‘hurried’ children had frenetic lifestyles. Involvement in unstructured activities such as free play was particularly associated with time with friends and choice. Friendship was characterised by sharing and trust. On the other hand, bullying by peers had been experienced by many of the children and almost all were conscious of the danger of becoming bullied. The wider issues of work-family balance and its impact on children, the predominance of bullying and children’s right to be heard are reflected upon.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to determine whether the Newbery Medal Books under consideration meet the commonly accepted requirements of children's literature; and second, if they do not, to determine wherein they differ from acceptable criteria.