No description available.

This research attempted to examine the reasons why children and youths disclose their sexual victimization, as well as the manner of their disclosure, specific to the school setting. An original questionnaire was developed, and given out to all the school social workers from one social service agency. Each worker chose, non-randomly one case of sexual abuse disclosure. / It was hypothesized that if a child or youth had decided to disclose their sexual victimization in the school setting they would do so in a planned and overt manner, choosing an adult with whom they had a close, positive and trusting relationship; a positive authority figure. Both hypotheses were borne out, although the strongest predictors of planned disclosure in this study, were that the victim had a positive relationship with the adult they told, knew them fairly well, and that they were being abused by their natural father or live-in father-figure.

The first school reported ever to have been held in Marathon was held in a box car when Flagler was building his famous overseas extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Mrs. R. H. Miller, the teacher of this first school, visited in the community a few months ago. Her story of the early difficulties encountered was most interesting and enlightening. Following the "box-car school", teaching of three children was carried on in the private home of W. A. Parrish, now known as the "daddy" of Marathon and conducted by Charles Albury who is now teaching in the new, modern Coral Shores school, the only other school on the Florida Keys. Reference to the Keys" is in keeping with local usage of the term since Key West people speak often about the two "Key schools" and about "going up on the Keys." / "August, 1953." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: W. Edwards, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 25).

This study identified research-based components for an effective anti-bullying policy and arranged them according to Bronfenbrenner's (1989) ecosystemic framework. It was hypothesized that the prevalence of different types of bullying was lower in elementary schools with a greater comprehensiveness of anti-bullying policies. Independent variables included the rated presence of anti-bullying components in school policies at four ecosystemic levels: microsystemic, mesosystemic, exosystemic, and macrosystemic. Dependent variables consisted of students' self-report of the occurrence of four types of bullying: attacks on property, and physical, verbal, and social bullying.Two hundred and thirty-one students from six elementary schools completed the Multidimensional Peer-Victimization Scale (Mynard & Joseph, 2000). The majority of students were African American. Three focus groups (students, parents, and school personnel) were also conducted in each school to gather information about anti-bullying policies. Independent raters blind to the hypothesis rated the information from the focus groups using the Comprehensiveness of Anti-bullying Policies Scale; a reliable measure designed for this study. Further, this information was evaluated through content analysis.Results of a One-Way (Comprehensiveness of Policies and Programs) Between Subjects MANOVA revealed a greater prevalence of verbal and physical victimization associated with schools having a lower comprehensiveness of anti-bullying policies and programs. Social victimization and attacks on property did not vary, however, as a function of the comprehensiveness of a school's policies.A supplementary 2 (Gender) x 2 (Comprehensiveness of Policies and Programs) Between Subjects MANOVA yielded no significant interaction between gender and the comprehensiveness of anti-bullying policies. A main effect for gender was found to be significant, however. Boys reported a higher level of physical bullying than girls.Content analyses showed focus group participants perceived physical bullying as more severe than the other types. Participants also reported harsher consequences to address such bullying. It is possible schools convey greater intolerance for physical bullying, hence its lower prevalence.It is concluded that schools' anti-bullying efforts should involve all ecosystemic levels. In addition, policies must include all types of bullying and communicate equal intolerance for each. Implications for theory, counseling, research, and anti-bullying policies are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Psychology

This was a descriptive study based on identifying and assessing factors that impinge on the potential development of learners. A probability sample of 50 learners was selected from 5 high schools in the Mafikeng District in the North West Province. A questionnaire identifying and assessing factors that impinge on the development of learners was designed and administered by the researcher. The literature reviewed identified the following factors as detrimental to the potential development of learners: lack of parental involvement, lack of finances, attendance and lack of resources. Strategies such as community support groups, up to date technology in schools to be provided by the department of education and parental involvement strategies were also revealed in the literature study. It was hypothesized that lack of parental involvement and lack of finances accounts more on the potential development of learners. The result obtained correlated with the hypothesis that lack of parental involvement of learners and lack of finances are the major factors that impinge on the potential development of learners. / (M.A. LSC) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003

This study was concerned with the possibility of raising a fourth grade pupil's social status. The techniques used were those that could be used in nearly any fourth grade schoolroom.

The purpose of the project was to examine the relationship between the social development of preschool children and parenting styles. Preschool social development was accessed by the use of sociometry. Parenting styles of mothers and fathers were determined by a questionnaire. The parenting styles and the sociometric status of the children were analyzed to determine a relationship using the chi-square analysis. The analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between parenting styles and the sociometric status of preschool children. It is recommended that more research be done in the fields of parenting styles and sociometry.

Background: In high-income countries, parenting programmes have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of child maltreatment. However, there is limited evidence of their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. This thesis focuses on the development and pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a parenting programme to reduce the risk of child maltreatment in low-income families with young children in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods: This thesis is comprised of three studies submitted as papers for publication. The first study focused on the development of an evidence-informed, locally relevant parenting programme for families with children aged three to eight years in Cape Town, South Africa. Intervention development took place over three stages: (a) identification of core intervention components common in evidence-based parenting programmes; (b) formative evaluation using qualitative in-depth interviews and semi-structured focus groups with South African practitioners and low-income parents; and (c) integration of evidence-based approaches and local contextual issues to develop the intervention structure, protocols, and manual. The second study used a pilot RCT (N = 68 parent-child dyads) to examine the evaluation feasibility and initial effects of the parenting programme developed during the first study in Cape Town - the Sinovuyo Caring Families Programme. Parents of children aged three to eight years with clinical levels of parent-reported child behaviour problems were randomly allocated to either a 12-session, group-based parenting programme or a wait-list control group. Primary outcomes included parent-report and observational assessments of positive parenting, harsh parenting, and child behaviour problems; secondary outcomes included parent-report of parent depression, parenting stress, and social support. Assessments occurred at baseline and immediate post-test (i.e., 3-months after baseline). The third study was a mixed-methods process evaluation assessing the feasibility of the parenting programme based on three theoretical dimensions: participation, implementation, and acceptability. Quantitative data included attendance registers, fidelity checklists, satisfaction surveys, and parent-report of engagement in home practice activities. Qualitative data included post-programme focus groups with community facilitators (n = 8), individual interviews with a randomly selected group of parents (n = 15), transcripts from parenting sessions, and minutes from supervision sessions with facilitators. Results: In the first study, the formative evaluation suggested that many evidence-based parenting programme components and approaches were compatible with the local cultural context. These included managing child behaviour problems, learning effective discipline strategies, building positive parent-child relationships, and reducing parenting stress. Findings also suggested that programmes may benefit from including additional content on keeping children safe in violent communities, communicating about HIV/AIDS and poverty, involving fathers and alternative caregivers, and incorporating cultural values of social responsibility and respect. The pilot RCT in the second study showed high levels of study recruitment and retention, outcome measurement reliability and response rates, and a minimal effect of clustering due to delivering the intervention in groups of parents. Analyses showed moderate intervention effects for parent-report of increased positive parenting and observations of improved child-led play. However, observational assessments also found reduced frequency of positive child behaviour in the treatment group in comparison to controls. In the third study, quantitative results showed high levels of programme acceptability, implementation, and participation. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified seven themes related to feasibility: (a) receptivity to strengthening existing parenting practices, (b) initial resistance to new parenting skills, (c) contextualising content within a cultural framework, (d) reinforcing implementation fidelity and improving quality of delivery, (e) challenges delivering content on nonviolent discipline, (f) supporting participant involvement, and (g) engagement in a collaborative learning approach. Conclusion: This thesis is the first in sub-Saharan Africa to use a systematic approach to develop and rigorously pilot a parenting programme to reduce the risk of maltreatment against young children in low-resource settings. Initial results indicate that a parenting programme derived from evidence-based approaches is feasible, culturally acceptable, and has the potential to reduce the risk of child maltreatment by improving positive parenting behaviour. Further intervention development and testing is necessary to strengthen core programme components and determine programme effectiveness.

The purpose of this study was to analyze scores of urban parochial elementary school pupils for The Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale (behavior, intellectual/school status, and anxiety) and for the Torrance Tests of Creativity (fluency, originality, and elaboration). Second, differences between groups divided according to grade, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) were examined. Third, relationships between self-concept and creative potential were investigated. The sample population included 163 pupils, grades 1-6, in a large midwestern city. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were used to test four null hypotheses applying the .05 level of confidence.Findings1. Significant differences were found in mean scores obtained by the total group of parochial school pupils indicating more positive self-concepts and lower degree of creativity when compared with the normative population for the two instruments employed.2. No statistical differences were found between primary and intermediate levels for the total group nor for the non-black subgroup. When the subgroup of Blacks was examined separately, differences indicated that intermediate pupils scored significantly higher in creativity than Blacks at the primary level.3. No statistically significant differences were found between any of the groups when divided between high and low socio-economic status.4. Differences were evidenced within certain subgroups when the subjects were divided into Black/non-black groups on the following variables on the Piers-Harris instrument (behavior and anxiety) and on the Torrance instrument (fluency, originality, and elaboration).Conclusions1. Positive self-concept revealed by the sample might be associated with environmental factors, school setting, selectivity of the study body and influence as reference group, philosophical foundations of the parochial schools, or other contributing factors.2. Lower degree of creativity could result from environmental atmosphere, academic expectations of the schools, and/or parential influences.3. Differences evidenced by Blacks on the variables (behavior, anxiety, fluency, originality, and elaboration) might be related to the influences of peer/referent groups, particularly in intermediate grades.4. Parochial school attendance appears to be a stabilizing influence in self-concept of behavior.5. Black students showed an increase in spontaneity and confidence in measures of creative tendencies. How this related to a reduction in positive experiences of self-concept is less obvious.Recommendations for additional research were provided.