published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

In the world today, economic exploitation of children is one of the most intolerable attacks to humanity. Given the extent of the phenomenon, international action is necessary to ensure its elimination. In this regard, international law can play an important role as it can direct formulations of State policy. Unfortunately, despite numerous normative developments, child labour still exists. Therefore, the author suggests that international action be reoriented at two levels. Firstly, the current approach must be re-evaluated to take into account the social dimension of child labour. Education should be a key focus in the struggle against child labour since it can work to fight the diverse causes of the problem while offering young labourers an alternative. Secondly, as normative control mechanisms are deficient, international law should be completed by direct intervention to ensure education is put at centre stage. Only direct action lead by international and local partners will eliminate the economic exploitation of children.

This study asserts that the everyday life, daily activities and mobility interaction remains peripheral within the Sociology of Childhood and Mobilities in particular and sociology in general. This is not to say that there are no sociological studies on child mobility. Instead, existing studies usually focus on the impact of child mobility on adult mobility, their daily lives and schedules with children’s voices, experiences and needs remaining obscure. This generates a passive, univocal, skewed and constrained portrayal and (re)presentation of the child. These unreflected habituations have particular implications for children’s inclusion, participation, and well-being in society; and are in conflict with contemporary and global shifts in childhood and mobility studies. This dissertation, then examines the conceptualisation and problematisation of child mobility in current studies, statistics, policies and interventions, with a particular focus on South Africa. This encompasses questions about the epistemological worldview and evidence-base supporting the various policies and practices. In terms of the reification and privileging of some paradigms, Max Weber’s analysis of ‘social action’, ‘social closure’ ‘domination’ and ‘monopolization’ is appropriated and redirected. Closure (exclusion) rests on the process of subordination, whereby dominant groups close opportunities to groups it categorises as inferior, or ineligible. Children’s subordinate roles in hierarchical structures in societies are derived based on, amongst other factors, culture, age, gender and generation. These codes are used to exclude or include individuals or groups. The utility of closure theory is in the theorising of adult roles; rationalisation of adult dominance; and the limiting of children’s agency and autonomy in institutions in societies. This includes adult roles in research and policy-making communities. This suggests that we need to reflect on, re-evaluate and reframe our approach to listening, talking, thinking and writing on, and about, children. The study asserts the relevancy of the pragmatic and critical constructivist lens in mediating the paradigmatic and epistemic shifts necessary for sociological (re)engagement and reframing of the discourses and debates on child mobility. The approaches are compatible with current developments in field (s) and are important to producing sociologically relevant knowledge on and about children. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-81). / vii, 81 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate the changes in sociometric status that resulted when first grade children were taught some art or craft that they could teach to others in their class, (2) to note concomitant behavior changes as reported by their teachers and as noted by their experimenter, and (3) to compare the distribution and increase of decrease of votes received, votes given and mutual attractions in experimental groups with a control group.

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Housing, a basic necessity, is frequently described as costly and increasingly designated as unaffordable; yet, there is a continuing conventionality in American tastes, desires, and ideals of housing. In order to expand housing knowledge, and, perhaps to facilitate the use of housing alternatives, attitudes/perceptions of housing held by pre- and early-adolescent children were investigated. The awareness, satisfaction, and importance attributed to housing by this consumer age group, who are often perceived as unconcerned or unopinionated, may be indicative of future housing demand and permanence of housing norms. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in an Appalachian Kentucky county were surveyed regarding housing knowledge, opinions, preferences, satisfactions, and importance. Rather than a lack of opinion, the 172 participants revealed definite perceptions of housing in general, their individual housing situations, and concern for the future/cost of housing. Overall, housing attitudes were traditional and conservative; there was a general unwillingness to accept energy-conservative or manufactured dwellings. While the children were relatively satisfied with their housing, they did not attribute great importance to housing. Older children were more aware of housing, attributed greater importance to it, and reported more normative preferences. Housing satisfaction was greater if the child was male, lived in a residence that aligned with housing norms, or was from a household with a greater number of amenities. Older children, or those with greater housing experience, were more likely to prefer neighborhood homogeneity. General preferences for housing replicated the child's current housing situation. With today's cost of housing, as well as changing family needs for housing, the child gains importance as a housing consumer not only for the home's impact upon his/her development, but also for the future demand he/she will contribute to the housing market. Housing education regarding current and potential alternatives not only can help young housing users to develop more realistic perceptions and expectations of housing but also may facilitate the choice of and improve satisfaction with housing alternatives. / Ph. D.

Socioeconomic status (SES) influences many aspects of a person's life, and stereotypes concerning level of SES and the domain of creativity exist. It was hypothesized that children classified as low SES would perform more creatively in the visual arts and language arts domains of creativity than in the mathematic and scientific domains.

The purpose of this study was to compare the peer relationships of highly gifted and highly gifted-highly creative primary students in a gifted classroom of a public school. The study was conducted using thirty-one highly gifted first, second, and third graders who had scores of 140 or better on the WISC-R, WPPSI, or Otis-Lennon. At the beginning of the school year, the Creativity Assessment Packet was administered to the class. The top 20 percent scorers in the class (termed gifted-creative) and those who scored in the bottom 20 percent of the class (termed gifted) on the CAP were targeted for observation. In addition, a sociogram was administered to each student individually for the purpose of determining each child's social status. A bivariate correlation coefficient was employed to express the degree of any relationship between creativity scores and rankings on the class sociogram. Observational anecdotes were used in the discussion of the sociometric results. The following findings resulted from the study. The gifted-creative students, as a group, ranked higher on a class sociogram on measures of friendship and choice of academic work partners than did the gifted group. On sociometric measures of choice of creative work partners, there was no significant difference. During observations, the gifted students displayed approximately the same amount of positive verbal behaviors as the gifted-creative students. The gifted students did exhibit more isolated behavior, especially during academic tasks, than.did their gifted creative counterparts. The gifted-creative group displayed much more verbal and physical aggression than the gifted group. This report concludes that in the gifted classroom under investigation, gifted-creative and gifted pupils differ in their peer relationships thus supporting findings documented in past research. However, information from the sociogram seemed to suggest that the gifted-creative students, as a group, achieved higher social status within this gifted classroom than the gifted students.