Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-186). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. R. Bruce Bickley, Florida State University, college of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (Jan. 19, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (DPhil(Social Work)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Syftet med studien var att åskådliggöra vilka konsekvenser uppdraget som familjehem kan få för de biologiska barnen när det sker förändringar i syskonskaran. Vi fann flera motsägelser i de biologiska barnens berättelser vilket vi tolkar som att uppdraget är komplext. Förändringen i syskonskaran upplevs delvis som utmanande. En av utmaningarna för våra respondenter har varit att de ska agera utifrån en ny roll vilket är en process som har tagit olika lång tid att hantera. Majoriteten av våra respondenter pratar positivt om sin förändrade situation och uppdraget i sin helhet. De menar att det ökade ansvaret som uppdraget inneburit gjort att de fått en annan roll i familjen som bidragit till att de upplever sig mer tagna på allvar. Den nya rollen har visat sig innebära en större frihet men också givit dem nya möjligheter. Förändringen har likväl väckt ett behov av att bibehålla en viss struktur inom familjen och att ibland få möjlighet att få återgå till det som familjen gjorde innan uppdraget påbörjades. Flera av våra respondenter uttrycker en önskan om en tillflyktsort där de får tillfälle att vara som “vanligt”, vilket vi tolkat som innan de fått en ny position i syskonskaran. Studiens resultat pekar på att uppdraget är komplext. Konsekvensen av att få en ny position i syskonskaran upplevs delvis som utmanande och delvis som en möjlighet. Vi har funniten paradox; att de biologiska barnen å ena sidan finner uppdraget och de nya förväntningar som kommer med den nya syskonpositionen som befriande och å andra sidan uttrycker de ett behov av att låta allt vara som vanligt.       Studien har genomförts med nio respondenter genom både kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer via en intervjuguide och strukturerade intervjuer i enkätform. För att förstå det empiriska materialet har det analyserats med hjälp av flera teoretiska begrepp från systemteorin samt en sociologisk rollteori. Vi har också valt att relatera empirin till den tidigare forskning som gjorts i ämnet. Utgångspunkten i studien har varit att placeringen i syskonskaran spelar roll då det finns olika förväntningar på de olika rollerna. Föreställningen om att ens position i syskonskaran påverkar en individ gör det intressant att lyfta de biologiska barnen i familjehem för att förstå viktiga aspekter av att agera syskon och samtidigt ändra den position som man är van vid. Studien syftade till att klargöra hur de biologiska barnen upplevde den förändring i syskonskaran som uppdraget innebar. / The purpose of the study was to illustrate the consequences of the family home for the biological children when there are changes in the siblingship. We found several contradictions in the children's stories, which we interpret as the mission is complex. The change in the siblingship is partly experienced as challenging. One of the challenges for our respondents has been that they act on a new role, which is a process that has taken a long time to handle. The majority of our respondents speak positively about their changed situation and the assignment as a whole. They believe that the increased responsibility that the assignment meant meant that they had a different role in the family that helped them feel more seriously taken. The new role has proved to mean greater freedom, but also given them new opportunities. However, the change has aroused the need to maintain a certain structure within the family and sometimes to get back to what the family did before the mission began. Several of our respondents express a wish for a place of refuge where they have the opportunity to be "common", which we interpreted as before they got a new position in the siblings. The study results indicate that the assignment is complex. The consequence of getting a new position in the siblingship is partly experienced as challenging and partly as an opportunity. Paradoxically, we have found that the biological children, on the one hand, find the mission and the new expectations that come with the new sibling position as liberation, and on the other hand they express a need to let everything be as usual.      The study has been conducted with nine respondents through both qualitative semistructured interviews via an interview guide and structured interviews in questionnaire. To understand the empirical material, it has been analyzed using several theoretical concepts from system theory and a sociological role theory. We have also chosen to relate empirin to the previous research done on the subject. The starting point of the study has been that the position in the siblings carries a role as there are different expectations of the different roles. The idea that one's position in sibling carries an individual affects an individual makes it interesting to raise the children in family homes to understand important aspects of acting siblings while changing the position that is used to. The study aimed at clarifying how the biological children experienced the change in the siblingship that the mission meant.

M.A. (Social Work) / This study serves to provide social workers in foster care practice in South Africa with a social technology innovation that is: Contextually appropriate Grounded in theory and User friendly. Social workers in South Africa do not have access to a set of standardised assessment criteria with which to assess prospective foster parents, and yet there are over half a million children in the foster care system in South Africa. Consequently, the research goal of this study is to design and develop a contextually appropriate protocol in social work for the assessment of prospective foster parents in South Africa. In order to achieve this, a number of objectives are linked to this goal: 1. To conduct a literature study for the identification of the dimensions (assessment) areas of the protocol. 2. To design a theoretically grounded model of the competencies of effective foster parents in South Africa. 3. To develop a professional social work protocol with which to assess the competencies of prospective foster parents. 4. To conduct focus groups and Delphi cycles to improve the face validity and content validity of the protocol. Developmental research methodologies were used to design the protocol. In the process of using the DR&U model (Thomas, 1984), a further outcome of the study is the development of a research method for the development of a contextually appropriate protocol in social work. The study comprises two stages: Stage 1 entails the design of a model of the competencies of effective foster families (determining “what” constitutes a good foster parent and developing a model of the ideal foster parents). The dimensions or assessment areas of the protocol are identified by means of a detailed literature study. Data obtained from the literature study is integrated with the outcomes of two Nominal Group Techniques and a Delphi Technique. This is to ensure user participation and to contextualise the model and protocol. Stage 2 entails the design and development (to a limited degree) of an assessment protocol with which to assess prospective foster families (specifying “how” one determines if foster parents meet the criteria of the ideal foster parents in the model designed in Stage 1). The conceptual framework of a model of the assessment of prospective parents is refined through a workshop and Delphi Technique with foster parents and social workers. This is to ensure a measure face validity and the adequacy of the protocol. This study concludes with an evaluation of the outcomes of the study, as well as the research method used to develop the model and the protocol. The model and the protocol are attached to this study.

Substitute care is a temporary or permanent placement of children under the supervision of an adult person due to the absence of their biological parents. The escalating divorce rate, increase in extramarital births, high incidence of family violence, the growing number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and the increasing career-orientatedness of parents have led to the development of diverse family structures. Grandparents and other family members are increasingly becoming the primary caretakers for children. Whilst it is generally assumed by society that children’s well-being is better served when they are raised by their biological parents, the purpose of this study is to: • explore what influence substitute care has on learners’ motivation; • formulate guidelines and recommendations for educators to improve the current levels of motivation of learners in substitute care. The literature related to substitute care and motivation were reviewed, with the aim of providing a firm theoretical basis for the study. Concepts related to motivation discussed, included types of and sources of motivation. Concepts related to the second focus of this study included forms of substitute care. Motivational theories related to this study were briefly discussed, namely: the Attribution Theory, the Drive Theory, Goal Theory, and the Self-worth and Selfefficacy Theories. Factors that have a motivational influence on learners, such as acceptance versus rejection, praise versus criticism, success versus failure and positive self-concept versus negative self-concept, were also discussed. A link was then drawn between motivation and substitute care. ii The research design chosen for this study can be described as qualitative, interpretive and constructive in nature. The research study was conducted in two phases: Phase One provided an investigation of the research problem by means of the following open-ended question: What is the influence or impact of your status as a child in substitute care on your motivation? Data were collected by means of eleven unstructured, in-depth personal interviews. Purposeful sampling was undertaken, which included high school learners all in substitute care. Data were analysed, as proposed by the eight steps of Tesch. Discussions between the observer, moderator and an independent re-coder took place to determine the final results of the research through a consensus principle. Key and related concepts were clustered together to formulate themes, categories and sub-categories. The following three themes emerged, based on the results of the data analysis. I. Problems in the close family circle have profound effects on learner motivation. II. Certain motivating forces help learners in substitute care to cope. III. Substitute care does influence learner motivation. Phase Two offered recommendations, derived from the findings of Phase One, to empower teachers in effectively supporting and motivating learners in substitute care. The conclusion was reached that substitute care does have an influence on the motivation of learners. This motivation can either be positive, which means encouraging learners towards their goal, or negative, which implies that it moves learners away from their goal.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to determine what factors contribute to a foster family's ability and desire to remain active in fostering after two years. The sample of this research was selected from Bienvenidos Foster Family Agency, a private non-profit social service organization in the Los Angeles County.

This study is concerned with a set of cases referred to Children's .Services Division, Marion County, by the Marion County Juvenile Court for placement. Placements include foster homes and residential treatment facilities, including group homes. The goal of this study is to uncover criteria to determine the appropriateness and the efficacy of foster and residential placements for adolescents in order to provide feedback necessary for the development of practice theory.