Thesis (M.S.C.J.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 77 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 128 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-60).

Orientador: Maria de Fatima de Campos Françozo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T13:55:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Couto_FabianaPrado_M.pdf: 613605 bytes, checksum: 29009f1222b4a8c2d1571d5e166068eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Este estudo buscou conhecer as vivências de familiares que se responsabilizaram por crianças e adolescentes com deficiência, entendendo as escolhas, as expectativas, os sentimentos e a rotina do cuidar. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa qualitativa, pois esta melhor se adéqua quando se busca compreender significados de ações humanas. Participaram da pesquisa 11 familiares responsáveis por crianças ou adolescentes que não estavam vivendo com seus pais e que estavam matriculadas na APAE de Poços de Caldas - MG. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas com o uso de um roteiro pré-elaborado. Os resultados apontaram que todas as crianças sofreram, desde o início da vida, situações de negligência, rejeição por parte dos pais e ou algum tipo de abandono. Coube então a alguém da rede de parentesco mais próxima, assumir o cuidado da criança. Identificamos que são as avós as principais cuidadoras dos netos. Proteger o neto de tais situações foi a razão fundamental de as avós assumirem o cuidado. Outras motivações estão relacionadas a sentimentos de afeição pelos netos, de responsabilidade familiar e de dever moral. Acreditam que é papel delas cuidar do neto, confirmando a idéia de que para a população empobrecida a família é vista como uma rede, onde cada um tem responsabilidades e obrigações para com o outro. A maioria das avós revelou que a atitude de responsabilizar-se pelo neto com deficiência foi permeada por sentimentos ambíguos, de aceitação da situação e de revolta pela violência a que a criança estava submetida. As avós manifestaram indignação e reprovação quanto ao comportamento de seus filhos, genros e noras com relação aos netos, tendo algumas rompido relações com eles e não os reconhecendo como tendo direitos em relação à criança ou adolescente. Muitas avós sentem-se sobrecarregadas, explicando que a deficiência do neto aumenta suas responsabilidades, tarefas e esforço físico. Pensar no futuro é algo angustiante para elas, uma vez que não há perspectivas de mudança na situação da criança ou do adolescente / Abstract: This study aimed to understand the life experiences of family members who are responsible for handicapped children or adolescents, trying to get to know their motivations, their feelings and expectations related to caring, as well as their daily routine with the child or youngster. Qualitative research was carried out and interviews were used to collect data. There were 11 participants, family members who were responsible for a handicapped child or an adolescent who is enrolled at APAE- Poços de Caldas, MG. The results showed that all the children, since they were babies, were either neglected, suffered some kind of rejection or violence from their parents. Someone closely related to the child took the responsibility to care for them. This person was, in most of the cases, a grandmother. Protecting the child was the main reason why they decided to foster. Other reasons were the affection they feel for the grandchild, family responsibility and moral duty. They believe it is their role to take care of the grandchild, confirming the idea that for poor segments of society, family is seen as a network where each one has responsibilities and duties/obligations towards the others. Most of the grandmothers said that the attitude of taking the responsibility for the handicapped grandchild was mixed with conflicting feelings of acceptance of the situation but also of anger against the situation of violence experienced by the child. They showed resentment and disapprove their daughters, sons and in-laws' behavior towards the child. Many grandmothers don't relate to the daughter, son or in-laws anymore, and also, they clearly say that the parents don't have any right over the child or adolescent. Many grandmothers told they felt overwhelmed, explaining that the handicapped grandchild increases their responsibilities, tasks and physical work. Thinking about the future is a source of anxiety to them, since there is no perspective of changing the child's or adolescent's situation / Mestrado / Interdisciplinaridade e Reabilitação / Mestre em Saúde, Interdisciplinaridade e Reabilitação

In the United States, most of the Family, Friend, and Neighbor providers are the grandmothers of the child in care. Parental preference for Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care for infants and toddlers is consistent across race, class, and ethnicity. Although FFN providers care for the largest number of infants and toddlers in the United States, they are not considered part of the childcare milieu. This exclusion means FFN providers are not, typically, the recipient of important childcare information and resources as formal childcare providers who provide care to the smallest number of infants and toddlers. 
The small number of studies on Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care often refers to these providers as "invisible." It is in direct response to this sense of invisibility that this study is presented. Using a phenomenological methodology to bring forward the essence of FFN care, this study hopes to broaden the Field of Early Care and Education to include this group of diverse providers of care to young children. Instead of policy makers, funders, and early childhood professional development systems viewing "childcare" exclusively as formal and regulated this study serves to challenge this limited perspective by offering a richer perspective.

MPH / Department of Public Health / The phenomenon of grandparents raising their grandchildren is not new in different parts of the world. It has been noted that taking up a parental role has become the norm for grandparents, especially the grandmothers. This study aimed to explore the experiences of grandmothers in raising their grandchildren in Thohoyandou. Specifically, it aimed to establish the reasons why grandmothers in Thohoyandou are involved in raising their grandchildren, to identify and describe the challenges experienced by grandmothers in raising their grandchildren in Thohoyandou and finally, to establish the coping mechanism being used by these grandmothers to address the challenges being experienced by them. The study was conducted in Thohoyandou Block J which is situated in Thulamela municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A qualitative method using an interpretative phenomenological approach was used. Ten grandmothers who were raising their grandchildren were selected through snowball sampling method. The researcher sought the help of a home-base care worker at Muledane clinic to have access to the first grandmother after which the remaining grandmothers were referred by the known participant. Individual in-depth interviews were used to get information from them, using an interview guide. Each grandmother signed a consent form and then gave permission for the interview to be audio-recorded. Pseudo name were used in order to protect the participants. Data were transcribed verbatim, coded into themes and sub-themes using inductive thematic analysis. Themes that emerged include, changes in grandmothers’ role, feeling towards the role change, socio-economic factors that affect care-giving grandmothers, health of grandmothers, strategies for better living. Findings revealed that different reasons exist which made grandmothers to take up the responsibility of raising their grandchildren, grandmothers are affected negatively in their caregiving role and their main source of income are the child-support and pension grant (for those that are eligible).

African perspectives of mothering and attachment have only started being explored recently. Conversely there has been extensive research on Western understandings of attachment and mothering from a psychoanalytic perspective. Due to the limited literature, little is known whether psychoanalytic theories can be related to African cultural perspectives of mothering and attachment. This study aimed to understand African grandmothers’ cultural knowledge of mothering and attachment through a psychoanalytic attachment theory perspective. Secondly the study intended to describe the points of convergence and divergence between psychoanalytic concepts of attachment and African grandmothers’ cultural knowledge on mothering. Using a qualitative research design, nine African grandmothers, from different locations in Johannesburg, were interviewed, using a semi-structured interview. The data gathered from the interviews was analysed using aspects of narrative analysis. The findings regarding African grandmother’s cultural descriptions of mothering were on the most part consistent with the literature reviewed. The discrepancies between the participants’ understandings and the psychoanalytic attachment literature arose as a result of the major influence of socio-economic circumstances on their lives as caregivers. Psychoanalytic attachment constructs were present in the participant’s narratives and even though they were not specifically named by the participants, the results suggested they are entrenched in African cultural practices. Thus, from a psychoanalytic attachment theory perspective the research was able to demonstrate the convergences and divergences between psychoanalytic concepts of mothering and African cultural understandings of mothering, thereby illustrating how there is room for dialogue between the two.

The composition of society is rapidly changing as the elderly population is increasing dramatically. In South Africa, black grandmothers play an important role in intergenerational relationships as they take on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren because of HIV/Aids, migration of the parents or other economic difficulties. As the grandmothers and the children are raised in different time–periods, it can be difficult for them to understand one another. Since healthy relationships with older persons in the early years lead to secure attachments, the relationship between grandmother and grandchild holds serious implications for the development and view of the world of the child. Research of this nature can help to develop healthy connections with a younger generation which again can help older adults to feel a greater sense of fulfilment. In fact, linking older adults with youth can provide advantages for both generations to thrive as people. Understanding the developmental life tasks and cognitive development of the generations can also assist to effectively deal with different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren, thus helping both generations to thrive as people. Healthy interaction between grandmothers and grandchildren are guided by clear structure, which means that grandmothers can provide a trustworthy and predictable interpersonal environment to assist their grandchildren to define and clarify their experiences, whislt nurturance implies that grandmothers are warm, tender, soothing, calming, and comforting. When engaging with the grandchildren, one can say that grandmothers provide excitement, surprise and stimulation and simultaneously challenge the children which means that grandmothers encourage grandchildren to expand their behavioural repertoire and become more independent. Grandmother ? grandchildren interactions are informed by specific parenting styles which are referred to as a group of attitudes toward children that create an emotional climate in which the intergenerational relationships between the two generations are expressed. The manner, therefore in which grandmothers and grandchildren communicate with each other, as well as the content of the conversations, help to shed light on the nature of the relationship between the two generations. This research aims to gain a better understanding as well as different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren. A convenience sample was employed to obtain 17 grandparents between 71 and 96 years and older, and their grandchildren in their care, boys and girls between ages 4 and 13 years old. The criterion was the availability of participants on the specific day of data gathering. The intergenerational reflective listening technique (IGRT) was used for data gathering while both generations are present. In terms of the IGRT, the researcher requested the children to sit in an inner circle and answer questions about the important places that their grandmothers tell them about. The researcher also explored the manner in which this information was communicated to the children. As the study involved older persons and very young children, special attention was paid to ethical considerations. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the North–West University, Potchefstroom Campus, as part of a larger project, being: “An exploration of enabling contexts (05K14).” The main finding of the study is that type of information which is transferred from the grandmother to the younger generation is educational in nature with instrumental support as a sign of love and care. The grandmothers teach the children norms, values and life principles. During the younger age, children conform to the teachings of the grandmothers, which evoke feelings of pride and appreciation from the grandmothers. This confirms solidarity in the relationship. On the other hand, the same relational definition does not apply to the young adults and the grandmothers explained their strained relationship with the young adults as out of their control. It is also clear that the way the two generations display love and affection are instrumental in nature. Although the IGRT is considered as an effective method of collecting data of this nature, the limited time available for this study resulted in the collecting of only one data set. One of the recommendations is further study with more than one group of participants. This includes grandmothers with young grandchildren as well as grandmothers with younger adults. / Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The composition of society is rapidly changing as the elderly population is increasing dramatically. In South Africa, black grandmothers play an important role in intergenerational relationships as they take on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren because of HIV/Aids, migration of the parents or other economic difficulties. As the grandmothers and the children are raised in different time–periods, it can be difficult for them to understand one another. Since healthy relationships with older persons in the early years lead to secure attachments, the relationship between grandmother and grandchild holds serious implications for the development and view of the world of the child. Research of this nature can help to develop healthy connections with a younger generation which again can help older adults to feel a greater sense of fulfilment. In fact, linking older adults with youth can provide advantages for both generations to thrive as people. Understanding the developmental life tasks and cognitive development of the generations can also assist to effectively deal with different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren, thus helping both generations to thrive as people. Healthy interaction between grandmothers and grandchildren are guided by clear structure, which means that grandmothers can provide a trustworthy and predictable interpersonal environment to assist their grandchildren to define and clarify their experiences, whislt nurturance implies that grandmothers are warm, tender, soothing, calming, and comforting. When engaging with the grandchildren, one can say that grandmothers provide excitement, surprise and stimulation and simultaneously challenge the children which means that grandmothers encourage grandchildren to expand their behavioural repertoire and become more independent. Grandmother ? grandchildren interactions are informed by specific parenting styles which are referred to as a group of attitudes toward children that create an emotional climate in which the intergenerational relationships between the two generations are expressed. The manner, therefore in which grandmothers and grandchildren communicate with each other, as well as the content of the conversations, help to shed light on the nature of the relationship between the two generations. This research aims to gain a better understanding as well as different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren. A convenience sample was employed to obtain 17 grandparents between 71 and 96 years and older, and their grandchildren in their care, boys and girls between ages 4 and 13 years old. The criterion was the availability of participants on the specific day of data gathering. The intergenerational reflective listening technique (IGRT) was used for data gathering while both generations are present. In terms of the IGRT, the researcher requested the children to sit in an inner circle and answer questions about the important places that their grandmothers tell them about. The researcher also explored the manner in which this information was communicated to the children. As the study involved older persons and very young children, special attention was paid to ethical considerations. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the North–West University, Potchefstroom Campus, as part of a larger project, being: “An exploration of enabling contexts (05K14).” The main finding of the study is that type of information which is transferred from the grandmother to the younger generation is educational in nature with instrumental support as a sign of love and care. The grandmothers teach the children norms, values and life principles. During the younger age, children conform to the teachings of the grandmothers, which evoke feelings of pride and appreciation from the grandmothers. This confirms solidarity in the relationship. On the other hand, the same relational definition does not apply to the young adults and the grandmothers explained their strained relationship with the young adults as out of their control. It is also clear that the way the two generations display love and affection are instrumental in nature. Although the IGRT is considered as an effective method of collecting data of this nature, the limited time available for this study resulted in the collecting of only one data set. One of the recommendations is further study with more than one group of participants. This includes grandmothers with young grandchildren as well as grandmothers with younger adults. / Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Grandparents have a very important role within the family context, as well as when their sons and daughters become parents. Based on this presumption, the research that originates the present dissertation aimed to investigate grandmothers‟ perceptions about the relationship with their adult daughters at the time when daughters were living their first experiences of maternity. With this objective, we performed a qualitative study with ten grandmothers whose adult daughters were primiparous, with their babies aged between five and 28 months, and that were attending a public health program for mothers and infants. As instruments for data collection we used a form of contextualization, with which important information were obtained to understand the reality studied, and a semi-directed interview of open questions. The results were analysed through content analysis and are presented in the two articles that compose the present dissertation. The first article shows the repercussions of maternity in the relationship between mothers and adult daughters, an event that brings them closer, and grandmothers‟ recognition of daughters‟ capability and autonomy as a mothers. Furthermore, it also stresses the feelings of affection that the birth of a grandchild aroused in grandmothers. The second article aimed to investigate the new‟ structures of image and role of grandmothers in present days, as well as present some aspects of the relationship between grandmothers and grandchildren. The results showed that grandmothers are relatively young and active. Grandmothers reported to be participative and available for interaction with their grandchildren and a strong bond and the feelings of satisfaction and affection characterizes the relationship between them. Moreover, we emphasize the supportive role performed by grandmothers after the birth of a grandchild. Thus, among the main aspects obtained by the study, we highlight the improvement in the relationship between mothers and their adult daughters with the maternity experience and the independence and autonomy with which daughters took maternity. It could also be observed the pleasure in the experience of becoming a grandmother. For the majority of the participants, it was possible to be only grandparents, without having to assume parental responsibilities of their grandchildren. Finally, it is important to highlight the importance of further studies concerning this subject, including different groups and socioeconomic contexts. It is important to make clear that the findings of this study do not cover the totality of the phenomenon, so new research may indicate different forms of relationship involving grandmothers in the family context. / Os avós tem um papel muito importante no contexto familiar, assim como no momento de transição para a parentalidade dos filhos. Partindo deste pressuposto, a pesquisa da qual se origina a presente dissertação teve como objetivo geral investigar a percepção de avós acerca da relação mãe-filha no momento em que suas filhas vivenciavam a maternidade pela primeira vez. Com este intuito, realizou-se um estudo qualitativo com dez avós cujas filhas eram primíparas, com seus bebês na faixa etária entre cinco e 28 meses, e participavam de um Programa de Saúde Materno-Infantil. Como instrumentos de coleta de dados, utilizou-se uma ficha de contextualização, com a qual se obteve informações que contribuíram para compreender a realidade estudada, e uma entrevista semidirigida de questões abertas. Os resultados foram analisados por meio da análise de conteúdo, sendo os mesmos apresentados e discutidos em dois artigos que compõe esta dissertação. No primeiro deles, evidenciam-se as repercussões que a maternidade da filha acarretou para a relação mãe-filha, aproximando-as, e o reconhecimento das avós quanto ao desempenho e a autonomia das filhas como mães. Ainda, salientam-se os sentimentos afetuosos que o nascimento do neto despertou nas avós. No segundo artigo, o qual teve por objetivo investigar as novas configurações da imagem e papel das avós na atualidade, assim como apresentar alguns aspectos da relação avó-neto, os resultados apontaram que as avós são relativamente jovens e ativas. As avós relataram ser participativas e disponíveis na interação com os netos, sendo descrita a relação entre eles marcada pela satisfação, afeto e pelo forte vínculo. Além disso, destaca-se o papel de apoio desempenhado pelas avós as suas filhas com o nascimento dos netos. Assim, entre os principais aspectos obtidos pelo estudo, ressalta-se a melhora na relação mãe-filha com a vivência de maternidade desta e a independência e autonomia com que as filhas assumiram a maternidade. Também pôde ser observado o prazer das participantes na vivência de serem avós, em que, para a maioria delas, lhes foi possibilitado ser apenas avós, sem ter que assumir as responsabilidades parentais do neto. Por fim, destaca-se a importância de novos estudos envolvendo esta temática, em diferentes grupos e contextos socioeconômicos. Salienta-se que os achados deste estudo não abarcam a totalidade do fenômeno, assim a realização de novas pesquisas podem indicar diferentes formas de relação envolvendo as avós no contexto familiar.