The thesis explores the impact of the new Children’s Act 38 of 2005 on the acquisition of parental responsibilities and rights within a newly proposed framework designed for the purpose of reflecting the various ways in which parental responsibilities and rights can be acquired. The research has shown that the Children’s Act has fundamentally transformed the way in which parental responsibilities and rights are acquired. The transformation has created a scheme for the acquisition of parental responsibilities and rights that is for the most part constitutionally compliant and progressive insofar as it gives recognition to the different family forms found in South Africa. To this end the Children’s Act has considerably expanded the ways in which parental responsibilities and rights can be acquired. Whereas previously exclusively the preserve of heterosexual married parents in a nuclear family, parental responsibilities and rights can now automatically be acquired by a committed biological father and a married lesbian couple conceiving by artificial means. Apart from authorising courts to assign parental responsibilities and rights, the Children’s Act allows any holder of parental responsibilities and rights to confer responsibilities and rights on another by prior approved agreement. The Act also includes specific provisions to regulate the acquisition of parental responsibilities and rights by commissioning parents in the case of a surrogate motherhood agreement. The structure developed for the research topic reflects the transformation of the law in this regard by making the application of the best interests-standard, rather than the marital status of the child’s parents, the distinguishing feature of the subdivision between automatic and assigned acquisition. In this way the structure is an embodiment of the paramountcy of the best interests principle in section 28(2) of the Constitution. Insofar as the law still requires a distinction to be made between biological mothers and fathers, on the one hand, and naturally and artificially conceived children, on the other, the structure also highlights the remaining shortcomings of the law in this regard. The structure is, furthermore, necessarily complicated by the need to distinguish between the acquisition of care, on the one hand, and guardianship, on the other. As far as fathers are still not treated the same as mothers in the automatic allocation of parental responsibilities and rights, the Act is deemed not to have been progressive enough. Conferring full parental responsibilities and rights on both parents based on their biological link to the child would not only be in line with worldwide trends, but would also meet the constitutional demands of substantive sex and gender equality. It will further place the focus on the best interests of the child, which emphasises the importance of both parents for the child. While the research shows that tensions between the biological and social constructs of parenthood may possibly hamper the legal recognition of de facto care-givers or other persons with whom the child has developed a psychological bond, the greatest weakness of the Act would seem to lie in the failure to implement an integrated family court structure. Please cite as follows: Louw, AS 2009, Acquisition of parental responsibilities and rights, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewedyymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09102009-170707/ > Copyright / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Private Law / unrestricted

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of the use of parents as therapeutic agents. The purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to determine the effect of filial therapy on parental acceptance, self-esteem, parent-child relationship, and family environment. A second was to analyze the results and make recommendations concerning the effectiveness of filial therapy as a treatment modality for parents and their children. The experimental design of the study was a nonrandomized, pretest-posttest, control group design.The sample (N=47) consisted of the experimental group (parents N=15, children N=9) who received filial therapy and the control group (parents N=12, children N=ll) who did not. The treatment included ten, two hour weekly parent training sessions. During these sessions the parents were taught the principles of client-centered play therapy and were instructed to conduct weekly one-half hour play sessions at home with their own children. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) Filial therapy does significantly increase the parents' feeling of unconditional love for their children and 2) Filial therapy does significantly increase the parents' perception of expressed conflict in their family. In addition to the statistically significant results, there were some important trends which were mentioned as directional conclusions. These qualitative judgments include: 1) Filial therapy may be an effective treatment for increasing parents' acceptance of their children, especially parents' feelings of unconditional love; 2) Filial therapy may be a somewhat effective treatment for increasing self-esteem, yet more effective in increasing parents' self-esteem than children's self-esteem; 3) Filial therapy may be an effective treatment for increasing the closeness of the parent-child relationship without altering the authority hierarchy; 4) Filial therapy may influence the family environment, especially in the areas of expressiveness, conflict, independence, intellectual-cultural orientation, and control; and 5) Filial therapy may be an effective treatment for increasing parents' understanding of the meaning of their childrens' play.

The reflection of childhood in Baroque miracles This Master's thesis aims to capture the reflection of childhood in miraculously answered prayers of the Baroque era. It works with a representative sample of cases, which was collected from several diverse Czech and Moravian pilgrimage sites (Karlov in Prague, Church of Our Lady Victorious with the statue of Infant Jesus of Prague, Hájek, Sázava, Chlum sv. Máří, Chrudim, Dobruška, Svatý Kopeček u Olomouce, and Křtiny). The sample thus comprises children coming from various environments and social strata. The records referring to miraculous answers to prayer are taken from manuscripts as well as from printed books of the period related to religious pilgrimages. The individual chapters outline the main aspects of Baroque-era children's lives found therein. The thesis first analyses issues associated with the birth of new life - the infertility of married couples, miscarriages, or complications during pregnancy, giving birth and childbed. A significant part of the thesis is given over to childhood illnesses - an extremely serious issue of the early modern era. Attention is also paid to diverse accidents and injuries of children. In addition, matters concerning adolescent and adult offspring are presented (the world of work duties, various wrongdoings, problems...

Previous research has shown that adult attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance are associated with both coping strategy use and the parent-child relationship. Additionally, research has shown that coping strategy is associated with aspects of the parent-child relationship. The current study aimed to further examine associations between parental romantic attachment, coping strategy use, and the parent-child relationship. It was hypothesized that coping strategy use would mediate the relationship between parental romantic attachment and aspects of the parent-child relationship. Participants included 86 heterosexual couples (N = 176 parents) from the Family and Kid Connection project archival dataset. Instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, a brief measure of coping, and the Attachment and Relational Frustration Subscales of the Parenting Relationship Questionnaire. An actor-partner independence model was proposed and tested via multilevel modeling. Higher levels of parental attachment anxiety predicted poorer parent-child relationships. Father's attachment avoidance also predicted poorer father-child relationships. Higher levels of both parental attachment dimensions predicted greater use of avoidant emotional coping. Finally, greater use of avoidant emotional coping predicted poorer parent-child relationships. Results partially supported proposed mediational hypotheses. Two mediational paths were supported by results: an actor-actor path in which fathers' avoidant emotional coping mediated the association between fathers' romantic attachment avoidance and father-child attachment, and an actor-actor path in which mothers' avoidant emotional coping mediated the association between mothers' romantic attachment anxiety and mother-child attachment.

The impact of parents' marital conflict and parent-child conflict on the adjustment of children is well documented. Given the theoretical and empirical data to support a relationship between experiencing interparental and parent-child conflict during childhood and later conflict in romantic relationships, it is important to investigate the potential mechanisms that operate in this relationship. Thus, the present study sought to investigate the extent to which attributions of conflict mediate the relationship between experiencing interparental and parent-child conflict and later conflict in a romantic relationship. Results were based on the responses of emerging adults (190 males and 473 females) enrolled in psychology courses at a large southeastern university. Compared to males, females reported experiencing lower levels of permissive parenting, as well as higher levels of interparental psychological aggression, maternal emotional availability, attachment with mothers and peers, and overt violence in their current romantic relationships. Consistent with extant research, significant correlations were found among interparental conflict, parent-child conflict, attributions of conflict, parenting style, emotional availability of parents, attachment, and conflict with current romantic partners. Regression analyses (for males and females separately) suggested that different types of interparental and parent-child conflict predict greater hostile attributions and greater levels of conflict with current romantic partners. Although attributions of conflict predicted conflict with current romantic partners, conflict attributions did not mediate the relationship between family conflict and conflict with current romantic partners. These findings emphasized the importance of research investigating the long-term cognitive and emotional effects of family conflict and violence in order to provide a context for understanding the development of risk and resilience factors for relationship violence.

Research has suggested that emotion regulation may be an important predictor of problematic outcomes for children. In particular, the lack of emotion regulation and the inability to effectively utilize emotion regulation have been investigated within the context of children's problematic behaviors. Thus, identifying variables that may be related to the development of emotion regulation abilities in children may prove important for formulating the psychological interventions that are used with young children. One important protective variable may be the parent-child relationship, as empirical evidence suggests that multiple characteristics associated with parenting and the parent-child relationship are intertwined with the emotional development of children. Therefore, this study examined the relationships among parental self-efficacy, parenting style, parents' perceptions of their children· and perceived emotion regulation abilities in preschool children. Thirty-six parents with children between the ages of 2- and 6-years old who were attending private preschool facilities in the greater Orlando area completed measures regarding their parenting behaviors and characteristics, as well as about their children's emotional and behavioral functioning. Results of this study indicate that parenting self-efficacy predicts significantly parenting style and parents' perceptions of children, but does not predict significantly discipline style, and that the parenting variables examined in this study predict significantly reported levels of children, s emotion regulation. These findings emphasize the importance of research investigating the relationships among parenting behaviors and emotional development in young children for bettering the outcomes of these children.

The focus of this study is on pastoral counselling and mentorship in the South African context and how it can contribute to the improvement of parent-child relationships. The Practical Theological model of Osmer is used as a framework in which the study is conducted. It consists of the Descriptive-empirical, Interpretative, Normative and Pragmatic tasks (which, for the purpose of the study, are called methods of approximation). In the first chapter the emphasis is on the way in which the study will be conducted with the aim of obtaining positive outcomes. This is also addressed in Chapter 2 by means of empiric research. Interviews are conducted with 24 participants that consist of parents and children. The aim of this is to determine how many problems really occur within families in a South African context. Many problems in this regard have come to light. The third chapter is mainly dedicated to a literature study that discusses the effect of positive and negative outcomes through the application of Biblical principles and mentorship within families. The effect of negative or positive parenthood is discussed as well as the effect it has on the child in his/her development process. Parents can learn many lessons from this chapter so that their children won’t have to grow up with emotional anguish. In the fourth chapter the theological aspects are discussed and proof is given for the value of these aspects as addressed by theological experts. Moral values, pastoral models, the value of the Holy Spirit and how God is portrayed are discussed here. These principles also contribute to happier families. In the fifth chapter attempts are made to find summarising solutions for this study’s initial problem statement, research question and central theoretical argument. Various results and conclusions can be made to find answers to the different key terms. Problem identification and problem solving techniques are discussed. A typical counselling session is held on the basis of a pastoral phase model in order to provide clarity to the solution of the abovementioned problems. / PhD (Pastoral Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The focus of this study is on pastoral counselling and mentorship in the South African context and how it can contribute to the improvement of parent-child relationships. The Practical Theological model of Osmer is used as a framework in which the study is conducted. It consists of the Descriptive-empirical, Interpretative, Normative and Pragmatic tasks (which, for the purpose of the study, are called methods of approximation). In the first chapter the emphasis is on the way in which the study will be conducted with the aim of obtaining positive outcomes. This is also addressed in Chapter 2 by means of empiric research. Interviews are conducted with 24 participants that consist of parents and children. The aim of this is to determine how many problems really occur within families in a South African context. Many problems in this regard have come to light. The third chapter is mainly dedicated to a literature study that discusses the effect of positive and negative outcomes through the application of Biblical principles and mentorship within families. The effect of negative or positive parenthood is discussed as well as the effect it has on the child in his/her development process. Parents can learn many lessons from this chapter so that their children won’t have to grow up with emotional anguish. In the fourth chapter the theological aspects are discussed and proof is given for the value of these aspects as addressed by theological experts. Moral values, pastoral models, the value of the Holy Spirit and how God is portrayed are discussed here. These principles also contribute to happier families. In the fifth chapter attempts are made to find summarising solutions for this study’s initial problem statement, research question and central theoretical argument. Various results and conclusions can be made to find answers to the different key terms. Problem identification and problem solving techniques are discussed. A typical counselling session is held on the basis of a pastoral phase model in order to provide clarity to the solution of the abovementioned problems. / PhD (Pastoral Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie word die effek van ouerlike begunstiging op die leefwereld van die adolessent aangespreek. Uit die literatuurstudie blyk dit dat die kwaliteit van die ouerkindverhouding, asook die verskil in 'n ouer se houding teenoor en behandeling van sy kinders daartoe bydra dat 'n kind begunstiging in die gesin beleef. Oorsake van ouerlike begunstiging setel in projektiewe identifikasie deur die ouer(s), persoonlike behoeftes en verwagtinge van die ouer(s), geboorte-orde, en die grootte en sarnestelling van die gesin. In die empiriese ondersoek is die leefwereld van adolessente wat ouerlike begunstiging beleef, verken. Volgens die resultate blyk dit dat van hierdie adolessente angs en minderwaardigheid beleef, 'n lae selfbeeld het en dat hul relasies problernaties is. / This study addresses the effect of parental favoritism on the life world of the adolescent. From the literature study it is evident that the quality of the parent-child relationship as well as. the difference in the parent's attitude and treatment of his children contributes to the fact that a child experiences favoritism in the family. Causes of parental favoritism reside in projective identification by the parent ( s) , parental needs and expectations, the birth order, and size and set up of the family. The empirical study investigates the life world of adolescents who experience parental favoritism. According to the results it seems that some of these adolescents experience anxiety and a sense of inferiority, have a low self-image and experience problematic relationships. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

This investigation represents an initial attempt toward the construction of a general life cycle theory of parent-child relations. Emphasis was placed on the parent-adult child relationship with the onset of a filial crisis, e.g., due to illness. After the theory was described, two of the five propositions comprising this orientation (i.e., propositions four and five) were analyzed through a series of twenty-five hypotheses. The objectives of these hypotheses were (a) to analyze the relationship between the length of time involved in various patterns of filial responsibility and the likelihood that these patterns will become institutionalized as obligatory roles and (b) to determine how factors associated with these emergnt role obligations contribute to the cost of caregiving. A probability sample of 180 caregivers was obtained from within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Multiple and partial correlation analyses and the use of Student's t revealed that the length of time involved as a caregiver was significantly related to the number of informal caregiving roles performed by adult children. In addition, results indicated that the length of involvement in each caregiving role examined (i.e., household care, transportation service, personal care, medical attention, meal preparation, financial management and mobility assistance) was significantly related to (a) the frequency of providing these services to an aged parent and (b) the level of responsibility in each service area except financial management (which tended to remain constant over time)• An adult child s level of obligation to ensure that caregiving services were provided was also significantly associated with the length of caregiving involvement. Furthermore, this study found tentative support for the contention that the social-psychological cost of providing care for a dependent parent was associated with (a) the frequency of providing transportation services and medical attention, (b) the number of informal caregiving activities performed and (c) the length of caregiver involvement. A set of three control variables (i.e., the household living arrangements and both the aged parent s and adult child's physical health status) were identified as significant contributors to the cost of caregiving. Based on the empirical results of this investigation, propositions four and five of the theoretical perspective presented in this dissertation were supported.