The aim of this study was to describe how the best interest of the child can be constructed in investigations concerning permission for international adopt, where adequate parenthood is investigated. Qualitative research interviews were used as method. Seven investigators from six different sections of the city of Stockholm were interviewed. The information was analysed on the basis of a sociological approach to law and social constructionism. The result showed that adequate parenthood is a condition in the interest of the child. Adequate parenthood is specified as the parent’s qualities and possibility to care for an adopted child. It does not depend on material qualifications, it is principally a matter of personal conditions, which can be defined as self-consciousness and the ability to reflect, feel empathy and manage a crisis. An adequate adoptive parent shall also realize the significance of an adoption. Adequate adoptive parents have a stable and lasting relationship and are surrounded by a stable social network. The best interest of the child shall mainly be fulfilled by the qualities of the parents, in other words the adequate parenthood. The adoption has to be in the best interest of the child and thereby fulfil the child’s needs. In a family, children need to develop in their own pace and receive support whenever it is needed. In the investigation undertaken by the authorities, the interests of the child can best be looked after with an investigator that possesses adequate knowledge about children, that investigates thoroughly and feel a responsibility towards the child.

La tesi indaga le condizioni socio-economiche delle famiglie monogenitore, segnatamente quelle con figli minori, assumendo l’ipotesi che l’elevata diffusione della povertà, rilevata in tutta Europa per questa tipologia familiare, sia connessa alla fisionomia dei legami sociali dei nuclei monogenitoriali, e più precisamente ad una ridotta disponibilità di risorse di social support. Il testo si articola in un’ampia ricognizione dei principali contributi teorici in materia di povertà ed esclusione sociale nonché sulla nozione di rete e sulle risorse relazionali degli attori sociali, in un inquadramento statistico e sociologico del fenomeno della monogenitorialità in Italia e in Europa, e, infine, nella presentazione di un approfondimento sul campo, condotto in provincia di Piacenza, sulla presenza e le concrete situazioni di vita dei nuclei monogenitore. La raccolta ed analisi di dati statistici di rilevanza locale, insieme a un ciclo di interviste semi-strutturate a genitori soli, hanno fornito preziosi elementi descrittivi delle condizioni di vita dei nuclei monogenitore, con particolare riferimento alle peculiari caratteristiche delle reti di supporto sociale. Le risultanze dell’indagine sul campo hanno altresì permesso di mettere a fuoco alcuni profili di accentuata vulnerabilità socio-economica, e di identificare alcuni tratti tipici della struttura e del funzionamento delle reti sociali primarie. / This PhD dissertation investigates the socio-economic conditions of lone-parent families, especially of those with minor children, and assumes that the high poverty rate of this type of household, recorded in the whole of Europe, depends on the nature of social ties of lone-parent families, and more precisely on a limited availability of social support resources. The text consists in (1) an extensive survey of the main theoretical studies of poverty and social exclusion, of “social network” and the relational resources of social actors, (2) in a statistical and sociological setting of lone-parenthood phenomenon in Italy and Europe, and (3) in the presentation of a field research carried out in the province of Piacenza about lone-parent families and their real living conditions. The collection and analysis of locally relevant statistical data together with a series of semi-structured interviews with lone parents have provided valuable descriptive elements about the living conditions of lone-parent families with specific reference to the peculiar characteristics of “social support” networks. The results of the field research have also enabled to identify some types of high socio-economic vulnerability and some typical aspects of the structure and the dynamics of primary social networks.

An increasing number of people with disabilities are choosing to become parents. However, several official goverment reports and other evidence points to the fact that parents with disabilities sometimes experience negative bias and distrust of their capacities as parents. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse aspects of parenthood in the families including parents with disabilities and/or chronic illness, as well as to illuminate concepts of an thoughts on parenthood and disability in these families. This is a qualitative interview study, complemented with structured diaries and network maps. The impairments or chronic illness of the parents in the eleven families of the study are cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. The different areas of the study are: the parents' reflections on becoming parents, the impact of the surrounding environment on the family, the effects of impairment or chronic illness in the family's everyday life and the parents' reflections on children and parenthood. The parents first and foremost describe their families as like any other families, but at the same time describe the special circumstances they live under. They work to handle the possibilities of negative consequences for the children with different strategies. The parents describe what they regard as the special experiences and knowledge that their children acquire which will benefit them as adults. The study recognises some dichotomous concepts relevant to different areas of family life in families with disabilities. The feeling the parents express of living in a world of double standpoints can be understood as ambivalence or in terms of embrace of paradox.

No description available.

Teisinis švietimas, kuris skatintų pozityvią tėvystę, pirmiausia turėtų būti neatsiejamas nuo vaiko teisių apsaugos. Šiuo metu didžioji dalis visuomenės pateisina smurto panaudojimą kaip auklėjimo priemonę, pagrindinė to priežastis - žinių trūkumas ir bausmės už smurtavimą išvengiamumas (Žmogaus teisių stebėjimo institutas, 2009). Todėl vis labiau plėtojama vaiko teisių kontrolė, apsauga, skatinama atsižvelgti į vaiko teises, jas žinoti ir nepažeidinėti. Požiūris į vaiką yra esminis, veiksnys tiesiogiai susijęs su suaugusiųjų elgesiu su vaiku, jo poreikių patenkinimu, nes tik suaugusiųjų dėka yra įgyvendinamos vaiko teisės (Kairienė, 2007). Tačiau tam reikia žinoti svarbiausius teisinius šaltinius, apsaugančius vaiką: Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija, Lietuvos Respublikos vaiko teisių apsaugos pagrindų įstatymas, Vaiko teisių konvencija. Todėl teisinis švietimas, ypač vaiko teisių klausimais, gali būti traktuojama kaip pozityvios tėvystės prielaida. Jei tėvai būtų labiau informuoti apie teisinius dalykus, pozityvi tėvystė būtų daug sparčiau plėtojama ir įgyvendinama, nes tai užkirstų kelią smurtui prieš vaikus ir nepriežiūrai, taip pat nekiltų tiek daug klausimų, nesusipratimų susidūrus su teisiniais niuansais. Išsamiau tyrinėjant tema išryškėja tokie pagrindiniai probleminiai klausimai: Kodėl teisinis švietimas reikšmingas pozityviai tėvystei? Kaip skatinti tėvus domėtis, žinoti ir užtikrinti savo vaiko teises, pareigas šeimoje, mokykloje ir kitoje socialinėje aplinkoje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Legal education, which should promote positive parenthood, ought not to be isolated from the protection of the rights of the child. At present the majority of the society justifies corporal punishment as a means of upbringing. The cause of this phenomenon is both the lack of understanding and the fact that parents are rarely punished for using corporal punishment. (The Institute of Supervision of Human Rights, 2009). Therefore, the rights of the child control, protection is being expanded, the society is encouraged to pay attention to the child’s rights, to be aware of them and not to violate them. The approach to the child is an essential factor which is directly linked with the way adults treat the child, the fulfillment of their needs, since the child’s needs are fulfilled only with the help of adults (Kairiene, 2007). In order to understand the fact one must know the most important legal documents defending the rights of the child: The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law of the Protection of the Child’s rights of the Republic of Lithuania, Convention on the Rights of the Child. That is why juristic education, on the rights of the child in particular, should be treated as the assumption for positive parenthood. If parents were better informed about legal topics, positive parenthood would be implemented much faster since that would prevent child abuse and neglect as well as misunderstandings related to legal matter. If we have a closer look at the subject... [to full text]

Malgré l’intérêt accru du public et de la recherche durant les deux dernières décennies pour le phénomène des jeunes de la rue, certains aspects de leurs réalités sont encore peu examinés et mal connus. L’un de ces aspects concerne la parentalité. Pour mieux comprendre les besoins des jeunes en situation de rue qui sont parents ou en voie de l’être et comprendre dans quelle mesure un service s’adressant spécifiquement à eux arrive à y répondre, cette étude a cherché à décrire et comprendre l’expérience d’utilisation du Service à la famille de l’organisme Dans la rue, telle que vécue par des jeunes qui s’y sont adressés. Plus précisément, les objectifs étaient de : situer le Service à la famille dans la démarche de recherche d’aide des jeunes; comprendre ce qui amène un jeune à utiliser le Service à la famille et les activités qui y sont offertes; décrire l’expérience d’utilisation du service; connaître la perception qu’en ont les jeunes; et estimer leur appréciation du service. Pour ce faire, des entrevues semi-dirigées par téléphone ont eu lieu avec neuf jeunes ayant eu un suivi au Service à la famille, au cours desquelles certains thèmes ont été explorés : la recherche d’aide en lien avec la situation parentale, l’expérience d’utilisation des services et des activités du Service à la famille, le portrait de celui-ci, et la satisfaction à son égard. Au moment de l’entrevue, tous les jeunes étaient parents d’au moins un enfant et la majorité d’entre eux avait fait appel au Service à la famille la première fois durant la grossesse pour de l’aide sous diverses formes en rapport à celle-ci. Des besoins de divers ordres ont amené les jeunes à faire appel au Service à la famille. Ceux-ci pouvaient être comblés, mais pas nécessairement toujours, par le biais des rencontres avec les intervenantes du Service à la famille et par la participation aux activités de groupe offertes par la ressource et, par ailleurs, pouvaient concorder avec les objectifs d’intervention explicites du service. Dans l’ensemble, les entrevues suggèrent que les jeunes perçoivent le Service à la famille et, plus précisément, les intervenantes qui y travaillent, d’un œil favorable. Les interviewés formulent en effet une appréciation positive sur un bon nombre d’éléments se rapportant à leur expérience d’utilisation de la ressource. Des jeunes perçoivent néanmoins des limites dans la capacité du Service à la famille à fournir l’aide attendue, notamment des restrictions budgétaires et une surcharge de travail des intervenantes liée à une forte demande de services. Même si les jeunes n’ont pas nécessairement demandé de l’aide de la ressource dans l’optique de prévenir la violence familiale et la négligence, mandat premier du Service à la famille, une bonne part d’entre eux reconnaissent avoir reçu de l’aide utile à cet égard de la part des intervenantes, notamment lorsqu’ils ont rapporté avoir vécu des relations amoureuses teintées de violence conjugale. Ils reconnaissent également différentes façons par le biais desquelles les intervenantes les auraient encouragés à être bien et à prendre soin d’eux-mêmes afin de pouvoir bien s’occuper de leur(s) enfant(s). Tous les jeunes interviewés ont exprimé une satisfaction à l’égard du suivi reçu au Service à la famille et ils ont affirmé qu’ils le recommanderaient à d’autres personnes. L’approche d’intervention préconisée par la ressource est considérée comme un point fort dans la réponse aux besoins des jeunes. Cette approche aurait permis aux jeunes devenus parents d’être aidés en fonction de ce dont ils avaient besoin à un moment précis. L’un des aspects de l’utilisation du service qui gagneraient à être améliorés, aux yeux des jeunes, est l’accessibilité; l’aide dont les interviewés considéraient avoir besoin n’ayant pas toujours été à leur disposition alors qu’ils l’avaient demandée. Devant la perception d’un manque de disponibilité des intervenantes, des jeunes proposent des pistes d’amélioration qui permettraient à l’aide dispensée par le Service à la famille d’être plus accessible aux jeunes quand ils considèrent en avoir besoin. / Event though there has been an increased public and research interest in the street youth phenomenon in the past two decades, some aspects of their lives, one of them being parenthood, have not been yet thoroughly examined and therefore, remain unknown to a certain extent. In order to gain a better understanding of street youth’s needs related to becoming a parent, as well as an understanding of the extent to which a service specifically tailored for such a population manages to satisfy their needs, this study had the purpose of describing and understanding the service utilization experience of the Service à la famille from the Montreal street youth agency Dans la rue. More specifically, the objectives were to: gain an awareness and understanding of the persons and resources street youths who become parents turn to for help, and the significance of the Service à la famille among these resources; understand what brings a youth to the Service à la famille and what makes him or her use the services and activities offered; and finally, describe the perceptions and estimate the level of appreciation of the Service à la famille. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with nine youths who had used the Service à la famille and had had a follow-up. During the interview, the following themes were explored: help seeking related to becoming a parent, the utilization experience of the services and activities offered by the Service à la famille, the portrait of the service, and level of satisfaction regarding the service utilization experience. At the time of the interview, all youths were parents of at least one child, and the majority had first sought help at the Service à la famille during pregnancy to satisfy different needs related to becoming a parent. A variety of needs brought the youths to seek help at the Service à la famille. These needs could be satisfied, but not necessarily at all times, through meetings with the staff and participation in group activities offered by the service. At times, their needs corresponded to the explicit intervention goals of the service. In general, the interviews suggest that youths have a positive perception of the Service à la famille, and more precisely, of the staff. The interviewees named a considerable number of elements they appreciated from their service utilization experience. Youths nevertheless perceive limitations in the ability of the Service à la famille to give help, especially budgetary constraints and the staff’s workload related to high demand of services. Even though youths did not necessarily seek help from the service in order to prevent family violence or negligence, which is the mandate of the Service à la famille, much of them acknowledge having received valuable assistance in this regard on the part of the staff, especially when they reported having been in a violent intimate relationship. They also recognize different ways through which the staff encouraged them to feel good and take care of themselves in order to do the same with their child or children. All interviewees were satisfied with the follow-up they received from the Service à la famille and claimed they would recommend the service to others. The intervention approach advocated by the service is considered to be a strong element in responding appropriately to youths’ needs. This approach appears to have allowed youths who became parents to get the help they needed at a specific moment in time. According to youths, an aspect of service utilization which could be improved is access to help; since the help interviewees needed was not always available when they asked for it. Since youths perceive a lack of staff availability, they offer suggestions for improvement that would allow the aid supplied by the service to be more accessible to youths when they seek help.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive power of some demographic variables and ways of coping, social support and perceived stress level in predicting burnout and posttraumatic growth levels of parents who have a child with autism. Data was collected by administering a socio-demographic form and four self-report questionnaires. These were the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress Short Form (QRS), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). 136 adults representing 58 parent couples and 13 mothers and 7 fathers, with 71 mothers and 65 fathers who had a child with autism participated in this study. Data was collected in &Ouml / zel ilgi Special Education School, BariS Special Education School, Ankara University Center of Research for Children with Autism (O&Ccedil / EM), Bagcilar School for Children with Autism and Hacettepe University Child Psychiatry Clinic. The factor analysis of the MBI yielded two of the three factors of the original factor structure. The depersonalization factor was not found in this sample. It was found that, mothers were experiencing significantly higher emotional exhaustion than the fathers. The regression analysis results revealed that social support and problem solving/optimistic coping were significant predictors of posttraumatic growth among mothers. Social support, problem solving/optimistic coping, religiosity, age, years of marriage were the significant predictors of posttraumatic growth among fathers. Stress level was the only significant predictor of burnout and emotional exhaustion among mothers. Stress level was a significant predictor of both burnout and emotional exhaustion among fathers, but helplessness/self blaming approach was also a significant predictor of paternal burnout. Social support, problem solving/optimistic approach, and stress level were significant predictors of lack of personal accomplishment among mothers. Presence of a caregiver and helplessness/self blaming approach were the significant predictors of lack of personal accomplishment among fathers. The importance of the results for clinical interventions with parents and their shortcomings were discussed within the relevant literature.

The main purpose of the present study was to explore the relationships between vertical and horizontal individualism-collectivism, religiosity and parenting styles from perspective of parents and their children. It was also aimed to examine SES related differences and the differences between mothers, fathers, and their children in terms of the study variables. In addition, the differences between authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families in terms of vertical individualism (VI), horizontal individualism (HI), vertical collectivism (VC), horizontal collectivism (HC), and religiosity were investigated. For these purposes data were collected from 230 families including mother, father, and their young adult child &ndash / in the age range of 17-25-. Three participants from each family responded to similar measurement of the study variables, namely Vertical and Horizontal Individualism-Collectivism Scale, the Measurement of the Child Rearing Styles Scale, Religiosity Scale, and Demographic Information Form. According to the results, age, family income, VI, and VC for mothers and age, VI, and religiosity for fathers were significant predictors of parental control whereas education level, HI, HC, and VC for mothers and only VC for fathers were significant predictors of parental acceptance. The regression analyses for the child sample of the study indicated that the predictors of VI are education level and perceived parental control / the predictor of HC is perceived parental acceptance / the predictors of VC are perceived parental control and acceptance / the predictor of HI is gender / and the predictors of religiosity are family income and perceived parental control. Results also showed that there were significant differences as well as similarities between all considered groups. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of the related literature.

The dissertation thesis deals with the issue of registered partnership and with the attitudes of predominantly homosexual public to that institute, new from both social and legal perspective. The task of the delimitation of theoretical context is to state basic concepts related to the topic. That part deals further with registered partnership, its legal and social aspects in selected European Union countries. The research part includes processing and evaluation of data got by quantitative method of questioning, when opinions of homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual respondents on the current legal regulation of homosexual couples were ascertained with the help of anonymous questionnaire investigation. Also the method of qualitative research in form of group discussion was chosen for processing of the empirical part of the thesis. The goal of the thesis was to ascertain whether the legislation is convenient from the point of view of homosexual couples and whether there are not any forms of discrimination with regard to sexuality. The author deals marginally also the sphere of parenthood in the research part and ascertains whether more female or male couples live together. Last but not least she tries to outline the issue of discrimination. The thesis allows viewing the attitudes of heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual respondents to selected discrimination areas of this issue.