Thesis advisor: Ann Burgess / Child abuse and neglect in the United States is a highly sensitive issue. According to federal statistics, 1,640 children died from child abuse and neglect in the United States during the fiscal year 2012 (U.S. DHHS et al., 2013). There are multiple theories on how to prevent abuse and protect children from maltreatment. Experts in the field of child welfare believe a critical element in the prevention of child abuse and neglect is parenting education and support services for at-risk populations.The twofold purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a parenting education program offered at Saint Joseph Parenting Center (SJPC) in Stamford, CT in promoting positive parenting behaviors through parenting education and to assess the level of client satisfaction with the teachers, staff, and overall experience at SJPC. The study analyzed data from surveys given to SJPC clients between April 19, 2010 and February 13, 2013. The sample consisted of 63 registered clients who completed at least ten classes before February 13, 2013. All 63 clients completed the client survey after completing ten classes and 42 clients completed the same survey a second time after completing twenty classes. Results from frequency analysis of the data indicated a reported increase in positive parenting behaviors since beginning the program and a reported decrease in negative parenting behaviors. An analysis of variance failed to reveal a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the 10-class and 20-class surveys. Frequency analysis of the surveys indicated a positive review of the teachers, staff, and overall experience at SJPC by clients. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Nursing.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.

Parenting education, combined with adult basic education and early childhood education, makes the Even Start program a unified family literacy program which helps to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy. Research studies have shown that the Even Start program has positive effects on its participants. Even though some of the effects are not explicitly tied to parenting education, they are closely related to parenting education. This study investigated the effectiveness of parenting education as perceived by its participants. The purposes of this study were to identify Even Start program participants’ perceptions of parenting education, to explore issues related to parenting education, and to identify the impact of parenting education as perceived by the program participants. The interviewed parents considered parenting education an important component of the Even Start family literacy program. Findings in this study revealed how the participants used what they had learned in the parenting classes, incorporating their improved literacy skills to facilitate the growth of the whole family. According to the study participants, parenting classes provided a safe and comfortable environment for the parents to learn or validate their parenting practices, to identify themselves with each other, to build up a network of support system, and to practice their literacy skills in a context related to their everyday life. Since their participation in the parenting education, the study participants reported attainment of new insights about being a good parent, better communication with their children and other family members, improved education experience for their children, prolonged parenting values and practices, and improved family relationships. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecology model to look at the family literacy program, parenting education appeared to be the linkage between all components.

In the 2012 Families First Agenda, the Government of British Columbia outlined the provision of ‘evidence-based’ parenting information as part of its official commitment to support vulnerable families. This thesis investigates and analyzes the particular views and assumptions about parenting responsibility and child development in a selection of web-based parenting resources endorsed by the BC government. Study findings show that parenting education materials promote a universalized account of childrearing that privileges expert-driven knowledge, largely drawn from Euro-Western frameworks. The examined materials are also found to present a view of parents as responsible for monitoring and mitigating personal and environmental stressors. Discussion of these features considers the ways in which parenting education materials marginalize the knowledge and practices of diverse families, and conceal oppressive structures that perpetuate social and economic inequalities. Implications drawn from the findings contribute to a discussion of more inclusive and collaborative approaches to parenting support and education. / Graduate

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Carl Corter.

Tese (doutorado)-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Ambiental, Instituto de Educação, 2012. / Submitted by eloisa silva (eloisa1_silva@yahoo.com.br) on 2012-11-30T17:43:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 narjaragarcia 2012.pdf: 2721329 bytes, checksum: 2f4fe7c94679940da88170dab383dd82 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-11-30T17:43:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 narjaragarcia 2012.pdf: 2721329 bytes, checksum: 2f4fe7c94679940da88170dab383dd82 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Tendo em vista as problemáticas socioambientais que assolam a sociedade contemporânea torna-se cada vez mais relevante a formulação e realização de ações educativas com famílias, para que os vínculos de afeto e cuidado sejam fortalecidos entre as pessoas e destas com o ambiente. A educação nas famílias com foco no cuidado, na proteção e nos valores de preservação da vida pode contribuir para a formação de cidadãos mais conscientes e comprometidos com o ambiente. Tal proposição está diretamente relacionada com a perspectiva da Educação Ambiental, ao promover o cuidado nas relações com os outros seres vivos, humanos e não-humanos. As estratégias de intervenção em educação parental pressupõem o apoio e orientação de famílias para a qualidade das práticas e interações de educação e cuidado presentes no ambiente familiar. Estas ações ainda são escassas e realizadas de forma assistemática no Brasil. Diante desta realidade, foi elaborado o projeto de tese no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Ambiental, na linha da Educação Ambiental não formal, tendo como temática o estudo das estratégias e abordagens metodológicas de educação parental e suas interfaces com a educação ambiental. O estudo teve como objetivos realizar o programa “Crescer Felizes em Família” no Brasil e acompanhar o programa “Mais Família” em Portugal, para investigar, compreender e refletir sobre as estratégias que constituem os processos envolvidos na aplicação de programas de Educação Parental. A metodologia escolhida para este estudo foi a “Inserção Ecológica” que propõe a imersão dos pesquisadores nos ambientes a serem estudados, tendo como procedimentos de coleta de dados: observação naturalista e participante, questionários estruturados, entrevistas. Para análise dos dados foram utilizados o SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) e Grounded-theory. Os resultados da avaliação das estratégias apontam que é preciso considerar os seguintes componentes na aplicação dos programas: a dinâmica de funcionamento da proposta, os facilitadores para a realização do programa e a satisfação e o impacto do mesmo na perspectiva da equipe de educadores e das famílias participantes. A análise comparativa dos programas apontou similitudes e diferenças nas condições socioculturais e organizacionais na aplicação da proposta educativa. Os programas estudados apresentaram os objetivos próximos com abordagens teórico-metodológicas diferenciadas. Foram identificadas condições necessárias para adaptação dos programas de educação parental internacionais em contexto brasileiro, com destaque para os seguintes pontos: a elaboração dos mecanismos de divulgação da proposta para a melhor compreensão e adesão das famílias ao programa; a integração das ações em educação parental às políticas públicas municipais; a garantia do suporte dos profissionais que integram os serviços sociais e o auxílio na logística de implementação do programa. A promoção da participação comunitária das famílias, a abordagem sistêmica da proposta educativa e o uso de metodologias que tenham como base o diálogo e o respeito às diferenças foram ressaltadas como características dos programas de educação parental e mostram-se consistentes com os princípios da Educação Ambiental. Portanto, a proposição de programas de educação parental requer que sejam consideradas as condições socioculturais típicas de cada contexto atreladas à inserção dos projetos em políticas públicas municipais que devem defender o direito que todos os pais, mães e cuidadores têm a este apoio social e educativo. / Taking into account the socioenvironmental problems which are endangering in contemporaneous societies it has become increasingly more relevant to develop and implement educational activities with families in ways to promote affection and caring ties among individuals and between themselves and their environment. Family education focusing care, protection and life preservation values may contribute to the upbringing of environmentally conscious and engaged citizens. Such an assumption is directly linked to the Environmental Education approach and to the enhancement of care into relationships with other human and non-human beings. Intervention methodologies in parenting education entail support and guidance to families aiming the improvement of educational practices, activities and parent-child interactions and parental responsiveness in the family context. These initiatives are still scarce and carried out in rather non systematically ways in Brazil. Accounting for this reality, we conceptualized the project of this dissertation in the Postgraduate program of Environmental Education, in the strand of Informal Environmental Education, embracing the study of methodologies for parenting education and its interfaces with environmental education. The study had the goal of implementing the program “Growing Happily in Family” in Brazil and monitoring the program “Mais Família” (More Family) in Portugal with the aim of investigating, understanding and reflecting about the methodologies which are involved in these parenting education programs. The chosen method for the study was the “Ecologial Engagement” (Inserção Ecológica) which leads the researchers to “go deep” into the context under investigation, while undertaking the data collection using naturalist and participant observations, structured questionnaires and interviews. For the analyses, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used and performed through SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and the Grounded-theory. The results evidenced the need to consider the following components in the program implementation: the dynamics of program functioning, the characteristics of facilitators who implement the sessions and the team and participants’ satisfaction with the program and its impact for the families and professionals. Between programs, a comparative analysis points out somesimilarities and differences on the sociocultural and organizational settings, which are embedded in the educational programs. The investigated programs presented goals which are closely related to different theoretical and methodological approaches. A set of approaches were identified regarding how to adapt international programs of parenting education to the Brazilian cultural context, among which we highlight the following elements: the formulation of mechanisms for program dissemination that increase the family understanding about the specificities of these programs and improve the family recruitment levels; the coordination of parenting education programs with social policies at a local level, the guarantee of support from professionals in social services and the logistic resources that enhance the family participation while the program is implemented. The promotion of family participation at a community level, the ecological systemic framework that underpins content and the use of methodologies that foster dialogue and respect for differences were evaluated as important characteristics of parent education programs, and showed to be consistent with the basic principles of Environmental Education. Therefore, the proposals of family social programs need to consider the sociocultural conditions that are singular of each context linked to the insertion of the projects in the local public policies which should defend the rights that all fathers, mothers and caretakers have to get this social and educational support.

Parents’ new dating relationships after divorce are stressful to both parents and children, particularly when this relationship transition is quickly followed by divorce before family members adjust to new changes. Although parents’ new relationships and dating information are considered to occur at some point, relatively little is known about how divorced parents decide when, how much, and what to share with children. Guided by communication privacy management theory (CPM; Petronio, 2010), we explored if divorced parents’ perceived benefits and risks are associated with the timing of dating disclosures and introduction of new dating partners. Findings suggest that the timing of disclosures and introduction of parents’ dating partners are likely to be affected by parents’ evaluation of possible outcomes. Implications will be discussed. Objectives - To examine the association of divorced parents’ perceived benefits and risks of dating with the timing of dating disclosures. - To examine the association of divorced parents/ perceived benefits and risks of dating and the timing of when new dating partners are introduced to children. - To explore divorced parents’ perceived benefits and risks of dating.

The present study examined the efficacy of two parent training programs in reducing perceived parental stress in a sample of Spanish speaking migrant farmworkers of Hispanic origin. Sixty-eight Spanish-speaking mothers, referred for parenting classes because one of their children was experiencing behavioral or emotional difficulties, were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (1) 1-2-3 Magic, a behaviorally-based program; (2) Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP), an Adlerian-based program; (3) attention-placebo condition; and, (4) wait-list control group. All treatment conditions were presented in Spanish, and offered at convenient times and locations for participants. Parental stress was measured with the Spanish version of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF), using the Total Stress Score, and the three subscale scores: Parental Distress Score, Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction Score, and Difficult Child Score. Assessments were completed at pretest, posttest, and at a three-month follow-up. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance on the dependent measures revealed significant differences for groups across the three assessment periods. Subsequent analyses indicated that the behaviorally-based program produced significantly greater reductions on the Total Stress Score and Parental Distress Score at posttest and follow-up than the Adlerian program, the attention-placebo group, and the wait-list group. The behaviorally-based program was also more effective in reducing parent-child dysfunctional interaction than the attention-placebo group at posttest and follow-up, and the wait-list control group at follow-up, but not in comparison to the Adlerian program. These results lend support for behaviorally-based parent training in reducing perceived parental stress in this migrant farmworker population. To ensure treatment integrity, a parent trainer validity check was used in which expert parent educators rated randomly selected videotaped segments of each parent training session on five criteria. Statistical analysis of treatment validity revealed no significant differences in mean scores of expert raters across parenting groups, suggesting that the parent trainer behaved consistently on the criteria across all treatment conditions. The results are also discussed in relation to the literature on parent training. In addition, the limitations of the present study, as well as future directions for research are discussed.