Thesis (Ed. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Carolyn L. Piazza, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Childhood Education, Reading, and Disability Services. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 205 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1999. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 27, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Kenneth F. Jerich (chair), Guda Gayle-Evans, Larry McNeal, Wayne Benenson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-139) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Howard Goldstein, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication Disorders. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 129 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-192).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Feb. 17, 2009). PDF text: vi, 199 p. : ill. ; 6 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3325855. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between frequent childhood mobility and perceived social support, education level, and economic well-being in a sample of former Even Start parents. Theoretically the mechanisms for the disruption of frequent mobility are studied through both social capital theory and an ecological model. As individuals are uprooted and moved from one environment to the next they are faced with the developmental challenge of continuous adaptation. With each move losses of social capital at the individual, family, and community level are experienced. The most striking factor about the results of the qualitative analysis is the parallel it finds to previous quantitative studies on the outcomes and risk factors of frequent mobility. The participants who experienced frequent mobility in childhood described lives that were chaotic and uncertain. Frequent childhood mobility was directly mentioned by several of the participants as a factor increasing hardship in their lives, associated with participants' retrospective accounts of their poverty status in childhood and their economic status at the time of the interviews. A lack of significant parental social support in the group experiencing high childhood mobility, and its presence in the low childhood mobility group suggests the disruption frequent childhood mobility may cause in the ability of this group to obtain needed parental social support. In a population where risk factors are already present frequent childhood mobility seems to be a key factor in further reducing life chances. / Graduation date: 2004

No description available.

In the United States, political and social attention to child health care remains insufficient, as it has for decades, especially that which serves the needs of low-income families. In response to this widespread negligence, many communities around the country have developed innovative programs to meet the needs of disadvantaged infants and children. That need for coordinated health services exists among poor children in the Roanoke Valley. The local solution has developed since 1988 as the Children's Health Investment Project (CHIP). This thesis explores, from a geographic perspective, how the relationship between enrolled families and their providers affects attitudes and perceptions toward health care services made available through CHIP. Also, the implications of the current spatial distribution of CHIP participants are examined for geographic relevance. / M.S.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the learning practice construction of selective poor learners in their rural workers class context. The construction of learners’ learning practices in their neighbourhood context is a complex process of confluence, and largely depends on their context-specific perceptions and conceptualisation. In the South African educational environment, learners’ academic achievement is generally seen as a barometer of the quality of education in schools. From a sociological perspective, this study focuses on how high-school learners in a working-class neighbourhood construct their learning practice amidst their particular community dynamics. The study uses the analytical lens of space in order to investigate the underlying relationship between youth development and the youths’ construction of their learning practices in their neighbourhood context. It emphasises learners’ life experiences in their residential space (the neighbourhood) in the construction of their learning practices. This is an important focus in order to explore the dynamic relationship between learners’ spatial living dynamics and how they navigate within their neighbourhood in order to construct their learning practices. The study focuses on how the students experience the neighbourhood in relation to their learning practices, and how these aspects manifest in the shaping of their learning practices. Also key to the study is the learners’ socialisation processes with regard to their learning practices. Qualitative research instruments, such as field notes, participatory and non-participatory observations as well as formal and informal interviews, were used to answer the research question and achieve the research objectives of the thesis. The findings are presented in narrative format according to relevant themes, and are also analysed on a narrative basis. The study’s primary point of departure is that there is a unique relationship between these learners’ living contexts and how they construct and position their learning practices within this context. I place this study within the qualitative interpretative paradigm, as I attempt to describe and understand how these learners [un]consciously draw from practices and interactions in their living context to shape their lerning practices. Qualitative research instruments, such as field notes, participatory and non-participatory observations as well as formal and informal interviews, were used to answer the research question and achieve the research objectives of the thesis. The findings are presented in narrative format according to relevant themes, and are also analysed on a narrative basis. The research shows how the students – based on their own resources, networks and interactions as well as their own agency – position themselves in relation to their learning practices in order to construct their learning practices. In this way, the study reveals how the participating learners draw from the practices out of their doxa and habituated dispositions to construct their emergent learning practices in their living spaces (neighbourhood) – in order to give content to their learning practices. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie fokus op die leerpraktykkonstruering van geselekteerde arm leerders in hulle landelike werkersklaskonteks. Leerders se leerpraktykkonstruering in hul woonbuurtkonteks is ʼn komplekse proses van samevloeiing, en hang grootliks van hul konteks spesifieke opvattings en konseptualisering af. Opvoedkundige navorsing in Suid-Afrika sentreer hoofsaaklik rondom onuitgedaagde pedagogiese benaderings wat werkersklasleerders se leervermoëns as problematies sien. Uit ʼn sosiologiese perspektief konsentreer hierdie studie op hoe hoërskoolleerders in ʼn werkersklaswoonbuurt hul leerpraktyke konstrueer te midde van hul besondere gemeenskapsdinamiek. Die studie gebruik die analitiese lens van ruimte ten einde ondersoek in te stel na die onderliggende verwantskap tussen jeugwording en die jongmense se leerpraktykkonstruering in hul woonbuurtkonteks vas te vang. Die klem val op die leerders se lewenservarings in hul omgewingsruimte (die woonbuurt) ter vorming van hul leerpraktyke. Dit is ʼn belangrike fokuspunt ten einde die dinamiese verwantskap te ondersoek tussen leerders se ruimtelike leefdinamiek en hoe hulle daarin hul weg baan ten einde aan hul leerpraktyke gestalte te gee hoe sodanige konstruksies verstaan moet word. Die studie fokus op hoe die leerders die omgewing ervaar met betrekking tot hul leerpraktyke, en hoe hierdie ervarings geopenbaar word in die vorming van sodanige leerpraktyke. Sleutel tot die studie is die leerders se sosialisering prosesse met betrekking tot hul leerpraktyke. Die studie se primêre uitgangspunt is dat daar ’n unieke verhouding is tussen hierdie leerders se beleefde konteks en hoe hulle hul leerpraktyke bou en posisioneer binne hierdie konteks. Ek plaas die studie binne die kwalitatiewe interpretatiewe paradigma, soos ek probeer om te beskryf en te verstaan hoe hierdie leerders [on]bewustelik en by wyse hul interaksies in hul beleefde kontekste betrokke raak in die vorming van hul leerpraktyke. Kwalitatiewe navorsing instrumente, soos veldnotas, deelnemende en nie-deelnemende waarnemings, sowel as formele en informele onderhoude, word gebruik om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord ten einde die doelwitte van die studie te bereik. Die bevindinge gaan in verhalende-formaat aangebied word volgens die relevante temas, en word ook op ’n narratiewe wyse ontleed. Die navorsing toon hoe die leerders op grond van hul hulpbronne, netwerke en interaksies sowel as hul eie agentskap – hul leerpraktyke posisionering en bou. Op hierdie manier poog die studie om te toon hoe die deelnemende leerders by wyse van aspekte uit hul woonbuurtpraktyke gestalte te gee aan hul leerpraktyke.

Background: In high-income countries, parenting programmes have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of child maltreatment. However, there is limited evidence of their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. This thesis focuses on the development and pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a parenting programme to reduce the risk of child maltreatment in low-income families with young children in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods: This thesis is comprised of three studies submitted as papers for publication. The first study focused on the development of an evidence-informed, locally relevant parenting programme for families with children aged three to eight years in Cape Town, South Africa. Intervention development took place over three stages: (a) identification of core intervention components common in evidence-based parenting programmes; (b) formative evaluation using qualitative in-depth interviews and semi-structured focus groups with South African practitioners and low-income parents; and (c) integration of evidence-based approaches and local contextual issues to develop the intervention structure, protocols, and manual. The second study used a pilot RCT (N = 68 parent-child dyads) to examine the evaluation feasibility and initial effects of the parenting programme developed during the first study in Cape Town - the Sinovuyo Caring Families Programme. Parents of children aged three to eight years with clinical levels of parent-reported child behaviour problems were randomly allocated to either a 12-session, group-based parenting programme or a wait-list control group. Primary outcomes included parent-report and observational assessments of positive parenting, harsh parenting, and child behaviour problems; secondary outcomes included parent-report of parent depression, parenting stress, and social support. Assessments occurred at baseline and immediate post-test (i.e., 3-months after baseline). The third study was a mixed-methods process evaluation assessing the feasibility of the parenting programme based on three theoretical dimensions: participation, implementation, and acceptability. Quantitative data included attendance registers, fidelity checklists, satisfaction surveys, and parent-report of engagement in home practice activities. Qualitative data included post-programme focus groups with community facilitators (n = 8), individual interviews with a randomly selected group of parents (n = 15), transcripts from parenting sessions, and minutes from supervision sessions with facilitators. Results: In the first study, the formative evaluation suggested that many evidence-based parenting programme components and approaches were compatible with the local cultural context. These included managing child behaviour problems, learning effective discipline strategies, building positive parent-child relationships, and reducing parenting stress. Findings also suggested that programmes may benefit from including additional content on keeping children safe in violent communities, communicating about HIV/AIDS and poverty, involving fathers and alternative caregivers, and incorporating cultural values of social responsibility and respect. The pilot RCT in the second study showed high levels of study recruitment and retention, outcome measurement reliability and response rates, and a minimal effect of clustering due to delivering the intervention in groups of parents. Analyses showed moderate intervention effects for parent-report of increased positive parenting and observations of improved child-led play. However, observational assessments also found reduced frequency of positive child behaviour in the treatment group in comparison to controls. In the third study, quantitative results showed high levels of programme acceptability, implementation, and participation. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified seven themes related to feasibility: (a) receptivity to strengthening existing parenting practices, (b) initial resistance to new parenting skills, (c) contextualising content within a cultural framework, (d) reinforcing implementation fidelity and improving quality of delivery, (e) challenges delivering content on nonviolent discipline, (f) supporting participant involvement, and (g) engagement in a collaborative learning approach. Conclusion: This thesis is the first in sub-Saharan Africa to use a systematic approach to develop and rigorously pilot a parenting programme to reduce the risk of maltreatment against young children in low-resource settings. Initial results indicate that a parenting programme derived from evidence-based approaches is feasible, culturally acceptable, and has the potential to reduce the risk of child maltreatment by improving positive parenting behaviour. Further intervention development and testing is necessary to strengthen core programme components and determine programme effectiveness.