Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2006. / Thesis directed by John G. Borkowski for the Department of Psychology. "April 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-72).

Thesis (PhD--Anthropology)--University of Auckland, 2007.

M.Ed. (Education and Curriculum Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / "Change" is a concept that our society is daily confronted by. These changes bring new demands for both parents and child in education. It is therefore necessary that adaptation be made to the traditional educational practices in order to meet the current demands. Research by Gottman (1997:30) has found that a strong emotional bond between parent and child is an answer for the current demands. This study looks at the changes that have taken place in our society in the last couple of years. The effect of the changing society on Afrikaans toddler parents' parenting style and what is needed to equip toddlers better in the future, is investigated. Against this background the following research questions are asked: What is the influence of the changing society on Afrikaans toddler parents' parenting style? - Which parent styles do Afrikaans toddler parents currently makes use of? What role does "emotion coaching" play in Afrikaans toddler parents' parenting style? A literature study was carried out to portray the main changes that society is confronted by. Attention was given to the characteristics of the toddler period. The concept of emotional intelligence was discussed and different parenting styles were looked at. Special emphasis was placed on Gottman's parenting styles, which mainly has bearing on the way a parent deals with their child's emotions. This is a qualitative, therefore exploratory and descriptive study which aims to give insight into the parenting style of modern Afrikaans' toddler parents in an urban context. Data was collected by making use of a literature study, focus group interviews and by selfevaluation questionnaires. The gathered data was arranged by using an inductive and descriptive method of analyzing the data.

D.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

[No abstract submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to define the patterns of socialization on a contemporary Indian Reserve and to show how these patterns relate to other aspects of the society in which they operate. In particular, our aim was to assess whether the patterns of child rearing could be expected to produce individuals prepared to fulfil adult role requirements, or whether discontinuities existed between child-rearing practices and adult role expectations. In order to fulfil this aim, two categories of data were collected, one pertaining to the many facets of adult life, and the other to the training of children. These data are presented in the form of a fairly extensive ethnography with a focus on child-rearing practices. The most significant, and the most extensively employed method of investigation was participant observation. Both adults and children were observed in as many situations as possible. Interviewing took the form of informal conversation. Only two aspects of data collection assumed any degree of formality. These were the recording of genealogies and of general census information such as the sex, age, education, and employment of household members. During census interviews, mental notes were taken of the physical surroundings. In particular, the number, size, and functions of rooms, and the amount, condition, and functions of furniture and appliances were noted. An analytical tool was devised to assist in the organization and analysis of the ethnographic data, according to the research aims presented above. This theoretical framework was based on those presented in works by J.W.M. Whiting and B.B. Whiting. Essentially, the data were categorized into manageable segments labelled Ecology, Maintenance Systems (including Economy, Social Structure, and Political Structure), Adult Personality, Adult Behavior, Projective Systems (including Religion and the Supernatural, and Medical Practices), Child-Rearing Practices, Child Personality, and Child Behavior. The data were presented under these headings and then the relationships between the categories of data were analyzed, the continuities and discontinuities between child-rearing practices and each of the other data categories being particularly noted. The conclusions were briefly as follows: In the Maintenance System -- Economy, Child-Rearing Practices were found to be consistent with traditional economic practices. Inconsistencies and discontinuities were evident, however, between child-rearing practices and modern economic role expectations. These present-day expectations included the roles of wage-earner and of Band administrator. The patterns of formal education were also found to be discontinuous with the roles which children would be required to fulfil as adults. Although changes were found to be occurring in education patterns, they appeared to emanate from the children themselves, manifesting in adolescence; new educational goals were not seen to be stressed in child training. In the Social Structure, it was found that child training was not adequately preparing the young for meeting and relating to non-kin; here again there were inconsistencies between child-rearing practices and adult role requirements. It was found, however, that consistent changes were occurring in kinship terminology in response to changing ideas and attitudes regarding courtship and marriage customs; these changing attitudes were being incorporated into patterns of child rearing. In the Political Structure, it was found that child-rearing practices in no way prepare children for future roles as Band leaders. However, the adult leaders appear to cope admirably and perhaps no special preparation is necessary. Only independence training appeared to present problems in the political sphere, where teamwork is essential. One aspect of child training, discipline, was examined in detail; its interrelationships with each category of data were discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Clinical child psychology supposedly bridges the gap between clinical and developmental psychology. Nonetheless, there has been a dearth of communication between the two disciplines. For example, there have been no investigations as to whether various behavioral parenting techniques are differentially effective with children of different ages or whether the developmental literature on the use of rationales and modeling with children might be relevant for behavioral parent training. The purpose of this study was to examine whether maternal use of an extinction (ignoring) procedure was differentially effective depending upon the age of the child and whether its effectiveness could be enhanced by the use of verbal rationales and/or modeling procedures. Experimental sessions took place in a laboratory playroom where the mother issued a set of 20 standard commands to the child. Eighty mother-child pairs were recruited through advertisement and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: Ignoring (mothers implemented an ignoring procedure contingent upon child noncompliance), Rationale (in addition to the above, mothers provided the children with a standardized verbal rationale prior to the session), Modeling (in addition to the ignoring procedure and the rationale, mothers demonstrated the procedure to the child prior to the session), and Control (no consequences for noncompliance). Children were from one of two age ranges: 3-4% years or 5%-7% years. Observational measures of child behavior included initiated compliance (within 5 seconds), completed compliance (within 1 minute), and inappropriate behavior (whining, crying, etc.)- Interobserver agreement was at least 8770 for each behavior. A Parental Satisfaction Questionnaire was developed to assess the social validity of the various procedures. Data were analyzed by analyses of variance. With respect to both measures of compliance, children in the Rationale and Modeling groups were more compliant than children in the Control or Ignoring groups. Older children were more compliant than younger children, regardless of group. With respect to inappropriate behavior, children in the Ignoring group were significantly more inappropriate than children in the other three groups. There were no systematic effects of age. On the Parental Satisfaction Questionnaire, mothers in the Rationale and Modeling Groups were more satisfied with the parenting procedure than mothers in the Ignoring group. These results indicate that having parents provide a verbal rationale and/or model ignoring prior to its use enhances child compliance to maternal commands, reduces the extinction burst phenomenon associated with ignoring, and enhances parental satisfaction with the ignoring procedure. The procedures were equally effective with children of different ages. More generally, the results indicate the relevance of empirical research in developmental psychology for enhancing the effects of child behavior therapy. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study shall be to determine whether or not any relationship exists between child-rearing attitudes of parents and anxiety in their children. Not only will the attitudes of the mothers be concerned, but also those of the fathers.