Children and the youth account for over 50% of the South African population of approximately 44 million. The majority of these children are raised in poverty and are therefore subjected to various forms of violence and abuse. As a result, many of these children are placed in foster care. Foster care, which is defined by Herbst and Muller (2001:1) as being “any kind of long term or short term substitute care of children outside their homes by persons other than their own parents”, has its own problems, of which the breakdown of placements is but one. To determine which factors possibly contribute to the breakdown of placements, a qualitative study with a descriptive research design was undertaken. Separate self-developed questionnaires were used as instruments for data collection; the one was used for the foster parents and the other for the foster children. Ten children and ten foster parents were interviewed. The study was conducted in Daveyton, with the assistance of the Benoni Child and Family Welfare Society. It is evident from the study that in foster care, children of all ages are vulnerable to placement instability that often results in the breakdown of the placements. The study also indicates that problems such as poor communication, lack of social work supervision and unresolved problems between foster children and foster parents play a major role in the breakdown of the placements. It also appears that foster children experience more problems with foster families than with foster parents. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations for social work practice and future research that will contribute towards maintaining stability of foster placements are made. / Dr. E. Oliphant

"At present, the actual placing of a child in the home is the only real test of whether this home has use for the agency. This seems to social workers to be a risky method. Through analysis of factors involved in success and failure, we may be able to further eliminate some of the element of chance which we now face. There has been comparatively little work done in this area. Through this study it is hoped that caseworkers will become more familiar with some of the factors which seem to operate in success and failures. It is also hoped that by pointing out some of the dynamics behind failure, caseworkers will be aided in the home study process. The tentative conclusions reached in this paper may provide basis for further study"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "May, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Margaret B. Bailey, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 54).

by Tsang Yin-Ping Kitty. / Bibliography: leaves 160-168 / Thesis (M.S.W.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong

Thesis (PhD ) - Open University. BLDSC no.DXN054620.

L'identification des facteurs predictifs de la reunification familiale des adolescents places represente un prealable a une pratique plus efficace. Cette etude exploratoire consiste en une analyse des dossiers de 102 adolescents places dans une ressource de readaptation du CJM-IU. L'echantillon est compose de deux groupes: un groupe d'adolescents reunifies (n=51) et un groupe d'adolescents non reunifies (n=51). Elle poursuit trois objectifs: definir le portrait des adolescents; explorer et identifier les facteurs associes a la reunification familiale; elaborer un modele de facteurs qui predit la reunification familiale d'un adolescent. En concordance avec la litterature et le cadre ecosystemique de l'etude, cinq categories de facteurs sont analysees: les facteurs lies a l'adolescent, aux parents, a la famille et a l'environnement, a l'intervention et a l'histoire et aux conditions de placement. / Les resultats demontrent que c'est davantage au plan des facteurs lies a l'intervention, a l'histoire et aux conditions de placement que des differences entre les adolescents reunifies et les adolescents non reunifies s'observent. Les analyses de regression logistique ont conduit a l'elaboration de deux modeles de prediction de la reunification familiale. Le premier modele revele une combinaison de cinq facteurs: la duree du placement, la possibilite de sortie dans le milieu familial, le nombre d'episodes de placement, l'origine ethnoculturelle et la presence d'un suivi concurrent ou consecutif en LPJ et LJC. Ce modele comporte une limite puisqu'il considere seulement les facteurs sans donnee manquante. Le second modele, elabore a partir de tous les facteurs, revele une configuration de trois facteurs: l'implication parentale, l'origine ethnoculturelle et l'ambivalence de la mere. Au plan de la recherche, ces resultats demontrent la necessite de poursuivre les travaux, en conduisant des etudes longitudinales, employant l'analyse de survie; en interrogeant directement les acteurs impliques; et en explorant la relation d'association entre l'origine ethnoculturelle et la reunification familiale. Au plan de l'intervention, ces resultats soutiennent la necessite de systematiser la pratique de la reunification familiale; consolider le reseau familial du jeune; developper des programmes de reunification familiale; revoir les modalites d'organisation des ressources d'hebergement; et diversifier l'offre de services.

Decisions made in Youth Protection cases are influenced by many different factors that have been outlined in previous research. Assessment tools, definitions of risk and the overarching cultural milieu intermingle to inform the decision-making process and, ultimately the final decision. This research seeks to explore the factors that affect the decision-making process and is intended to build on previous research. By qualitatively analyzing the transcripts from actual decision-making meetings, and talking to the participants about their experiences within the research it was shown that the decision-making process is a complicated one. The roles of the participants within the organization along with the pervasive culture of blame within society seem to primarily affect the dynamics of the people responsible for making the decisions. The effect that these factors have on the actual decision was not studied but would be beneficial to examine. Workers within the organization, especially caseworkers, struggled with wanting more autonomy while simultaneously reported not wanting the responsibility that coincides with it. It is felt that more responsibility would ultimately mean more possibility of blame.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (p. vii-xvi).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-94).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-101). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.