As the number of social media platforms on the market is continuously increasing, concerns and questions about their effects on mental health are also rising. The current study explored the relationship between the problematic use of social media, the absent-minded scrolling behavior, and levels of anxiety. One hundred and fifty-four participants were given an online questionnaire to assess their manners of social media use focusing on the social media scrolling experience and self-reported anxiety levels using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment tool (GAD-7). There were strong and positive relationships between the problematic use of social media platforms and the absent-minded scrolling behavior, with a statistically significant relationship with levels of anxiety. Results indicated that social media scrolling is becoming a problematic habit that helps users escape their reality and avoid problems.

A presente tese tem como tema a Ficha de Comunicação de Aluno Infrequente (FICAI). O objetivo é indicar como ela age enquanto tecnologia, as articulações e condições necessárias para seu surgimento e as controvérsias presentes no momento da sua implementação, bem como problematizar a questão da judicialização. Para tanto, utilizaram-se múltiplas fontes de dados e diferentes procedimentos metodológicos. Foram realizadas entrevistas com representantes da Secretaria de Educação de Porto Alegre, do Ministério Público e do Conselho Municipal de Educação de Porto Alegre, que também disponibilizaram esclarecimentos e forneceram materiais para estudo. Além das entrevistas e da consulta a documentos oficiais, realizou-se pesquisa sobre a temática da infrequência escolar no acervo de notícias do jornal Zero Hora e nos processos disponíveis no site do Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul. Quanto aos resultados, o percurso permitiu tomar a FICAI como uma tecnologia capaz de forjar o aluno infrequente como produto de múltiplas tensões, em um campo de forças heterogêneo, que compreende uma rede de articulações de interesses de gestão (de recursos, de mentalidades e de indicadores) Se torna evidente que a FICAI opera como uma tecnologia em diferentes modulações de gestão e que produz acumulação, beligerância, notícias, sendo constantemente questionada pela sua não resolubilidade, sofrendo atualizações e novas versões a fim de se tornar mais efetiva. É viável e durável, principalmente pela atuação do Ministério Público, que age desde a sua concepção na sensibilização dos atores envolvidos, na criação de redes de apoio, no controle dos indicadores, na elaboração de orientações, na mediação das controvérsias, em um trabalho eminentemente de caráter extrajudicial. Quanto à judicialização, pode-se identificar que as ações ajuizadas pelo Ministério Público não têm obtido provimento no Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul. / The present thesis has as its theme the Absent Student Communication Form (FICAI). The objective is to indicate how it acts as technology, the articulations and conditions necessary for its emergence, some controversies present at the time of its implementation, as well as to inquire about the question of judicialization. In order to do so, multiple sources of data were used and different methodological procedures were undertaken. Interviews were conducted with representatives of the Education Department of Porto Alegre, the Public Ministry and the Porto Alegre Council of Education, that also provided explanations and materials for study. In addition to the interviews and consultation of official documents, research on the subject of school absence was carried out in the Zero Hora news archive and in the proceedings available on the website of the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul. Regarding the results, the study allowed to conceive of FICAI as a technology capable of forging the absent student as a product of multiple tensions in a heterogeneous field of forces that comprises a network of articulations of management interests (resources, mentalities and indicators). It becomes evident that FICAI operates as a technology in different management modulations and that it produces accumulation, belligerence, news, being constantly questioned by its non resolvability, suffering updates and new versions in order to become more effective. It is viable and durable, mainly by the Public Prosecution Service, which acts from its conception in sensitizing the actors involved, creating support networks, controlling the indicators, developing guidelines, mediating disputes, in a work that can be characterized as eminently extrajudicial. As for the judicialization, it can be identified that the lawsuits filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office have not been upheld in the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul.

A presente tese tem como tema a Ficha de Comunicação de Aluno Infrequente (FICAI). O objetivo é indicar como ela age enquanto tecnologia, as articulações e condições necessárias para seu surgimento e as controvérsias presentes no momento da sua implementação, bem como problematizar a questão da judicialização. Para tanto, utilizaram-se múltiplas fontes de dados e diferentes procedimentos metodológicos. Foram realizadas entrevistas com representantes da Secretaria de Educação de Porto Alegre, do Ministério Público e do Conselho Municipal de Educação de Porto Alegre, que também disponibilizaram esclarecimentos e forneceram materiais para estudo. Além das entrevistas e da consulta a documentos oficiais, realizou-se pesquisa sobre a temática da infrequência escolar no acervo de notícias do jornal Zero Hora e nos processos disponíveis no site do Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul. Quanto aos resultados, o percurso permitiu tomar a FICAI como uma tecnologia capaz de forjar o aluno infrequente como produto de múltiplas tensões, em um campo de forças heterogêneo, que compreende uma rede de articulações de interesses de gestão (de recursos, de mentalidades e de indicadores) Se torna evidente que a FICAI opera como uma tecnologia em diferentes modulações de gestão e que produz acumulação, beligerância, notícias, sendo constantemente questionada pela sua não resolubilidade, sofrendo atualizações e novas versões a fim de se tornar mais efetiva. É viável e durável, principalmente pela atuação do Ministério Público, que age desde a sua concepção na sensibilização dos atores envolvidos, na criação de redes de apoio, no controle dos indicadores, na elaboração de orientações, na mediação das controvérsias, em um trabalho eminentemente de caráter extrajudicial. Quanto à judicialização, pode-se identificar que as ações ajuizadas pelo Ministério Público não têm obtido provimento no Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul. / The present thesis has as its theme the Absent Student Communication Form (FICAI). The objective is to indicate how it acts as technology, the articulations and conditions necessary for its emergence, some controversies present at the time of its implementation, as well as to inquire about the question of judicialization. In order to do so, multiple sources of data were used and different methodological procedures were undertaken. Interviews were conducted with representatives of the Education Department of Porto Alegre, the Public Ministry and the Porto Alegre Council of Education, that also provided explanations and materials for study. In addition to the interviews and consultation of official documents, research on the subject of school absence was carried out in the Zero Hora news archive and in the proceedings available on the website of the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul. Regarding the results, the study allowed to conceive of FICAI as a technology capable of forging the absent student as a product of multiple tensions in a heterogeneous field of forces that comprises a network of articulations of management interests (resources, mentalities and indicators). It becomes evident that FICAI operates as a technology in different management modulations and that it produces accumulation, belligerence, news, being constantly questioned by its non resolvability, suffering updates and new versions in order to become more effective. It is viable and durable, mainly by the Public Prosecution Service, which acts from its conception in sensitizing the actors involved, creating support networks, controlling the indicators, developing guidelines, mediating disputes, in a work that can be characterized as eminently extrajudicial. As for the judicialization, it can be identified that the lawsuits filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office have not been upheld in the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul.

I made this research to help children of Milagro City, Ecuador. Here, there is a high proportion of school students without their parents at home. It was possible todefine, by mathematical methods, the typical student’s characteristics, his typical family, and a typical situation at classroom according to the reasons of the absence (in a state school or in a private school) and some aspects about his recuperation; however you should not forget that this information is only a reference because each student is a different case to be entirely analyzed. This research could be repeated in other cities. / La presente investigación se ejecutó en la Ciudad de San Francisco de Milagro, Ecuador, debido a la elevada proporción de escolares sin padres permanentes. Se logró caracterizar matemáticamente al estudiante típico, a la familia típica de dicho estudiante, y a la situación típica en el aula de acuerdo a los motivos de la ausencia, ya sea de una escuela estatal o privada, así como también de ciertos aspectos relativos a su recuperación académica lograda; sin embargo se remarca que esta información es únicamente referencial, pues cada caso estudiantil es diferente. Esto no impide su réplica en otras ciudades con fines comparativos.

Studies on African fatherhood represent African fathers as problematic and in South Africa, they are identified as ‘‘emotionally disengaged, physically absent, abusive and do not pay for their children's upkeep'' (Morrell & Ritcher, 2006:81). Many studies link the high rates of absent fathers to poverty and irresponsibility. Such literature is devoid of cultural factors that might be contributing to the high rates of absent fathers in most African communities. Across Southern Africa, intlawulo, a customary practice that involves the paying of a fine by a man responsible for impregnating a woman out of wedlock and his family to the pregnant woman's family. Historically, intlawulo served as a critical means of regulating and mediating unmarried fathers' involvement in their children's lives. Therefore, this explorative qualitative research project explores African fathers' experiences of intlawulo and its subsequent links to father involvement. To gauge their experiences and interpretation of intlawulo and father involvement, I conducted face-to-face in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 8 black Xhosa speaking South African fathers from Cape Town who have gone through the intlawulo negotiations for the past five years or less. This study aimed to explore how the customary practice of intlawulo or ‘paying damages' influences a father's involvement in his child's life in Khayelitsha, an urban township within Cape Town. It argued that the payment of intlawulo regulates a father's involvement in childrearing, his interaction with and access to his child. In contrast to how fathering has been described in previous literature, this thesis argues that becoming a father is a process and intlawulo is the entry point where it can be denied, stopped and negotiated.

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore a possible relationship between the number of students in grades 9-12 classified as chronically absent and the inclusion of the Chronically Out of School indicator in Tennessee’s accountability model for schools and school districts. Using publicly available data from the Tennessee Department of Education, the research study examined 6 years of data from the 2014-2015 to 2019-2020 school years. Data were divided into 3 years before and 3 years after implementation. Results of the study indicated that the mean number of chronically absent students in grades 9-12 were significantly lower during the 3 years after implementation of the Chronically Out of School indicator. Data was further disaggregated and analyzed based on the following subgroups: Black/Hispanic/Native American, Economically Disadvantaged, and Students with Disabilities. Results indicated a significant difference in the number of chronically absent Black/Hispanic/Native American subgroup after implementation, but there were no significant differences found in the Economically Disadvantaged and Students with Disabilities subgroups. In addition to a summary of the research findings, implications, and recommendations for future research and current practice are discussed.

Father involvement is a prominent topic in literature and the discourse often refers to the availability and presence of the biological father in the home. Most homes in South Africa are female headed in which fathers are absent and not involved in their children’s lives because of factors such as poverty; cultural expectations of paying for damages and pride price as well as commitment to be part of the child’s life. South Africa has one of the highest rates of non-resident fathers in Africa, with nine million children growing up without fathers. Currently there is insufficient literature on paternity, including father involvement in South Africa, hence this study. It will explore how an African child perceives father involvement, in order to inform professionals when providing interventions. A qualitative exploratory case study design was used to inductively generate themes from five learners relating to their perspective, using semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion interview. From thematic analysis of the participants’ extractions, three themes emerged as the research question answers: i) Theme 1: Impact of father presence/absence on the child; ii) Theme 2: Father’s contribution towards the family; and ii) Theme 3: Family functioning. The results encapsulate the different aspects of what a South African father’s role represents. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The aim with this study is to investigate how educators in preschool experience the phenomenon “present educators” on the preschool playground during outdoor activities. Through our study we want to point out the different forms of “present educators” or the different shapes of presence an educator may experience on the preschool playground in their role as an educator. To better capture the educators' experience of the phenomenon the study is based on a phenomenological research approach with qualitative interviews to gather information and data. We have made an intentional selection of six educators. The result of our study shows that the respondents use different forms of presence for different occasions. The respondents explain and details different forms of being a present educator in an outdoor playground environment, it can be a physical presence, being mentally present, a chosen absence and a mixture of all above mentioned.  The results stress the importance of being a present educator in ensuring the children receiving adequate education, but also how the respondents sometimes find their presence suffocating and removing the children’s natural and joyful exploration and play whilst outdoors.              Keywords: preschool, outdoor teaching, present educators, absent educators

Girls from father-absent families tend to form low levels of trust that may dictate relationships throughout life, including progression into leadership roles. There is evidence to suggest that girls raised in father-absent families fail to reach their potential, and therefore public programs that address the development of strong interpersonal and leadership skills would enhance these capacities. Unfortunately, public programming gaps exist for girls raised in father-absent families that would provide the skills needed to be effective leaders in their schools, communities, and careers. Using House's path-goal leadership theory as the framework, this phenomenological study explored how girls from father-absent families developed the skills to lead and what factors the women perceived to be contributors or barriers to their development as organization leaders. A sample of 10 women who were raised in father-absent families, and who held leadership positions in public or nonprofit sectors in the southeastern area of the United States participated in the in-depth interviews that generated data for this study. The data were coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam method. Findings suggest that lack of trust hindered the transition and development into a leadership role, as did the leadership style of the participant. Alternatively, participants reported that their sense of resiliency and spiritual connections were factors that helped in their development as leaders. These results may contribute to social change by providing policymakers, leaders, and service organizations recommendations that will encourage support for public programming initiatives for girls from father-absent families.

Nineteenth-century British authors, in particular, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen, often turned to orphaned children as a means to drive the plot of their novels. While struggles such as displacement were often accurately depicted, the abovementioned authors and their contemporaries often glossed over or completely disregarded the trauma and psychological implications felt by these orphans. As psychology gained prominence as a discipline through the works of Sigmund Freud and others, modern British literature saw a shift in its consideration of orphans and, additionally, emotionally absent mothers. This thesis will examine three modern British novels; Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and Graham Swift’s Waterland with respect to their exploration of the psychological and possible traumatic impact of their protagonists lives in a variety of disrupted family dynamics.