Grounds of intervention in execution of parental rights (abstract) The upbringing of a child is the major right and duty of its parents. The Convention on the Rights of the Child binds signatory states to respect the privacy of the family and the rights of parents to raise their children. According to this international treaty and also to national legal documents, such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and the Family Code, the only acceptable ground for state intervention into the family is the interest of the child. The child can be separated from its parents only when this action is in accordance with the child's best interest and if the conditions for such action given by the law are met. The aim of my thesis is to introduce the institute of intervention in parental rights in czech family law and focus on the grounds and conditions for its application. The purpose of my thesis is to look at this institute from a different perspective than everybody else. During my studies I came across many textbooks, articles, papers and lectures concerning this matter. Each one of them focused on the means of state intervention. In the press we see confused interpretations of court's rulings concerning children taken from their families and speculations of state despotism in this matter. I realized that...

Play therapy techniques are expanding out of a need to provide effective, age appropriate and multicultural interventions to children and youth with behavioral, emotional, and environmental concerns. Traditional therapies which require verbalization have had limited application when working with children because of the language development of children (Carmicheal, 2006). School counselors work in a school system serving hundreds of students with limited time and resources to do so. With responsibilities and complex issues mounting, play therapy offers tried and true, concise, easy to use and implement techniques. Come learn about play therapy and basic play therapy skills!

Parental responses to their children are crucially influenced by stress. However, brain-based mechanistic understanding of the adverse effects of parenting stress and benefits of therapeutic interventions is lacking. We studied maternal brain responses to salient child signals as a function of Mom Power (MP), an attachment-based parenting intervention established to decrease maternal distress. Twenty-nine mothers underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans during a baby-cry task designed to solicit maternal responses to child's or self's distress signals. Between scans, mothers were pseudorandomly assigned to either MP (n = 14) or control (n = 15) with groups balanced for depression. Compared to control, MP decreased parenting stress and increased child-focused responses in social brain areas highlighted by the precuneus and its functional connectivity with subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, which are key components of reflective self-awareness and decision-making neurocircuitry. Furthermore, over 13 weeks, reduction in parenting stress was related to increasing child- versus self-focused baby-cry responses in amygdala–temporal pole functional connectivity, which may mediate maternal ability to take her child's perspective. Although replication in larger samples is needed, the results of this first parental-brain intervention study demonstrate robust stress-related brain circuits for maternal care that can be modulated by psychotherapy.

There is a growing understanding of the neural mechanisms of human maternal attachment. Human mothers’ neural responses to infants are associated with their behavioral sensitivity observed during interactions with infants. The current symposium aims to provide understanding of the core neural basis for mother-infant attachment, how prenatal and postnatal risk factors influence the maternal brain, and finally whether the negative changes in the maternal brain may be reversed by an intervention effort. The first paper presents converging evidence on neural, psychological and physiological responses to infants in new mothers across diverse cultural contexts. The paper highlights the common core neural processes of mother-infant attachment, which sets the foundation of understanding maternal brain’s successful and unsuccessful adaptation to parenthood. The second paper presents the role of prenatal risk factors, specifically prenatal maternal anxiety, in maternal brain adaptation to parenthood. This longitudinal study suggests that negative effects of maternal anxiety in mothers’ neural adaptation to parenthood may emerge during pregnancy. The third paper presents evidence that socioeconomic stress may also disrupt mothers’ neural adaptation to parenthood. Low family income is associated with dampened neural sensitivity to positive infant expressions and elevated neural sensitivity to negative infant expressions, which further influence disruptions in maternal behavioral responsiveness to own infants. The last presentation suggests that aberrant neural sensitivity to infants among distressed mothers may be improved via an intervention. Among depressed mothers, interventions to improve mental health reduced parental stress and strengthened neural functional connectivity in response to their infant.

Children who grow up with one or both parents who substance misuse are at an elevated risk of being harmed. This study aimed to compile current knowledge on directed interventions intended to improve the outcomes of children who live in environments where adults misuse substances, and to analyze children’s influence and participation in interventions. The method used was a systematically undertaken scoping review. Despite a comprehensive searching strategy only ten relevant studies were found. There was a low geographical spread indicating the lack of intervention studies, including within Scandinavian settings. The result showed that nine out of ten interventions were group support. Interventions were manualised and primarily focused on changing children’s behaviour or increasing children’s general knowledge about misuse. Hart’s participation ladder was used to assess children’s degree of participation and influence in both intervention and research setting. Results indicated that children had low to mediocre degrees of participation. An implication for the future is that support groups showed positive effects on children’s attitudes towards misuse by increased knowledge about parental substance misuse. There is still a need for more intervention studies before it is possible to identify the best types of support for children affected by parental substance misuse. / Barn som växer upp med en eller båda föräldrar med missbruk har en ökad risk för att fara illa. Denna studie syftade till att sammanställa tillgänglig kunskap om interventioner riktade mot barn med målet att stödja barn som växer upp i miljöer där vuxna har ett missbruk samt att analysera barns delaktighet och påverkan i interventioner. Metoden som användes var en systematiskt genomförd scoping review. Trots omfattande litteratursökningar bedömdes endast tio effektutvärderingar som relevanta för inklusion. Studierna hade låg geografisk spridning vilket visade på avsaknaden av effektutvärderingar, bland annat inom skandinavisk forskning. Resultatet visade att nio av tio interventioner var gruppstöd. Interventionerna var manualbaserade och fokuserade på att förändra barns beteende eller öka barns generella kunskap om missbruk. Harts delaktighetstrappa användes för att undersöka barns delaktighet och påverkan i interventioner och forskning. Resultatet indikerade att barn hade låg- till medelgrad av delaktighet. Ett fynd för framtiden är att stödgrupper visade på positiva effekter på barns attityd till missbruk genom ökad kunskap om vuxnas missbruk. Det finns fortsatt ett stort behov av att genomföra fler effektutvärderingar innan det är möjligt att konstatera vilken eller vilka interventioner för barn som fungerar bäst.

This research was conducted as part of the formative evaluation of a mother-child interaction intervention, which was incorporated into the Kgolo Mmogo pilot study at the Kalafong Hospital in Tshwane (South Africa). The purpose of the intervention was to encourage the development of parenting skills and to improve mother-child relationships within an HIV context over a six-month period. By promoting more effective interaction between mother and child, child resilience could be enhanced and children could learn the necessary coping skills that would help them deal with the challenges posed by HIV and other life events. The aim of the study was to generate a systemic understanding of families affected by HIV/AIDS. The study explored (1) the effect of HIV on family interaction and (2) the effect of the mother-child interaction intervention on family interaction from the perspective of HIV-infected mothers. The theoretical framework chosen for the study was of a systemic nature and the standpoints, as set out by the Milan family therapy team, were implemented. Ten months after the intervention, four of the HIV-positive mothers who had participated in the intervention were interviewed and encouraged to share their experiences. Circular questions were employed in the interviews as a means of gathering data. A qualitative design was therefore the best option for this study. The research findings of this study coincide with previous literature and research findings; thus, the findings of this study have been consolidated. The current study findings support the importance of bridging the distance that is created by HIV in family relations, particularly between mother and child. Newly-diagnosed mothers often become stuck in their own processes and distance themselves from others in order to make sense of their situation. The broader social stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS contribute further to the sense of isolation that HIV-positive women experience. Often, women perceive HIV to be a disruptive force in their relationships with their partners and children, which creates tension, secrets and uncertainty within the family. HIV-infected mothers generally feel that keeping secrets from their children protects them from being traumatized by the social stigmas surrounding HIV/AIDS. Some HIV-positive mothers also feel that an emotional distance will shield their children from the pain of losing their mother. Because they are grappling with many negative feelings, such as anger and frustration, many HIV-positive mothers resort to strict disciplinary measures and avoid spending time with their children. The children misinterpret their mother’s behaviour and react in a manner that the mother perceives to be both disrespectful and disobedient, thus creating a recurring cycle in which both mothers and children become stuck. The participating mothers perceived the mother-child interaction intervention to focus on their emotional, physical, cognitive and behavioural needs as well as the needs of their children. The mothers experienced the intervention as having been particularly helpful to them and their children. They perceived themselves to be warmer, more supportive, more accepting and to have found meaning in their lives. In addition they felt that their children had begun to behave themselves and were also less avoidant of them. It enhanced their understanding of one another, and strengthened their bond so that they can depend on each other in times of difficulty. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Psychology / unrestricted