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Child welfare is an important social issue which the public is generally interested in hearing about. The media plays an important role in delivering child welfare news to the public. Media portrayals of child welfare issues are important because the discourses have the power to influence public opinion and perception. Presented are the findings using a qualitative methodology; a discourse analysis of how child welfare intervention is portrayed in 282 Canadian daily newspapers over a six year period between 2008 and 2014. The data shows that there is a tendency for the media to present an unfavourable view of child welfare and to classify child welfare intervention as having failed. The predominant discourses across the themes related to: blame of the child welfare system and government, for child welfare failures. The principal source of blame directed at the child welfare system was their failure to keep children safe, and government were found to be responsible for failing to provide child welfare agencies with sufficient resources to adequately function. / May 2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2017 / Background: The early childhood years, is an important period in a person’s formative life. These are the foundational years for development. There are many intrinsic and extrinsic factors that can negatively affect childhood development. Assessing the development of children is important. If a problem is detected, prompt intervention may prevent further impairments. The Platfontein community is a San bushmen community consisting of the !Xun and Khwe tribes. This is a very poor community that faces many challenges. Of these challenges, many have the potential to hinder healthy childhood development. The current level of development of healthy children in the Platfontein community is not known. This was a descriptive cross sectional study. A sample of convenience was used as all children that attended the crèches in the Platfontein community were invited to participate in the study. The objectives of the study were as follows 1) to determine whether the children that attend the crèches in the Platfontein community present with motor developmental delay 2) to determine the demographics (including morbidities) and anthropometric data of the study participants, 3) to determine the level of motor development in children between the ages of three and six years who attended the local crèches in the Platfontein community, 4) to establish the nature of the relationship between the existing morbidities and the motor development of the children attending the crèches in Platfontein and 5) to establish if there was a difference in motor development of children assessed between the two crèches, the two tribes, 6) to compare the motor development of the children attending the crèches in the Platfontein community to that of children in other national or international studies. Methods: The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (M-ABC2®) was administered to determine the motor development of the children attending the !Xun and the Khwe crèches. Demographic and anthropometric data were also collected. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and the SAS system statistical programme were used to analyse the data. The Fishers exact test was used to compare the morbidities between the two crèches as well as the association between the morbidities and the M-ABC2® percentile rank. The final M-ABC 2® categories were compared using the Chi-square test. A p-value of≤ 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Results: Demographic information was obtained for 64 participants, anthropometric data for 63 participants and 54 M-ABC-2® were successfully completed. In total 54% (n=29) participants did not have a risk for motor developmental delay, 24% (n=13) were at risk for motor developmental delay and 22% (n= 12) had a definite motor developmental delay. The test result of the manual dexterity subcategory was the task of most concern as 68.5% of the sample scored at or below the 5th percentile of the M-ABC2® manual dexterity components. Statistical analysis revealed no relationship between the following morbidities: malnutrition [p=0.19], stunting [p= 1.00] and a history of Tuberculosis (TB) [p=0.49] and motor development. There was no statistical significant difference between the M-ABC-2® scores of the children attending the Khwe and the !Xun crèches. Comparing these results too other South African studies, this sample scored much lower. Buys (2014) reported that 85% did not have a risk for developmental delay and that 15% were at risk for, or had a developmental delay. Gritzman (2012) reported that 80% did not have a risk for motor developmental delay and that 20% were at risk or impaired. The socio economic statuses of the samples in both studies were of a higher status than those of the Platfontein sample. Comparing the results to Brazilian studies, this sample also scored lower. Valentini et al (2012) reported that 64.2% of children in the study population did not have a risk for developmental delay and that 35, 8% were at risk for or had a developmental delay. Valentini, Clark and Whitall (2014) reported that 63.3% of children in the study population did not have a risk for developmental delay and that 36.7% were at risk for or had a developmental delay Conclusion: There is a motor developmental delay of the children attending the crèches in the Platfontein community as measured by the M-ABC-2® and when compared to national and international studies. An intervention programme is advised. / MT2017

The aim of this study was to examine the profiles of child abuse in Zamokuhle Child Centre, a child abuse referral Centre serving black children in Soweto. It was hypothesised that these profiles are different from those described in the Western communities. A retrospective analysis of all 1995 patient records was done. The data was extracted by the way of a data collection form. A total of 372 children were seen over a ten-month period in which the Centre was operational. Of these records all but four could be traced. Of the 368 records, 357 were related to sexually abuse. There were very few cases of other forms of abuse. The average age of these children was 8.1 ± 3 .6 years and 97% were females. Only in about a third of these children was abuse purposefully disclosed, either to mother (29.7% ) or teacher (17.8%). M ost of the children (61.3% ) were incidentally found to be abused by either a clinician (57.1% ) or a parent (27.9%). Most children presented with signs and symptom s that raised enough suspicion of sexual abuse. An overwhelming majority (278 out of 357) had physical signs highly suggestive of penetration beyond the hymen, on examination. Only in about a third of the cases was the abuse intra-familial, in the majority it was extra-familial. STDs were diagnosed in about 12% of the children.

South Africa (SA) needs a suitable tool to evaluate child development as no such tool exists at present. Well known standardised tests are designed in First World Countries but pose problems when used on different populations. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development, a tool designed and normed in the United States of America (USA) is considered to be the gold standard in infant assessment. The revised and updated, 3rd edition was published in 2006. No studies have been done on its use on populations other than the USA. The USA and SA populations are very different and therefore may perform differently on developmental tests since previous research has shown that African infants perform better than USA infants. The main aim of this study was to use the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III (Bayley-III) to evaluate the performance of a cohort of black urban African infants in South Africa, in an effort to determine whether it is a suitable tool for use on this population. The Hypothesis was that SA and USA children perform similarly on the test. Other objectives included assessing whether gender or anthropometric indicators influence performance. The revised 3rd edition of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley-III) was used to assess the performance of 122 black African infants at several urban clinics in Gauteng, South Africa. The sample consisted of infants falling into four age categories; 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. SA scores were compared to USA norms. Scores were compared across age groups, subtests and sex. Height, weight and head circumference was also measured, converted into z-scores and correlated with test scores. Overall the SA mean score was 103.4, which is statistically significantly higher (p=0.0007) than the USA mean of 100.For subtests, the mean score was 99.7 for the cognitive, 106.8 for the language and 103.5 for the motor subtests as opposed to 100 for the USA. Therefore the results of this study showed that SA scores were statistically significantly higher than the USA norms. Gender differences in scores for specific subtests were found, indicating that girls and boys perform differently developmentally at different ages. However this analysis was at subgroup level with individually small numbers and further research is required to investigate this. Anthropometric indicators such as height, weight and head circumference were found to have no significant association with scores on the test, indicating that growth had no effect on development in this population Although the overall SA mean (103. 4) was statistically significantly higher than the USA mean (100), clinically the difference is small when one considers the variability of development. Developmental milestones can be reached within a range of months and can vary considerably. The Bayley-III is therefore a suitable tool to use on this population. More research is recommended to assess a larger more diverse group, including all age groups for which the Bayley-III caters, as well as on all population groups in SA.

Background: The study examines the differentials in child mortality existing in the different settlements in Soweto Townships as at May 2002. It attempts to establish the association existing between housing settlement and under-five mortality and as well examine how household characteristics such as building materials, source of drinking water, sanitation facilities and source of energy is associated with under-five mortality. Methods: The research comprises secondary data analysis of a household survey conducted in Soweto in May 2002 by Perinatal HIV Research Unit. The aim of the study is to describe child mortality and explore its relationship to five different housing settlements in Soweto Townships. Kaplan Meier curves were fitted to examine differentials in child mortality in the different housing settlements and Log rank test was used to compare the survival curves. Logistic regression models were fitted to establish factors that were associated with under-five mortality in Soweto Townships as a whole. Results: A total of 2741under-five surviving children and 84 under-five deaths were studied. Informal settlements recorded the highest overall under-five mortality rate (15.9 per 10000 child years) while private sector housing settlement recorded the least (3.3 per 10000 child years) of all the housing settlements. The overall under-five mortality in Soweto Townships was 10.4 per 10000 child years. After controlling for other household characteristics settlement was significantly associated with high under-five mortality (Council settlement OR 3.3, P=0.032, 95 CI; 1.113, 10.24, Informal settlement OR 5.10, P=0.005, 95% CI; 1.633, 15.99 and Hostel settlement OR 4.09, P=0.012, 95% CI; 1.357, 12.35). Use of paraffin and candles were also significantly associated with high under-five mortality (OR 3.4, P-value<0.001, 95% CI; 2.416, 19.15 and OR 7.2 P-value=0.014, 95% CI; 1.25, 8.88 respectively). Conclusions: Private sector housing settlements reported lower under-five mortality rates in Soweto Townships (3.3 per 10,000 child years) and was less associated with high mortality in comparison to the other housing settlements (Informal, council and hostel housing settlements) in Soweto Townships. Use of paraffin and candles for lighting in households were mainly associated with high under-five mortality in Soweto Townships in comparison to those households that used of electricity.

"The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the ADC program and whether there were differences in the program statistics and social characteristics of the ADC recipients in the six Southeastern States which comprise Region IV of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The specific states involved were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It was hoped that a study of a segment of the ADC program, showing variations in the program statistics and social characteristics of the recipients, would help to point up unmet needs and possible areas for more intensive research"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "June, 1961." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work." / Advisor: Robert Lansdale, Professor Directing Study. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96).

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