What perceptions do Year Three children aged 8-10 years have about the world of work? This study was initiated because, as a parent and teacher I had noticed that some children are motivated more than others to study in the pursuit of a career. / Most of the research on the career development of young children is based on the work of Gottfredson’s developmental model (1981) in North America it has not been established previously whether this model applies to Australian children. The findings of this study confirm Gottfredson’s theory about children’s capacity to make tentative career choices. Parents, teachers and the media all influence children’s career aspirations in varying degrees. Although parents play a role in assisting their children to gain knowledge about occupational preferences children do not necessarily follow their parents in the same occupational interests. Parents are a good source of career education for their offspring. While children have some idea about the hierarchical nature of occupational work, they are still unclear as to specific aspects of the supervisory role. As with adults generally, children appear to have limited knowledge about the specific tasks related to particular occupations. It appears from this study that the most common way children access occupational information is through the media. / The implications from this investigative study are that children will benefit from greater access to career education, commencing as early as primary school. In order to make realistic future occupational selections children win benefit from having more specific information regarding occupational tasks. It therefore follows that teachers need to be made aware or these implications and plan relevant curricula to address the specific needs or students. It is also evident that parents could assist this process by making themselves available to clearly discuss their work roles with their children.

Although numerous studies examining variables related to child abuse have been done in recent years, little is known about how abusing parents perceive their abused children's attitudes and behaviors. The present study attempted to examine parental perceptions of personality characteristics of children as a function of whether the parent abused the child. The Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) was utilized to obtain parental perceptions of their children's attitudes and behaviors. Twenty parents consisting of 10 abusers and 10 nonabusers were contacted through social agencies. Parents and children were matched for age, sex, and race. Of the 16 personality variables studied, only one significantly differentiated the two groups. Abused children were perceived as significantly more withdrawn than the nonabused matched sample. Results of this study suggest that various personality types are involved in the abusive cycle. Further research is needed to explore this promising area.

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