The aim of this thesis was to explore the psychological, political, legal, and parental notions of parental responsibility in Australia. The initial study involved an analysis of Australian print media over a four-year period ( 2001 - 2005 ) and highlighted how the representation of this topic has been weaved into public awareness. Political justifications of such legislation involved positioning parents whose children offend as either ' bad ' parents or parents with poor skills. Once such parents were positioned as problematic then the benefits of the legislation to society, children and the parents was touted. Over the period of the study such representations increased in the Australian print media, with no articles published in 2001 on this topic, and 46 articles relating to parental responsibility by 2005. The first empirical study involved an examination of the effect of the age and gender of the young offender, the type of offence ( property or personal ) and the severity of the offence ( low or high ) on attributions of responsibility to parents and children. Findings suggested that participants ( 93 parents ) view children as mainly responsible when they offend regardless of age ( 10, or 13 years of age ). However, results also indicated that as children mature, their responsibility increases. Parents were attributed significantly less responsibility for their children's offending behaviour, with their responsibility decreasing as their children's age increases. The responsibility of children and their parents also significantly increased as the severity of the offence increased. These findings were replicated in Study 2 ( N = 177 parents ) despite the inclusion of a 16-year-old offender. The older adolescent child was attributed more responsibility than the 10 and 13 year old offender, and the parent was attributed less responsibility for their child's offending. Data from Study 1 and 2 were qualitatively analysed and an analysis of the qualitative components of both studies indicated that parents attributed responsibility to children who were seen to understand issues of right and wrong, or when it was evident that children had planned the behaviour. Parents were attributed responsibility on the basis of their level of surveillance of their children, using supervision and communication to monitor their children appropriately. Inadequate parenting resulted in failure to control and supervise one's children. Parents also employed various justifications to mitigate parents and their children's responsibility, with children's age being used to argue immaturity and therefore diminished culpability. Sixteen-year-old adolescent children were positioned as distinctly different from the two other age groups. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2007.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: B, page: 4130. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-149).

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published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The importance of parenting behaviour as a risk factor for the development and persistence of externalising behaviour problems, and as a focus for early interventions, has led to a desire for the accurate measurement of parenting attitudes and practices. Several methods of measuring parenting behaviour have been employed in theoretical research and program evaluation, including self-report and observational measures. Both of these methods have advantages and limitations, but a systematic comparison of self-reports and observations of parenting behaviour has not been conducted. This study compared self- reports and observations of parental responsiveness and control in a sample of 68 parents of preschool children in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Videotaped observations of parents interacting with their children in four set tasks (free play, drawing, pack-up and no distraction) were interval-sampled using behavioural items that paralleled self- report items on the Parenting Scale and the Child-Rearing Practices Questionnaire. In addition, parents completed questionnaires about their child's behaviour and temperament, and factors associated with parenting behaviour including parental psychopathology, social support, marital adjustment, disagreements about child-rearing and demographic characteristics. Reports of children's behaviour at preschool were also obtained from teachers. When the correlations between corresponding behaviour domains on the self-report and observational measures were compared, the only significant correlation was for parental warmth. Observations of parental control practices (such as permissiveness, inconsistency and overreactivity) were not significantly associated with self-reports of these behaviours. The observational system used in this study yielded observations of permissive and inconsistent parenting that had good validity and reliability, whereas self-reports of harsh and overreactive parenting practices were more validly and reliably assessed using self-report methods. Self-reports and observations of responsive parenting practices demonstrated results that are more equivocal. Possible explanations for these results and the implications for the use of self-report and observational measures in parenting research are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Psychiatry, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Results of a study of 241 children participating in the Wisconsin Study of Families and Work (WSFW), an ongoing longitudinal study of familes and child development. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-112). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-236). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-168). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-117). Also available on the Internet.