Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in History." Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-302).

D.Phil. (Career and Life Orientation) / The study focuses on how extended families are involved on the wellness of orphans at a primary school in Masvingo City in Zimbabwe. Through an ethnographic research design, the study aimed to establish the involvement of extended families and challenges they face in rendering support and care to orphans. This study draws an intensive ethnographic research interrogative approach through observations, interviews, researcher made test and document analysis in order to establish the challenges by orphans and extended families and how these challenges may impact on orphans wellness. By using an integrative lens the researcher was mainly trying to get a better perspective of looking at the four wellness dimensions of orphans in a much broader way. An integrative framework lens namely Ubuntu, Bronfenbrenner’s bio- ecological systems theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs were mainly used to try and get a broader/better perspective of how extended families are involved in caring for orphans. Five orphans, five extended family heads, one school guidance and counselling teacher, one Social Welfare officer and one Non-governmental officer where purposively selected. The main data gathering instruments were; two researcher-made Mathematics tests, a teacher made test, a questionnaire with open-ended questions, observations and interviews. Interviews with the school guidance and counselling teacher were also conducted to establish learners’ performance, class attendance as well as homework assistance rendered to learners by their parents or guardians. An analysis of attendance trends of learners using class teachers’ registers was done. Mathematics Test were also analysed to establish the intellectual wellness of orphans. Data was analysed manually through hand coding and categorizing of ideas, which eventually formed themes to this study. The findings revealed that extended families are encountering a lot of difficulties during their involvement in caring for orphans. Difficulties included provision of physical needs, accommodation, and assistance with academic work. Moreover, the caregivers were in their seventies and too old to provide quality care. Voices of extended family heads, wished that projects like Isheanopa (The Lord provides) initiated by one school to support orphans, be extended to other schools within the city in order to alleviate the burden experienced by extended family heads.

The single-parent family can no longer be viewed as a non-traditional family type. As more single-parent families become prevalent in our society, interest in this family type has increased. Research associated with single-parent families often focus on the pathology associated with single-parent families. It is apparent that single-parent households, whether headed by a mother or father often have more to deal with than the traditional two-parent family. However, as a single-parent herself, the researcher also knows that this family type has much to offer. This research is undertaken in an exploratory and interpretive manner to illuminate the influence which the extended family have on the social and moral development of the child in the single-parent family. The researcher, just like Monama (2007:iv) before her, wishes to elevate the view of single-parents from the stereotypical victims to responsible archetypes. As this research is undertaken with the eco-systemic perspective of Bronfenbrenner as theoretical orientation, it therefore focuses on the systems in which the child is nested and more specifically the extended family as part of the child’s microsystem. This research aims to be beneficial to single-parents, families, members of community organizations, educators and other allied professionals.

Theses (M.S.)--University of Hawai'i at Hilo, 2009. / Advisor : Brian Kim. Bibliography : p.86-91.

Orientador: Lígia Ebner Melchiori / Banca: Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Campos Dessen / Banca: Tania Gracy Martins do Valle / Resumo: A Psicologia Familiar é um campo que necessita ser extensamente explorado. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar as famílias em relação à divisão das tarefas domésticas, cuidados dispensados às crianças, atividades de lazer e rede social de apoio; como também, investigar as concepções maternas e paternas sobre o desenvolvimento infantil e as relações afetivas, pois, os genitores são parte importante do contexto que a criança se desenvolve. Participaram deste estudo oito casais, que moravam juntos, com filho de um ano de idade. Os dados foram coletados através de dois instrumentos: (a) Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar, que forneceu dados sociodemográficos, divisão de tarefas domésticas, cuidados com a criança e rede social de apoio; (b) Roteiro de Entrevista sobre Valores e Práticas Parentais, a respeito do desenvolvimento infantil e das relações afetivas. O Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar foi aplicado somente às mães e os resultados gerais indicaram que tanto nas famílias nucleares como nas extensivas, a responsabilidade pelos cuidados referentes à casa e os filhos, é principalmente das mães, mesmo elas exercendo atividades remuneradas, e a participação paterna é bem maior nas famílias nucleares, comparadas às extensivas. Ambos os tipos de famílias contam com uma rede de apoio social familiar e extra-familiar. O Roteiro de Entrevistas foi aplicado primeiramente com as mães, seguidos dos pais, individualmente. Os dados apontaram que as mães apresentam uma concepção predominantemente ambientalista de desenvolvimento, e os pais, a inatista. Para ambos os genitores, a fase de 0 a 2 da criança é considerada como sendo importante para o seu desenvolvimento posterior, embora mais enfatizado pelas mães. Eles também julgam fundamental proporcionar um bom relacionamento familiar, através das interações... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Psychology of the family is a new research field that must be widely explored. The present study aimed to rank the families in relation to the division of domestic households, children care, leisure activities and social support group, as well as to investigate the maternal and paternal concepts about the infantile development and the affective relationships, because the parents are very important in the envivorment in which the child is raised. Eight couples took part in this research. They had one-year-old kids and both father and mother lived in the same house. The data were collected by two evaluation instruments: (a) Characterization Questionnaire of Family System, which provides social and demographic data, household chores division, children care and social support group; (b) Interview Guidelines about Values and Parental Behaviors concerning the infantile development and the affective practices. The Characterization Questionnaire of Family System was applied only to the mothers and the general outcomes indicated that even in the nuclear families as for the bigger ones, the responsibility for the house and the children belongs to the mother, although they also work outside their homes. The paternal participation is more intense in the nuclear families than in the bigger ones. Both types of families have a social support group from the family and from outer family relationships. The sequence of interviews was initially applied to the mothers and then the fathers. The data indicated that for the mothers, the environmental concept of the development was prevalent and for the fathers the innate concept was prevalent. For both parents, the period from 0 to 2 years is considered as very important for his/her future development, although the mothers are more concerned about that. They also consider as fundamental to have a good familiar relationship through everyday interaction, although... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:38:01Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 mazetto_mdc_me_bauru.pdf: 868388 bytes, checksum: 1f5af3b21019f4041ad38e0428799a13 (MD5) / A Psicologia Familiar é um campo que necessita ser extensamente explorado. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar as famílias em relação à divisão das tarefas domésticas, cuidados dispensados às crianças, atividades de lazer e rede social de apoio; como também, investigar as concepções maternas e paternas sobre o desenvolvimento infantil e as relações afetivas, pois, os genitores são parte importante do contexto que a criança se desenvolve. Participaram deste estudo oito casais, que moravam juntos, com filho de um ano de idade. Os dados foram coletados através de dois instrumentos: (a) Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar, que forneceu dados sociodemográficos, divisão de tarefas domésticas, cuidados com a criança e rede social de apoio; (b) Roteiro de Entrevista sobre Valores e Práticas Parentais, a respeito do desenvolvimento infantil e das relações afetivas. O Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar foi aplicado somente às mães e os resultados gerais indicaram que tanto nas famílias nucleares como nas extensivas, a responsabilidade pelos cuidados referentes à casa e os filhos, é principalmente das mães, mesmo elas exercendo atividades remuneradas, e a participação paterna é bem maior nas famílias nucleares, comparadas às extensivas. Ambos os tipos de famílias contam com uma rede de apoio social familiar e extra-familiar. O Roteiro de Entrevistas foi aplicado primeiramente com as mães, seguidos dos pais, individualmente. Os dados apontaram que as mães apresentam uma concepção predominantemente ambientalista de desenvolvimento, e os pais, a inatista. Para ambos os genitores, a fase de 0 a 2 da criança é considerada como sendo importante para o seu desenvolvimento posterior, embora mais enfatizado pelas mães. Eles também julgam fundamental proporcionar um bom relacionamento familiar, através das interações... / Psychology of the family is a new research field that must be widely explored. The present study aimed to rank the families in relation to the division of domestic households, children care, leisure activities and social support group, as well as to investigate the maternal and paternal concepts about the infantile development and the affective relationships, because the parents are very important in the envivorment in which the child is raised. Eight couples took part in this research. They had one-year-old kids and both father and mother lived in the same house. The data were collected by two evaluation instruments: (a) Characterization Questionnaire of Family System, which provides social and demographic data, household chores division, children care and social support group; (b) Interview Guidelines about Values and Parental Behaviors concerning the infantile development and the affective practices. The Characterization Questionnaire of Family System was applied only to the mothers and the general outcomes indicated that even in the nuclear families as for the bigger ones, the responsibility for the house and the children belongs to the mother, although they also work outside their homes. The paternal participation is more intense in the nuclear families than in the bigger ones. Both types of families have a social support group from the family and from outer family relationships. The sequence of interviews was initially applied to the mothers and then the fathers. The data indicated that for the mothers, the environmental concept of the development was prevalent and for the fathers the innate concept was prevalent. For both parents, the period from 0 to 2 years is considered as very important for his/her future development, although the mothers are more concerned about that. They also consider as fundamental to have a good familiar relationship through everyday interaction, although... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Female-headed families have become a major component of society, globally and locally. South Africa has also witnessed an increase in the number of female-headed families. Children raised in female-headed families have been reported to be disadvantaged in several ways. Many are said to be performing poorly at school, having low self-esteem, experiencing early sexual activity, and displaying adverse behaviour. Hence, the views of adult children who grew up in female-headed families were explored to inform social work practice. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual study was undertaken with 12 participants whose ages ranged from 25 to 35 years. The goal of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of adult children who grew up in female-headed families. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed following Tesch’s (in Creswell, 2009) framework. Data was verified using Lincoln and Guba’s model of trustworthiness. The major findings highlighted first, a deep-seated need to understand reasons for being abandoned by their fathers. Second, the resources inherent within female-headed families, often overlooked, revealed the strengths that these families possess. Third, spirituality as the foundation of their resilience during difficult times dominated the participants’ accounts of being raised in female-headed families. Fourth, various support structures emerged as fundamental components, requisite for the optimal functioning of female-headed families. The implications for social work and recommendations for future research are presented. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)