New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Research has shown that modern mass media provide a mediated cultural forum through which policy responses to child poverty are socially negotiated and from which public support for children in need is either cultivated or undermined. This thesis focuses on the role of media advocacy by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) who attempt to widen public debate and legitimate options for addressing child poverty. I investigate the case of the Government's Working for Families package and the controversy surrounding the media release of CPAG's negative evaluation of the package in the form of a research report Cut Price Kids. Attention is given to competing ideological frames underlying the Government's package, in the form of neo-liberal emphases on distinctions between God's and the Devil's poor. Attention is also given to CPAG's response, in the form of communitarian notions of collective responsibility for all families in need. Specifically, I analyse the role of the mass media in framing child poverty as a social issue across three levels of mass communication - production, representation, and reception. At the production level interviews were held with six journalists involved with reporting on Cut Price Kids and two members of CPAG. Fifteen Government and 5 CPAG press releases were also explored to document media production processes and restraints on public deliberations. In addition, the ideological stances influencing the framing of coverage were investigated. At the media representation level 21 press, seven radio, and five television items were analysed to establish the scope of public debate, whose perspectives were included, and the ways in which differing perspectives are combined. At the reception level four focus group discussions with lower socio-economic status (SES) parent groups, as well as follow-up photo-based interviews with eight participants were explored in order to document the role of media coverage in the lives of families with children living in poverty. Across levels, findings suggest that journalists are restrained by professional practices which maintain the importance of balance and detached objectivity, rather than interpretations of appropriate responses to child poverty. Tensions between the Government's emphasis on restricting support to families with parents in paid employment and CPAG's emphasis on the need to not discriminate against the children of out of work families framed coverage. The lower SES parents participating at the reception level challenged the restrained nature of coverage, which excluded people such as themselves, and openly questioned media characterisations of them as bludgers who are irresponsible parents. Overall, findings support the view that media are a key component of ongoing social dialogues through which public understandings of, and policy responses to, child poverty are constructed. Specifically, psychologists need to engage more with processes of symbolic power which shape the public construction of child poverty in a conservative manner that can lead to victim blaming, and restrains opportunities for addressing this pressing social concern.

Magistro darbe yra išanalizuoti ir susisteminti įvairūs moklinės literatūros šaltiniai apie Švietimo pagalbos šeimoms auginančioms vaikus iki 7 metų. Darbe išanalizuotos ikimokyklinės įstaigos galimybes organizuojant tėvų švietimą, remiantis tėvų nuomone. Taip pat surinkta informacija apie tėvų švietimo formas Šiaulių ikimokyklinėse įstaigose. Apžvelgta ,,Šiaulių krašto“ laikraščių tematika, tėvų auginančių vaikus iki 7 metų švietimo klausimais (2006-2008). Pasitvirtino darbo hipotezė, kad tėvai skiria permažai dėmesio švietimui ir bendradarbiavimui su grupėje dirbančiu pedagogu. Taip pat išaiškėjo, kad pedagogai naudoja įprastas švietimo formas ikimokyklinėse ir priešmokyklinėse ugdymo grupėse. / The Master paper analyses and systematises different scientific literature on educational assistance for families having children under 7years old. The paper explores arranging of the pre-school possibilities according to the parents opinion. Information on parents education forms in the pre-school institution is being collected. Moreover, topics on educational issues on parents having children under 7 years old relieved by Šiauliai Kraštas newsletter (2006-2008). Hypothesis is being approved that parents pay too little attention to education and co-operation with pre-school teachers. It explores also that pedagogues use ordinary educational forms in the pre-school groups aged from 1 to 6 and from 6 to 7.

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Šiame darbe plačiau nagrinėjama auklėjimo įtaka, kaip patyčių tarp vaikų atsiradimo priežastis ir, kaip šio reiškinio prevencijos galimybė, taip pat šeimos ir mokyklos bendradarbiavimo svarba siekiant sumažinti smurto tarp vaikų apraiškas bei empatijos, socialinių įgūdžių, savivertės ugdymas ir agresijos slopinimas kaip svarbiausios stiprios asmenybės savybės, kurių turėjimas gali ženkliai sumažinti patyčių mastą. Darbo tikslas - ištirti šeimos požiūrį į patyčių reiškinį mokykloje ir tėvų pasirengimą deramai padėti savo vaikams. Remiantis moksline, psichologine bei pedagogine literatūra bei atliktu empiriniu tyrimu teigtina, kad šeimos auklėjimo stilius gali būti patyčių priežastimi. Vaikas, kuris iš šeimos atsineša agresyvų bendravimo stilių, tiesiog nemoka kitaip bendrauti. Šeima – tai visuomenės ir valstybės pagrindas, svarbiausia terpė, kurioje žmogus auga. Tai žmonių sąjunga, galinti užtikrinti visapusišką vaiko poreikių tenkinimą, gebanti tinkamai parengti vaiką svarbiems gyvenimo darbams, išugdyti tvirtą, turintį savo nuomonę bei vertybių orientaciją, pilietį. Vaikas turi augti kiek galima saugesnėje aplinkoje, kad vėliau turėtų mažiau bėdų. Juk visų pirma, tinkamo elgesio ir draugiško bendravimo vaikai mokosi šeimoje. Naudoti smurtą kaip būdą spręsti konfliktams tarp individų, grupių ir tautų pirmiausia išmokstame šeimos aplinkoje. Šeimos auklėjimo stilius gali būti patyčių priežastimi. Vaikas, kuris iš šeimos atsineša agresyvų bendravimo stilių, nemoka kitaip... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This paper deals with the influence of upbringing as the cause of taunting among children and also as a means of preventing children from this behaviour. The paper points out the importance of the cooperation between school and family aiming to reduce the manifestation of taunting among children and shows empathy, social skills, self-esteem and suppression of aggression as the main qualities of a strong personality, which can considerably reduce the extent of taunting. The aim of the paper is to examine the family’s attitude towards taunting at school and parents’ preparation to help their children. On the base of scientific and psycho-pedagogical literature and empirical investigation it is maintained that taunting can be the cause of the family upbringing style. Family is the backbone of society and state, the most important environment where a person grows up. This is the union between people that can ensure the complete satisfaction of a child’s needs, his/her preparation for future challenges as well as upbringing of a strong, independent, having his/her own system of values citizen. A child should grow up in the safest environment possible so that later he/she would have less trouble. Primarily a child learns to adopt an appropriate behaviour and develop friendly relations in a family. Violence as a way of solving a conflict among individuals, groups and nations is bred in the family environment. The family upbringing style can be the cause of taunting. The child whose... [to full text]

Paramos šeimai politika – tai vyriausybinių institucijų veiksmai ir socialinių ekonominių priemonių kompleksas, skirtas šeimos struktūros ir gyvenimo kokybės modeliavimui. Šeimos politika pastaruoju metu sugrįžta į Europos valstybių socialinės politikos centrą. Vis daugiau šalių pripažįsta poreikį imtis aktyvių šeimos politikos veiksmų. Lietuvoje pakanka strateginių dokumentų, kurie tiksliai ir aiškiai pristato šeimos raidos ir šeimos gyvenimo sąlygų situaciją. Dauguma šiuose dokumentuose numatytų tikslų ir veiksmų krypčių yra orientuotos į dabartines Lietuvos šeimos problemas, derina šiuolaikinį požiūrį į šeimos politiką. Tačiau kita vertus, opia problema išlieka šių tikslų, uždavinių realizavimas. Todėl dabartinė paramos šeimai politika Lietuvoje dažniausiai suprantama siaurąja prasme, orientuota į pininigės paramos šeimoms, augančioms vaikus, vystymą. Siekiant užtikrinti šeimos gerovę Lietuvoje yra taikomos šios pagrindinės paramos šeimai priemonės: nėštumo, motinystės/tėvystės atostogos ir mokamos pašalpos, vienkartinė išmoka gimus kūdikiu, išmokos šeimoms su vaikais bei piniginė socialinė parama nepasiturinčioms šeimoms. Papildomai socialinė parama gali būti teikiama mokiniams iš mažas pajamas gaunančių šeimų. Tuo tarpu aprūpinimas būstu, lankstesnių užimtumo formų, vaikų priežiūros paslaugų plėtojimas, nepaisant tam tikrų pokyčių, vis dėlto išlieka problema. Darbe pristatomas kiekybinis tyrimas, skirtas nustatyti moterų požiūriui į valstybės teikiamą paramą šeimai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Family support politics is the complex of governmental institution actions and social economical measures. These measures are intended to shape the structure and good quality life of family. Lately many European countries started paying more attention to the politics of the family. More and more countries recognize the importance and need of taking an active part in it. There are enough delegated legislations which accurately and clearly define family development and situation of family life in Lithuania. Most of the objectives of those documents are oriented towards current family problems and deals with contemporary world view and politics of the family. On the other hand, realization of those objectives is still a problem in Lithuania. That is why contemporary family politics is understood in narrow meaning: that it is oriented only towards development of financial support to families that have children. Seeking to ensure welfare of the families in Lithuania, government provides the following support: pregnancy, motherhood/ fatherhood vocations, benefits are paid, onetime payments are paid after the birth of the child, payments for families that have many children, payments and social support for needy families. Additional social support might be given to school children who are from families with lower income. In spite of all the changes some support forms are still problematic. For instance, provision of accommodation, child care services, more flexile work schedules... [to full text]

The development of the birth rate and preschool education in the Czech Republic after 1950 Abstract The main aim of the thesis is to map in detail the development of preschool education and financial support for families with children in the Czech Republic in the context of the development of birth rate after 1950. The development of birth rate in the thesis is not only analyzed by using basic indicators, but also through deeper decomposition methods. It turns out, that quality and availability of all network preschool institutions in the context has a certain role in the birth rate. The reconciliation of work and family is very important for lots of parents and sufficient offer of preschool care can help it. However, the demand for preschool institutions exceeded supply, as was shown in accordance with obtained data. It was also found out by the insight into the outcomes of surveys that the vast majority of respondents do not think that a preschool child of working mother would be suffering. In the future, should not only expand the capacity of childcare facilities as well as other options for facilitation of reconciling work and family life, such as better offer of flexible working hours. Keywords: birth rate, decomposition, preschool facilities, financial support for families with children, surveys,...

Regional Family Policy Focused on Families at Risk Veronika Burešová Introduction: Diploma thesis deals with the activities of regional authorities focused on support of families at risk, in context of the process of transformation of the alternative care system for children at risk in the Czech Republic. The goals: The main goal of the thesis is to explore the approach of regional authorities to the issue of families at risk and what forms this approach. Methods: The research was divided into two parts. Firstly the case studies of thirteen regions (except Prague) were elaborated. Based on these studies, 4 regions were chosen, 2 as examples of good practice, other 2 as examples of bad practices. In these four regions, qualitative semi-structured interviews were done. As respondents a councillor and an officer of regional authority office were chosen. 7 interviews were finally made, 2 respondents answered by email. Outcomes: We can find family as a target group in most of regional plans for the development of social services, but it is usually not a priority. The family regional strategy papers were elaborated only in 5 regions, but not all of them are focused also on families at risk. The scale of the support of families at risk in regions depends on political will and political vision of...

Šiandien yra būtina lanksti švietimo įstaigų darbo sistema, todėl šiame darbe buvo aiškinamasi, kokia šiuo metu yra tėvų nuomonė apie įvairias šių įstaigų teikiamas ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugas vaikams. Tyrimo tikslas. Išanalizuoti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų šeimoms ir vaikams, kurie lanko ir nelanko ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigas, paslaugų įvairovę. Tyrimo uždaviniai: išsiaiškinti ikimokyklinio ugdymo ir su juo susijusių paslaugų įvairovę vaikams, kurie lanko įstaigas ir kurie nelanko, vėliau šias abi paslaugų kryptis palyginti. Buvo numatyta hipotezė, kad ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų įvairovė skiriasi kiekybės požiūriu ir netenkina pakitusių visuomenės poreikių. Tiriamųjų imtis: 1190 respondentų. Iš kurių - 898 tėvai, kurių vaikai lanko ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigas ir 292 tėvai, kurių vaikai nelanko šių įstaigų. Tėvai buvo pasirinkti iš įvairių Lietuvos miestų ir rajonų. Nustatyti tyrimo faktai leidžia teigti, kad tyrimo hipotezė pasitvirtino- daugiau paslaugų yra teikiama vaikams, kurie lanko ikimokyklines ugdymo įstaigas .Tiems, kurie jų nelanko- paslaugų įvairovė yra žymiai menkesnė, todėl turėtų būti geriau apgalvota ir kryptingiau organizuojama. Raktažodžiai: vaikų priežiūros paslaugos, šeimos politika, paslaugos šeimoms ir vaikams, ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigas lankantys ir nelankantys vaikai, paslaugų įvairovė. / Nowadays it is essential to have an adapting system of educational institutions, therefore in this thesis analysis have been conducted about parents’ opinion of various services which pre-school educational institutions provide. Goal of this investigation: To analyze the variety of pre-school educational institutions and services for children that attends or absent them and their families. Aim of this investigation: To determine the variety of pre-school educational institutions for children who attend or absent these institutions and the services that are provided by them and compare these two branches. A hypothesis state, that pre-school educational institution’s services does not meet the changed society’s demands, nor there are sufficient of them. Poll respondents are: 1190 parents, from which 898 people whose children attend pre-school educational institutions and 292 parents’ children that do not attend them. Parents have been chosen from different Lithuania’s cities and areas. Poll shows that hypothesis of this investigation can be confirmed. More services are provided for children who attend these institutions, compared to children that do not. In this case system ought to be carefully rethought and organized more efficiently. Key-words: children attending services, family policy, services provided for families and children, pre-school educational institution attend or absent children, variety of services.

I described topics related to the title of the thesis in its theoretical part and in that way I made a comprehensive survey focused on the social fieldwork in families. The first target of the thesis was - to learn the experience of some chosen non-profit-making organizations which deliver socially activating services to families with children. The qualitative research, the method of questioning and the technique of semi-standardized interview were used for achieving my objective. The same kinds of research, method and technique were used for achieving my second objective, i.e. - to map the status of delivering socially activating services to families with children in the South Bohemia region which realize saving of families. I carried out two kinds of interviews; the first one - in non-profit-making organizations; the second one - with some OSPOD{\crq}s women-workers in České Budějovice. The set aims were fulfilled. Then, on the base of the detected data, I formulated my findings. My findings confirmed that the experience of organizations which deliver socially activating services to families with children is consistent. Employees of non-governmental non-profit-making organizations indicated that the functioning of their organizations is successful and that they cope with their purposes and aims. The women-workers of OSPOD concurred in their statements that the kind of work with families seemed beneficial and the women-workers were open for cooperation with organizations in that field, which is an important aspect for those organizations. The current situation in delivering socially activating services to families with children in the South Bohemia region is not unsatisfactory, but it is not fully cowered yet. There is no organization fully focused on the saving of families, especially in some border areas of the region. My interviews contributed to the creation of my project design of a non-governmental, non-profit-making organization. On the base of the project design socially activating services (fieldwork form) for families with children in the South Bohemia region could be realized (under the law No. 108/2008 of Collection of Law {--} Social Services Act). In this way the project is the practical output of my thesis and it can be used for the creating of an organization focused on the saving of families in the South Bohemia region. The project and its implementation expect cooperation with experts qualified in that field. If the project is realized, the number of socially activating services in the South Bohemia region will increase and the only organization focused wholly on the saving of families will be created.