In many Western societies grandparents take on the role of occasional or short-term care providers of their grandchildren. However, recent years have witnessed a significant increase, both in Australia and overseas, in the number of children being raised by their grandparents due to the inability of the children’s parents to effectively meet their parenting responsibilities.This study is an interpretive inquiry that seeks to understand the meanings grandparents attach to their experiences of the grandparent-as-parent role, rather than the traditional grandparent role. The study also investigates how assuming the non-traditional grandparent role has influenced the identity of grandparent caregivers. A narrative inquiry approach was employed to ‘hear the voices’ of 34 grandparents who were raising their grandchildren in NSW, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with each of the participants and their narratives were subsequently analysed through the lens of identity theory.Findings from the study reveal that grandparents experience a significant degree of roleidentity conflict in their grandparent-as-parent role. The loss of their traditional grandparent role, together with the shift in commitment to the grandparent-as-parent role, has resulted in a ‘space of difference’ between the ‘ideal’ and the ‘real’ of being a grandparent. This ‘space of difference’ is made up of a series of binary experiences described as myth/reality, visible/invisible, deserving/undeserving, voice/silenced, included/excluded, which appear to have consequentially impacted grandparents’ selfesteem and self-verification processes. The study posits that grandparents lack adequate support, or doulia, resulting in a prevailing belief that their commitment to the grandparentas- parent role is not publicly acknowledged nor afforded the justice it deserves.The study concludes that both policy and practice in NSW have failed to recognise and address the complexity of experience, or the ‘space of difference’ occupied by grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, and provides a number of recommendations in response to the grandparent experiences narrated through this research.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of attendance at a senior center on the well being and quality of life of grandparents that were rearing grandchildren. Using convenience sampling, grandparents (N=130) who were rearing grandchildren were given a self administered demographic data survey along with an attendance at a senior center questionnaire, the Quality of Life Scale, the Well Being Scale by Liang, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Caregiver Burden Scale, and the Role Satisfaction Scale. An initial MANOVA (F 7, 69 = 2.72, p < .01) suggesting that senior center attendance affect the measures as a set was conducted and then a series of one way ANOVAs were carried out to test the hypothesis that attending a senior center has an effect on the dependent variables: well being, quality of life, role satisfaction, caregiver burden, loneliness, current health, and heath one year ago. Subsequently, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to find out whether frequency and quality of attendance of a senior center predicted quality of life, caregiver burden, well being, loneliness, and role satisfaction, controlling for the demographic data. The results of the MANOVA showed that the dependent variables: quality of life, caregiver burden, well being and role satisfaction were impacted positively by the attendance of a senior center. The results of the regression analyses showed that for each of the major dependent variables, after controlling for the demographic data, the quality and frequency of involvement at the senior center did not have a uniquely significant role in predicting the dependent variables. The results of this study shows that further research need to be conducted to answer other questions regarding grandparents who are rearing minor grandchildren and the affects that senior centers may have in assisting in the management of this new task that grandparents have found themselves dealing with.

No description available.

It is assumed that a parenting role by a grandparent or grandparents has been tied to life events, Such as divorce or the death of their own children. The parent was no longer in the picture and the grandparent stepped in to care for the children. Although this pattern has by no means disappeared, society is now seeing more and more cases of dysfunctional parents who are unable or unwilling to raise their own children who are therefore being raised by the grandparent. relative caregivers such as grandparents.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / According to the most recent US Census statistics, there is an estimated 2.5 million grandparents raising their grandchildren in the United States without the children's parents present in the household. In Indianapolis, the figure constitutes nearly 9,000 households. There are a disproportionately higher number of African American grandparents that are primary caregivers to their grandchildren. However, 6 percent of this population is grandfathers who are raising their grandchildren, while some 40 percent of the grandmothers are married. The research is a compilation of interviews with ten African American grandfathers living in Indianapolis who are raising their grandchildren in their households without the presence of the grandchildren’s parents. These men were either married or widowed and have either formal custody of their grandchildren through adoption, foster care/kinship care, court-appointed guardianship or informal living arrangements. The objective of the research was to capture the lived experiences of these grandfathers who were fulfilling their caregiving roles. Thus, the research methodology used was reflective of the phenomenological paradigm of inquiry.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Very little attention has been paid in South Africa to the situations where grandmothers have become surrogate parents to their grandchildren and other vulnerable children who have been left destitute due to the HIV/Aids epidemic. These women, who are in great need of support are not directly factored into Aids-related policy and care strategies, even though they play a vital role in assuming the roles of surrogate parents to their grandchildren. Clearly elderly women are valuable resources and are both crucial and valuable for the role they play in the care of both Aids sufferers and Aids orphans. Grandmothers who assume such care-giving roles are not receiving specific and targeted support from government structures. Instead they only benefit peripherally from the legislation within the jurisdiction of Department of Social Development and the programs that are established by them. This study determined where government social and welfare polices can improve the quality of life of black female pensioners who are taking care of their orphaned grandchildren and other vulnerable children. Policy makers need to recognise that grandmothers are increasingly obliged to assume care-giving responsibilities for dying adult children and later for orphans, when their own physical and cognitive abilities may be declining. Instead of using their state pensions to enjoy their old age and spend their money on looking after their health, proper housing etc., black female pensioners are forced to assume additional responsibilities in looking after orphaned grandchildren and other vulnerable children who require food, clothing, proper housing, education etc. Such expenses imply that their pensions are not put to their intended uses. Due to their advanced age they find it increasingly difficult to earn income to support young children. Until now the South African government has done little to support older women who find themselves in such precarious circumstances and to recognise their invaluable contributions. Various recommendations are made in the report to improve this situation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Baie min aandag is tot dusver nog in Suid-Afrika geskenk aan die omstandighede waar grootmoeders hulself bevind in die posisie van surrogaat ouer vir hul kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders wat haweloos gelaat is as gevolg van die HIVNigs epidemie. Hierdie vroue wat ondersteuning dringend nodig het, is nie regstreeks in berekening gebring by die verskeie Vigs beleide en ander versorginstrategiee en maatreels nie, al speel hulle 'n beslissende rol as surrogaat ouers vir hulle kleinkinders. Dit is duidelik dat bejaarde vroue 'n waardevolle hulpbron is en 'n onskatbare en onmisbare rol speel by die versorging van sowel Vigs Iyers as kinders wat weens Vigs ouerloos is. Grootmoeders wat hierdie versorgingsrolle aanvaar, ontvang geen spesifieke en doelgerigte ondersteuning van regeringstrukture nie. Instede daarvan trek hulle net voordeel uit wetgewing binne die jurisdiksie van Department van Openbare Welsyn en die programme wat daaruit mag voortvloei. Hierdie studie het vas gestel hoe die bestaande open bare en welsynsbeleide aangepas kan word om die lewenskwalitiet van swart vroulike pensioenarise wat vir hul ouerlose kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders sorg, te verbeter. Beleidmakers moet besef dat grootmoeders toenemend verplig word om om te sien na die versorging van hul eie sterwende volwasse kinders en mettertyd die versoging van dieselfde gestorwenes se kinders wat wees agtergelaat word. Hierdie toedrag van sake ontvou in 'n stadium wanneer hierdie vroue se eie fisiese krag en kognitiewe vaardighede waarskynlik reeds aan die afneem is. Instede daarvan dat hierdie vroue die staatspensioen gebruik om hul oudag te geniet en om te sien na hulle eie gesondheid, behoorlike behuising edm., is swart vroulike pensioenarisse verplig om hierdie beperkte fondse aan te wend vir die versorging, voeding, behuising en onderrig van hul ouerlose kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders. Sulke onkostes impliseer dat hul pensioen nie aangewend word vir die doel waarvoor dit ingestel is nie. Weens hul hoe ouderdom is dit vir hierdie vroue al hoe moeiliker om 'n inkomste te genereer om vir jong kinders te sorgo Tot nog toe het die Suid-Afrikaanse regering weinig gedoen om ouer vroue wat hulself in hierdie benarde omstandighede bevind, te ondersteun of om hul onskatbare bydrae te erken. Verskeie voorstelle word in hierdie verslag gemaak om die situasie te verbeter.

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / An exploratory study with a descriptive design has been used in order to get more information and insight about the tendency of grandmothers as kinship caregiver (family foster parent) for their grandchildren. The researcher became aware of the increase in the use of the grandmother as a kinship caregiver, as well as the shortage of literature in South Africa. The abovementioned aspects lead to the motivation for the study. The experience of the grandmother in Kayamandi as kinship caregiver was studied. The aim of the study is to provide guidelines to social workers for service rendering to grandmothers as kinship caregivers. The literature study gave a historical overview of foster care and kinship care in both the United States of America (USA) and South Africa. Foster care was described as a process: from preventative services to permanency planning. Specific attention was given to the grandmother as kinship caregiver. As the literature in the USA focused on the Afro-American, it was decided to do the study in Kayamandi, where the grandmother as kinship caregiver is mostly isiXhosa-speaking. The sample consists out of 15 grandparents who are either Afrikaans or English speaking. The mixed methodology design model was used by mixing qualitative as well as quantitative research: structured interviews based on structured questionnaires. The study enabled the researcher to draw up a profile of the grandmother as kinship caregiver as well as the family foster child in Kayamandi. The results of the literature confirmed the results of the study; the experience of the grandmother as kinship caregiver is marked with mixed feelings, but is overall a positive experience. The recommendations focused on three areas; the grandmother, the grandchild and the experience of the grandmother as kinship caregiver. The central theme for both grandmother and grandchild was the need for support. It is recommended that future research focus on the development of support programs aimed specifically at grandparents as kinship caregivers.

Nationally there has been an increase in the number of children requiring care and protection who have been placed in foster care in South Africa. This increase has also been evident at the Child and Family Welfare Society of Pietermaritzburg. Many of the children needing care and protection are placed in foster care with their grandparents. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the experiences and support networks of grandparents and their adolescent foster grandchildren. The study was guided by the ecological framework. This was a qualitative study with the purpose being descriptive. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adolescent foster children and one focus group discussion was conducted with 8 grandmothers. Although the plan was to include both grandparents in the study, it became evident at the sampling stage that many of the children were placed with their grandmothers, even if the grandfather was present. A significant finding of the study was that it was mainly grandmothers, rather than both grandparents, who had the responsibility for caring and nurturing the children in their care. Although five of the adolescents lived with both their grandmothers and their grandfathers; grandfathers were not seen as playing a significant role in their lives. Grandmothers were the decision-makers, responsible for discipline and a source of support for the adolescents. Grandmothers experienced financial and housing difficulties. Adolescents expressed feelings of loneliness and loss in relation to their parents. Social workers have focused mainly on assisting grandmothers to access the foster care grant and grandmothers and adolescents have not received grief and bereavement counseling and therapeutic services. Recommendations include the need for social workers to respond to the therapeutic needs of adolescents and the employment of social service professionals. Recommendations at a policy level include the improvement of the partnership between the Department of Social Development and NGOs. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, page: 2670. Adviser: Palmer Beasley. Includes bibliographical references.

Grandparent-headed families are diverse in nature and represent a rapidly growing family type. While challenges facing grandparent caregivers are well documented, less is known about the well-being of their grandchildren, with many early studies relying on small samples of convenience. This study used an existing large national database, the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), to compare differences in well-being of both children and grandparent caregivers across the independent variables of family type, ethnicity, gender, and age. Findings suggested better mental health and less parental aggravation for caregivers in traditional two parent intact families as compared to grandparents co-parenting in a multi-generation home, skipped generation grandparents (raising their grandchild with no parent present) or single parents. Skipped generation grandparents in particular reported most caregiver aggravation. Child physical health was reported to be worse by skipped generation grandparent caregivers. Behavior problems were reported to be worse for children in grandparent headed households than those in traditional families, particularly for teenagers raised in skipped generation households by their grandmothers. Specific results, limitations and future directions for research on grandparent-headed households were discussed.