<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the efficacy of naturebased therapies to increase the social functioning of foster care youth. A convenience sample of 10 youth and secondary data were used in this study. At a confidence level of .05, results indicated a significant relationship between the use of combined therapies and the promotion of peer-preferred behavior (<i>p</i> = .07) as well as prosocial behavior/social competence (<i>p</i> = .05). The effects of the remaining two scales (school adjustment and teacher preferred behavior) were not significant. Further research is required to explore the efficacy of the evaluated therapies for the purpose of promoting pro social behavior. Recommendations for future studies include random sampling, use of a control group, an extended evaluation period, and use of an instrument that measures the frequency of prosocial behaviors. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to fund a training program for foster parents who are facing challenges with foster children under their care. The goal of this project is to help increase knowledge about best-practices in parenting children with challenging behaviors, while decreasing foster parent stress through self-care techniques. The program, unlike others, will give insight on the significance of attachment and how it relates to behaviors exhibited by foster children. </p><p> The Ralph M. Parson Foundation was selected as the potential fonder due to its commitment to enhancing the lives of disadvantaged populations and improving the well-being of children. The host agency, Aspiranet, will expand their services to include the proposed foster parent training program. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not requirements for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to identify potential funding sources and complete a grant application for the proposed project, which is designed to promote better communication between Mendocino County Child Welfare Services and the Mendocino Children's Welfare Emergency Shelter located in Ukiah, California. This will be accomplished by the implementation of the Sequest Workflow System and the Children and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Mental Health assessment tool. Use of these tools will increase accessibility and accuracy of information about the youth and their family. Having this pertinent information will help child welfare workers place youth in homes that will meet their needs and support their strengths. Improving the communication between the child welfare social workers and the Mendocino Children's Welfare Emergency Shelter will enable the child welfare social workers to make well-matched post placements. Actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not required for successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to identify a potential funding source and write a grant application to fund the Sonoma County Family, Youth, and Children's Services Division Parent Partner Program. The purpose of this program is to give additional support to parents going through the child welfare system. </p><p> Parents who have successfully navigated the system and reunified with their children will be trained and matched with client parents currently in the system. The parent partners will serve as mentors to the client parents under the supervision of the program manager. The expected outcomes are to increase Sonoma County's timely reunification rates and to decrease recidivism. Actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> What is the experience of being artistically creative, undergoing a major interruption in creativity and, finally, transitioning through that interruption to return to being creative? There is important literature on resilience, yet little mention of creativity. </p><p> This qualitative multiple case study explored the roles creativity played in resilient coping, wellness, and actualizing human potential by revealing experiences and life changes preceding, during, and following adversity. An intentional sampling yielded six adults, two males and four females, who experienced prolonged disruption lasting at least six months that impeded ordinary creative activity. Possible factors pertaining to people, conditions, and events were assessed. </p><p> Research data included: (a) participant essay response to specific questions about experiences before/during/after disruption; (b) a semi-structured qualitative interview expanding on the essay; (c) artwork relating to the three periods examined, and (d) a follow-up phone interview. Artistic expressions included poetry, writing, paintings, music, and design. Tape-recorded interviews were transcribed for thematic content analysis to identify major themes for the individual participants for the three periods that were investigated, as well as a cross-case comparison. </p><p> Seventeen major areas of importance, found in one or more of the three periods, involved: 1) creative environment; 2) creative output; 3) emotions; 4) financial status; 5) healing modalities; 6) insight/self-discovery; 7) loss; 8) perception; 9) perseverance; 10) productivity; 11) renewed passion for creativity; 12) self-esteem; 13) skill/training/talent; 14) "something higher"; 15) support; 16) time/space; and 17) utilizing creativity. Five themes, reflecting an overall pattern for participants' process, were: 1) support; 2) self-esteem; 3) perception; 4) perseverance, and 5) insight and self-discovery. </p><p> Results showed that using one's creativity was not only vital for overcoming adversity, but that creative activity itself evolved to meet the circumstances. As they persevered, the participants reported finding more universal meaning in their creations. They also gained greater self-confidence, renewed optimism, and found increased compassion and respect for self and others. Unfortunately, not everyone with adversity will recover, and by studying survivors such as these, we can learn what nurtures resilient responses.</p>

Filial obligations are moral requirements that adult children have for the well-being of their parents. These obligations are non-voluntary special obligations. An examination of selected cultural (classical Greek and imperial Chinese), religious (Judaic, Islamic and Christian) and philosophical (Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes and Locke) views concerning filial obligation is provided. Several candidates emerge for the basis of filial obligations. An analysis of the arguments for each of these candidates is provided. Personal identity is rejected as an inadequate basis for filial obligations because it relies on a fallacy. Friendship is rejected because (1) there are morally relevant features of the filial relationship that are not captured by this account and (2) the lack of equality of autonomy and the lack of independence make friendship between children and parents impossible. Reciprocity is rejected when it is shown (1) that the motive of parents for benefiting children is morally irrelevant on a reciprocity account and (2) that the requirement of the repayment of a debts is damaging to the parent-child relationship. Gratitude is supported as the basis of filial obligations because it does not fall prey to the inadequacies listed above. In addition, it addresses all features held to be important to the structure of the parent-child relationship. The argument defended is adult children whose parents have intentionally, voluntarily and benevolently benefitted them for their own sake, have an obligation to cultivate attitudes that are constitutive of the virtue of gratitude. The virtue of gratitude includes the dispositions of appreciation and goodwill. Filial obligations require that one act according to the possession of such attitudes. Application of the gratitude account of filial obligations to cases shows that the specific content of the obligation is context-dependent and cannot be determined across cases. This finding strengthens the argument for gratitude as the basis of filial obligations as it may be applied to our pluralistic society without undermining the values and customs for a particular community.

Two new courtyard housing models for single families are proposed on a site in the heart of Beijing to accommodate the increase of population density and the change of life style in the city in the recent decades while maintaining the cultural essence of the traditional local dwelling--Siheyuan. The design proposals are proceeded by an analysis of Siheyuan in terms of familial structure, spatial organization, and current conditions as well as a brief account of the evolution of housing types in Beijing from 1950's to present.

Within the last three decades the number of single-parent and dual career families in this country have nearly doubled resulting in a steady increase in the demand for high-quality, safe child care to replace the care once traditionally provided by stay-at-home parents. Unfortunately, the supply of quality child care has not kept pace with the increasing demand, leaving parents to struggle with the stress of lower-than-desirable child care and the disruptions that occur when there is a failure in such arrangements (Kahn & Kamerman, 1987; Miller, 1990). An important implication of this struggle is the effect that it has on parents' ability to cope and function effectively at work. Past research on the interference of child care problems at work has been sparse and required parents to provide retrospective reports. The current study used an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) approach to examine the day-to-day experiences of working mothers with children in child care. Participants responded to questionnaires four times per day during work using a hand-held computer and recorded disruptions from caregiving responsibilities, psychological outcomes, and self-reported work outcomes. Results indicated that mothers experienced a considerable number of child care disruptions, which were related to more negative work outcomes, including decreased productivity and concentration; and more negative psychological outcomes, including increased stress levels and work-family conflict. Participants reported significantly more disruptions during daily recordings than by retrospective reporting of disruptions during the previous year, indicating that ESM may be capturing aspects of child care disruptions not encapsulated in previous retrospective studies. Several significant moderators of the relationship between child care disruptions and psychological outcomes were found, including individual differences, such as neuroticism, family involvement, and parent-child relationship closeness; and social support, including spousal support and supervisor support. However, no significant moderators of the relationship between child care disruptions and work outcomes were found.

This work is based on a study of the personal, family and social meanings associated with the pregnancy of adolescent (teenage) girls. / The most immediate goal was to acquire theoretic and methodological tools allowing to progress in the study of the meanings of pregnancy from the point of view of adolescent girls and in the analysis of the underlying semantic network. In particular, the research specifically explores and compares the meanings and the social representations of teenage pregnancy in low-income sectors, in the family and among peers. It also examines how these meanings and representations circulate in a non pregnant teenage group from the same social sector. / Family meanings associated with pregnancy have been studied through the pregnant and non pregnant teenage perceptions. / Social meanings have been studied from the interpretation that the social group of reference--peers group--gives to pregnancy, according to the perception of the interviewed girls. / The sample is comprised of 17 teenagers: 7 pregnant teenagers, 6 non pregnant teenagers and 4 teenage mothers in low income, french speaking sectors. / The methodology is qualitative and based on exploratory instruments. Interviews are semistructured. / The variables describing the meanings and social support figure prominently in the present study. / Research was carried out in two east-end areas of the city of Montreal.

Firstborns' behaviours were examined at different weeks of the mother's pregnancy. Their behaviours were compared to those of preschoolers whose mothers were not expecting. Eighty preschoolers participated: 20 from each trimester of the mother's pregnancy and 20 in a comparison group. At 16 and 20 weeks, first trimester firstborns had fewer difficulties with separation, insecurity, and dependency than at 12 weeks. At 24 and 28 weeks, second trimester firstborns were less dependent than at 20 weeks, and at 28 weeks less insecure than at 20 weeks. At 38 weeks, third trimester firstborns exhibited fewer separation and dependency behaviours than at 28 weeks. First and third trimester firstborns differed from the comparison group, but not in the expected direction. At 16 and 20 weeks, firstborns showed fewer separation problems than the comparison group. At 16 weeks, firstborn boys were less insecure than their counterparts, and at 38 weeks, firstborn boys had fewer separation problems and were less angry than comparison boys. It would appear a mother's second pregnancy does not appear to be particularly distressing for firstborns.