Adolescents in a children’s home are exposed to unique experiences from an early age. These adolescents develop in a system with early deprivation experiences, which may result in developmental and adjustment problems that impact on several spheres of their lives, including their career development. Given the lack of South African career research on adolescents, the present study aimed to explore and describe the career development of adolescents in a children’s home. Specifically, this exploration takes the perspective of the systems theory framework of career development which is comprised of three interrelated systems, namely the individual, social, and the environmental/societal systems. The research approach was exploratory and descriptive in nature and was conducted both within a qualitative and quantitative framework. A workbook titled My System of Career Influences (McMahon, Patton, & Watson, 2003a), was used to collect the data. A non-probability, purposive sampling technique was employed to obtain the sample which consisted of 16 English-speaking adolescents, aged between 13 and17 years. Age, gender and culture were not considered in this study. The qualitative data was subjected to content analysis to identify themes, while frequency counts were used for the quantitative data. The results indicate that the present sample of adolescents is presently in the process of exploring and crystallizing their career choice, therefore fitting well within Super’s (1990) theoretical career stage of Exploration. The majority of the adolescents indicated that their present career situation involves making choices regarding schools, subjects, and participation in activities. Quantitative findings indicate that all influences within the three interrelated career systems have an influence on the career development of adolescents in a children’s home. Based on frequency counts, individual system influences such as personality, health, interests and abilities were identified as prominent influences. Within the social system, prominent xi influences included parents, friends, teachers and reading. Within the environmental/societal system, influences such as financial support, location of universities, availability of jobs, and opportunities to work overseas were identified as prominent influences. In addition, adolescents were able to reflect on their personalized diagram of system influences and thus to examine the inter-relatedness of the three systems. The present study highlights the applicability of both the systems theory framework and the My Systems of Career Influences measure in exploring and describing the career development of adolescents in the unique contexts within which they live. Limitations and recommendations for future research based on the present findings are suggested.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in functional communication skills between elderly persons in nursing homes and those living independently in the community. Thirty non-institutionalized elderly subjects were given the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) screening tool. These scores were compared to WAB screening scores obtained from 20 institutionalized subjects. The difference between these scores was statistically significant. The institutionalized subjects' scores were also correlated with a Facilitators Evaluation of Communication Skills (FECS) inventory. Results showed a moderate correlation between the institutionalized subjects' WAB screening score and their FECS rating. The benefits of a screening tool for elderly populations are discussed.

M.A. / The child and youth care system in South Africa was transformed on recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Transformation of the Child and Youth Care System in 1996. The South African Constitution, The Bill of Rights and the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 and its amendment Children’s Act 41 of 2007 ensure that the best interest of children is paramount in all services to children. Corporal punishment was abolished as a method of disciplining children because of its punitive nature and the negative effects it had on children. The motivation for this study arose from the need of the researcher to find out what has replaced corporal punishment, if anything, in the rights-based post corporal punishment era. The objectives for the study were: to explore what was perceived as challenging behavior by the children and child care workers, to establish what methods were used to manage what was perceived as challenging behavior, to explore what training was received by the child care workers to assist them in managing challenging behavior and to make recommendations on the findings. An exploratory, descriptive qualitative research design approach was found to be suitable for this qualitative study. Focus groups were conducted as a means of collecting data. Findings from the study indicated that not much had changed with regards to the methods used to discipline children in the institution post the corporal punishment era. From the study it could be deduced that there is still a lot to be done in terms of alternatives in managing challenging behaviour of children. The study makes recommendations that will involve all significant role players including children in managing challenging behaviour in places of care.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attachment styles of children between the ages of six and twelve years of age who were admitted as inpatients in a children’s ward of a psychiatric hospital. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1997, 1998) proposes that children develop certain attachment styles towards their primary caregivers from birth through to three years of age, after which the styles remain relatively constant as can be seen through attachment behaviours later on in life. These attachment styles can be secure, insecure-ambivalent / anxious or insecure-avoidant (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters&Wall, 1978). Green and Goldwyn (2002) also refer to a fourth category that was established through later research on attachment, named disorganised attachment. Psychiatric hospitalisation of a child implies the assumption of psychopathology and through institutionalisation, he or she is literally separated from the primary caregivers and inevitably placed in unfamiliar surroundings with strangers, making it an ideal setting to investigate attachment features. The researcher worked from the supposition that the mere fact of hospitalisation and implied pathology would thus point to insecure attachment styles in these children. A qualitative research design was implemented to gather information regarding the children’s attachment styles. Two projective techniques were used, namely the Children’s Apperception Test and the Picture Test of Separation and Individuation. Analysis of the information consisted of a first- and second-order process of thematic content analysis. The results yielded thirteen categories of experience. An extensive description of each category was provided, and the categories were then related to theory. The results obtained support previous research findings that found that institutionalised children tend to show more insecure attachment styles. The results from this study also indicated that these insecure attachment styles tend to be predominantly insecure-avoidant or insecure-disorganised. / Dissertation (MA(Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

Growth in the elderly population and restraint in the health sector have led to decision makers placing an increasing priority on home care services. In Canada, there are three models of home care: a preventive and maintenance model which is designed to reduce the rate of deterioration for persons with relatively low level care needs; an acute care substitution model where home care substitutes for hospital care; and a long term care substitution model which uses home care as a substitute for facility care. This study focuses on the long term care substitution model. The research question is: In the British Columbia continuing care sector, is home care for the elderly a cost-effective alternative for government funders to care in long term care facilities, by level of care? To answer this question, data were obtained on three cohorts of clients for one year prior to initial assessment and three years post-assessment. The cohorts were new admissions to the British Columbia continuing care system in the 1987/88, 1990/91 and 1993/94 fiscal years. Costs to government for home care services, residential services, pharmaceuticals, fee-for-service physician services and hospital services were analyzed. The central finding of this study was that, on average, the overall health care costs to government for clients in home care are about one half to three quarters of the costs for clients in facility care, by level of care. A related finding was that costs differ by the type of client. The lowest home care costs were for individuals who were stable in their type and level of care. For clients who died the costs for home care were higher, compared to clients in long term care facilities. It was also found that some one half of the overall health care costs for home care clients were attributable to their use of acute care hospital services and that a significant portion of the health costs for home care clients occur at transition points, that is, when there is a change in the client's type, and/or level, of care. These findings are compared to the American literature which indicates that home care is not a cost-effective substitute for residential care. Possible reasons for the differences in findings are discussed. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for a series of potential, future, policy agendas regarding: the organization and management of continuing care services; legislation and administrative policy; service delivery; resource allocation; information systems; and research. / Graduate

This thesis is part of a larger study off all wards of the Children's Aid Society, Vancouver, who are not living in foster homes. Specifically, it is a study of the 16 wards whose whereabouts were unknown to the Society at the time the initial survey was undertaken in October, 1954. As a background to the study the historical development of child protection legislation in Great Britain and the United States is briefly described, particularly as it relates to the principle and status of public guardianship incorporated in Canadian legislation. In the Province of British Columbia, the Children's Aid Society, Vancouver, is responsible for carrying out the duties of guardianship and of supervision for children made wards of the Society, either until they attain the age of 21 years or until a court order is made returning the child to his parents. Legislation, moreover, specifies foster-home placement as the most desirable form of care for children made public wards. Accordingly, this study attempts to assess the effectiveness of public guardianship for a small group of wards who eventually became lost, with special reference to their problems of adjustment and foster-home placement. A simple schedule was devised appropriate for summarizing the quantitative and qualitative data contained in the files of the children and their families. Summary methods of classification were developed in order to analyse and compare the material. Examination of this material shows that the emotional deprivation and inconsistency in the parent-child relationships experienced by these-children during their early years often prevented them from adjusting to the foster home type of care. Moreover, it was evident that alternative forms of care and the casework services which the problems of these children demanded has not been available, with the result that they eventually became lost to the effective supervision of the Agency. Case illustrations for four of the children were used to present a more detailed and comprehensive picture of the needs of these children during their period in care and of the services provided by the Agency to assist in their better adjustment. The illustrations discuss the psycho-social history available from the case records, and point up the damaging effects on these children of certain experiences during their early childhood, exacerbated by their subsequent experience of foster-home placements. The study led to the formulation of certain recommendations, the most important of these being the need for complete diagnostic assessment of the child both when he is first admitted to care and at continuing intervals throughout his period in care. From this diagnosis a plan for the care of the child should be made which will satisfy his needs. Three types of residential units are suggested which would provide the appropriate placement and treatment facilities required by those children for whom foster-home placement has proved unsuitable. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Using a pre- and post-test design with both experimental and control groups, the research was conducted to see if life review improved the independence, depression, and integrated functioning of the institutionalized elderly. The elderly on the long term care unit of an acute care hospital waiting to be placed in a long term care facility were studied using a pre- and post-test design. Patients who were not depressed and could communicate in English were included in the study. They were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups when possible. Patients in the experimental groups attended eight life review sessions over a four week period while the control groups carried on with the usual activities on the unit. Three scales, the Geriatric Depression Scale, Activities of Daily Living Evaluation Form, and the Geriatric Rating Scale were administered before the four week period and after. Data was also collected during the sessions on group process using the Group Process Observational Checklist on the experimental groups. Demographic data was collected on all the patients in the study. It was found that the experimental group did become more independent, integrated and less depressed. This study indicated that life review is beneficial for the institutionalized elderly but, it could not show exactly what variables in the life review process contributed to these positive results. Replication studies are needed to validate these findings. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This thesis deals with the issue of vulnerable children. This topic is very current as a legal reform on social and legal protection of children was adopted in 2013 promoting the development of children in a family environment by professionalization of the foster care. The reform should help reduce the number of children in institutional care, as the Czech Republic ranks at the top of the list while assigning children into institutions, compared to other developed countries in the European Union. The aim of this work is to analyze the funding of foster care and care of children in orphanages by government and by private incomes. The theoretical part describes the state social policy concerning the care of vulnerable children and describes the types of non-profit organizations working in this area. The practical part analyzes and compares the types of the care of vulnerable children in terms of institutional arrangements and financing. The thesis also examines what the costs are for both a child in foster care and a child placed in orphanages.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-04-14T19:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação_Sayonara_CD.pdf: 3440704 bytes, checksum: cc86a2b97e39029b3a7f7a0494f3bc9b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-14T19:23:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação_Sayonara_CD.pdf: 3440704 bytes, checksum: cc86a2b97e39029b3a7f7a0494f3bc9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-29 / Propesq/UFPE, Capes,Reuni/UFPE / O cuidado da criança envolve diferentes pessoas, concepções e práticas em contextos culturais específicos. Partindo da psicoetologia, uma perspectiva interacionista que possui um olhar biopsicossocial do ser humano – considerando que seu comportamento, assim como sua estrutura orgânica e corporal, é produto e instrumento de seu processo de evolução – o cuidado da criança pode ser compreendido a partir do cuidado parental. Este é concebido como um conjunto de ações e comportamentos selecionados ao longo da história evolutiva da espécie, de modo a garantir a sobrevivência da prole, ajustando-o a transformações socioculturais que caracterizam o modo de vida dos seres humanos. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar as redes de cuidadores de crianças de zero a seis anos por cuidadores familiares e não familiares em uma comunidade de baixa renda da cidade do Recife. De forma específica, buscou-se identificar, descrever e discutir rotinas, práticas e redes sociais de apoio que configurem o cuidado da criança, bem como perquirir modos compartilhados de cuidar da criança e as significações atribuídas ao cuidado por familiares ou outros adultos que compartilham essa tarefa. Participaram da pesquisa trinta mulheres: 16 mães, 9 avós, 2 babás, 2 empregadas domésticas e 1 tia, na faixa etária de 20 a 80 anos que tinham pelos menos uma criança de zero a seis anos sob seus cuidados. Os dados foram coletados mediante visitas à comunidade com a realização de entrevistas nas residências das participantes, o que possibilitou observar importantes aspectos do cuidado da criança e complementar os dados das entrevistas. O material coletado foi organizado de modo quantitativo, sendo, assim, possível indicar o número de integrantes das redes de cuidado, o número de homens e mulheres e de familiares e não familiares dessas redes, a frequência de crianças a instituições educacionais e outros aspectos relevantes para a caracterização da tarefa de cuidar das crianças. Realizou-se também uma análise qualitativa, buscando-se identificar núcleos de sentidos realçados nas falas das participantes. Os resultados apontam as redes de cuidadores como um importante apoio às famílias e como estratégia para compartilhar o cuidado da criança, sendo tais redes constituídas majoritariamente por mulheres familiares que residem com a criança. A prevalência feminina nas tarefas de cuidado tanto da criança quanto da casa também é um aspecto de destaque, sinalizando a manutenção de uma divisão tradicional das tarefas de cuidado e a sobrecarga de atividades enfrentada pelas mulheres. E, por fim, a instituição educacional se sobressai como um importante componente na maioria das redes de cuidadores, porém se identifica pouca confiabilidade na creche ou no CMEI, o que instiga um olhar mais atento para as questões que envolvem a opção dos pais em compartilhar ou não o cuidado/educação da criança com essa instituição e para o tipo de serviço que ela oferece. Conclui-se que investigar a rede de cuidadores da criança suscita importantes aspectos acerca da dinâmica do grupo familiar com poucos recursos financeiros. Além disso, estudos como este têm um potencial de subsidiar políticas públicas que promovam melhores condições para a criança e a família. / Child care involves different people, concepts and practices in specific cultural contexts. Based on Psychoethology, an interactionist perspective that has a biopsychosocial look on the human being – considering that their behavior and their organic and body structure constitute both a product and an instrument of their process of evolution – the child care can be understood from parental care. This is conceived as a set of actions and behaviors selected along the evolutionary history of the species, as to ensure the survival of the offspring, adjusting it to sociocultural changes that characterize the way of living of human beings. This research aims to investigate the network of caregivers of children aged zero to six years by family and nonfamily caregivers in a low income community in Recife. Specifically, it was sought to identify, describe and discuss routines, practices and social support networks that constitute the child's care as well as to assert shared modes of child care and the meanings assigned to care by relatives or other adults who share this task. Thirty women participated in the study: 16 mothers, 9 grandmothers, 2 babysitters, 2 maids and 1 aunt, aged 20-80 years who had at least one child from birth to six years under their care. Data were collected by means of visits to their community with interviews held in the homes of the participants, which made it possible to observe important aspects of child care and complement the interview data. The collected material was organized in a quantitative manner, indicating the number of participants of the networks of care, the number of men and women as well as the family and nonfamily members of these networks, the attendance of children in educational institutions and other aspects relevant to the characterization of the task of taking care of the children. A qualitative analysis was also conducted, seeking to identify nuclei of meaning highlighted in the speech of the participants. The results indicate the networks of caregivers as an important support for families and as a strategy to share the care of the child, and that those networks are mostly consisted of women members of the family residing with the child. The female prevalence in care of both the child and the house is also a prominent aspect, signaling the maintenance of a traditional division of care tasks and activity overload faced by women. And finally, the educational institution stands out as an important component in most networks of caregivers, but poor reliability is identified in the day care or CMEI, which instigates a closer look into the issues involving the choice of parents to share or not to share the care / education of the child with that institution and the type of service it offers. The conclusion is that investigating the network of caregivers of children raises important issues about the dynamics of the family group with poor financial resources. Furthermore, studies like this have the potential to support public policies that promote better conditions for children and families.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Aggressive and violent behaviour in inpatient mental health facilities is found worldwide and is a frequent and serious clinical and nursing care problem. Despite the importance of international research findings and recommendations, it appears that patients perceptions of the possible contributing factors toward aggressive and violent behaviour in mental health facilities is an area of enquiry that has not been widely explored in South Africa in general, or in the Western Cape, in particular. It is against this background that this study endeavoured to investigate the external and situational contributing to patients aggressive and violent behaviour in mental health facilities in Cape Town, as seen from patients perspectives. / South Africa