The researcher has identified an aspect of the practical implementation of the social services rendered to vulnerable children that required attention. This was that a child’s emotional wellness is influenced by the circumstances in which the child is raied. Children removed from the care of their primary caregiver and placed in alternative care tend to be emotionally needy. Without efficient stimulation, the cycle of unhealthy emotional intelligence will continue from one generation to the next, as children cannot stimulate their own children appropriately when they become parents, if they were never stimulated appropriately themselves. This study dealt with the influence that group work may have on the emotional intelligence of vulnerable children in middle childhood. A literature study was conducted, which contains information regarding group work and the emotional development of children in middle childhood. This information also formed the basis of a questionnaire. The empirical study involved group work with five vulnerable children in middle childhood placed in places of safety under the auspices of Tsenang Homes of Safety. The study was conducted in the onegroup- pre-test-post-test context of the quasi-experimental design. Therefore a pretest was conducted to gain an understanding of the group members’ pre-existing emotional intelligence. After eight group work sessions, two post-tests, utilising the same questionnaire as was used during the pre-test, were conducted by each group member. The pre-test and post-tests results were compared and illustrated in the findings. The empirical data obtained in this study revealed that group work can be utilised to enhance the emotional intelligence of vulnerable children in middle childhood. Therefore, from this study conclusions and recommendations for future studies and practice were formulated. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

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The focus of this research is foster children. The goal of the research is to evaluate the utilisation value of gestalt play techniques in the assessment of the foster child in his middle childhood. An extensive literature study was undertaken. Middle childhood, the foster child, the gestalt approach, gestalt play therapy techniques and the assessment of selfworth from the frame of reference of the Department of Social Affairs and Population Development’s “Project Go” was taken as the theoretical foundation. The researcher made use of evaluative research within the framework of applied research in order to achieve the objective. Information was obtained by means of semi-structured interviews in the form of play therapy sessions. The research question was: “ How effectively can gestalt play therapy techniques be utilised to assess the selfworth of the foster child in his middle childhood?” Qualitative research was used as the case study served as research design. The research focussed on the following four components of selfworth, namely belonging, independence, mastery and generosity. In this research existing and adapted play therapy techniques were used in order to put together a number of assessment interviews for the assessment of the selfworth of the foster child in his middle childhood. Six foster children were involved in six assessment interviews.The results confirmed that the specific play therapy techniques can be utilised effectively to assess the selfworth of the foster child in his middle childhood. / Dissertation (MA(Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

This study is an indepth exploration of the experience of the children of Asian international students in Halmstad University, Sweden. The study has a qualitative research design and it provides insights to the perceptions and experiences of the kids through semi structured interviews. The results highlight positive aspects of relocation as well as areas where additional support is needed for a better integrationa and adaptation. The findings are informatives to parents, university and to policy makers.The study concludes that there must be clearly better understandingabout the reality of kids and more effective practices are to be developed to ensure better adaptation of the kids.

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Recent studies have addressed the importance of identifying determinants of parental emotion socialization (ES) to clarify how and why parents engage in ES practices. Furthermore, emotions occur within cultural contexts. Recent work has drawn attention to the importance of cross-cultural research for developmental science. Consistent with these calls for research, I examined parents' beliefs about emotions and self-construals as two sets of distinct factors guiding parental ES responses in China and the United States (US). Three emotion-related beliefs (manipulation [children can use emotions to manipulate parents]; parental knowledge [parents have to know all about their child's emotions]; autonomy [children can work through emotions on their own]) and two self-construals (independence [view self as unique entity]; interdependence [view self as connected with others]) were highlighted. One hundred seven parents with 7- to 11-year-old children (75 Chinese, 32 US; 90 mothers, 17 fathers) completed online questionnaires in their native language. MANCOVA analyses indicated cultural differences. Compared with Chinese parents, US parents less strongly endorsed beliefs about manipulation, parental knowledge, and autonomy. US parents endorsed more supportive and less nonsupportive responses towards children's emotions than Chinese parents. There was a trend for Chinese parents to endorse more interdependence than independence in self-construals, whereas no within-person difference was found for US parents' endorsement of these two self-construals. For both Chinese and US parents, beliefs about emotions and self-construals were significantly associated with ES responses. Linear regressions showed that parents' stronger manipulation belief was associated with higher nonsupportive responses to positive and negative emotions. Parents with stronger parental knowledge or autonomy beliefs reported more supportive responses to negative emotions and explanations of positive emotions. Stronger belief in parental knowledge was also related to more endorsed encouragement of positive emotions and lower nonsupportive responses to negative emotions. After controlling for the effects of beliefs, parents with higher interdependent self-construal reported more supportive responses to negative emotions and more explanatory responses to positive emotions. Parents who endorsed higher independent self-construal reported more encouraging responses to positive emotions and less nonsupportive responses to negative emotions. Results are discussed in relation to meaning and significance within socio-cultural contexts. / Doctor of Philosophy / Parental emotion socialization (ES) refers to the process through which parents socialize children's social and emotional competence. Parents from different cultures may enact different ES practices. To better clarify the cross-cultural similarities and differences as well as to better understand how and why parents endorse various ES practices, I conducted the current study. I worked with Chinese and US families and examined how parents' beliefs and perceptions of self (self-construal) as guiding factors were associated with parental ES responses to children's emotions. I focused on three beliefs about emotions: manipulation (children can use emotions to manipulate parents); parental knowledge (parents need to know all about their child's emotions); autonomy (children can handle emotions on their own) and two self-construals: independence (view self as unique entity); interdependence (view self as connected with others). One hundred seven parents (75 Chinese, 32 US; 90 mothers, 17 fathers) participated and their children were 7- to 11-year-old. Parents completed online questionnaires in their native language. I found cultural differences in parents' beliefs and ES responses. Compared with Chinese parents, US parents believed less strongly in children using emotions as manipulations, in parents knowing all about their child's emotions, and in children being able to work through emotions on their own. US parents reported more supportive and less nonsupportive responses to children's emotions than Chinese parents. I found no cultural differences in how parents' beliefs and self-construals associated with their ES responses. For both Chinese and US parents, the more strongly they believed children using emotions to manipulate others, the more nonsupportive responses they endorsed towards children's emotions. Parents' stronger beliefs in parents knowing their child's every emotion and in child's own capability of handling emotions were both related to their more supportive and exploratory responses to children's emotions. In terms of the effects of parents' self-construals, the higher parents viewed themselves as connected to others, the more support and explanation they reported in reaction to children's emotions. Meanwhile, the higher parents viewed themselves as unique and independent, the more encouraging and less nonsupportive responses towards children's emotions they reported. Overall, findings contributed to the understanding of parental ES within the cultural context in relation to parents' beliefs about emotions and perceptions of self.

This thesis focuses on the development of Gestalt guidelines to assist parents to enhance psychosocial development in middle childhood. The researcher made use of the four stages of the intervention research process, namely project planning, information gathering, design, and early development of the guidelines to complete this research study. For the purposes of this study middle childhood is defined as male and female children between the age of seven and twelve years. Some areas of psychosocial development and relevant Gestalt principles are highlighted in this study. Functional elements of existing parenting programs are discussed and utilised along with the views of the respondents in this study, those of experts, and literature reviews to design Gestalt guidelines with an observational system. / Social Work / M.Diac.