Sammanfattning   Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur föräldrar upplevde sitt föräldraskap fram tills barnet fyllde 18 år.   Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ ansats. Resultatet samlades in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Urvalsgruppen bestod av fyra föräldrar varav två mammor och två pappor i åldrarna 40-50 år, där föräldrarna varit sammanboende under barnets första 18 år. Respondenterna rekryterades via facebook i ett offentligt inlägg där de kunde anmäla sitt deltagande frivilligt. Intervjuerna spelades in med en smartphone och transkiberades sedan. Materialet analyserades ur ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv.   Resultatet visade att det bästa stödet i sitt föräldraskap fick de från sin partner, nära släkt, vänner och bekanta med barn i samma ålder. Majoriteten upplevde att de fick sämre stöd från skolan och saknade föräldrastöd från samhället. Respondenterna kände stress i form av tidsbrist samt av att konstant vara engagerad i barnets skolgång. Alla föräldrarna upplevde höga krav på sig själv och kände sig otillräckliga då de ville vara en så bra förälder som möjligt. Samtliga respondenter uppgav att de hade tappat/ eller saknat kontrollen som förälder någon gång. Gemensamt för alla föräldrarna i urvalsgruppen var att de ville uppfostra sina barn enligt en auktoritativ fostransstil.   Slutsatsen av studien visade att föräldrarna kände bristande föräldrastöd från samhället. De kände sig stressade på grund av tidsbrist samt otillräckliga som förälder med höga krav på sig själv. / Abstract   Title: Parenthood Challenges-An Interview Study   Course: Public Health C: Theory and method of application and degree. Bachelor Theses in Public Health, 15 hp.   Program: Health education program, Department of Occupational and Public Health Sciences, University of Gävle.   Author: Regina Krantz   The purpose of the study was to investigate how parents perceived their parenthood until their child received the age of 18.    The used method was a qualitative approach and the results were collected by using semi-structured interviews. The selection group consisted of four parents, two mothers and two fathers in the age between 40-50 years, and the parents were cohabitants during the first 18 years of their child. The respondents were recruited through facebook in a public post where they could voluntarily report their participation .  The interviews were recorded with a smartphone and then transcribed. The material was analyzed with a phenomenological perspective.   The results showed that the best support in their parenthood was received from their partner, close relatives, friends and acquaintances with children in the same age. The majority experienced poorer support from the school and lacked parent support from society. Respondents felt stress in terms of lack of time and constant involvement in their child's schooling. All the parents experienced high demands on themselves and felt insufficient as they wanted to be a good parent. All respondents stated that they had sometime lost/ missed control as a parent. Common to all the parents in the selection group was that they would raise their children according to an authoritative foster style.   The conclusion of the study showed that the parents felt lack of parental support from society. They felt stressed due to lack of time and insufficient as parents with high demands on themselves.

This research project investigates the reasons why parents are not fully involved in school governance of a selected school in the Sisonke District of KwaZulu-Natal. As a professional educator the researcher has noted that within the rural communities, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal, an area which he knows intimately, there is a general lack of involvement on the part of parents in the way in which schools, that are educating their children, are being run. The researcher has observed that the parents‟ overall contact with the school is very limited - often confined to the beginning of the school year. Thereafter the parents withdraw from all matters pertaining to the running of the school, in effect abdicating their contribution to their children‟s education by handing over all responsibility to the teachers. This, in turn, has created a demarcation that has divided the teachers and the parents, with the parents‟ input stopping at the school gate, in a manner of speaking. What should be a combined effort of both parents and teachers to achieve the best possible results for the learners, has become a rift. And, as with all splitting of resources, this has had a negative impact on the functionality of these educational institutions. In order to get insight into the possible reasons why this is as it is, the researcher collected data, primarily interviews with parents, teachers and learners. Observations of governing body meetings, parents meetings and school management meetings were also conducted. In addition to these, minutes of meetings of the school related to other relevant documents, for example, school finance committee meetings, were also examined. The approach used in this study is the qualitative study method. The researcher also tried to determine to what extent, if any, factors such as lack of knowledge, lack of experience in school governance, lack of time, insufficient training to capacitate parents for school governance, low levels of education, lack of communication, no invitations being extended from the principal, and also teachers' and parents‟ attitudes contribute to this serious lack of parental involvement in the governance of this school. Another consideration was whether educators and learners have any knowledge that parents have a right to come to school and assist with the activities in the classroom. In essence, all the research hinged on the core question: „What are the explanations for the lack of parental involvement in public schools?‟ From the data gathered, the researcher then suggests or recommends possible solutions to rectifying what is fundamentally a misunderstanding of responsibilities, in order to propose means to rectify the situation for the future benefit of the learners. It is also recognised that due to potential limitations of the study, further studies on the effects of parental involvement in schools‟ governance may need to be undertaken. To get a clearer representation of the extent and where this impacts on our society as a whole, the researcher suggests further studies to encompass other school models, as well as other schools with different racial and social/economic compositions be undertaken.

Parental involvement is one of the key requirements that are laid down by fundamental policies on schooling in South Africa. The policies include National Education Policy Act No 27 of 1996 and South African Schools Act No 84 of 1996. However, various schools in this country have generally not met this requirement effectively. The situation is more prevalent in the rural schools where parents either do not participate at all or their participation is minimal. The researcher investigated the factors that were behind the lack of parental involvement in rural schools. A specific focus was in rural schools of Mthatha District. The schools were chosen because of their proximity to the researcher and noted constant reports on the lack of parental involvement. The primary targeted population were the parents whose learners were schooling in the two selected rural schools of Mthatha District, which were Pazima J.S.S and Xonyeni J.S.S The researcher used stratified sampling to ensure better coverage of population and to achieve better precision or accuracy. This was done by dividing the parents into homogenous groups like, gender, age, sex and etc. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The designs that were used were survey and interviews. Questionnaires and interview schedule were developed and administered to parents of the two selected schools. These methods were judged to be appropriate as some of them might not be able to read and write. In addition to that, it was within acceptable procedures of collecting data in both qualitative and quantitative study. There were limitations and delineations and some of them included that the study was confined only to Mthatha District. The researcher selected only two schools and other schools were excluded. The study investigated only parents of the senior phase level and other phases were not involved. The researcher collected data from the parents of two selected schools i.e. Pazima J.S.S and Xonyeni J.S.S using questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were administered to parents who were able to read and write and for those parents who could not read and write interviews were conducted. The data was analysed using a pool- table method and out of 74 parents used as the sample for the study most parents were ranging between 32 and 39 years. The study was dominated mainly by female parents and most parents had learners in grade 8&9. Most of the parents in the study were married and they were unemployed with J.S.S. as their highest qualification. The six research questions asked were: (a) Is lack of relationship between the schools and the homes of learners one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? (b) Is lack of co-operation by parents in the education of their children one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? (c) Is illiteracy of parents one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? (d) Is employment of parents one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? (e) Is lack of parental participation in school governance and management one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? (f) Is lack of communication between parents and the teachers one of the causes for lack of parental involvement in rural schools of Mthatha District? The findings showed that there was no relationship between the schools and the homes of learners and parents were co-operating at all. Most of the parents were illiterate, unemployed married females who have cultural activities to perform which made them not to be involved in their schools. Communication between the schools and homes of the learners was lacking and parents were not actively participating in school governance and management in their schools. The recommendations from this study were that, for lack of co-operation workshops for both parents and teachers on team building and teacher – parent relations were recommended. For illiteracy problem implementation of ABET classes was recommended. Circulars issued by the Department relating to parental involvement should be read and discussed by both parents and teachers. Communication skills needed to be improved so as to maintain good home-school relationship. Workshops on how to elect school governing bodies and on their roles and their responsibilities were recommended. In conclusion parents are very important stakeholders in education so they need to be highly involved in the education of their children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Creative Parenting Program on the parent participants in the program. The investigation was conducted using a scientific research approach with standardized instruments designed to measure change or lack of change in the parents' perceptions of their approaches to child-rearing. A critical review of the related literature showed no evaluation of parent education programs such as the Creative Parenting Program, based theoretically in the psychology of human development using a lecture style format. The parent education programs evaluated were primarily skill training programs. As each study used different instruments to measure different effects and also different populations, it was not possible to accurately assess the overall effectiveness of the programs. The literature suggested that more research is required to establish significant statistical evidence that the programs change the parental attitudes toward the parent-child relationship. It was hypothesized (null form) that there would be no statistically significant difference between the experimental groups and the control groups of the parents' perceptions in: (1) acceptance of their children; (2) family cohesion and family adaptability; (3) use of authority with their children and (4) family disharmony. The post test score means among groups showed statistically significant changes toward a higher level of acceptance of their children and a decrease in parental use of their authority. On the family interactional dimensions of family cohesion and family adaptability no significant changes were shown. With the dimension of family disharmony no significant changes were shown on the post test score means among groups. The results of the study suggest that the Creative Parenting program is effective in promoting change in the parental attitudes of acceptance of children and reduced use of authority, two factors thought to be basic to effective parenting. It is felt that the principles and concepts presented in the Creative Parenting Program offer a significant contribution to the field of parent education. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

M.A. (Counselling Psychology ) / The purpose of this study was to design a model for the presentation of parent education programmes which stand in the traditional linear paradigm combined with elements from the circular systems paradigm, in order to minimise resistance and facilitate change in subjects. One such programme was used to illustrate the model. Certain aspects of both concepts are clarified in a detailed literature study, after which a model is constructed in which an integration of these aspects takes place. The model, placed within the framework of psycho-education, was duly tested by means of a case study. A detailed description of the sessions as well as analysis of the effectiveness of the sessions then follows. Finally, an evaluation of the model in practice is given with certain suggestions for further research. The final conclusion is that criteria for the effective training of parents within the linear paradigm are not necessarily effective within the systems paradigm.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The goal of this thesis was to determine the influence of genetic and environmental effects on the development of internalizing problems. Internalizing problems affect millions of children and include problems such as depression, anxiety, and somatization. Temperament is a genetically-based factor that has been shown to influence the development of internalizing problems; specifically reactive temperaments. 5-HTTLPR is a serotonin transcription gene that has also been shown to affect internalizing problems. Parenting is an environmental factor that may influence many factors in children’s lives, including internalizing problems. This thesis examined the effects of parenting, reactivity, and 5-HTTLPR, alone and in interactions with one another, on internalizing problems in preschool-aged children. Further, this thesis proposed that the differential susceptibility model might fit the data, in that children with reactive temperaments or the 5-HTTLPR risk allele might show a differential response to parenting. This study was conducted using a sample of 220 twins and triplets who had previously participated in the Southern Illinois Twins/Triplets and Siblings Study (SITSS). The children’s parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to determine internalizing symptoms at age 5. Buccal cells were collected at two ages, and a parent-child interaction was conducted at age 5 to assess parenting behaviors. Temperament was also examined via parent-completed questionnaire at age 4, using the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). One important finding of this study was the significant effect of reactivity on internalizing problems. Further, non-positivity in parenting interacted significantly with 5-HTTLPR risk sum. There was a trend toward significance for the interaction between ineffective parenting and 5-HTTLPR risk allele presence or absence. These interactions indicated that the children without the risk allele actually showed the most differential response to parenting, with fewer internalizing problems when parenting was more positive and more internalizing problems when parenting was less positive. Children with the risk allele had a minimal response to parenting in terms of internalizing behaviors. Overall, the results of this study indicate that reactivity is a significant predictor of internalizing problems, and that the 5-HTTLPR gene may moderate this effect. Further studies should be conducted on this subject to further examine the effects parenting and genes have on the development of internalizing problems.

For each parent, raising a child is a daunting task and it is even a harder undertaking for parents belonging to minority communities due to discrimination, and limited occupational and educational opportunities. Prior studies have shown high dropout rates from high school among Native American (NA) women, resulting in a lack of basic knowledge about raising children. The purpose of this research study was to synthesize, analyze, and better understand the lived experiences of NA mothers who are raising their children outside the reservation. This qualitative study relied on 4 theories: historical trauma theory, systems theory, acculturation theory, and strengths perspective theory. The researcher interviewed 9 NA mothers from the federally recognized Crow Tribe of Montana who grew up on Indian reservations. The interviews were analyzed to develop emerging themes in NVivo 11 software, using the four-step method of inductive analysis described by Moustakas (2004). Using a phenomenological approach, the results revealed a subtheme that entailed personal, structural, and societal struggles of NA women living today. Exposure to their culture, feelings of being sheltered, and family relationships are critical for NA women. In a different environment, NA women experience acculturation stress; they feel disconnected and are challenged to maintain their relationships with relatives in the reservation. It is important to understand their challenges and lived experiences and to identify the root causes of these problems for positive social change. The results of the study demonstrated the need to further improve current policies, systems, and interventions focused on the cultural and environmental contexts of NA families living in more contemporary times.