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This study examined the influence of contextual risk factors and parental depression on the social-emotional functioning of very young children. Ninety-four young children were recruited as part of a larger ongoing research project recruiting caregivers and children from Early Head Start programs in South Florida. Children ranged in age from 12 to 36 months and included 65 girls and 29 boys. There were 94 caregivers in the current study: 91 mothers, 2 fathers, and 1 foster mother. Caregivers were diverse in terms of age, ranging from 19 to 42 years of age (M = 27.31, SD = 5.75), ethnicity (84% African- or Caribbean-American, 14.9% Hispanic/Latino, and 1.1% Mixed/Other), and in number of years of school completed, ranging from 1 to 16 years (M = 12.02, SD = 1.91). The current study employed a cumulative risk factor perspective in examining the social-emotional functioning of infants and toddlers. Specifically, the current study tested both a threshold model and a linear model of cumulative risk. Study measures included a background questionnaire, a measure of parental depression, a measure of parenting stress, a measure of child exposure to violence, and a measure of traumatic life events in a child?s life. Further analyses examined ethnicity as a moderator of the relationship between cumulative risk and difficulties with social-emotional functioning. Results showed a significant linear relationship between cumulative risk and social-emotional functioning. However, ethnicity did not moderate this relationship. When individual risk factors were examined post hoc, parental depression, stressful parent-child interactions, having a child with special needs, and community violence were shown to significantly predict difficulties with social-emotional functioning among very young children. These data have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts.

The thesis discusses the mediating role of socioeconomic factors in risk debates through an examination of the decontamination and demolition of Fulham Power Station in 1983-1984. The power station was built between the wars by and for the people of Fulham. Located on the Thames in the neighbourhood of Sands End, it generated electricity and provided employment until 1978, when it was sold to a property development company. During the decontamination, a quantity of asbestos was released into the environment. A protest group was formed to secure better standards of work at the site. The group never had more than a dozen active members. All the members were middle-class. At the time of the decontamination and demolition, Sands End was a poor neighbourhood. A majority of the local population faced many 'social' as well as environmental hazards. Amongst these were sub-standard housing, unemployment, under-employment, low wages, inadequate work and educational skills and crime. The thesis discusses whether the neighbourhood's socioeconomic problems had any bearing on the character and dynamics of the power station debate. It suggests that the social geography and economic status of Sands End had two major effects on the debate. Firstly, gentrification provided the neighbourhood with a (small) middle-class constituency receptive to issues of environmental risk, such as the long-term health implications of airborne asbestos dust. Secondly, the neighbourhood's pressing social and economic problems mitigated against a wider involvement in the campaign. Most residents were too preoccupied with meeting their social and economic needs to become actively involved. The thesis also suggests that the population's experience of Fulham Power Station as a source of 'convenient' electrical power, employment and civic pride may have made it difficult for those native to Sands End to accept the activists' construction of the power station as a source of danger.

Theses (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains 52 p. Bibliography: p. 38-43.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 296-315). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Background There is substantial evidence of the protective influence of social support on psychological distress in adults. Yet, levels of social support and psychological distress vary by ethnicity. There is little research investigating prospective associations between social support and psychological distress in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents. Methods This thesis is based on secondary analysis of data from 'Research with East London Adolescents: Community Health Survey' (RELACHS). RELACHS is a prospective cohort questionnaire study conducted in a representative sample of adolescents aged 11-14 years at baseline and 13-16 years at follow-up. The analyses address three questions: (a) Are there prospective associations between baseline social support and follow-up psychological distress and depressive symptoms? (b) Does a change in social support overtime influence psychological distress or depressive symptoms at follow-up? (c) Are the effects of social support and culturally similar friendship choices independent and can these account for ethnic variations in psychological distress or depressive symptoms at follow-up. Results Low levels of family social support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms for female pupils (adjusted analyses: OR= 2.70 95% CI 1.20,6.08). A decre~se in total and family support overtime was significantly associated with depressive symptoms for female pupils (adjusted analyses: OR= 0.96 950/0 CI 0.93,0.98 and OR=0.61 95% CI 0.47,0.79 respectively). Social support could not account for ethnic variations in psychological distress or depressive symptoms. Culturally similar friendship choices were protective for psychological distress at follow-up. Conclusion Explanations for these findings include the possibility that family members [and peers from the same cultural group] provide a more consistent and healthy source of support than peers overall. Loss of family support appears to be risk factor specifically for girls from diverse ethnic groups.

Contemporary young people would appear to have access to more information than their predecessors in relation to keeping safe by avoiding or reducing risks. However concerns about young people’s perceived increasing risky behaviours have contributed to a growing focus on understanding young people and risk of harm across private and public spheres. This study examines the views, experiences and behaviours of young people and adults in relation to risk of harm to young people and the role of social capital in reducing perceived risk. Using qualitative data with young people and adults in a Scottish community this study develops an understanding of perceptions of the main risks of harm to young people and whether social capital helps to reduce these risks. Social constructions of ‘appropriate’ behaviours for young people to engage in and subsequent constraints imposed by adult-led structures and safety concerns, formed a significant focus of youth theorising in this area. To a certain extent, the findings from this study challenge the conventional construction of young people as risky individuals, by identifying young people’s negotiation and avoidance strategies for keeping safe. However, young people’s experiences and behaviours in public and private spaces remain significantly structured by age and gender. Young people and adults perceive risks associated with alcohol and public spaces to be high and prominent. The continuing notion of risk appears to be evident in young people’s choices about who to socialise with and where, their safety concerns and ultimately how particular social networks can be accessed in order to capitalise on protective measures. Young people’s safety concerns are overwhelmingly related to the ‘other’ in public spaces, reinforcing dominant social constructions of private spaces as safer than public spaces. Strong community ties are highlighted as paradoxical: whilst providing trusting social networks which contribute to loyal and safe peers, the intimacy of such networks is perceived by adults as a barrier to young people’s bridging capital and social mobility. These findings pose difficulties to applying late modernist risk theories which minimise the role of wider social processes in shaping young people’s perceptions. Understanding young people and risk is best served by adopting the sociology of youth and social constructionist perspectives which assert the impact of gender, and in particular the power of age constructions which continue to operate within young people’s lives. Ultimately, perceptions on risk of harm to young people remain infused with gendered and age expectations and constructions.

The diploma thesis focuses on the term risk in human life in general, as it is seen in the society and defined by current knowledge in the field of social science. Furthermore, the thesis explores the risk as a phenomenon connected to the social services. The social integration of disadvantaged groups of inhabitants into majority society have brought with it the need to defend the rights of people with disabilities, with an emphasis on their active involvement in everyday life, in seeking the opportunity to experience those situations that define this life. This focus brings a number of theoretical solutions for risk planning with respect to clients of social services. These solutions have been further taken into account in this section of the thesis. The experimental part of thesis focuses on the perception of risks by the employees who work in residential facilities in Zlín district, directly taking care of clients. This part of the thesis provides a relevant insight into risk awareness in selected residential facilities and its active use in practice. Consequently, it deals with other factors that may affect employees of facilities for people with disabilities when assessing risk planning and generally concerning their perception of the risk phenomenon in clients with mental disabilities. On the...

Since 1994 all education policy documents that have emerged in South Africa have stressed the principles of social justice and inclusion by foregrounding issues of equity, redress, quality education for all, equality of opportunity, and nondiscrimination. This study examined inclusionary and exclusionary attitudes and practices at a School of Industry for Girls in South Africa. The research was conducted in the qualitative research paradigm, and took the form of a small-scale ethnographic case study. The data collection techniques included observations and used observations, document analysis, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that learners experience various barriers to learning and participation that are clearly embedded in the ethos, curriculum and cultures of the school. Various discriminatory attitudes and practices play themselves out and reflect an intersection of racism, gender discrimination and ableism. The study points towards the need for management and staff in collaboration with learners to interrogate and work towards minimising these exclusionary attitudes and practices prevalent at the school. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2001.

Regional Family Policy Focused on Families at Risk Veronika Burešová Introduction: Diploma thesis deals with the activities of regional authorities focused on support of families at risk, in context of the process of transformation of the alternative care system for children at risk in the Czech Republic. The goals: The main goal of the thesis is to explore the approach of regional authorities to the issue of families at risk and what forms this approach. Methods: The research was divided into two parts. Firstly the case studies of thirteen regions (except Prague) were elaborated. Based on these studies, 4 regions were chosen, 2 as examples of good practice, other 2 as examples of bad practices. In these four regions, qualitative semi-structured interviews were done. As respondents a councillor and an officer of regional authority office were chosen. 7 interviews were finally made, 2 respondents answered by email. Outcomes: We can find family as a target group in most of regional plans for the development of social services, but it is usually not a priority. The family regional strategy papers were elaborated only in 5 regions, but not all of them are focused also on families at risk. The scale of the support of families at risk in regions depends on political will and political vision of...