Research Topics: Family Development Workshops

Family Development Workshops

These are our new and exciting parenting classes designed for foster/kinship youth, foster parents, adoptive parents, relative care providers, non-relative extended-family care providers and legal guardians.      PARENTING IN EXCELLENCE   POSITIVE SELF DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE   SELF ESTEEM AND SELF IMAGE   CULTURAL DIVERSITY 101   TIME MANAGEMENT   STRESS MANAGEMENT   WORKING WITH CONDUCT DISORDER (CD)   POSITIVE DISCIPLINE THAT WORKS   WORKING WITH OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT DISORDER (ODD)   WORKING WITH OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT DISORDER (ODD)                                                                         WORKING WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER (ADD)   WORKING WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVE DISORDER (ADHD)     WORKING WITH THE MEDICALLY FRAGILE CHILD   SCHOOL ISSUES & IEP’S   WORKING WITH THE SEXUALLY ABUSED CHILD   CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA   CHILDREN WITH DIABETES   TEENAGE PREGNANCY PREVENTION   DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION   ALLEGATIONS PREVENTION   ADVOCACY FOR YOU CHILD   CREATING LIFE BOOKS   WORKING WITH THE BIRTH PARENT   WORKING WITH THE CARE PORVIDER   INDEPENDENT LIVING CLASSES FOR TEENS   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Family Development Workshops

These are our new and exciting parenting classes designed for foster/kinship youth, foster parents, adoptive parents, relative care prov...

Sample Essay This is the Family that needs a Treatment

This is the family that needs a treatment     The W Family   The W family was referred to this community based agency to see if improvements could be made in the family situation. Otherwise it would be necessary to remove the children from the home according to Child Protection Services worker who was making the referral. The W’s were reportedly open to the referral. Nonetheless, there were numerous difficulties in arranging an interview; they failed three appointments due to unexpected problems with the children.  The W’s are a bi-racial couple. Mr. W African- American and Mrs. W of Italian and German descent.  They live with their three children, Simon, Jarrod, and James. A fourth child, Sam, died of sudden infant death (SIDS) two months ago at 2 months. Donald and Terry have been married for five years although they have known each other since high school. There is a great deal of conflict in their relationship; they fight about money, childcare, Terry’s drinking and Donald’s infidelities. Terry always suspected him of “cheating” on her but she received confirmation when she contracted gonorrhea from him.  Donald claims that he only “cheater” on her twice and feels that she should drop the subject. She brings it up whenever he wants to go out without her because she thinks that he’s going out to meet other women. He says “just going out to get a break from the kids”.  This is reflective of their communication pattern in general.             Terry has been diagnosed as having alcohol dependency since age 18 after a DUI and has been able to abstain from drinking in the past, having stopped drinking for part of her last pregnancy. She began to drink again when Sam died. She entered Deter at ECC           to stop drinking at that time and she would like to enter now. Donald is opposed to this idea; he thinks that she can abstain on her own if she truly wants to “dry out”.  Donald is working in an unskilled position; his wages are low.  When Terry was working, it was easier to make ends meet. She quit her job during her last pregnancy. She worked as a “topless dancer” in a local nightclub.  Donald would like her to return to work but she is reluctant to do so because she says her job contributes to her alcoholism. She cannot dance unless she is intoxicated.  She drank a quart of Jack Daniels daily and frequently used cocaine when it was available to her. She is evasive about her current drug usage.  Terry claims that Donald likes her to drink with him and that he often encouraged her to join him when he was drinking with friends, saying that “she is a drag when she’s dry”.             Finances are especially tight lately because Donald had a hernia operation about six weeks ago and has not received any disability or other assistance.  Since he has been home, they have fought about childcare. Apparently, the children have been left alone for long periods of time. There have been several calls to Child Abuse Hotline by neighbors and by Mrs. W’s mother.  There appears to be cause for concerns about their being unattended because on the morning of our first appointment we arrived at 11: 00am as scheduled.  There was a long wait at the door until Simon answered.  He was dressed only in a T-shirt.  He was preparing breakfast for himself and Jerrod.  Donald and Terry were still asleep when we arrived.   Terry admits that fights with Donald over finances and his infidelities have occasionally become violent sine Sam passed away.  She has stated that she has been hit by Donald on more than a few instances, and that he has left bruises and cuts.  She has not sought medical attention for this, nor has she called the police when this has occurred. She has feared that if the police intervened, her children would have been taken away from her. Neighbors have often heard both Terry and Donald yelling and creaming when the children are home. At times, the children have been crying very loudly.  One of the neighbors has called Child Protective Services during these incidents.             When Donald and Terry are not fighting, often times they are not speaking much at all.  Terry has tried to spend more time with her children since the many phone calls to the Child Abuse Hotline. However, she has felt that she has failed as a mother.  When she has told this to Donald, he has told her “you just need to try harder”. Terry has come to feel that her husband doesn’t understand even when they not fighting. Lately, she has withdrawn, only speaking to him when necessary.  They do not talk of the death of their son and change the subject when Sam is brought up.  Terry has become sullen, often sleeping, crying, or drinking. When taking care of James, James often cries. Terry has taken to leaving James in his room crying while she goes back to sleep.  At these times, Donald gets frustrated and leaves because Terry will not talk to him.             Both Donald and Terry come from troubled backgrounds. Donald’s father abused alcohol and severely rejected, Donald, the family scapegoat.  Donald has reported being close to his mother and brother, though he had limited contact with his father until his death. Donald has relied on his mother for help with care for his children as well as services for the burial of Sam. Donald recently became angry with his mother she told him she concern about Terry’s drinking. Since then, their relationship has been strained.  Terry has lost a great deal of trust in her mother-in-law who felt like a surrogate mother to her. Donald’s mother has remained active in her grandchildren’s lives. Donald’s brother has just finished graduate and started working.  He has helped Donald financially, and has been a loving uncle to Donald’s children. He has often them to the park, playgrounds, and for ice cream in the summer. Terry has a highly confliction relationship with mother.  This stems in part from the sexual abuse by mom’s boyfriends and live-in partners. The first occurrence was when Terry was five years old; these continue until she left to marry Donald.  Terry’s mother has denied that any of this has occurred to her daughter, and has refused to enter to enter into counseling with her daughter. Terry has been reluctant to her other to watch her children, especially at her mother’s house. Terry has done so, however, on limited occasions when no alternatives have been available provided that her mother come to her house. On this last instance, her mother called the child Abuse Hotline.  Since then, Terry has had no contact with her mother and has had increased resentment toward her. Overall, there is limited extended family involvement with Simon, Jerrod, and James. Donald and Terry have had few family members to rely on for childcare or other extra support.             With the recent occurrence of domestic violence in the home, Terry’s alcoholism has become more of a difficulty for her.  Neighbors have reported that Terry is too intoxicated to care for her children. One neighbor observed her passed out on the front porch while Donald was not home. Her children were playing unattended. Jerrod was almost run over by a car, but the neighbor removed him from the street. Jerrod had been attending daycare. However, because of their financial situation, Donald and Terry can only send him three days a week. The last few times Jerrod has attended, he has sat silently at a table.             There have been additional concerns about the children.  Simon’s preschool has been calling Terry repeatedly as he has been coming to school dirty, hungry, and wearing the same clothes. On many days, Simon has not attended.  His work has also declined.  He has had difficulty focusing and concentrating. In addition, his interactions with his peers have changed. While Simon was previously polite and took turns, he has begun yelling at other children. On a few recent occasions, he hit his peers without provocation. The teacher noted that this was a drastic behavior change for Simon. When she spoke to Simon, he told her “my daddy hits my mommy.”  The teacher at this program also called the Child Abuse Hotline and made an allegation of neglect.             Because of the increased reports to Child Protective Services, concerns arose over the safety and care of the children. The Child Protective Services Worker substantiated the report of neglect of the W children by both parents.    Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Sample Essay This is the Family that needs a Treatment

This is the family that needs a treatment The W Family The W family was referred to this community based agency to see if improve...

Eva Family Influence on Sport Participation

An important review paper by Folkins and Sime (1981) went beyond stating the claim that exercise enhances psychological functioning. They showed how fitness training has a specific beneficial effect on mood, performance at work, cognitive function, and overall self-concept; yet another term to set alongside those of self-efficacy and self-esteem. These authors were quite critical of research that merely examines differences between fit and unfit individuals, but applauded that which compares psychological changes as a concomitant of pre- and post-training. However, they believed that the best studies are those in which psychological change is compared alongside those of physical fitness and high-lighted the need for investigations which do not generate results that are confounded by a range of variables such as sampling procedures, social support, and interventions other than specifically-prescribed fitness programmes.             While there is a considerable amount of research clearly describing the widespread inactivity of adults, the evidence base concerning the nature and scope of physical activity among children and young people is weaker. Psychosocial and environmental factors associated with physical activity in young people have been documented in a number of quantitative investigations (Wold and Hendry, 1998). There have been a number of more qualitative studies of young people and physical activity, examining perceptions, beliefs and attitudes among other variables, but the majority of studies to date have tended to focus on involvement in exercise and sport, rather than physical activity as more broadly defined.             It would appear that, on the whole, children and young people enjoy being in a team, playing with friends and engaging in sports at which they feel competent. The most commonly reported benefits of physical activity are health and fitness, as well as helping to keep in shape. Friendship groups may have an important role to play in encouraging participation in sports and exercise. It has been observed that sport is often just one feature of belonging to a group and being with friends is often considered more important than the sport itself. Boyfriends have, however, been reported as having a negative influence on the sport and leisure activities of young women.             Young people’s enjoyment of group physical activities could be exploited as a promotional tool to less active young people. However, the use of group activities enjoyed by a particular gender and age group is an important consideration, for example in organised dance or trampolining activities for young women, and football and basketball sessions for young men. Young people also prefer to take part in less structured activities, often valuing spontaneity and greater autonomy and choice in decision making.             Young people’s involvement in physical activity is clearly influenced by a variety of factors. Central among these are the experiences and attitudes of parents, peers and teachers, the opportunities made available at school and in the community. Because the determinants of young people’s involvement in physical activity are complex, and vary over time, programmes and interventions to encourage higher levels of participation should ideally be multi-levelled and differentiated according to factors such as gender and age. Furthermore, without an understanding of how conceptions of “femininity” and “masculinity” make it logical for a substantial number of young women to lose interest in school-based physical activities by late adolescence, and a substantial number of young men to remain committed to them, any successful re-orientation of existing programmes and activities will be difficult to achieve.             It was assumed that personal self-perceptions would be significantly and positively correlated with sport/exercise. Furthermore, the competence-based sub-domains of sport/athletic competence, physical condition competence and strength competence, along with the domain of physical self-worth, were expected to show the strongest relationships. No significant positive relationships were expected between competence-based personal self-perceptions and lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity frequencies. All of these outcomes occurred when the group was assessed as a whole.             The characteristics of this sample are highly specific in respect to age and geo-cultural background. This, in combination with the paucity of studies that have examined the relationship between personal self-perceptions and different activity types, means that findings should be generalised with caution. However, despite the need for further research, this study has demonstrated the importance of considering different activity contexts, given that variations were found in the relationship between personal self perception, sport/exercise and lifestyle moderate intensity physical activity. Indeed, differentiating between activity types was a strength of the study, in contrast to others in the area which have only examined the relationship between personal self perceptions and moderate intensity physical activity per se.             In addition to examining perceived parental influence, this investigation sought to explore the self-perceptions of athletes. Female athletes who had higher expectations and placed greater importance on doing well at the tournament exhibited higher levels of confidence than those female athletes who had lower expectations and placed less importance on doing well. This finding demonstrates that self-expectancies paralleled perceived parental expectancies in their relationship to confidence. However, individual perceptions of the importance of success and perceived parental importance of success differed in their relationship with confidence and anxiety. Specifically self-perceptions of the importance of success were not subject to the evaluative effects of parental views of importance and therefore were not associated with cognitive anxiety.               The present findings hold implications for theory. The results extend information on barriers to activity participation to include the perceptions of early adolescents into a knowledge base that heretofore has included data gathered primarily from late adolescents and adult populations. Additionally, the present results may prove useful in examinations of the influence of others on future leisure activity involvement. Rather than assume that social agency is limited to parental influence and ‘s always positive, it may be useful to investigate further the role of others–peers and non-parental adults–as well as the negative influence of parents on youth as they progress through adolescence. The results reported in this study suggest that of the various social agents, parental influence is apparent among early adolescents in the decision not to join activities. Although differences among those moving through early adolescence do exist, the study showed a relatively internally homogeneous group relative to the perception of parental influence on the decision to join new activities. Parental influence decreases as one moves into adolescence. The effects of various social agents appear to entwine as a child matures, with no singular influence being dominant upon entrance into the high school years.             The present research findings may also have practical utility by providing activity programmers with insight into how early adolescents perceive the influence of others in their decisions not to participate. Activity involvement is considered a key element in the maturation process. Participation in activities is primarily to have fun and learn new skills (Ewing & Seefeldt, 1991). Peer activities provide opportunities for shared interests, a sense of accomplishment and belonging, personal identity and mastery over the environment. Those who are encouraged to derive satisfaction solely from vicarious, solitary, passive pursuits (e.g., television, reading) may suffer as adults because they were denied the opportunity to fulfill a need for the optimal arousal and incongruity present in many organized, peer-centered activities.             Although parental influence is often positive in the socialization of youth and early adolescents, applied research might consider methods to mediate the potentially negative influence of parents (e.g., discouraging participation in activities because of a personal dislike for participation; keeping youth away from other youth of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds; discouraging participation in any form of competitive activities; stereotyping activities by gender based on personal beliefs) through educational efforts. For example, an experimental study might examine the effects of a parents’ fact sheet distributed in conjunction with membership application forms. Such a sheet, it might be hypothesized, could allay parental concerns relative to areas tangential to involvement such as transportation, injury prevention, financial assistance, and the importance of participation in the maturation process. Similarly, the effects of leaders on decisions not to participate might be examined relative to various levels of training provided for leaders prior to their contact with youth. In addition, research could focus on the specific types of social agent constraints perceived by youth as influences on their leisure behaviors. Emphasis might focus on what these constraints are and how are they manifested.   Descriptive Profile of the Respondents   Method   Materials   Design and Procedure   Results   Discussion Social influence, particularly that of parents, has been proposed as a critical element in the development achievement related choices and performance. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Eva Family Influence on Sport Participation

An important review paper by Folkins and Sime (1981) went beyond stating the claim that exercise enhances psychological functioning. They...

HOW FAR HAVE HUSBAND AND WIVES ROLES IN THE FAMILY CHANGED

Husband and Wives’ Familial Roles in Retrospect                 For ages, the normal arrangement between husband and wife in the family has been the latter being liable for the household and childcare, while the former being for career.  Husband and wife act as each other’s partner in bringing forth their family, society’s basic social institution.  Both are tasked to raise their child/children in the best possible way.  As the world escalated in further complexity, in today’s modern industrial society, such hegemonic scenery is ceasing within the household.                Strikingly these days, is the fact that the wives’ role is not just limited to the chores and the child/children.  The normal arrangement between a husband and wife now is a duality of incomes.  The emerging trend now is, borrowing from  (2003), alpha wives and beta husbands.                ’s (1998) study has shown that a “role reversal” exists, with wives assuming dominance in the household.  Thus, there has been a profound effect on household decision-making.   (1998) warns though, that the traditional gender role (dominant males and subjugated females) could still intervene as to how husband and wives play their familial roles.  Apart from this, both get to suffice not only the family’s needs, but similarly their own.  Resources are allocated not only for the child/children’s good, but also likewise for their own personal needs.                Husbands and wives today can divorce easily and relinquish the family they once created, and possibly create anew with another partners.  Childrearing affects is an issue.  Add the fact that childcare today has been a public good and/or a commodity, as evident in the New Labour’s Childcare Strategy, a social policy on childcare in the hands of the private sector.                Husband and wives’ familial roles have changed to the extent that they have to compete with professional career roles and goals.  It’s family versus career now.        Reference: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

HOW FAR HAVE HUSBAND AND WIVES ROLES IN THE FAMILY CHANGED

Husband and Wives’ Familial Roles in Retrospect For ages, the normal arrangement between husband and wife in the family ha...

CODE OF CONDUCT

CODE OF CONDUCT: CREATING A POSITIVE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT FOR THE CHILDREN       Introduction                 The family is regarded as the basic social institution.  It lays the foundation for the child’s values, attitudes, behaviors and his or her whole personality.   (2005) stated that children have the right to live in a caring family environment or climate where interpersonal relationships and emphasis on the direction of personal growth are present (, 2002).  (2004) listed three ways to tackle child-rearing responsibilities that can help parents perform the toughest job in the world – raising children – and create a warm culture in the home. Nurture the Child’s Self-esteem – Praising the child’s accomplishments, however small, will make him or her feel proud; letting him or her do things independently will make him or her feel capable and strong.  By contrast, belittling comments or comparing the child unfavorably with another will make him or her feel worthless.  Let the child know that everyone makes mistakes and he or she will still be loved, even when his or her behavior is not. Make Communication a Priority – Children want and deserve explanations as much as adults do. Parents who reason with their children allow them to understand and learn in a nonjudgmental way.  Discuss problems and issues with the child and offer alternatives. Flexibility and Unconditional Love – Children need attention and parents should find time to be available.  Continuous guidance and affection help children feel that the parents are there no matter what.  Also cultivate good traits in the child like respect, friendliness, honesty, kindness, tolerance. Above all, respect children and teach them to respect other people as well.  Effective Discipline   The parents’ job is to help children navigate life’s journey of discovery.  And one of the navigational tools at their disposal is discipline (2003).  The goal of discipline according to  (2004) is to help children choose acceptable behaviors and learn self-control.   (2002) argued that discipline should be based on expectations that are appropriate for the age of the child and it should be used to set reasonable, consistent limits while permitting choices among acceptable alternatives. Punishment for breaking a rule should not be physical or verbal abuse. It should be the withdrawal of a privilege and/or a natural consequence. ( 2004).   (2006) reported that parents should mean what they say to the children using a firm voice and ensuring that they have the child’s attention.  The key in discipline is consistency.  (2004) added that parents should focus on three fundamental components of effective, positive discipline: protection, affection and correction.  Protection was interpreted as the need for the children to feel safe.  This means not only setting clear boundaries and limits but also preparing children to the reality of a complicated society to avoid fear or hatred.  Affection, on the other hand, should be constant reminders of the love parents have for their children, be it in words or actions.  By correction, the author said that it means addressing inappropriate behavior in a way that encourages a child to improve his or her actions instead of making him or her feel bad.   Correction should emphasize the meaning behind the rules and limits, not just the behavior. References       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

CODE OF CONDUCT

CODE OF CONDUCT: CREATING A POSITIVE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT FOR THE CHILDREN Introduction The family is regarded a...

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