Exploring the Family Context Among Children Adopted From China: Perceptions of Pre-Adoption Factors, Post-Adoption Experiences, and the Quality of Parent-Child Relationships

Within the context of international adoption, previous research has focused on parentchild attachment relationships and various aspects of the adoption process. However, less is known about other aspects of parent-child relationships (e.g., cohesion, conflict) within internationally adoptive families. Additionally, there is a need for research that explores both parent and child perceptions of the process of adoption - including pre- and post-adoptive factors - and its connection to the quality of parent-child relationships. This research utilized a qualitatively-oriented methodology to conduct separate, in-depth interviews with 10 adoptive Canadian mothers and their adopted Chinese children (aged 9 to 11 years). Results highlight parent and child reports of mainly strong, positive relationships. Several pre-adoption experiences are examined, including institutionalization, age at the time of adoption, and parental stress/expectations. A key finding concerns the link that adoptive parents perceive between the quality of their child's pre-adoptive care (i.e., mainly early institutionalized care) and the quality of their relationship. Interestingly, this link is perceived in two different ways - either as a challenge for the parent-child relationship or as a means to strengthen it. Post-adoption experiences are also explored, including cultural socialization, creating a transracial family, discussing adoption, parental stress, and sibling involvement. A key finding involves parent and child reports that cultural socialization efforts (i.e., familiarizing children with Chinese culture) are linked to more positive parent-child relationships. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to theory and practice within the context of international adoption.

Concomitants of Order Statistics from Morgenstern Family

The study deals with the distribution theory and applications of concomitants from the Morgenstern family of bivariate distributions.The Morgenstern system of distributions include all cumulative distributions of the form FX,Y(X,Y)=FX(X) FY(Y)[1+α(1-FX(X))(1-FY(Y))], -1≤α≤1.The system provides a very general expression of a bivariate distributions from which members can be derived by substituting expressions of any desired set of marginal distributions.It is a brief description of the basic distribution theory and a quick review of the existing literature.The Morgenstern family considered in the present study provides a very general expression of a bivariate distribution from which several members can be derived by substituting expressions of any desired set of marginal distributions.Order statistics play a very important role in statistical theory and practice and accordingly a remarkably large body of literature has been devoted to its study.It helps to develop special methods of statistical inference,which are valid with respect to a broad class of distributions.The present study deals with the general distribution theory of Mk, [r: m] and Mk, [r: m] from the Morgenstern family of distributions and discuss some applications in inference, estimation of the parameter of the marginal variable Y in the Morgestern type uniform distributions.

Family agriculture for bottom-up rural development: a case study of the indigenous Mayan population in the Mexican Peninsula

Since pre-colonial times the indigenous communities of Mayan origin in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, widely practice home gardens on a sustainable basis as the principal form of family agriculture. This study analyzes the structural complexity, functional diversity and management strategy of these indigenous home gardens in order to attempt to propose recommendations for improved family farming. The Mayan home gardens are structured into three or more vertical layers of multiple plant species of herbs, shrubs and trees, and horizontally into well-defined zones for production of both domestic and wild animals. The home gardens provide multiple services apart from food and nutrition security. For sustainable bottom-up rural development, we recommend the continuation of multifunctional home gardens.

Workforce Issues in the Greater Boston Health Care Industry: Implications for Work and Family

Interviews with more than 40 leaders in the Boston area health care industry have identified a range of broadly-felt critical problems. This document synthesizes these problems and places them in the context of work and family issues implicit in the organization of health care workplaces. It concludes with questions about possible ways to address such issues. The defining circumstance for the health care industry nationally as well as regionally at present is an extraordinary reorganization, not yet fully negotiated, in the provision and financing of health care. Hoped-for controls on increased costs of medical care – specifically the widespread replacement of indemnity insurance by market-based managed care and business models of operation--have fallen far short of their promise. Pressures to limit expenditures have produced dispiriting conditions for the entire healthcare workforce, from technicians and aides to nurses and physicians. Under such strains, relations between managers and workers providing care are uneasy, ranging from determined efforts to maintain respectful cooperation to adversarial negotiation. Taken together, the interviews identify five key issues affecting a broad cross-section of occupational groups, albeit in different ways: Staffing shortages of various kinds throughout the health care workforce create problems for managers and workers and also for the quality of patient care. Long work hours and inflexible schedules place pressure on virtually every part of the healthcare workforce, including physicians. Degraded and unsupportive working conditions, often the result of workplace "deskilling" and "speed up," undercut previous modes of clinical practice. Lack of opportunities for training and advancement exacerbate workforce problems in an industry where occupational categories and terms of work are in a constant state of flux. Professional and employee voices are insufficiently heard in conditions of rapid institutional reorganization and consolidation. Interviewees describe multiple impacts of these issues--on the operation of health care workplaces, on the well being of the health care workforce, and on the quality of patient care. Also apparent in the interviews, but not clearly named and defined, is the impact of these issues on the ability of workers to attend well to the needs of their families--and the reciprocal impact of workers' family tensions on workplace performance. In other words, the same things that affect patient care also affect families, and vice versa. Some workers describe feeling both guilty about raising their own family issues when their patients' needs are at stake, and resentful about the exploitation of these feelings by administrators making workplace policy. The different institutions making up the health care system have responded to their most pressing issues with a variety of specific stratagems but few that address the complexities connecting relations between work and family. The MIT Workplace Center proposes a collaborative exploration of next steps to probe these complications and to identify possible locations within the health care system for workplace experimentation with outcomes benefiting all parties.

Práctica educativa y diversidad lingüística = Educational practice and linguistic diversity

Los movimientos migratorios han crecido espectacularmente durante los últimos años y la escuela en nuestro país se ha visto afectada por los cambios demográficos ocurridos durante la última década. Una gran parte del alumnado presente en las aulas de nuestro sistema educativo está escolarizado en programas de cambio de lengua del hogar a la escuela que no cumplen los requisitos de la inmersión lingüística. Dada la gran diversidad de lenguas existentes, el sistema educativo no se puede organizar según los parámetros de la educación bilingüe. Esto no significa que dicho alumnado esté condenado al fracaso escolar: desde la práctica educativa y la modificación de la organización escolar existen soluciones para que todo el alumnado progrese a lo largo de la enseñanza obligatoria. El artículo analiza las condiciones implicadas en una práctica educativa que facilite el aprendizaje de la lengua de la escuela. Asimismo, sugerimos algunos criterios para la evaluación de este alumnado

Cuidando a los muertos: las mujeres medievales en las pampa fúnebres familiares (Taking care to the Dead: the medieval women in the family funeral Pompas )

Previous studies of burial practice in the later medieval period have concluded that mortuary custom was regulated strictly by male religious authorities, resulting in a uniformity of practice that held little potential for the expression of personal identity or family relationships. This paper challenges previous approaches through a close study of the material culture of the medieval grave. Archaeological and pictorial sources combine to suggest that women were responsible for the preparation of the body for burial. This reassessment of medieval burial yields new evidence for female undertaking as an extension of the social role of mothering.

Family interventions in psychosis: a scale to measure therapist adherence

The efficacy of family interventions in psychosis is well documented. UK and USA schizophrenia treatment guidelines advocate the practice of family interventions within routine clinical services. However, less attention has been paid to the study of treatment fidelity and the tools used in its assessment. This study reports the inter-rater reliability of a new scale: Family Intervention in Psychosis-Adherence Scale (FIPAS). This measure is designed to assess therapist adherence to the Kuipers et al. (2002) family intervention in psychosis treatment manual. Reliability ratings were based on a sample of thirteen audiotapes drawn from a randomized controlled trial of family intervention. The results indicated that the majority of items of the FIPAS had acceptable levels of inter-rater reliability. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the training and monitoring of the effectiveness of practitioners for family interventions in psychosis.

Defining children's rights to work and care in Sub-Saharan Africa: tensions and challenges in policy and practice

This chapter explores the spatialities of children's rights through a focus on how children's paid and unpaid work in Sub-Saharan Africa intersects with wider debates about child labor, child domestic work and young caregiving. Several tensions surround the universalist and individualistic nature of the rights discourse in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa and policymakers, practitioners, children and community members have emphasized children's responsibilities to their families and communities, as well as their rights. The limitations of ILO definitions of child labor and child domestic work and UNCRC concerns about 'hazardous' and 'harmful' work are highlighted through examining the situation of children providing unpaid domestic and care support to family members in the private space of their own or a relative's home. Differing perspectives towards young caregiving have been adopted to date by policymakers and practitioners in East Africa, ranging from a child labor/ child protection/ abolitionist approach, to a 'young carers'/ child-centered rights perspective. These differing perspectives influence the level and nature of support and resources that children involved in care work may be able to access. A contextual, multi-sectorial approach to young caregiving is needed that seeks to understand children's, family members' and community members' perceptions of what constitutes inappropriate caring responsibilities within particular cultural contexts and how these should best be alleviated.

The transaction cost economics theory of the family firm: family-based human asset specificity and the bifurcation bias

We develop a transaction cost economics theory of the family firm, building upon the concepts of family-based asset specificity, bounded rationality, and bounded reliability. We argue that the prosperity and survival of family firms depend on the absence of a dysfunctional bifurcation bias. The bifurcation bias is an expression of bounded reliability, reflected in the de facto asymmetric treatment of family vs. nonfamily assets (especially human assets). We propose that absence of bifurcation bias is critical to fostering reliability in family business functioning. Our study ends the unproductive divide between the agency and stewardship perspectives of the family firm, which offer conflicting accounts of this firm type's functioning. We show that the predictions of the agency and stewardship perspectives can be usefully reconciled when focusing on how family firms address the bifurcation bias or fail to do so.

Characteristics of family nucleus as correlates of regular participation in sports among adolescents

Objectives To estimate the relationship between family nucleus and sport practice among adolescents.Methods A school-based cross-sectional study carried out with 1,752 Brazilian adolescents (812 male and 940 female), aged 11-17 years. Characteristics of the family nucleus (parental education, socioeconomic status and number of siblings) and sport practice (>= 240 min/week) were assessed by questionnaires. Adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using Poisson regression models.Results The overall prevalence of sport practice was 14.8% (boys 21.2% and girls 9.4%, P = 0.001). Higher socioeconomic status, number of siblings and parents' educational level were associated with more sport practice.Conclusion Despite the low engagement, family nucleus plays an essential role in the sport practice of our sample of Brazilian adolescents.

Knowledge and practice of women regarding cervical cancer in a primary health care unit

Objectives: evaluating the level of information about the examination of uterine cervical cancer and its association with sociodemographic variables in women of a health care unit in the city of Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study with 370 women aged 25 to 59, through structured interviews in their own homes; we used descriptive statistics and the χ2 test. Results: 40.5% of the women had not undergone the Papanicolaou test at the recommended frequency; 58.2% incorrectly defined the test, and 69.5% did not know about the risk factors for the development of cervical cancer; the knowledge about the test showed statistically significant association with schooling and family income of the studied population. Conclusions: women present deficiencies on the proper practice of the Papanicolaou test, on knowledge about the test, risk factors and prevention methods. Therefore, it is necessary to develop primary health actions for the most vulnerable population.

Implementation of physiotherapeutic shares in the prevention of diabetes complications in a Family Health Strategy

Introduction In the Family Health Strategy (FHS), the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) includes education and lifestyle change strategies. Physiotherapists have a key role in this health setting. Objectives To implement actions of evaluation and guidelines for patients with type 2 DM who attend a Family Health Strategy (FHS), regarding diabetic foot and the practice of regular physical exercise in the control and prevention of the complications of Diabetes Mellitus. Methods 17 individuals from an FHS were evaluated, with the following procedures: clinical and anthropometric parameters, inspection, a questionnaire on diabetic neuropathy, tests of vibratory and tactile sensitivity, muscle function, range of motion, functional analysis, questions about exercise practice and guidance regarding controlling blood glucose and foot care. Results Deformities, dry skin, calluses, dehydration, ulceration, cracking and brittle nails were found. Peripheral neuropathy was not observed; tactile sensitivity was altered in the heel region and the vibratory sense was absent in 5% of individuals. A decrease in functionality of ankle movements was verified. Of the participants, 76% were sedentary, 24% knew about the benefits of practicing regular exercise, 25% had undergone a medical evaluation prior to performing physical exercise and, of these, 25% were supervised by a qualified professional. Discussion The implementation of physiotherapy actions in diabetics from an FHS was important for highlighting the presence of risk factors for diabetic complications. Conclusions Individuals attending the FHS need more information and programs for the prevention of diabetic complications.

The Flower Workshop: a social self-organizing practice in mental health nursing

Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

An Asymmetric Extension for the Family of Elliptical Slash Distributions

In this article, we introduce an asymmetric extension to the univariate slash-elliptical family of distributions studied in Gomez et al. (2007a). This new family results from a scale mixture between the epsilon-skew-symmetric family of distributions and the uniform distribution. A general expression is presented for the density with special cases such as the normal, Cauchy, Student-t, and Pearson type II distributions. Some special properties and moments are also investigated. Results of two real data sets applications are also reported, illustrating the fact that the family introduced can be useful in practice.