Carer perspectives of factors affecting placement trajectories of children in out-of-home care

Carers are at the frontline working with children in the care of the child protection system. This paper reports carer's views about key factors influencing the placement trajectories of children and young people living in out-of-home care in Queensland, Australia. The study sample included 21 foster and kinship carers with a minimum two-year experience in the carer role. Study data were from semi-structured telephone interviews in which carers shared their experiences of the factors impacting upon placement stability and placement movement. Carers' responses were analysed thematically. Data analysis yielded an overarching theme regarding placement trajectory: Carer engagement, and its three sub-themes; with the child; with the child protection system; and, with the caring role. Findings suggested that carer engagement and ‘fit’ are complex constructs that play critical influential roles in placement outcomes (stability or movement) for individual children in out-of-home care. It is argued that practice needs to be better grounded in these relational dynamics, and better aligned concerning the power differentials that exist.

Neighborhoods attributes as determinants of children's academic achievement

Resumen: Los estudios sobre los efectos del vecindario sobre los logros educativos han confirmado la existencia de estos efectos particularmente en la adolescencia. Una deficiencia común de la investigación empírica hasta la fecha, la falta de información en múltiples contextos, se aborda en este trabajo mediante el uso de encuestas escolares de datos para obtener una mayor comprensión sobre el efecto de la pobreza en los niños que cursan el nivel primario de enseñanza en los EE.UU. Este trabajo propone la utilización de un modelo jerárquico lineal de clasificación cruzada para tomar en cuenta en forma apropiada la estructura anidada de la información ya que los niños pertenecen simultáneamente a los dos grupos, el barrio y la escuela. Los resultados que se presentan, basados en la encuesta ECLS-K, una muestra de más de 20000 niños en aproximadamente 1.000 vecindarios y 1200 escuelas 1200, pone de manifiesto la asociación entre la composición socioeconómica del vecindario y los resultados académicos de los estudiantes. Este estudio proporciona evidencia a favor de las teorías de la socialización y epidémica. La presencia de adultos con buen nivel educativo en el vecindario así como la mediana de ingresos tienen impacto positivo en el logro del estudiante. De la misma forma, elevados niveles de pobreza tienen una influencia significativa, pero negativa en los resultados académicos. Sin embargo, el impacto se produce cuando se supera el umbral de 30% de hogares pobres en el vecindario. Los resultados agregados son invariantes a distintas especificaciones en términos de variables, esto no sucede cuando se analizan subgrupos clasificados según su origen étnico, género y estatus socio-económico.

Size composition, growth and sexual maturity of bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus (Lowe), from the Japanese long-line fishery in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

Size composition data of bigeye tuna taken from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean by Japanese Prefectural experimental training vessels from 1958 to 1964 are examined. A gradient of increasing fish size from east to west is noted. Males increase in ratio over females for the entire range of lengths examined, and beyond 170 cm comprise more than 75 per cent of the total. The first semester of the year is important as a bigeye spawning season. A general relationship between sexual maturity and thermal structure of the water is discussed. At the end of their 12th quarter of life bigeye are about 114 cm long, by the 16th quarter, 137 cm and at the end of 20 quarters, about 153 cm. The long-line fishery in the eastern Pacific has had a marked effect on the size composition of the stocks of bigeye, but whether the fishing has driven the stocks below a point which could afford a maximum sustainable yield could not be determined. (PDF contains 55 pages.)

A responsabilização nos casos de violência sexual de crianças e adolescentes: um panorama a partir da implementação do Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente

Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama acerca da responsabilização dos crimes de violência sexual contra crianças e adolescentes no Brasil de 1990 a 2011 - 21 (vinte e um) anos da promulgação do Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA). Destaca os projetos, programas e políticas implementados, bem como as alterações no ECA e no Código Penal no período, oferecendo subsídios para uma análise crítica da concepção de política pública adotada na área. Também apresenta uma amostra dos casos sentenciados a partir de 120 (cento e vinte) denúncias realizadas ao Disque Denúncia Nacional (Disque 100) e de 18 (dezoito) casos atendidos por Centros de Defesa da Criança e do Adolescente filiados à Associação Nacional dos Centros de Defesa (ANCED). Ressalta a escassez de ações voltadas para os autores de violência sexual, a tendência ao recrudescimento de penas nessa área e a influência de agências e organismos internacionais em relação às políticas públicas para crianças e adolescentes no Brasil

Age, size, and sexual maturity of channeled whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus) in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

With the southern New England lobster fishery in distress, lobster fishermen have focused more effort toward harvesting channeled whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus). However, minimal research has been conducted on the life history and growth rates of channeled whelk. Melongenid whelks generally grow slowly and mature late in life, a characteristic that can make them vulnerable to overfishing as fishing pressure increases. We sampled channeled whelk from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, in August 2010 and in July 2011, studied their gonad development by histology, and aged them by examining opercula. Males had a slower growth rate and a lower maximum size than females. Male whelk reached 50% maturity (SM50) at 115.5 mm shell length (SL) and at the age of 6.9 years. Female whelk reached SM50 at 155.3 mm SL and at the age of 8.6 years. With a minimum size limit of 69.9 mm (2.75 in) in shell width, males entered the fishery at 7.5 years, a few months after SM50, but females entered the fishery at 6.3 years, approximately 2 years before SM50. Increased fishing pressure combined with slow growth rates and the inability to reproduce before being harvested can easily constrain the long-term viability of the channeled whelk fishery in Massachusetts.

SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR OF TIBETAN MACAQUES AT MT EMEI, CHINA

Data on sexual behavior were collected in six groups of semi-commensal Macaca thibetana along the trail on the slope habitat between 1987 and 1989. Ignoring the common items such as mounting, presenting etc., 20 categories of sexual behavior were described. Most of the descriptions were likely to have enlarged the behavior repertoire reported in macaques, showing a great complexity of sociosexual interactions under the principally natural condition. A great diversity of grouping appeared in the mating season. The copulatory pattern was found to be the serial type contrary to previous speculation, and the mount-to-ejaculation ratio was higher in the central subgroup, as compared with the far-peripheral adult subgroup (FAS) with less male and female rivals. An age-class subdivision of sexually active males made it possible to show that the young adult male immigrants were the most active class in sexual activity. Subgrouping form FAS was a ''space-segregation'' tactic of mating for the losers of both sexes in the competition. Some parameters of copulation were also documented.

Toward A Model Of Children's Story Comprehension

How does a person answer questions about children's stories? For example, consider 'Janet wanted Jack's paints. She looked at the picture he was painting and said 'Those paints make your picture look funny.' The question to ask is 'Why did Janet say that?'. We propose a model which answers such questions by relating the story to background real world knowledge. The model tries to generate and answer important questions about the story as it goes along. Within this model we examine two questions about the story as it goes along. Within this model we examine two problems, how to organize this real world knowledge, and how it enters into more traditional linguistic questions such as deciding noun phrase reference.

O abuso sexual de menores em Luanda

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia Jurídica

The differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated junior infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments

There are a number of reasons why this researcher has decided to undertake this study into the differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated Junior Infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments. Theses reasons are both personal and professional. My personal reasons stem from having grown up in a family which included both an aunt who presented with Down Syndrome and an uncle who presented with hearing impairment. Both of these relatives' experiences in our education system are interesting. My aunt was considered ineducable while her brother - my uncle - was sent to Dublin (from Cork) at six years of age to be educated by a religious order. My professional reasons, on the other hand, stemmed from my teaching experience. Having taught in both special and integrated classrooms it became evident to me that there was somewhat 'suspicion' attached to integration. Parents of children without disabilities questioned whether this process would have a negative impact on their children's education. While parents of children with disabilities debated whether integrated settings met the specific needs of their children. On the other hand, I always questioned whether integration and inclusiveness meant the same thing. My research has enabled me to find many answers. Increasingly, children with special educational needs (SEN) are attending a variety of integrated and inclusive childcare and education settings. This contemporary practice of educating children who present with disabilities in mainstream classrooms has stimulated vast interest on the impact of such practices on children with identified disabilities. Indeed, children who present with disabilities "fare far better in mainstream education than in special schools" (Buckley, cited in Siggins, 2001,p.25). However, educators and practitioners in the field of early years education and care are concerned with meeting the needs of all children in their learning environments, while also upholding high academic standards (Putman, 1993). Fundamentally, therefore, integrated education must also produce questions about the impact of this practice on children without identified special educational needs. While these questions can be addressed from the various areas of child development (i.e. cognitive, physical, linguistic, emotional, moral, spiritual and creative), this research focused on the social domain. It investigates the development of social competence in junior infant class children without identified disabilities as they experience different educational settings.

Optimal assessment of the ability of children with recurrent respiratory tract infections to produce anti-polysaccharide antibodies.

Specific anti-polysaccharide antibody deficiency (SPAD) is an immune disorder. Diagnostic criteria have not yet been defined clearly. One hundred and seventy-six children evaluated for recurrent respiratory tract infections were analysed retrospectively. For each subject, specific anti-pneumococcal antibodies had been measured with two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), one overall assay (OA) using the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23-PPSV) as detecting antigen and the other purified pneumococcal polysaccharide serotypes (serotype-specific assay, SSA) (serotypes 14, 19F and 23F). Antibody levels were measured before (n = 176) and after (n = 93) immunization with the 23-PPSV. Before immunization, low titres were found for 138 of 176 patients (78%) with OA, compared to 20 of 176 patients (11%) with the SSA. We found a significant correlation between OA and SSA results. After immunization, 88% (71 of 81) of the patients considered as responders in the OA test were also responders in the SSA; 93% (71 of 76) of the patients classified as responders according to the SSA were also responders in the OA. SPAD was diagnosed in 8% (seven of 93) of patients on the basis of the absence of response in both tests. Thus, we propose to use OA as a screening test for SPAD before 23-PPSV immunization. After immunization, SSA should be used only in case of a low response in OA. Only the absence of or a very low antibody response detected by both tests should be used as a diagnostic criterion for SPAD.

Nurturing Change: Lilly Martin Spencer's Images of Children

This dissertation is the first full-length study to concentrate on American genre painter Lilly Martin Spencer's images of children, which constituted nearly one half of her saleable production during the height of her artistic career from 1848 to 1869. At this time, many young parents received advice regarding child rearing through books and other publications, having moved away from their families of origin in search of employment. These literatures, which gained in popularity from the 1830s onward, focused on spiritual, emotional, and disciplinary matters. My study considers four major themes from the period's writing on child nurture that changed over time, including depravity and innocence, parent/child bonding, standards of behavior and moral rectitude, and children's influence on adults. It demonstrates how Spencer's paintings, prints, and drawings featuring children supported and challenged these evolving ideologies, helping to shed light not only on the artist's reception of child-rearing advice, but also on its possible impact on her middle-class audience, to whom she closely catered. In four chapters, I investigate Spencer's images of sleeping children as visual equivalents of contemporary consolation literature during a time of high infant and child mortality rates; her paintings of parent/child interaction as promoting separation from mothers and emotional bonding with fathers; her prints of mischievous children as both considering changing ideals about children's behavior and comforting Anglo-American citizens afraid of what they saw as threatening minority groups; and her pictures with Civil War and Reconstruction subject matter as contending with the popular concept of the moral utility of children. By framing my interpretations of Spencer's output around key issues in the period's dynamic child-nurture literature, I advance new comprehensive readings of many of her most well-known paintings, including Domestic Happiness, Fi, Fo, Fum!, and The Pic Nic or the Fourth of July. I also consider work often overlooked by other art historians, but which received acclaim in Spencer's own time, including the lithographs of children made after her designs, and the allegorical painting Truth Unveiling Falsehood. Significantly, I provide the first in-depth analysis of a newly rediscovered Reconstruction-era painting, The Home of the Red, White, and Blue.