A meta -analysis of empirical research studies on resilience among students at -risk for school failure

Being at-risk is a growing problem in the U.S. because of disturbing societal trends such as unemployment, divorce, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, and the new threat of terrorist violence. Resilience characterizes individuals who rebound from or adapt to adversities such as these, and academic resilience distinguishes at-risk students who succeed in school despite hardships. ^ The purpose of this research was to perform a meta-analysis to examine the power of resilience and to suggest ways educators might improve academic resilience, which was operationalized by satisfactory test scores and grades. In order to find all studies that were relevant to academic resilience in at-risk kindergarten through 12th-grade students, extensive electronic and hardcopy searches were conducted, and these resulted in a database of 421 articles. Two hundred eighty seven of these were rejected quickly, because they were not empirical research. Upon further examination, another 106 were rejected for not meeting study protocol criteria. Ultimately, 28 studies were coded for study level descriptors and effect size variables. ^ Protective factors for resilience were found to originate in physical, psychological, and behavioral domains on proximal/intraindividual, transitional/intrafamilial, or distal/extrafamilial levels. Effect sizes (ESs) for these were weighted and the means for each level or category were interpreted by commonly accepted benchmarks. Mean effect sizes for proximal (M = .27) and for transitional (M = .15) were small but significant. The mean effect size for the distal level was insignificant. This supported the hypotheses that the proximal level was the source of most protective factors for academic resilience in at-risk students followed by the transitional level. The distal effect size warranted further research particularly in light of the small number of studies (n = 11) contributing effect sizes to that category. A homogeneity test indicated a search for moderators, i.e., study variables affecting outcomes, was justified. “Category” was the largest moderator. Graphs of weighted mean effect sizes in the physical, psychological, and behavioral domains were plotted for each level to better illustrate the findings of the meta-analysis. Suggestions were made for combining resilience development with aspects of positive psychology to promote resilience in the schools. ^

Perceptions of beginning teachers in Florida regarding their preparation as it relates to the Florida essential generic competencies

The purpose of the study is to investigate how beginning teachers in the state of Florida perceive their preparation to demonstrate the 27 Florida Essential Generic Competencies. The basic research question of this study was: How do beginning teachers perceive their level of preparation regarding their implementation of the Florida Essential Generic Competencies? This study identified and categorized the perceived degree of preparation for each of the competencies. Also, elementary, middle, and high school beginning teachers were compared to find significant differences and similarities in their perception of their preparation. A comparison was also done for graduates from in-state versus out-of-state and private versus public institutions. A survey developed in collaboration with the Department of Education, Florida State University, members of the Professional Orientation Program (POP) Coordinators, and the Project Director of Program Review in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, was sent to 5,076 beginning teachers. A total of 1,995 returned the survey in February of 1993. The Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) procedure was used (Alpha = .05). Statistical analysis of the data involved a comparison of the different groups of beginning teachers by school level and kind of graduating institutions. The dependent variables analyzed were the responses to all items representing the generic competencies. The study identified and categorized the degree of preparation for each competency. The competencies receiving the lowest ratings for degree of preparation were: integrate computers in instruction; manage situations involving child abuse and/or neglect; severe emotional stress; alcohol and drug abuse. The Wilkes lambda and the Hotellings multivariate tests of significance were used to examine the differences among the groups. The competency items were further analyzed by a univariate F test. Results indicated that: (1) significant differences were found in nine competency items in which elementary teachers felt better prepared than middle and high school beginning teachers, (2) graduates from a Florida teacher education program felt they were better prepared in demonstrating the competencies than those from out-of-state schools, and (3) no significant difference was found in the perceptions of those who graduated from public versus private institutions. Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: (1) Florida's institutions responsible for teacher preparation programs need to focus on those competencies receiving the lowest ratings, (2) Districts should provide an orientation program for out-of-state beginning teachers, and (3) The survey instrument should be used annually to evaluate teacher education programs.

Socioemotional Outcomes of Children Sexually Abused during Early Childhood

This study investigated the nature and impact of the sexual abuse of children ages birth through 6 years. The purpose was to enhance knowledge about this understudied population through examination of: (1) characteristics of the abuse; (2) socioemotional developmental outcomes of young victims; and (3) potential moderating effects of family dynamics. An ecological-developmental theoretical framework was applied. Secondary data analysis was conducted using data collected from the consortium Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). A sample of 250 children was drawn from LONGSCAN data, including children who were sexually abused (n=125) and their nonabused counterparts (n=125), matched on demographic variables. Results revealed that young victims of sexual abuse were disproportionately female (91 girls; 73%). The sexual abuse committed against these youngsters was severe in nature, with 111 children (89%) experiencing contact offenses ranging from fondling to forcible rape. Sixty-two percent of child victims demonstrated borderline, clinical, or less than adequate functioning on normative, expected socioemotional outcomes. Child victims reported low degrees of perceived competence and satisfaction in the social environment. When compared with their nonabused counterparts, child victims demonstrated significantly poorer socioemotional functioning, as evidenced by aggressive behaviors, attention and thought problems. Sexually abused youngsters also reported lower self-perceptions of cognitive and physical competence and maternal acceptance. Family dynamic factors did not significantly moderate the relationships between abuse and socioemotional outcomes, with one exception. The caregivers’ degree of empathy for their children had a significant moderating effect on the children’s social problems. This study contributes to an otherwise scant body of literature on the sexual abuse of preschoolers. Findings provide implications for social work practice, especially in the development of assessment and prevention strategies.

The statutory rape crisis: a moral panic?

In this thesis I argue that the statutory rape crisis which materialised following the decisions in CC v Ireland and A v The Governor of Arbour Hill Prison, was a moral panic. I also contend that Mr A, a convicted sex offender who was released during the crisis, was a folk devil. Using data obtained from an ethnographic content analysis of a selection of newspapers, interest group statements, and Oireachtas debates, I demonstrate that the social response to the statutory rape crisis exhibits the key indicators of the moral panic phenomenon put forward by Goode and Ben-Yehuda. These key indicators are: concern, consensus, hostility, disproportionality and volatility. I employ the theory of moral panic to explain why the events of the statutory rape crisis ignited such emotion and why Mr A became a folk devil of the moral panic

Questioning the merits and demerits of electronic communication in Social Work

This paper examines the social dynamics of electronic exchanges in the human services, particularly in social work. It focuses on the observable effects that email and texting have on the linguistic, relational and clinical rather than managerial aspects of the profession. It highlights how electronic communication is affecting professionals in their practice and learners as they become acculturated to social work. What are the gains and losses of the broad use of electronic devices in daily lay and professional, verbal and non-verbal communication? Will our current situation be seriously detrimental to the demeanor of future practitioners, their use of language, and their ability to establish close personal relationships? The paper analyzes social work linguistic and behavioral changes in light of the growth of electronic communication and offers a summary of merits and demerits viewed through a prism emerging from Baron’s (2000) analysis of human communication.

Los conocimientos acerca del maltrato infantil de los futuros profesionales de la educación: un estudio exploratorio

Los profesionales de la educación se encuentran, en su ejercicio profesional, en una posición privilegiada para realizar una detección precoz del maltrato infantil y para identificar posibles casos de riesgo. Sin embargo, en ocasiones, maestros y educadores en general aducen falta de conocimiento y formación para realizar dichas tareas. Es por ello que, en este trabajo deseamos insistir en la necesidad de analizar la formación de los futuros profesionales de la educación en torno al maltrato infantil, tanto en el seno de la familia como fuera de ella, y ya sea ejercido por un adulto o por otros menores. No olvidemos que la identificación temprana de comportamientos violentos y, por supuesto, la puesta en marcha de estrategias sólidas para su prevención requieren disponer de una buena capacitación. Por esta razón, hemos realizado un estudio piloto que nos permitiera conocer la formación que los estudiantes del Grado de Pedagogía tienen sobre el maltrato infantil, utilizando un cuestionario que hemos diseñado específicamente para alcanzar tal propósito. En la realización de un estudio piloto contamos con una muestra de 24 alumnos y alumnas del 4º curso del Grado de Pedagogía. Entre las conclusiones alcanzadas destacamos que, tras analizar los datos derivados del pase piloto, podemos concluir que los futuros pedagogos consideran necesario tener formación específica al respecto, una preparación que, mayoritariamente, consideran insuficiente y muy limitada para poder afrontar sus responsabilidades profesionales en el futuro.

Invisible Victims: Recorded Crime and Children in the UK

While violence against children is a common occurrence only a minority of incidents come to the attention of the authorities. Low reporting rates notwithstanding, official data such as child protection referrals and recorded crime statistics provide valuable information on the numbers of children experiencing harm which come to the attention of professionals in any given year. In the UK, there has been a strong tendency to focus on child protection statistics while children as victims of crime remain largely invisible in annual crime reports and associated compendia. This is despite the implementation of a raft of policies aimed at improving the system response to victims and witnesses of crime across the UK. This paper demonstrates the utility of a more detailed analysis of crime statistics in providing information on the patterns of crime against children and examining case outcomes. Based on data made available by the Police Service for Northern Ireland, it highlights how violent crime differentially impacts on older children and how detection rates vary depending on case characteristics. It makes an argument for developing recorded crime practice to make child victims of crime more visible and to facilitate assessment of the effectiveness of current initiatives and policy developments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Exploring the Role of Parental Hearsay when Children Witness a Crime

In cases of potential child abuse, parents may provide hearsay testimony on behalf of a child, retelling events from the child’s perspective. However, according to the limited research that exists, parents may have a negative impact on their child’s memory of an event (Principe, DiPuppo, & Gammel, 2013). In order to gain a better understanding of parental hearsay, parents’ descriptions of information children provided in recorded parent-child discussions were compared to the actual information the children provided in the initial discussion and in a 1-week follow-up interview. Children interviewed by parents were also compared to children interviewed by a trained interviewer. To date, 11 children between the ages of 6-9 years have been assessed. While the current sample size was too small to yield many significant results, graphs and effect sizes suggest there are differences in memory accuracy and completeness between parents and children and across children’s interview condition. Whether hearsay testimony or children’s testimony is preferable may depend on how suggestive the initial parent-child discussion is.

Shaken baby syndrome

This brochure explains shaken baby syndrome and some ways to prevent it.

El maltrato infantil

Ha sido necesario estudiar el Maltrato Infantil ya que éste afecta a niños, niñas y adolescentes; el maltrato infantil se identifica a menudo con lesiones físicas, se imaginan escenas dolorosas en las que los niños son expuestos a la violencia de los adultos. Desgraciadamente esto es así en algunos casos, pero la mayoría de las situaciones de maltrato pasan desapercibidas. Es importante hacer referencia que el maltrato afecta a todas las clases sociales y no solo a los más desfavorecidos e inclusive se dan dentro de sus hogares, además ha estado presente desde los inicios de la historia. Maltrato Infantil es toda acción que provoca daño a los niños, niñas pudiendo presentarse diferentes tipos siendo la negligencia, la falta de supervisión, el desinterés y el abandono emocional más frecuentes que los golpes. Este problema produce en los niños y niñas un desorden psicológico y social que afecta al desarrollo normal de sus vidas, también a futuro puede convertirse en maltratadores. La Intervención del Trabajador Social ante el Maltrato Infantil es sumamente importante, ya que con esto, se va a propiciar un cambio de actitud en las personas, buscando fortalecer las relaciones familiares y aumentar la autoestima de los entes afectados. Esta intervención se realiza mediante funciones de carácter asistencial, buscando satisfacer necesidades inmediatas las cuales permitirán otras acciones de concienciación, capacitación y organización.

Las medidas de acogimiento y su influencia en los menores desprotegidos

[ES]En el presente trabajo se realiza un recorrido teórico de la familia, de los deberes y obligaciones que les corresponden a los padres para con sus hijos, además de estudiarse cómo el cese o la mala práctica de esos compromisos pueden incidir negativamente en ellos. Exponiéndose los diferentes tipos de maltrato infantil, se explican las medidas de acogimiento que se adoptan cuando la situación familiar es considerada perjudicial o peligrosa para el menor. Para ello, mediante entrevistas a distintos profesionales y técnicos de la Sección de Protección a la Infancia de la provincia de Bizkaia, se da a conocer la situación actual de los centros y hogares de acogimiento, la visión profesional acerca de la problemática presentada, los planes creados para el acogimiento familiar, y cómo es el proceso de captación de familias de acogida. Así mismo, se recoge el testimonio de una persona acogida en la infancia.

Prevalencia de trauma encéfalo craneal en niños de 0 a 5 años y factores asociados, en el servicio de emergencia pediátrica del HVCM febrero- julio 2014

ANTECEDENTES: El trauma encéfalo craneal (TEC), es una de las principales causas de atención en emergencia pediátrica del país y el mundo. Representa una carga en morbilidad y mortalidad, constituyendo una causa importante de internamiento, complicaciones y muerte en pediatría. OBJETIVOS: Determinar la prevalencia de TEC y factores asociados en niños de 0 a 5 años atendidos en emergencia del Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso, Febrero- Julio 2014. MÉTODO Y TÉCNICAS Se realizó un estudio transversal en niños de 0 a 5 años con TEC, atendidos en emergencia del HVCM, de febrero a julio del 2014, determinando la prevalencia y factores asociados a TEC; previa firma de consentimiento informado por los representantes. Tras recolectarse los datos, estos fueron codificados y tabulados mediante SPSS versión 20, obteniendo las variables demográficas de estudio. RESULTADOS Se estudiaron 1681 niños, con un promedio en edad de 26,2 meses (DS 20,76). La prevalencia de TEC fue del 10,4%. El TEC leve representó el 8,6% del total de niños. Los factores positivos asociados fueron: estar a cuidado de terceros o sin cuidador (RP: 3,91; IC: 2,94-5,20); pertenecer a un grupo minoritario, indígena o negro (RP: 3,64; IC: 2,46-5,39); siendo el maltrato infantil la variable que más se relacionó con TEC. (RP: 6,11; IC: 3,61-10,65). CONCLUSIONES: La prevalencia de TEC en el HVCM en niños de 0 a 5 años, fue de 10,4%. Asociándose positivamente con etnia indígena o negra, encontrarse sin cuidador o a cargo de terceros y el maltrato infantil.

Asociación de las violencias física, sexual y comunitaria con el embarazo en adolescentes: análisis multinivel

Objetivos Determinar si existe asociación entre la exposición a violencia, experimentada a nivel individual o municipal, y el embarazo adolescente en mujeres Colombianas entre 13 y 19 años de edad que contestaron la Encuesta de Demografía y Salud en el año 2010. Métodos Estudio de corte transversal, nacional y multinivel. Se tomaron datos de dos niveles jerárquicos: Nivel- 1: Datos individuales de una muestra representativa de 13.313 mujeres entre 13 y 19 años de edad provenientes de La Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud del año 2010 y Nivel- 2: Datos municipales de 258 municipios provenientes de las estadísticas vitales del DANE. Resultados La prevalencia del embarazo adolescente fue del 16.8% IC 95% [16.2-17.4]. El análisis mostró que la asociación entre embarazo adolescente y violencia tanto individual, representada como violencia sexual [OR= 6.99 IC99% 4.80-10.10] y violencia física [OR= 1.74 IC99% 1.47-2.05] así como la violencia municipal medida con tasas de homicidios altas [OR= 1.99 IC99% 1.29-3.07] y muy altas [OR= 2.10 IC99% 1.21-3.61] se mantuvo estadísticamente significativa después de ajustar por las variables: Edad [OR= 1.81 IC99% 1.71-1.91], ocupación [OR= 1.62 IC99% 1.37-1.93], educación primaria o sin educación [OR= 2.20 IC99% 1.47-3.30], educación secundaria [OR= 1.70 IC99% 1.24-2.32], asistir al colegio [OR= 0.18 IC99% 0.15-0.21], conocimiento en la fisiología reproductiva [OR= 1.28 IC99% 1.06-1.54], el índice de riqueza Q1, Q2, Q3 [OR= 2.18 IC99% 1.42-3.34], [OR= 2.00 IC99% 1.39-2.28], [OR= 1.82 IC99% 1.92-2.25] y alto porcentaje de Necesidades básicas insatisfechas a nivel municipal [OR= 2.34 IC99% 1.55-3.52]. Conclusiones Este estudio mostró una relación significativamente estadística entre la violencia sexual y física con el inicio de relaciones sexuales y embarazo adolescente después de controlar por factores sociodemográficos y conocimientos en reproducción sexual en mujeres colombianas de 13 a 19 años en el año 2010. Esta asociación debe continuar siendo estudiada para lograr optimizar las estrategias de prevención y disminuir la tasa actual de embarazos adolescentes en el país y sus consecuencias.

Teachers’ attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse : problems with existing research leading to new scale development

This paper details a systematic literature review identifying problems in extant research relating to teachers’ attitudes towards reporting child sexual abuse, and offers a model for new attitude scale development and testing. Scale development comprised a five-phase process grounded in contemporary attitude theories including: a) developing the initial item pool; b) conducting a panel review; c) refining the scale via an expert focus group; d) building content validity through cognitive interviews; e) assessing internal consistency via field testing. The resulting 21-item scale displayed construct validity in preliminary testing. The scale may prove useful as a research tool, given the theoretical supposition that attitudes may be changed with time, context, experience, and education. Further investigation with a larger sample is warranted.