Establishing Laws and Policies on Parent to Child Violence in Finland 1965–1983

This study explores perceptions of parent to child violence, the arguments for imposing legal regulation, and the intended objectives of the legislative process that led to a ban in Finland in 1983. This qualitative policy analysis examines policy documents alongside expert interviews with professional on the legislative process. The example of Finland shows that a significant change in attitudes and decreased levels of violence towards children can be achieved without the threat of legal punishment, even without specific intervention policies. However, the study emphasises the importance of establishing clear practices alongside altering legislation which has been inadequate in Finland.     

The Widening Education Gap in Developmental Child Care Activities in the United States, 1965–2013

Past research shows that time spent in developmental care activities has been increasing in the United States over recent decades, yet little is known about how this increase is distributed across parents with different levels of education. Have children born into different socioeconomic groups been receiving increasingly equal developmental care from their parents, or is the distribution of parental time investment becoming more unequal? To answer this question, the author analyzed the American Heritage Time Use Study (1965–2013) and showed that the gap between high‐ and low‐educated parents' time investment in developmental child care activities has widened. An increasing absence of fathers in households with low‐educated mothers has exacerbated the trend. This study documents growing inequality in parental time inputs in developmentally salient child care activities in the United States.     

Postdivorce Parent–Child Contact and Child Well‐being: The Importance of Predivorce Parental Involvement

Frequent parent–child contact after divorce is generally assumed to be in children's best interests, but findings are mixed. This study extends the small body of research about the conditions under which parent–child contact is more beneficial or less beneficial by examining the role of predivorce parental involvement. It is argued that the more a parent was involved in child rearing in the past, the more important postdivorce parent–child contact is for child well‐being. Data from the Netherlands (N = 3,694) show that when children live with the parent who was not the primary caretaker, child well‐being is lower. Similarly, the more the father used to be involved in child rearing, the more beneficial nonresident father–child contact is for children. These findings suggest that it is not so much the frequency of contact per se that matters for child well‐being but, rather, the extent to which postdivorce residence arrangements reflect predivorce parenting arrangements.     

‘I Was Quite Amazed’: Donor Conception and Parent–Child Relationships from the Child's Perspective

Donor conception and parent–child relationships were explored from the child's perspective. At ages 7 and 10, interview data were obtained from children in 31 donor insemination, 28 egg donation and 51 natural conception families. Children were also administered the MacArthur Story Stem Battery and a family map. Children in all family types reported close and affectionate relationships with their parents, irrespective of the lack of a genetic link between the parent and the child. Of those children who were aware of their donor conception at age 10, most demonstrated an understanding of, and had positive feelings about their donor conception.     

Child Support Obligations and Low‐Income Fathers

Using the 1994–1998 waves of the Current Population Survey—Child Support Supplement (N =5,387), the aims of this study are to document child support obligation rates of nonresident fathers, to examine the effect of the obligation rate on child support compliance, and to calculate the trade‐off between fathers’ financial responsibility and children's well‐being, paying particular attention to low‐income fathers. The results indicate that low‐income fathers have high child support obligation rates, which significantly reduce their child support compliance. Although lowering the obligation rate for these fathers may improve their compliance, it does not fully offset the lowered obligation amounts and leads to a 30% net payment loss for welfare mothers and a 43% loss for nonwelfare mothers. Policy implications are discussed.     

The Legacy of Leaving Home: Long‐Term Effects of Coresidence on Parent – Child Relationships

This study investigated how early, “on‐time,” and late home leavers differed in their relations to parents in later life. A life course perspective suggested different pathways by which the time spent in the parental home may set the stage for intergenerational solidarity in aging families. Using fixed‐effects models with data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 14,739 parent – child dyads), the author assessed the effects of previous coresidence on intergenerational proximity, contact frequency, and support exchange more than 5 years after children had left home. The results indicated that, compared with siblings who moved out “on time,” late home leavers lived closer to their aging parents, maintained more frequent contact, and were more likely to be providers as well as receivers of intergenerational support. Overall, this evidence paints a positive picture of extended coresidence, revealing its potential to promote intergenerational solidarity across the life course.     

Child Protection in Voluntary Sports Clubs in Germany — Factors Fostering Engagement in the Prevention of Sexual Violence

Based on the theoretical framework of organisational capacity and using data from an online survey of 8571 sports clubs in Germany, this study investigates clubs’ engagement towards child protection and the prevention of sexual violence. Only half of the clubs indicate that the prevention of sexual violence is a relevant topic for them, and on average, the clubs have implemented between two and three prevention measures. Pertaining to organisational capacity, human resource capacity (e.g. share of volunteers, share of women on the board) and structural capacity (e.g. club culture) exhibit significant effects on clubs’ activation towards child protection.     

Paternal Incarceration and Father–Child Contact in Fragile Families

High rates of incarceration in the United States have motivated a broad examination of the effects of parental incarceration on child well‐being. Although a growing literature documents challenges facing the children of incarcerated men, most incarcerated fathers lived apart from their children before their arrest, raising questions of whether they were sufficiently involved with their families for their incarceration to affect their children. The author used the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,071) to examine father–child contact among incarcerated fathers and found that most incarcerated fathers maintained a degree of contact with their children through either coresidence or visitation. Moreover, the results revealed robust reductions in both father–child coresidence and visitation when fathers are incarcerated—between 18% and 20% for coresidence and 30% to 50% for the probability of visitation. The findings suggest that these reductions are driven by both incapacitation while incarcerated and union dissolution upon release.     

The Noncustodial Father–Child Relationship From Adolescence Into Young Adulthood

The relationship between adult children aged 18 – 24 and noncustodial fathers was explored with longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 359). Noncustodial fathers’ commitment to their adolescent children (contact, involvement in childrearing decisions) was strongly associated with father‐child relations in early adulthood. Father–adult child relations were weaker when children were born to an unmarried mother and when children had no memory of living with the father. Contrary to expectations, both mothers’ and fathers’ remarriage was associated with stronger father‐child relationships in early adulthood. The results show continuity in the father‐child relationship from adolescence into young adulthood and suggest that the life course transitions of family members influence the father‐child bond.     

‘Violent’ deaths of children in England and Wales and the major developed countries 1974–2002: possible evidence of improving child protection?

Child protection services are criticised for failing to prevent abuse but demonstrating successful prevention is impossible as it is trying to prove a ‘negative’. The alternative is to examine ‘failures’, i.e. the ‘violent’ deaths of children (0–14 years) to indicate whether matters are improving or deteriorating. This paper uses the latest World Health Organisation data to compare children's ‘violent’ deaths in England and Wales with those in other major developed countries. To account for possible ‘hidden’ under‐reported abuse deaths, undetermined, i.e. ‘other external causes of death’ (OECD) and fatal accidents and adverse events (AAE), deaths are also analysed along with homicides, to compare all ‘violence‐related’ deaths between 1974–76 and 2000–02. England and Wales infant (<1 year) homicide rates were annually 57 per million but fell to 17 per million, a 74% fall. Infant AAE deaths fell in every country with England and Wales falling from 341 per million to 71 per million, a 76% reduction. Both these results were significantly better than those of eight other major developed countries, although England and Wales infant OECD at 26 per million, were high compared to the major developed countries. In the 1970s, combined ‘violent’ deaths of all children (0–14 years) (homicide, OECD and AAE) in England and Wales were 203 per million, they are now 61 per million, a 70% decline with only Italy having lower rates. The worst rates were in the USA which had the highest combined ‘violent’ death rate. These overall results in the major reductions of ‘violence‐related’ deaths in England and Wales can be a boost to the morale of front‐line staff and provide the public with an indication of the progress being made. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trends in US Army child maltreatment reports: 1990–2004

We present the victim rates and severity of child maltreatment in US Army families by the sex of the child and parent from 1990–2004. Neglect rates decreased from a high point in 1991 to a low in 2000, but by 2004 the rates had increased to about the 1991 level. During two large‐scale deployments of the US Army to the Middle East (1991 and 2002–2004), the rates of neglect increased. Neglect rates were highest for the youngest children and decreased as age increased. Physical abuse rates decreased from 1990–2004, but the decline was slowed during 2001–04. Physical abuse was more severe by male offenders. Emotional abuse showed wide fluctuations in rates. Emotional abuse rates were similar for boys and girls up to age 11, but the rates for older girls were higher. Sexual abuse had the lowest rates throughout the time of this report, decreasing from about 0.5/1000 to about 0.1/1000. The rates of physical abuse and neglect were generally higher for boys than for girls up to the teenage years when the rates reversed. Male offenders were more likely to maltreat children (even excluding sexual abuse) than were female offenders and offenders of both sexes were more likely to abuse male children. We provide suggestions for practice, prevention and research in child maltreatment. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal Employment,Nonparental Care,Mother‐Child Interactions,and Child Outcomes During Preschool Years

This study examines the relationships between maternal employment, nonparental care, mother‐child interactions, and preschoolers’ outcomes. Data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (N= 1,248) show that maternal employment during the previous year, especially full‐time employment, was related to care by nonrelatives, longer hours in school settings, fewer positive mother‐child interactions, and less reading with parents at ages 2 and 4. Controlling for these mediators, maternal employment was related to children’s lower hyperactivity, more prosocial behavior, and less anxiety at age 4, although little relationship was found at age 2. The results indicate that preschoolers may benefit from maternal employment, but benefits may be offset by long hours of nonparental care and fewer positive mother‐child interactions.     

Advertising ‘Happy’ Children: The Settler Family,Happiness and the Indigenous Child Removal System

We analyse 4300 advertisements of children featured in the Today's Child column, a daily written by Helen Allen in The Toronto Telegram and The Toronto Star from 1964 to 1982, to understand how the Canadian public became accepting of the adoption of Indigenous children. While children of all ethnic backgrounds were featured, the Indigenous children who were displayed were part of a larger system of child removal, known as the ‘Sixties Scoop’. We demonstrate the ways Indigenous children are described with a specific form of happiness that is conjoined with colonial conceptions of the family and nation.     

Impact of Widowhood on Parent–Child Relations: Does Parents' Personality Matter?

The authors evaluated the extent to which the short‐term effect of late life widowhood on parent–child relationships is moderated by 5 personality traits—Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience—and how these interactive effects differ by gender. Data were from the Changing Lives of Older Couples Study (N = 1,532). The results indicated that the effects of widowhood on positive and negative interactions with children were significantly moderated by Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience. An agreeable personality helped widowed persons receive more positive interactions, whereas Openness to Experience reduced negative interactions. Widowed persons with higher Extraversion reported more negative interactions. Furthermore, moderating effects of Extraversion and Openness to Experience differed by gender; specifically, higher Extraversion scores predicted increased positive interactions with children for widowed women but decreased positive interactions for widowed men. The significant association between Openness to Experience and decreased negative interactions with children was more apparent among men than among women.     

Child protection and welfare: cultures,policies, and practices

Child protection and welfare have become international issues in a globalized world. Ideas about childhood and the upbringing of children vary widely, depending upon the prevailing economic, socio-cultural, religious, and political contexts. These have had dramatic effects on the way societies value children, and the role acquired by the state in their protection and advancing their well-being. Children, however, remain at risk. They are placed at risk by the breakdown of extended family systems as a result of urbanization, and as a result of impaired functioning of some nuclear families, in the absence of kinship safety nets. Some traditional cultural practices place children at risk, especially girl children. Poverty creates risks for all children but it can create specific catastrophic risks for girls. Countries can enact visionary laws intended to protect children, but they will be ineffective against entrenched social attitudes, especially if only limited resources can be provided to implement and enforce them. This is the ultimate challenge that the world community must address if the vision of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is to be realized.