Research with Disabled Children: How Useful is Child-centred Ethics?

The title of a collection on 'ethics and methodology of research with children' implies that research with children necessarily raises unique questions about ethics and methods. Our paper questions whether this is so, what the unique questions might be and how they arise. We consider that any extra complications in research with children are common to research with other 'minority' groups. The main complications do not arise from children's inabilities or misperceptions, but from the positions ascribed to children in late twentieth-century Western societies. Clarity about the social origins of any complications in research with children is crucial if these complications are to be addressed. Ethics, methods, theories, data and policy conclusions are inextricably interwoven, and it is important to acknowledge how initial theories inevitably shape policies. Reasons are given for preferring rights-based to child-centred ethics.     

Experiences of Mothers Who Are Child Sexual Abuse Survivors: A Qualitative Exploration

Child sexual abuse has been associated with a number of problems affecting women over their lifespan, including difficulties with parenting. However, there is a modest number of qualitative studies examining the impact of child sexual abuse on survivors who are mothers. There is a particular need for qualitative investigations that ask survivors who are mothers general questions about the impact of child sexual abuse on their lives rather than those that specifically ask about the impact of child sexual abuse on parenting. The former approach would allow survivors to describe effects that may impact parenting but that survivors do not consciously link to affecting their parenting. Such information may inform interventions to assist this population of survivors. This secondary data analysis examined themes revealed in interviews with 44 survivors of child sexual abuse who were mothers. Participants were seeking treatment for their child sexual abuse and completed an in-person interview in which they were asked open-ended questions about the sexual abuse they experienced as a child and how their abuse affects them now as adults. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic analysis. The following six themes emerged from the narratives: (a) being a parent, (b) family of origin dysfunction, (c) the impact of abuse, (d) the abuse history and response to abuse, (e) coping, and (f) hopes and desires for the future. This study highlights several ways in which child sexual abuse impacts survivors who are mothers, areas for further study, and the need for interventions to assist this population in meeting the challenges they face as mothers.     

What might have been-what could be: Working with the grief of children in long-term care

Abstract

“What might have been. what could be'. The stuff dreams are made of. However, the longing, searching, and yearning implied are, each in their own way, activities of anguish which shift the golden romantic dream to torment. Being near a child who is pining in this way is uncomfortable and causes us distress - and all the individual ways of dealing with that distress. We've all been children. We all know what it is to loose something, or to be separated from someone important to us. We know how it can consume us and feel as if it's the end of the world. “A child does not know death - only absence; and in absence, the parent may as well be dead, so overwhelming is the child's sense.of loss (Robertson, 1952);'     

Utilizing a Family Decision-Making Lens to Examine Adults’ End-of-Life Planning Actions

Guided by Rettig’s family decision-making theory, the study investigated the effect of an adult child’s decision environment, an adult child’s decision-making perceptions, and a parent’s end-of-life (EOL) planning actions before death on an integrated measure of medical and financial EOL planning actions. Data came from Wave 3 of the public use data of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Results indicated that household net worth, parent’s completion of a living will before death, and adult children’s avoidance of death ideation explained the greatest proportion of variance in adult children’s EOL planning actions. Results also indicated that women, those married, and those with higher education did more EOL planning. Practitioners can use this information to close accessibility gaps due to net worth differences, advocate for a more unified approach to EOL planning, and shift the focus of discussions of death from the death itself to a life well lived.     

The effect of child support on the labor supply of custodial mothers participating in TANF

Child support is a critical source of income, especially for the growing proportion of children born to unmarried mothers. Current social policy supports custodial parent employment (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit [EITC] and other work supports have largely taken the place of an entitlement to cash assistance for single mothers of young children). Given many single mothers' limited earnings potential, child support from noncustodial fathers is also important. This raises questions about the effects of child support on custodial mothers' labor supply, and whether policies that increase child support receipt will thereby discourage mothers' employment. This paper addresses these questions, taking advantage of data from a statewide randomized experiment conducted in Wisconsin. Unlike previous nonexperimental research, we do not find any negative effect of child support on the likelihood to work for pay or the number of hours worked in a given week. Recent U.S. social welfare policies have focused on increasing both custodial mothers' child support collections and their labor supply. The results suggest that these may be compatible policies; the absence of a negative labor supply effect strengthens the potential antipoverty effectiveness of child support.     

Complex Child Custody Evaluations: Evaluating the Alleged Incestuous Parent

SUMMARY

Professionals involved in child custody evaluations are sometimes confronted by the complex issue of one parent accusing the other parent of having sexually assaulted one of the children. There is scant research and theoretical literature to guide the professional in the evaluation of the alleged incestuous parent, or the attorney or judge reviewing such an evaluation. This paper describes the guiding principles of such an evaluation, how to structure the evaluation, methods used for data collection, interpretation of data, and the reasoning processes that lead to an ultimate opinion regarding the allegation. Hypothesis formation and testing is described. The form a recommendation should take given positive assessment findings and negative assessment findings is presented.     

Reading dis/ability: interrogating paradigms in a prism of power

The dichotomisation of literacy instruction into phonics instruction versus a whole language approach fails to realise a fundamental tenet of providing equitable educational opportunities to diverse groups of children. Diversity becomes a problem to solve through ‘inoculation programmes’ or ‘special’ education expertise. Moreover, children’s individual strengths can fail to be realised because they do not fit well with the programme of the day. Instead of being appreciated for the value that they may bring in higher order conceptual and intellectual tasks, these individual strengths may be neglected at great cost to the individual child because they offer cheap reward in the shape of aggregate test scores. This paper is a philosophical piece, which in refusing to prescribe what one should do on Monday morning joins other strident voices in disability studies in education to question what it is that we are doing today. Whilst not scientific, this is important work – it emphasises the a priori importance of philosophical, moral and ethical questions – reminding science that children are dynamic social beings who cannot be manipulated like genes to ‘express’ themselves in ways more conducive to quick and cheap educational programmes.     

Who Participates and Who Benefits From Employer‐Provided Child‐Care Assistance?

Support from employers to help parents balance work and family responsibilities has become an increasingly important issue, particularly in the United States, where public support for families is scarce. Little is known about the effectiveness of employer‐provided child‐care support. Who participates in these programs, and what are their benefits? This study is among the first to address these questions using a dataset that combines administrative with survey data from employees at a large organization. Findings indicate that employer financial support for child care can be structured so that employees with the greatest need benefit and employee participation is not associated with stigma. Results suggest the employer benefits from increased employee commitment and reduced employee stress, but employees do not report increased parent or child satisfaction with care. Although employer financial support alone cannot compensate for structural problems with regard to child care, it may reduce stress and increase employee commitment in the workplace.     

The use of child care center for infants of dual-working families in Korea

Using the first and second wave data of the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC), which is comprehensive longitudinal data with a nationally representative birth cohort, this study explores whether and when dual-working families place their infants and toddlers in child care centers and what factors influence these families' selection process. Among the 2078 families examined in the PSKC, 466 dual-working families which had any kind of nonparental care arrangement for their very young children at the time of the second survey were included in the analysis. Since our research questions address when the use of child care centers occurred, an event history analysis was conducted. The results show that 32.4% of the families had placed their infants in child care centers prior to the second interview. Family structure and income variables (number of children, nonparental adults in the household, and household income), mother's education level, and the mother's number of working hours turned out to be significantly related to the probability of child care center use.     

The Abused and Neglected Foster Child: Determinants of Emotional Conflict and Oppositional Behavior

Behavioral and emotional problems have been observed in emotionally vulnerable children in foster care under certain circumstances. A common pattern involves the unpredictable appearance of a previously absent or unavailable natural parent. Such an occurrence precipitates the reawakening of the child’s ambivalent feelings toward both natural and foster parents as well as their fears of abandonment. This frequently leads to behavior that is oppositional and difficult to manage. If the foster parents find the child’s behavior unmanageable, and if they are not provided with appropriate professional support during this difficult period, a crisis often follows that precipitates the child’s removal from the foster home. Individual, familial, and systemic contributions to this dilemma are discussed" This article emphasizes the origins and nature of the intrapsychic dilemma faced by these children. Particular emphasis is placed on the manifestations of a conflict of loyalty, in the child, and its relationship to the oppositional behavior of these children in foster care. Additional considerations include the impact of inconsistent parenting, abuse and neglect by the natural parents, the assumption of a parental role by the child and a concomitant renunciation of the child’s dependency needs, as well as an examination of the role of the foster parent’s fantasy of what it will be like to parent a traumatized child.     

Child Care and Child Births: The Role of Grandparents in the Netherlands

This study explored the involvement of grandparents in the care for young children and its effect on subsequent child births in dual‐earner families, using data on 898 Dutch men and women aged 18–49 from the Netherlands' Kinship Panel Study. Three theoretical perspectives were used to develop hypotheses: (a) needs and opportunities, (b) normative preferences, and (c) gendered involvement of grandparents. The findings showed that needs and opportunities informed involvement of grandparents but that the availability of formal child care did not predict grandparents' involvement. Maternal grandparents were more likely to provide child care than paternal grandparents, and grandmothers were more likely to do so than grandfathers. Involvement of both maternal and paternal grandparents in turn increased the likelihood of additional child births. The authors conclude that grandparental child care may be part of an emerging reproductive strategy. Implications of these findings for the theoretical approaches used are discussed.     

‘What can I do’? Child welfare workers’ perceptions of what they can do to address poverty

Within the field of child welfare, critical questions have been posed about the intersecting issues of child maltreatment and poverty. The study of the quality and nature of this intersection has continued relevance in light of evidence showing the increased likelihood of maltreatment of children living in poverty. Although child welfare workers interact directly with families involved with the child welfare system, the study of workers’ perceptions of whether or not they address families’ poverty and, if so, how they go about it has not yet been conducted. The study presented begins to address this gap. Analysis from individual interviews with 30 child welfare workers revealed that they differed in their perception of whether or not poverty should be addressed by child welfare and how. Findings suggest workers do what they can despite various barriers, including families’ limitations and the fragile US social welfare safety net. Based on the findings, current practice models and policies that impact poverty and child maltreatment reduction are discussed.     

Dating after late-life spousal loss: Does it compromise relationships with adult children?

In Widowhood in an American City (1973), Helena Lopata observed that widows struggle with new romantic relationships because their children often are resentful toward these new partners. Since the publication of Lopata's classic work, however, few studies have explored empirically the ways that widow(er)'s dating affects their relationships with children. We use prospective data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples study (CLOC) to explore: (1) the impact of bereaved spouses' dating on positive and negative aspects of parent–child relationships six and 18 months postloss; (2) the extent to which these associations are explained by preloss characteristics; and (3) the factors that moderate the association between widow(er) dating and parent–child relations. Multivariate analyses show that widowers who are interested in dating six months postloss report low levels of support and high levels of conflict with their children, yet widows report enhanced relationship quality. This pattern reflects the fact that men who are interested in dating do form new relationships, whereas women's interests are not translated into actual dating. Widowers' dating six months postloss compromises parent–child closeness among those with a history of strained parent–child relations, yet enhances closeness among those with historically good relationships. Dating takes a harsher toll on parent–daughter compared to parent–son relationships. Overall, dating threatens parent–child relationships in specific cases, yet it may also strengthen widow(er) s' parent–child bonds. We discuss the implications for the well-being of older widow(er)s and adult children.     

Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: The Child Psychiatrist Perspective

This study’s objectives were to gain insight into reasons for the considerable rise in pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) and what impact the new diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) may have on child psychiatric treatment. A purposive sample of 10 child psychiatrists was interviewed for this qualitative study. Interviews were transcribed and coded for themes. Participants believe that PBD is often misdiagnosed and overdiagnosed, though their understandings of the reasons behind this vary. The majority attribute it to providers trying to help children who need services but do not fit a diagnostic category, and undertrained professionals diagnosing children. Most see DMDD as positive, though opinions on how it might impact children and treatment vary. All see family as vital in the treatment process. Participants in this exploratory study support a team approach and social workers have a key role as part of this team.     

Work Characteristics and Parent‐Child Relationship Quality: The Mediating Role of Temporal Involvement

This study investigated whether the amount and nature of parent‐child time mediated the association between parental work characteristics and parent‐child relationship quality. We based hypotheses on the conflict and enrichment approaches, and we tested a path model using self‐collected data on 1,008 Dutch fathers and 929 Dutch mothers with school‐aged children. Longer working hours and less work engagement were associated with less parent‐child time and longer working hours, more restrictive organizational norms, stress, flexibility, nonstandard hours (mothers only), and work engagement increased the disturbance of parent‐child activities. Less and more disturbed parent‐child activities were, in turn, associated with a lower parent‐child relationship quality. In addition, work engagement and working hours had direct, beneficial effects on parent‐child relationship quality.     

Factors affecting children's disclosure of secrets in an investigatory interview

The present study aimed to identify how children's understanding of the investigatory interview process influenced their disclosure of secrets. Forty‐four 6‐year‐ and 7‐year‐old children participated in the study. Four short stories were read to each child. The stories were about young children who witnessed an event (e.g. witnessing a person stealing a pizza) and were asked to keep the witnessed event secret, then they were interviewed by an authority figure (e.g. security guard) and asked repeatedly about what they had witnessed. After each story, a series of questions were asked that related to factors that might aid the disclosure of the secret. Three main factors were investigated: children's perception of the interviewer's knowledge of the incident; children's perception of the purpose of the interview; and children's understanding of the purpose of asking repeat questions. Results indicated that a child's perception of how much an interviewer appeared to know about a secret, and whether the child was repeatedly asked about the secret do influence a child's disclosure of a secret. However, there was no effect for the purpose of the interview. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional death: the charity advert and photographs of childhood trauma

This essay will use current and historical advertisements by the British charity Barnardo’s to analyse the representation of abused children. In particular, it will focus on the 1999–2003 campaigns to explore the connection between the experience of trauma, death and the photographic image in the context of a first world, Western preoccupation with the spectre of the missing, lost or abused child. It will consider the complex attempt to photographically capture the missing image, to invoke a subjective loss and to conjure up the accompanying wound of trauma. The Barnardo’s adverts, like many charity adverts of abuse, attempt to show a traumatic past, that by its very nature as trauma, defeats easy representation. Trauma as an experience produces a crisis of representation. The traumatic event, with its radical disruption of psychic defences, results in an absence or gap in memory, knowledge and recall. The devastating event so overwhelms the senses that it produces a perpetual sense of “belated uncertainty” about “a truth to which there is no simple access” (Caruth , p. 6). These photographs attempt to capture the dislocation of time and distortion of identity for the traumatised child. Whilst structurally they can be read for invoking a sense of aura or credibility as testimony, they do so in a digital age when the status of the “truth” of the photograph as evidence is called into doubt (Robins ). This dislocation of image from referent can be read for its parallels with the dislocating structures of trauma. As such they raise questions of the ethics of “spectral evidence” in a commercialised charity sector.     

Shared Parenting After Divorce: A Review of Shared Residential Parenting Research

One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and the family court system is what type of parenting plan is most beneficial for children after their parents' divorce. How much time should children live with each parent? An increasing number of children are living with each parent at least 35% of the time in shared residential parenting families: How are these children and their parents faring? In what ways, if any, do divorced parents who share the residential parenting differ from parents whose children live almost exclusively with their mother? How stable are shared residential parenting plans? By reviewing the existing studies on shared parenting families, these questions are addressed.     

Mobile Children: Small Captives of Large Structures?

All over Europe more parents are living apart and children increasingly commute between two homes. This article explores children’s mobility. Two questions are raised. First, do children with ‘modern’ (consensual unions) family background, commute more? Second, can mobility between parental homes impinge on children’s everyday welfare? In conclusion, the article discusses whether commuting is solely in the child’s best interest. Could it be argued that children’s welfare is sacrificed for parent’s interests, and even ‘captives’ of a globalised society in need of people ‘lighter on their feet’? The case of Norway is used to illustrate a general developmental pattern.