Perceptual difference of child neglect among Korean parents and children: Implications for child welfare policy

This study examined the perceptual differences in child neglect among Korean parents and children. The data were collected from a convenient sampling of 321 Korean parents and 294 children using the case statements developed by Giovannoni and Becerra (1979). The statements consisted of examples of child neglect in the following seven domains: (1) emotional neglect; (2) lack of supervision; (3) medical neglect; (4) educational neglect; (5) neglect of personal hygiene; (6) nutritional neglect; and, (7) drug/alcohol use. Findings showed that both Korean parents and children consider child neglect moderately serious while Korean children consider child neglect situations significantly more serious. Korean parents perceive emotional neglect as the most serious child neglect domain whereas Korean children perceive drug/alcohol use as the most serious domain of child neglect. Gender variation among Korean children indicates that girls are more likely to perceive the emotional neglect and lack of supervision domains more seriously than boys. The implications of the study offer valuable insights into policy development and program planning efforts in reducing the child neglect among Korean parents and children. Additionally, the findings of the study will likely contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the area of child neglect among Korean children and parents.     

Role strain among working parents: Implications for workplace and community

This study examined work-family interference experienced by working parents in a sample of 1888 employed adults. Role strain was examined using a multidimensional model that included family-related and work-related demands and resources. Multiple regression analyses revealed that having children under the age of six, more demanding jobs, less satisfactory child care arrangements, and less workplace support contributed significantly to higher levels of role strain. Utilization of workplace programs and benefits such as Dependent Care Accounts, Child Care Resource Guides, Parent Information Fairs, and adjusted work schedules did not significantly impact levels of work-family interference. Moreover, work and family resources were not found to have greater benefit for employees with more demanding work and family situations than for those with less demanding situations. These findings demonstrate the limited buffering ability of certain workplace and family resources, and the importance of identifying work-site as well as community-based programs and policies that have the greatest potential to assist working parents and their children. Cette étude éxamine l'intrusion travail-famille d'une expérience vécue de parents qui travaillent parmi un groupe représentatif de 1888 adultes avec emploi. La tension de rôle est éxaminée par le biais d'un modèle multidimensionnel comprenant des éxigences et ressources se rapportant à la famille et au travail. Les analyses de régression multiples démontrent que les attributs suivants contribuent de manière significative à des niveaux plus élevés de tension de rôle: avoir des enfants de moins de six ans, avoir un poste plus éxigeant, des écoles maternelles moins satisfaisantes et moins de soutien dans les lieux de travail. L'utilisation de programmes et des bénéfices de travail comme les comptes de 'Dependent Care' (c'est àdire les comptes accordant aux parents certains avantages fiscaux) des guides de ressources de crêches, des foires de renseignement pour les parents, et des horaires de travail adaptables aux besoins du travailleur, n'affectent pas significativement les niveaux de l'intrusion de travail-famille. En outre, les ressources ayant rapport au travail et à la famille ne se revelent pas plus bénéfiques pour les employés ayant une situation plus éxigeante que pour ceux dont la situation est moins éxigeante. Ces résultats démontrent la capacité protectrice limitée des certaines ressources du lieu de travail et de la famille, ainsi que l'importance d'identifier des programmes et une politique à base communitaire qui aient le potentiel le plus grand d'accorder de l'assistance aux parents qui travaillent et à leurs enfants.     

Advocating for children of separating parents

This article draws upon the author's lay experiences of helping two sets of divorcing parents to retain contact and meaningful relationships between their young children and their non-resident fathers. It argues that the failure to take account of past parenting practices in divorce proceedings, to grant children party status and to make independent representation available to them, and to offer child-centred services to help parents to practise shared parenting post-separation, may contribute to the widespread loss of contact between children and their non-resident parents, particularly fathers. The Family Law Act 1996 promises little change.     

Hierarchical relationship development: parents and children

Child growth and development occur in hierarchical relationships. In our attempt to work more collaboratively, family therapists have neglected to work toward developing theory that guides our work in such hierarchical relationships. This article describes a method for understanding child and relational growth. It builds on Wynne's (1984) epigenetic model of relational systems by integrating his model of family development with Bateson's (1958) concepts of complementarity and symmetry. Wynne's model defines a process for understanding the stages of relationship development, and Bateson articulates the process of change within a relationship. Utilizing principles from both theorists, this paper proposes that parent-child complementary relationships mature through Wynne's developmental stages via symmetrical struggles, and that these symmetrical struggles are necessary ingredients in the development of the relationships as well as of the individuals within those relationships.     

The vicissitudes of adoption for parents and children

This paper attempts to illustrate how adoption is understood by children according to their developmental stages within the context of their families. Illustrations of children's thought processes and inner fantasies are presented in the form of interviews and observations. The inner thoughts and experiences of adoptive parents are also presented, from the time of the application process through infancy, toddlerhood, school age and adolescence. A major thesis is that adoptive parents who are comfortable with their own feelings about the birthparents and the child's specific history are more able to provide an atmosphere where the child feels valued when she asks questions or communicates fantasies about her story. In this manner adoption is integrated into the child's growing self-esteem and, as time goes on, the adoption becomes less important.The author wishes to thank Lynn Borenstein, L.C.S.W. for her helpful suggestions. Marilyn Silin, M.A. is on the faculty of The Institute for Clinical Social Work.     

NIDA: How parents can talk to children about opioids

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the federal National Institutes of Health, has advice for parents in the midst of the opioid epidemic: “[T]alk openly about the effects of opioids and other drugs with your children and stay actively engaged in their lives.”     

The place of the natural parents in a foster care programme

The provision of social welfare services by the voluntary sector is largely dependent on government funding. This paper highlights some of the inadequacies of this funding procedure particularly as it affects the quality and conditions of work in the voluntary sector.

There is a place for the employment of an experienced professional as consultant to voluntary agencies for the provision of support and supervision of less experienced workers. Funding for the voluntary sector should provide for this.     

Adoptive parents to children with severe developmental disabilities: A profile

A sample of 16 women and men who accompanied their adopted children with severe developmental disabilities to a medical appointment at Henry Ford Hospital's Multidisciplinary Care Clinic during the one-year period beginning July 1, 1988 are described in the context of their parental role vis-a-vis these children. Results of the study are presented through use of a six-part organizational scheme: demographic and social traits of the parents and their adopted children, the adopted children in family context, life satisfactions of the parents, adoption motives, adoption satisfactions, and humanization of the children.     

No hiding place: on the discomforts of researching the contemporary policy process

It has never been easy to conduct research into currently sensitive policy issues, but there is now accumulating evidence to indicate that various forms of resistance to scholarly investigation are on the increase. Such a climate handicaps all social policy research, but may have the greatest impact on ethnographic projects. Yet, it is argued, ethnography is increasingly widely recognised among academics as having a particularly valuable contribution to make to the study of the policy process. Unfortunately, many policy practitioners (and occasionally some academic colleagues) perceive ethnographic research as being of questionable validity and low helpfulness. This behaves policy-oriented ethnographers to demonstrate that they do indeed have procedures for assuring validity, even if their style of investigation is never likely to be popular with government.     

Elderly parents with handicapped children: Anticipating the future

This article concerns elderly people as providers rather than as recipients of care. Case study and survey data are used to illustrate the part elderly parents play in supporting children with handicaps, to identify the interdependencies that develop between them, and to account for the varied long-term strategies for care that they adopt.     

Trauma-informed services for children with incarcerated parents

Children of incarcerated parents have often experienced not only the trauma of family separation, but also other forms of adverse events. Social workers can improve service delivery to this population by incorporating SAMHSA’s components of trauma-informed care (TIC). Translating TIC concepts into practice is an important but challenging goal for social work practitioners. The first half of this article reviews the literature about the effects of parental incarceration on attachment, stigma, physical and mental health, and intergenerational transmission of trauma. The latter half of the article applies principles of TIC by offering specific recommendations for conceptualizing cases through the lens of trauma and utilizing trauma-informed responses with these children.     

Preparing parents for children with special needs: A three-part approach

This paper describes a community-based educative-small group method for working with prospective foster and adoptive parents. As an educational approach, the program prepares applicants to be substitute parents. The small group process method provides the applicants with an atmosphere conducive to discussing fears and frustrations while gaining peer and professional support. Community-centeredness not only allows the agency to recruit much-needed minority parents, but to make a contribution to the community in the form of prevention of problems through availability and education. Evaluation of the program demonstrates that the combined communitybased, small group approach is an effective and efficient method for “screening-in” foster and adoptive parents for children with special needs.     

Perceived social support in Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a Chinese context: Implications for social work practice

This article reports the results of a Hong Kong study (no. of parents = 121) which identified perceived social support (PSS), both overall and four types of support, of Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and examined the impact of PSS on the interrelationship between the ADHD symptoms and parenting stress. The parents perceived support of their primary social network as more satisfactory than professionals’. Parenting stress of the high PSS group was lower than the low PSS group’s. The PSS-overall, parenting role, and the ADHD symptoms explained a significant variance of parenting stress. The results pave the way to develop a complex social work model in helping.     

Tandem treatment: A model for work with parents of troubled children

The complexity of individual work with parents whose children are in treatment because of their difficulties is explicated. An exploratory study of 15 mothers' experiences with such treatment is reported. The focus of the study was on parents' expectations, their relationships with their own and their child's clinician, the process of treatment and termination. The findings are integrated with relevant literature and clinical experience to provide a tandem treatment model in which emphasis is placed on clarifying parents' expectations, working with parents' individual issues as well as their role as parents, and focusing first on their children's problems, then gradually moving to the parents' concerns about their own problems.Ms. Staver is a retired Chief Psychiatric Social Worker, Judge Baker Guidance Center     

No place like home: A study of two homeless shelters

Homelessness is one of the most pressing social problems today. Society has responded to the problem with the creation of homeless shelters. Yet, the nature of the operation of the shelter is not defined. This study explored the operations of two single adult homeless shelters to understand how they operate in addressing the problem of homelessness. The study identified two different types of services, one called house and the other home. House services provided basic food, shelter, and linkage to social services, which fulfilled the basic definition of the problem of homelessness as defined by the Institute of Medicine. Home services provided the basic services of house but also went one step beyond by providing these services within the context of a supportive environment, thus creating informal social supports. The study discusses the implications of each of these modalities in addressing the problems associated with people who are homeless as well as the differences in policies and structures which contribute to one shelter providing house and the other home services.