Factors Contributing to Stress on Mothers Caring for an Intellectually Handicapped Child

Summary With the shift away from institutional care, increasing responsibilityis falling on families to care for their elderly or disabledmembers. Whilst this move may be cost-beneficial for the authorities,it inevitably puts additional strain on family resources. This paper examines the home care of intellectually handicappedchildren and the subsequent impact on families. Specifically,it assesses stress levels amonst mothers of intellectually handicappedchildren and explores the factors which contribute to that stress.It is argued that better understanding of the causes of stresswill help in the optimal provision of support services.     

The Educational Progress of Children In and Out of Care

Dr Jane Aldgate, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, University of Oxford, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER. Summary Results are reported from the first of three rounds of testingassociated with a longitudinal study comparing the educationalprogress and behaviour of a group of foster children with thatof a ‘control’ group. The latter comprised youngsterswho have never been in care but whose families have receivedsocial work help. The educational attainment of both groups was generally foundto fall below the national average. Both groups also manifestedrelatively high levels of behavioural problems, although suchproblems appeared more in evidence among the social servicesgroup. Data which describe the current home environments of the twogroups, and which may subsequently help to account for theirrespective levels of educational progress, are also presented.     

Egalitarian Ideals and Exclusionary Practices: U.S. Pedagogy in the Colonial Philippines

Abstract This essay examines U.S. colonial education in the early 20th-century Philippines, focusing on the ways in which the teachers recruited from the U.S. derailed the colonial administrators' earnest if ingenuous attempt to dismantle the indigenous structure of privilege in the new possession vie a system of free primary schooling. The approach breaks with the notion of the state as the ultimate locus of force and attends instead to the study of local sites and ordinary, everyday practices of social regulation. In so doing, it argues that the U.S. teachers in the field transformed the directives handed down to them into a pedagogy that came to have its own subverting tactics, mechanisms and trajectory within the wider colonial polity.     

On the Contingent Valuation of Safety and the Safety of Contingent Valuation: Part 1-Caveat Investigator

This article reports the results of two studies aimed at testing and refining a procedure for estimating willingness-to-pay based monetary values of safety using the contingent valuation method. In spite of the fact that respondents were given the opportunity to discuss various safety issues and key concepts in focus group meetings held in advance of individual interviews, and were also given ample opportunity to revise their responses in the light of the overall pattern of these responses, the results show clear evidence of extensive and persistent insensitivity to the scale and scope of the safety improvements that were specified in the contingent valuation questions, as well as vulnerability to framing effects. This clearly casts serious doubt on the reliability and validity of willingness-to-pay based monetary values of safety estimated using conventional contingent valuation procedures.     

A Role for a Support Person for Child Witnesses in Criminal Proceedings

Correspondence to John Williams, Department of Law, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Hugh Owen Building, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3DY Summary The 1989 Children Act greatly extends and enhances the roleof the guardian ad litem (GAL) as the officer appointed by thecourt to safeguard and protect the welfare of the child in civilchild protection proceedings. But how do children fare whenthey are involved as witnesses in criminal proceedings? Sincethe latter part of the 1980s it has been recognized that theirimmatunty requires a more sensitive and caring approach thanthat adopted for adults in the criminal courts. As a resulta number of innovative procedures intended to alleviate stressin child witnesses have been introduced. But one outstandingissue of major importance, that of providing support for childrenbefore and during an appearance in a criminal court, needs tobe addressed urgently: the GAL is only available to childrenin civil proceedings. Drawing on the experience of the UnitedStates, where Victim Assistants are used to provide help andsupport for child victims and witnesses, and where the appointmentof GALs for child victims in criminal proceedings is gainingincreasing acceptance, the authors argue that the American exampleoffers much that may usefully be adopted in tailoring the Britishsystem to the special needs of child witnesses. A number ofmodels for the role of the Support Person for child witnessesin the British system are put forward for consideration.