Determining the skills for child protection practice: emerging from the quagmire!

This paper, the second in a series of two, presents and analyses the results of an extended literature review undertaken for a Master's dissertation, the purpose of which was to establish the evidence base for the learning and teaching of skills for child protection practice. The review, discussed in the previous paper, was carried out in two stages. An initial search yielded a very small number of studies of direct relevance but they provided the trigger and the key words for a second search. Many potentially useful areas had to be omitted from the second stage because of limited resources, but the two stages in the search generated large amounts of material, much of which was indirectly relevant to child protection practice. The review did not achieve the original aim of determining skills that are identified through research and other evidence as being essential for child protection practice, but it was possible to draw some conclusions. For example, evidence was found of the importance of a range of communication skills, whether these be child focused, carer focused or inter‐professional. Skills in managing conflict and challenge were found to be crucial, with the importance of role clarification being acknowledged. There was some evidence of the use of decision‐making skills and problem‐solving skills, but little research that explored procedural skills. This paper reports on gaps in the literature identified by the review, and indicates where further research would be beneficial. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An historical document analysis of the introduction of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative into the Australian setting

Background

Breastfeeding has many known benefits yet its support across Australian health systems was suboptimal throughout the 20th Century. The World Health Organization launched a global health promotion strategy to help create a ‘breastfeeding culture’. Research on the programme has revealed multiple barriers since implementation.

Linking Changes in Parenting to Parent–Child Relationship Quality and Youth Self‐Control: The Strong African American Families Program

A randomized prevention trial was conducted contrasting families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American mothers and their 11‐year‐olds, with control families. SAAF is based on a conceptual model positing that changes in intervention‐targeted parenting behaviors would enhance responsive‐supportive parent–child relationships and youths' self‐control, which protect rural African American youths from substance use and early sexual activity. Parenting variables included involvement‐vigilance, racial socialization, communication about sex, and clear expectations for alcohol use. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that intervention‐induced changes in parenting were linked with changes in responsive–supportive parent–child relationships and youth self‐control.     

Linking Perceived Discrimination to Longitudinal Changes in African American Mothers’ Parenting Practices

This longitudinal study was designed to test hypotheses, derived from a stress proliferation framework, regarding the association between perceived racial discrimination and changes in parenting among African American mothers in the rural South. A sample of 139 mothers and their children were interviewed 3 times at 1‐year intervals. Mothers reported on perceived discrimination and two proliferated stressors: stress‐related health problems and depressive symptoms. Both mothers and children reported on mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. Structural equation modeling revealed a chain‐like sequence: Perceived discrimination forecast increases in mothers’ stress‐related health problems, which in turn were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms constituted the proximal variable associated with decreases in mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. These results emerged independent of socioeconomic characteristics.     

Community Differences in the Association Between Parenting Practices and Child Conduct Problems

Various hypotheses were identified regarding the manner in which community context might influence the association between two dimensions of parenting—control and corporal punishment—on child conduct problems. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of 841 African American families to test these hypotheses. Consistent with the evaporation hypothesis, the results indicated that the deterrent effect of caretaker control on conduct problems becomes smaller as deviant behavior becomes more widespread within a community. The findings for corporal punishment supported the normative parenting argument. Although there was a positive relationship between caretaker corporal punishment and child conduct problems in communities where physical discipline was rare, there was no association between the two variables in communities where physical discipline was widely prevalent. These results suggest that a particular parenting strategy may be more effective in some neighborhood environments than others. The theoretical implications of this view are discussed.     

One-year outcomes from the CASAWORKS for Families intervention for substance-abusing women on welfare

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multiservice intervention designed to move substance-abusing women on welfare to sobriety and self-sufficiency by addressing their substance abuse, domestic violence, employment, and basic needs. DESIGN: A field evaluation with repeated measures at 6 and 12 months on an intent-to-treat sample of 529 women conducted in 11 selected sites across the country. There were significant improvements shown in substance use and family and social functioning by the 6-month point, and additional improvements in employment by the 12-month point. By 12 months, more than 46% were abstinent from alcohol and other drugs, and 30% were employed at least part-time. There were only modest improvements shown in the medical and psychiatric status of these women. These preliminary findings suggest that site-level interagency coordination and program-level case management were associated with improvements in the targeted areas as predicted by the model. Future work will require a more closely specified, manual-guided form of the intervention plus the inclusion of control groups and cost measures to fully evaluate the cost benefits from the final form of the intervention.     

Adolescents' Plans for Family Formation: Is Parental Socialization Important?

This study examines adolescents' plans for family formation (marriage and parenthood) and the congruence between their plans and their mothers' expectations and behaviors within these spheres. Using log‐linear and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to analyze data from the National Survey of Children (N= 724 ), this study addresses mechanisms of family socialization (e.g., modeling and defining influence) informed by social learning and symbolic interactionist theories. It also reveals whether and how these mechanisms vary according to gender. Results reveal that family factors best predict children's plans, although peer groups also may be important. In addition, defining influence is stronger than modeling influence.