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Schools in migrant-sending contexts often educate many children whose parents live abroad and decide to 'leave' or 'send' their children to be raised 'back home'. Yet there has been little attention to how transnational child-raising is enacted by non-kin actors within educational institutions. This paper addresses this absence, exploring Lagos private schools as crucial sites of care for children with parents in the diaspora. Examining educators' perspectives on schooling children 'sent back' to Nigeria from the UK and USA, the paper argues that they undertake intensive and strategic projects of transnational child-raising. They act as defacto guardians and position their educational offerings as highly moral in ways that draw on endogenous notions of 'training' good character, but are not driven by reproducing tradition. Rather, they play intermediary roles in transnational families: they aim to realise parents' desires for respectful, disciplined children who excel academically, yet are also attuned to young people's struggles. They are conscious of diaspora realities and understand their schools' roles as portals facing both ways in the transnational social field, preparing young people for multiple possible futures. The paper demonstrates that exploring education as a site of social reproduction can be richly revealing of the dynamics of transnationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers migrant parenting as a dynamic project that entails interactions between social class, migration experiences, individual and collective beliefs, and transnational attachments. Previous research has examined migrant parenting predominantly concerning children's social mobility in the immigration country by using the acculturation framework or by comparing migrants with non-migrants. Recently, research has accounted for child rearing in transnational families with an emphasis on gendered parenting and role reversal among parents who take care of their children from a distance. This paper analyses parenting orientations among settled migrants who maintain close connections to their country of origin. Findings from in-depth interviews with mothers from Poland with different class backgrounds who raise their children in Germany highlight their varying migration experiences and structural conditions for child rearing. The analyses show how these mothers engage in building successful migration projects for themselves and their children, albeit with very diverse socio-cultural and economic resources that shape their child rearing, navigating between support of children's accommodation, transnational connections and ethnic identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of parents has always been instrumental for their children's initial engagement in sport. For athletes with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), the role of a parent gains added significance. In this paper we argue that because of the significance of parents we need to better understand the culture(s) surrounding the rearing of children and the role the Special Olympic movement (SO) can play in this process. This paper is a call for ethnographic accounts of parental culture(s) in and around SO. To support our claim for the use of ethnographic methods, we first briefly outline the qualitative literature regarding parenting children with IDD. This is followed by an exploration of literature on parents and the SO's potential to facilitate inclusion. Ultimately, we outline our vision for an ethnographic research program to capture the many and varied overlooked voices and actions of parents in this distinctive cultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the characteristic reason that motivates a virtuously honest person to perform honest actions. I critically examine previous accounts of honesty's characteristic motivating reason, including Christian Miller's pluralistic account, which allows various virtuous motivating reasons to count as honesty's motivation. I then introduce the respect for the right not to be deceived as the moral ground that characteristically motivates a virtuously honest person's honest action. After addressing possible objections, I conclude by discussing its educational implications on cultivating the virtue of honesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is now widely acknowledged that child-rearing practices vary culturally, there has been little research or consideration on how cultural difference is experienced by Polish immigrant parents in Ireland. This paper reflects on how culture is experienced by migrant parents and shapes Polish migrant parenting in the Irish context. It draws on findings from a qualitative study which elicited Polish migrant parents' perspectives on the norms that shape parenting and their parental experiences, while residing in a culturally diverse neighbourhood in Ireland. Findings highlight that no single theoretical framework accurately captures Polish migrant parenting, which is a complex, multidimensional and dynamic phenomenon. Instead, insight is required into migration experiences, the influence of childhood, family relationships and obligations, as well as employment and parenting styles, all of which are underpinned by specific cultural norms and values, to better understand parental challenges in the adaptation to their post migration environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines Louise Silverstein's and Carl Auerbach' s paper on Deconstructing the Essential Father. The paper provides research support for their position that children benefit from stable, consistent, loving, low-conflict parenting arrangements; irrespective of the gender of the parent. Silverstein and Auerbach, however, go beyond this conclusion to also recommend that children would benefit from being reconnected with their 'absent' fathers. The current paper challenges this particular conclusion to their critique and explores the apparently contradictory position that there is no essential need for fathers vet efforts should be made to proactively develop and support social and emotional connections between children and their fathers. The paper also examines other literature and research findings around the 'unique' contribution of social fathering in raising children, and concludes that there is no social, psychological, or developmental justification to legislate for father presence. There is no research-based credibility in promoting patriarchal, nuclear family formation as a preferred social and family structure to optimise children's emotional, social, physical, and economic outcomes. The political and social pretext that underlines 'hither absence fear' is just that; a pretext to retain the hegemony of patriarchal nuclear family life and restore fathers to their `rightful positions of power and control within families. In developing a conclusion to this critique, the paper draws on a briefcase-study from a lesbian-parented family research project conducted in Victoria, Australia, and illustrates implications for family therapists with a brief clinical vignette. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational parenting programmes are an integral part of parenting policy. The use of parenting programmes in England as an element of UK government parenting policy since the late 1990s has attracted the critical attention of academics in education, social policy and other related fields. This paper puts parenting 'support' and, specifically, the use of educational parenting programmes in England, in the wider global and regional context. It examines the drivers of that policy choice, the international and European framework within which parenting policy and programmes sit, and makes comparisons with other countries in Europe and Asia. In addition, it uses evidence derived from research conducted into key initiatives and programmes in England from the 1990s to 2015, along with international data related to evidence-based parenting programmes, to examine the validity of the critique of parenting support in England over the last two decades. In doing so, the paper presents the first comprehensive challenge to critical scholars' interpretation of parenting support policies in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With neoliberal ideologies having inspired social policies for families across the world, the discourse on childrearing as the sole responsibility of individual parents has become dominant. The neologism 'parenting' refers more and more to a de-contextualized performance, with targets to be reached, and necessary competences to be learned. Currently, discourse on parenting thus entails what has been defined as 'parental determinism' which in turn leads to blaming parents, often described as incompetent and in need of guidance. It is, therefore, not surprising that parents' voices have seldom been considered and systematically explored. This paper presents a qualitative study, carried out in a northern Italian province, which compared representations of childrearing in different contexts by mothers and fathers, on the one hand, and by practitioners involved in various capacities with parents, on the other. In total, 55 mothers and fathers and 49 professionals were interviewed. The resulting data enabled the identification of common views, as well as clashes in perspectives and instances of parental resistance to dominant discourses on parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the optimal design of childcare subsidies and how subsidies are implemented. We combine the optimal subsidy model with the situation in China and construct the optimal childcare subsidy model using families as units. We discuss the selection patterns of direct and indirect subsidies and prove the applicable ranges and selection thresholds for different subsidy types. Based on the CFPS database in China, we simulate the amount of childcare subsidies for families with different levels of market productivity and calculate the optimal amount of subsidies for them. The results show that direct subsidies should be provided to families whose wages are lower than the market price of childcare. Indirect subsidies should be provided to families whose wages are above the market price for childcare. Finally, the optimal child-rearing subsidy curve is derived, and the easily identifiable macro optimal subsidy curve is designed for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rates of children looked after by local authorities in England have been rising for more than two decades. This study was conducted to determine what approaches local authorities have adopted that they perceive to be the most effective in preventing the need for children to come into care. It also considers how they evaluate these approaches and how they assess cost-effectiveness. An online survey was distributed to leaders of children's social services departments in England in 2018 (n = 152). Sixty (39.5%) local authorities completed the survey. Respondents were asked to select up to three types of services or approaches they deemed most effective in preventing the need for children to come into care. The most popular was a whole-system approach selected by 81.7%, with Signs of Safety most commonly cited. This was followed by edge-of-care services (61.7%), early help (56.7%), family group conferences (43.3%), parenting programmes (18.3%), short break services (15.0%) and "other" services (20.0%). Local authorities who had experienced increases in the numbers of children in care were more likely to discuss approaches introduced relatively recently. Whole-system approaches and parenting programmes were the approaches most likely to have had independent evaluations. Whilst most local authorities reported the use of economic analysis methods as part of their evaluation, there was insufficient detail for a full assessment of cost-effectiveness. This paper provides a description of contemporary attitudes amongst leaders of children's services to approaches that aim to keep children out of care. It also describes approaches taken by local authorities to evaluation and assessing cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is still relatively little known about when, why, how and in what circumstances parenting interventions are effective. Support within the group context has been theorised as a key mechanism. This paper explores how pregnant women with additional health or social care needs participating in two group parenting interventions—Mellow Bumps or Enhanced Triple P for Babies—experienced being in a parenting group, and how this shaped how they engaged with the interventions; and it examines how group delivery may have facilitated or inhibited the effectiveness of the interventions, and for whom it did so. Session evaluation forms (n = 708) and a post-intervention questionnaire (n = 117) were completed by participants. In-depth interviews were conducted following the MB/ETPB antenatal sessions (n = 19), and 6–12 months after the birth of their baby (n = 15). Group delivery of these parenting interventions had the potential to support participants, particularly those with multiple additional health and social care needs. There are, however, important caveats including patchy attendance reducing the supportiveness of the groups, and few discernible longer terms changes. More group sessions, less patchy attendance, and more encouragement from facilitators for the women to keep in touch, and to join other community parent–child groups after the birth of their baby are likely to have increased feelings of support and connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better serve the growing population of interracial and interethnic parents raising children and adolescents, social workers must strive to understand their unique experiences. The authors analyzed 15 qualitative interviews with parents in interracial and interethnic marriages raising at least one child 11- to 18-years-old to understand their parenting practices and what they are confronting. Five racial-ethnic socialization strategies were found – cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promoting egalitarianism, imparting anti-racist messages, and teaching the strengths of Biracialism. In addition, three themes or challenges were found that the parents were faced with and to which they needed to respond. These included being affected by the current racial climate in the United States, their children's racial presentation, and the role the children's grandparents and extended family play. This paper includes recommendations for social worker practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By adopting a tripartite FLP framework, this study aims to explore the agentive role of Polish-speaking fathers in heritage language maintenance. At the outset, it should be noted that as the theme of paternal agency has not been given much prominence in research, this paper delves into how Polish fathers of heteronormative families endeavour to maintain the minority language. More significantly, with the perspective of a new father–child relationship characterised by acknowledged paternity, presence and active involvement in a child's life, the present article gives voice to fathers who want to engage in everyday language practices that seem to transgress the codes of hegemonic masculinity. Thus, the analysis of transcripts from semi-structured interviews disclose the informants' ample opportunities for childcare, and most importantly, their struggle for children's bilingual development. Fathers, as the primary agents, can have profound influence on their offspring's beliefs, values, attitudes and behavioural patterns concerning the heritage language. The investigation underlines the fact that the gender of the minority-language speaking parent is less important in bilingual childrearing than the actual access to resources, time, and motivation. The study suggests that paternal agency exerts a significant influence on children's linguistic orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper introduces the context and contributions of this special issue. The essence of promoting positive parenting is seeking not only to reduce the impact of risk factors, but also to increase that of protective factors, by reinforcing the parenting role. The paper makes clear that this aim is served only by developing evidence-based family education programmes aimed at supporting positive parenting. The special issue offers a broad range of such programmes from several countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this Editorial, we have three aims. We mainly aim to highlight the key issues raised in the papers that follow, and orient readers to some thematic and methodological connections between them. We have divided the papers into three thematic groups: expert-led constructions of the risk-managing parent; risk society and the development of parental identity with reference to food; and extending 'parenting' backwards. We explain what we mean by these themes and how each paper fits in. We also seek to explain the background to this special issue of Health Risk and Society, and we describe the seminar series that gave rise to it, and make some points about what we mean by the general subject area for that series, 'parenting culture'. Our final objective is to draw attention to a key point that emerges from the research discussed here, namely the importance of 'parenting' as a key site for the development of the risk-centred society and risk-consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article encourages researchers to submit manuscripts regarding the conflict resolution in young children. It notes that while evidence supports that young children are capable of demonstrating more sophisticated negotiation strategies than was once believed, what remains to be explored is how parents and teachers can intervene to support young children's development of constructive conflict resolution skills. Children's individual development is best understood in the context of a complex series of interactions across various levels of social systems.

Parenting practices, including the maintenance of a child with a healthy body weight are subject to normative and institutional regulation. This paper explores the specific practices of parenting in line with this regulation in relation to the creation and maintenance of knowledge, focussing on how parents come to know their child as healthy. Drawing on examples in which parents discussed their experiences of parenting in light of their understandings of 'obesity', these illustrate differentially constituted parenting ontologies which challenge the idea of a singular correct way to parent. This paper foregrounds the ways in which embodied knowledge may be constituted and enacted not only in and of a parent's own body but also through, alongside, and together with, the bodies of their child(ren). This is not to move away from embodied knowledge that centres on the self, but to highlight the relational and co-constitutive characteristics of embodied knowledges that arise through parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses children trafficking in England, frontline workers and gender oppression.

In the early 2000s, some scholars suggested integrative ethical education as an approach to reconcile the gap between cognitive-development education, based on rule ethics, and traditional character-ethics education, inspired by character ethics in Western ethical education. Darcia Narvaez also tried to establish a comprehensive and systematic model. Nonetheless, she has indicated four questions that need further research. This paper aims to respond to Narvaez’s project and its questions from the angle of Xunzi’s ritual education. It argues that Xunzi’s thought may provide some insights for Narvaez’s approach. To present this, it begins its discussion with an introduction of the main ideas of Xunzi’s thought. Later, it tries to show the insights from certain notions and elements, such as Junzi, reasoned judgment, of Xunzi’s ritual education for Narvaez’s project of integrative ethical education. Some relevant questions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing instances of divorce, de-facto separation and non-marital childbirth in westernised states have led to growing numbers of fathers living separately from their children. In Australia these non-resident fathers now number approximately 400,000. Despite increasing evidence that fathers can be central to their children’s education, health and wellbeing, and that for many non-resident fathers contact with their children is important and highly desirable but inadequate, research on non-resident fathers, fatherhood and family as aspects of contemporary western society is lacking. In particular, few investigators have explored the qualitative dimensions of non-resident parent–child contact and the role of leisure within this. This paper establishes parameters for future investigation into the levels, nature, meanings and impacts of leisure involving non-resident fathers and their children. Drawing on an international literature and with particular emphasis on the Australian context, it critically analyses the context of non-resident fathers’ leisure with their children. It examines the problematic terms of ‘father’ and ‘non-resident father’, describes the models of contact that occur between non-resident fathers and their children, and summarises the factors affecting that contact. The paper then turns to research into family and leisure, drawing attention to the salience of leisure in non-resident parenting while also highlighting the lack of substantive research into this area. Particular attention is paid to the trivialising of ‘leisure’ as a parenting activity in this context, and the underplaying of the positive qualities that leisure-based interaction may contribute. The paper concludes by suggesting initial directions for research into the role of leisure within the relationship that non-resident parents have with their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a phenomenon that sadly impacts millions of children. Considerable attention has been paid to the immediate and long term effects of CSA, notably in relation to the impact on psycho-social functioning. Few studies, however, have focused on what may be called the spiritual impact of childhood sexual abuse, despite the devastating consequences CSA has to the child's perception of, and relationship with, God. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 mandates teachers and other school personnel to report suspected cases. However, few teacher education programs prepare educators adequately for this responsibility. This paper examines the spiritual impact of CSA from a Christian perspective and discusses some of the implications this has for teacher education programs. Although the paper addresses primarily a Christian audience, the arguments are inter-religious and have applicability across a wide spectrum of faiths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the potential of the childcare centre as a child-rearing niche and is based on data collection and research carried out in childcare centres. The everyday experiences of infants were recorded on video over a period of eighteen months. These experiences were coded using a number of communicative language categories as well as by examining caregiver use of routines and provision of cultural artefacts. A detailed description of the infants in the particular developmental niche emerged. Extending this examination of everyday life for infants in a childcare centre, the paper explores the potential of the childcare centre as a context that supports the child's growth and development. A focus of analysis was the type of interactions the children experience with caregivers. Earlier studies revealed that incidences of joint attention, valued in the development literature, were minimal. This raises two questions. Do childcare staff who work with infants need special training in pre-verbal communication? Does the group care arrangement contain alternative forms of stimulation that make one-on-one interactions with adults less important? These two questions are explored using aspects of attachment and sociocultural theory to frame the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families are increasingly choosing to raise children in the growing number of private, high-rise apartment complexes developed in Australian capital cities. However, most of these developments have been designed for the childless and there are concerns as to how supportive these settings are for young children. This paper explores parents' experiences of the environment surrounding their high-rise dwellings in an inner-city municipality of Melbourne, Australia using the participatory method, Photovoice. Ten parents photographed elements of their dwellings and environments that had positive or negative impacts on raising young children. Findings indicate that environments surrounding parents' high-rise dwellings were used on a daily basis, often due to limited space within apartment complexes. However, aspects of this environment were challenging, requiring mutual accommodation between families and their immediate settings. This has implications for policy to ensure the neighbourhoods surrounding high-rise developments in inner-city areas are more child friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, many geographical analyses on and around family have relied on heteronormative social constructions and expectations of parenting within a nuclear family. There is, thus, considerable scope to investigate the geographies of those who are parenting outside heteronormative relationships; first to broaden this relatively limited understanding of contemporary geographies of family and, second, to recognise how some families must actively negotiate their ‘fit’ into material and symbolic space, primarily shaped for and by heterosexual parented families. Drawing on a research project that examined geographies of parenting from the perspective of 19 female same-sex parented families, this paper focuses on some of the ways these families negotiate their ‘fit’ (or otherwise) into spaces of parenting, and how such negotiations can be complex, even awkward. Focusing on Australian families and family geographies, this paper also shows how recent shifts in federal and state policy and legislation on families and parenting impact these ‘uneasy’ geographies of those parenting within same-sex relationships, adding complexity to already-challenging situations concerning the status and recognition of same-sex parented families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In response to Lawrence Blum's critique of my paper 'Education for tolerance', I argue that the state should not use its control of schools and the content of teaching to impose a new and controversial interpretation of parenthood, nor to preempt parents' right to an education for their children that is consistent with their own religious and moral convictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an observation of a baby girl, Katy. It was unusual in that there was a male observer observing a father who was in the position of the primary carer. The paper focuses on how the mother's return to work affected Katy and her relationships. The idea of the observer's presence was representing an absence for both Katy and the father is explored. The paper also considers how gender and gender identity affected the observation and the world in which Katy developed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been an increasing focus from policymakers, academics and journalists on parents as the source of their child's anti-social behaviour both in and outside of the formal school setting. One intervention proffered is the parenting order. The language of parenting orders and parenting interventions obscures a distinct truth, that parenting orders are really mothering orders. This paper draws on findings generated during interviews with 26 parents attending a parenting education programme in a city in the north of England. This paper explores the gendered nature of parental education, in that the overwhelming majority of parents ordered by the courts to attend parenting classes are women. The paper explores mothers' experiences of receiving coercive parenting education, examines the reasons why mothers were given parenting orders and explores the nature of these mothers' relationships with their child's school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that it can be difficult to persuade doctors and nurses to put evidence into practice. In order to implement evidence that in childhood immunisation larger gauge needles (blue) were less likely to provoke local reactions than smaller gauge needles (orange), all clinicians involved in immunising children working in West Lothian were sent copies of an original research article followed by reinforcement at team meetings. The article provoked a degree of controversy which led several nurses to search the literature to confirm or refute the evidence. We surveyed the clinicians before and after the intervention about their needle use. Prior to the intervention 79% used orange needles for all immunisations. After the intervention this dropped to 15% or less in children four months or older. Often clinicians continued to use orange needles in younger children, a practice they felt they could justify from alternative literature. This method of using original research articles followed by back- up meetings should be considered for other types of evidence. medical community to put into action evidence from a 'fast-tracked' research paper in that journal¹. The paper, by Diggle and Decks, showed that use of a longer (23- gauge, 25mm, blue hub) needle for childhood immunisation led to fewer local reactions than the more popularly used 25- gauge 16mm, orange hub needle. West Lothian Health Care Trust, a unique combined primary and secondary care trust, decided to take up this challenge and implement this new evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural groups hold different beliefs, values and understandings that shape the way people parent. From a Samoan perspective, raising children as good citizens involves ensuring that children know how to behave appropriately. If necessary, there is a place for reasonable physical discipline. Moreover, many believe that the way western parents and teachers relate to children is socially irresponsible. This paper explores Samoan understandings of responsible parenting. It argues the case for cultural difference in approaches to parenting, and for the emergence of a 'third space' in which cultural groups negotiate the globalizing pressures of Western values. The paper draws on an emerging research literature and interviews with students, teachers and parents in Samoa. The study has implications for educators, social workers and policy makers in New Zealand and other Pacific Rim countries where Samoans form a significant proportion of a rapidly growing Pacific population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighbourhoods are important spaces of interaction for children. This paper explores the perceptions of residents from seven suburbs in the inner area of Newcastle, Australia concerning what makes a good neighbourhood for children. Key factors identified by residents include the types of dwellings found in the neighbourhood (with detached houses being seen as preferable for children) and the quality of neighbourhood resources. Another important feature was social interactions within the neighbourhood, including interactions between children and adults and interactions between groups of children. The paper examines how different features of neighbourhoods interact to create adult perceptions about whether a neighbourhood is appropriate for children. The paper also points to the ways that children are seen to actively produce the neighbourhood in which they live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory research into how people living in material poverty define and experience well-being and ill-being is increasingly common in developed and developing countries. Such research highlights the importance of experiential aspects, such as being respected and able to preserve one's dignity, and having meaningful choices. Nevertheless, these findings rarely cover children's experiences and are often not contextualized or triangulated with other data. The paper will extend this exploration using data from qualitative research with a sub-sample of children aged 11-13 in three urban and rural communities, drawn from Young Lives, a long-term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in four countries, including Ethiopia. Firstly, it addresses how understandings of a good life and what is needed to achieve one varies between communities and amongst children of different backgrounds living in those communities; for example, boys and girls and children from richer or poorer households. Secondly, the study examines how one's place in social relationships also contributes to how children perceive and understand what a good life is. The paper confirms the importance of allowing children to take at least a 'partial role' in measuring and monitoring their well-being (Ben-Arieh 2005, 575) and provides examples of how this might be done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is perhaps no image more maternal and musical than that of a young mother cradling a child to her breast as she softly sings a sweet lullaby. Yet the way that a mother experiences, relates to and renders meaningful the social and musical moment of singing to her children remains silent and hidden in popular and academic discourse. In this paper, I will explore how music becomes mothering; that is, the way that women sing maternity and use music to mother; what music brings to their thoughts, feelings and identities as mothers; and, what kinds of interactions and interrelationships are created with their children through music as play and performance of mothering. Through auto-ethnographic processes of reflection and research about my own experiences as the mother of two sons, and engagement with a wide array of discourses about mothering; the voices and perspectives of women take centre stage in this paper. My main concern is to make visible the musical worlds of mothers and children and make known the power of maternal song in creating places of excitement, empowerment, love and peace in the home for mothers and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the relationship between women's work patterns and their household sharing types. It draws on the findings from a larger research project, which examined the generational and class differences of women's experiences when reconciling childcare with paid employment. The empirical basis for this paper is a series of qualitative interviews, conducted with a sample of 20 Taiwanese mothers, aged between 45 and 59 years. They were women who had been employed full-time whilst raising their children during the late 1960s and the 1970s. The evidence from the research suggests that divergent employment responses, along with other coping strategies, were adopted by the women to be compatible with their different divisions of family responsibilities. It is also argued that women's undemanding attitude towards public resources may give the state an excuse to escape from its collective responsibilities for the family and for working mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Smeyers’ keynote address to the PESA 2007 Conference, ‘The Entrepreneurial Self and Informal Education: On government intervention and the discourse of experts’ provides a timely call for questioning the governing of the family. This paper draws upon Smeyers’ key concerns to explore both historical and contemporary trends in clustering government agencies, under the guidance of child development experts. The guidance of two expert groups is problematised, with particular attention to an absence of commitment to Māori perspectives of education and child-rearing. Such an absence reflects, in New Zealand, a dangerous undermining of the historic treaty between the British and Māori. The paper then challenges, with brief reference to Jacques Derrida's discussions on autobiography and Freud's Legacy, the identity of expert groups advocating early intervention in the lives of families measured as a burden on economic and social progress. The paper posits that perhaps it is the developmental expert that requires some form of early intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the plethora of papers reporting evidence from studies examining aspects of child development, there was until quite recently a dearth of literature on the ethical implications of research involving children and vulnerable groups. To inform the debate, this paper begins by drawing a distinction between ethical and methodological approaches to research. It continues with a discussion of the evolution of recent legislative changes that some attribute to the 22 unethical studies exposed by Beeches in the 1960s. The final section takes as its focus the practical application of these ethical practices to one aspect of a large-scale evaluation of the mobility, independence and life skills training available to children and young people aged 0-19 years of age with a visual impairment in Northern Ireland. The impact of ethical considerations on the design and progress of a research project that crosses disciplinary boundaries, and involves children and vulnerable groups, is discussed. The findings suggest that careful pre-planning with slippage time incorporated at the design stage of a research project may mitigate against delays and frustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the challenges of being either a parent–coach or a child–athlete of a coach within the context of Swedish youth sport. Conceptually, this paper draws on educational and sociological theories regarding changing perspectives in child-rearing. The results are based on data gathered from interviews with parent–coaches and child–athletes (age 13–15) of coaches involved in team sports. The results indicate that a range of meanings emerged through these unique sets of interactions, resulting in both positive and negative experiences for both children and their parents. To manage the perceived challenges, four behavioural strategies were used including fairness, distancing, defence and quitting. Overall, this study provides a deeper understanding of the challenges of these unique dual roles in relation to contemporary child-rearing perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that in daycare centres in France, where children are cared for from four months to age three, the competence of female staff members is usually denied and unvalued vis à vis the expert opinions. The paper highlights empirical research on early childhood and gender, providing pragmatic access to children's languages of desire, a language mostly ignored. Incorporating the ideas of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, the paper draws upon the conceptualization of Fernand Deligny who took care of autistic children in mapping what he called ‘lines of wandering’, an idea that shows how desire can become accessible. In the present ‘society of control’ which Deleuze analyses and which coexists with Foucault's discipline and biopower, such lines of flight enable the emergence of a new narrative for young children's desire, and for the competence of the female staff members in their departure from the highway of normalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its inception in the early nineteenth century, early childhood education has moved beyond European communities and become institutionalized in countries such as Australian, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. At the same time, many European countries have experienced migration, and now have broadly based culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Although early education has continued to evolve over time, some fundamental principles about the nature of learning have remained static. In drawing upon cultural‐historical theory, this paper seeks to make visible early childhood institutional practices that may no longer be relevant, particularly when western theory and middle‐class practices are not representative of the culturally and linguistically diverse communities they serve. In this paper, an alternative model of child development is offered that takes into account and values the diversity of children’s cultural experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper will examine developments in parenting by lesbians and gay men. It will draw on available research evidence to address fundamental questions posed about the impact of parenting by this particular group of parents on the children whom they raise. The paper will also explore motivation and routes to parenthood and the specific arrangements lesbians and gay men have evolved to make parenting a viable option in their lives. Dilemmas and challenges faced by lesbian and gay parents will be explored, and the implications for practice are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some of the experiences of a single father of a teenage daughter with mental retardation. It presents some of the first descriptions of a highly underreported family type, single fathers of children with disabilities, as well as discussing some of the general issues of parenting a child with severe disabilities. This family type provides some interesting challenges to traditional gender roles, as well as providing examples of the fluidity of gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting programmes have been provided to a wide range of child and parent groups across a number of countries, but are they effective? This aim of this paper is to examine the findings from a number of systematic reviews that summarise the best available research evidence on the impact of these programmes on a range of parental and child outcomes. In addition to examining the findings from systematic reviews, the paper also takes a selective look at the uptake of parenting programmes in the United Kingdom, the evidence for effectiveness and the efficacy of adopting a population-based approach to parent education. The findings from systematic reviews indicate that parenting programmes can have a positive impact on a range of outcomes, including improved child behaviour, increased maternal self-esteem and relationship adjustment, improved mother--child interaction and knowledge and decreased maternal depression and stress. While there is a need for greater evaluation of the long-term impact of these programmes, preliminary evidence indicates that these positive results are maintained over time, with group-based, behaviourally orientated programmes tending to be more effective. While several recent trials indicate that that these programmes can be effective within the United Kingdom, high drop-out rates may mean that they only reach a minority of parents. However, multi-level parent education strategies such as the Australian Triple P Positive Parenting Strategy that incorporate an array of mediums aimed at different levels of need may provide an opportunity to reach a wider range of parents. This approach is currently being evaluated in order to ascertain whether it is effective in improving child outcomes in the general population. While there is no coherent strategy for parent training across the United Kingdom, within the Northern Ireland context there is a move towards the development of a family support strategy. While uptake of parent education and training is currently unknown the best available evidence highlights the positive impact that parent training can have, suggesting the importance of including parent education as one aspect of this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the theme of care which was begun in chapter 9. Here Hauerwas focuses on the importance of the family in the process of caring for people with developmental disabilities. He explores the motivation behind parenting and offers some piercing insights into why we have children and the ways in which our motivation for having children impacts upon the experience of having a child with a developmental disability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the proposal that by exploring at a micro level the control exercised over children it is possible to identify the wider societal mechanisms for maintaining power at a macro level. The focus of the paper is on the provision of respite care for disabled children in settings away from home. Drawing on principles within childhood sociology and referencing recent research within disability studies consideration is given to issues of ‘power and control’ in relation to disabled children and how that reflects the structure of adult society. The paper concludes with a discussion of the concept of citizenship as a model for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces articles in the first issue of 2005 of the journal "Attachment and Human Development". Report on long-term family foster care; Gillian Schofield's model of parenting with five dimensions based on attachment theory; Mary Dozier's comment on the paper by Schofield.

This paper re-examines the purposes of a planned and intentional parenting style – ‘concerted cultivation’ – for different middle-class groups, highlighting that social class fraction, ethnicity, and also individual family disposition, guides understandings of the purposes of enrolling children in particular enrichment activities. We examine how parents and their children engage in extra-curricular activities for instrumental reasons with a view to securing skills, qualities and distinction for the future. Additionally, however, enrichment activities are understood as offering present-day values such as enjoyment, social bonding and purposeful activity. The paper also highlights that current policy and broader commercial discourses call for the increased responsibilisation and intensification of parenting, which means that ‘good’ parents are required to ‘buy into’ extra-curricular activities for their children, with concomitant implications for those whose access to activities is limited by economic circumstance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the political implications of a subject not always thought of as directly political, but which has an important ideological component: child-rearing advice. The period after 1945 offers an important example of how this topic can interact with developments in political ideology. This article takes the example of France, with substantial comparative reference to the US and Britain. It argues that the mid-twentieth century was characterized by a move from a hygienist and behaviourist approach to child rearing to a more liberal, humanist approach informed by Freudian psychoanalysis. This occurred significantly later in France – in the 1970s – than in Britain or the US, where it is associated with the years immediately after World War II. Through a comparison of two celebrated childcare experts who epitomized the change – Françoise Dolto in France, Benjamin Spock in the US – the paper explores the reasons for this temporal discrepancy. It shows that Anglo-American experts believed that the widespread application of psychoanalytic theory would help produce democratic citizens and ward off the dangers of authoritarian personalities. In France, psychoanalytic approaches became allied with conservative Catholic views of the family and women's roles, with implications for family policy into the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on household labor has focused more on its physical participation and less on the mental and managerial responsibility. In this paper, using data from the 2006 East Asia Social Survey and the 2012 International Social Survey Program, we evaluate how couples made childrearing decisions and the role of relative education in shaping such decisions in urban China, Taiwan, and Japan. We find a dominant "co-pilot" model of childrearing decision-making among the urban Chinese with both husbands and wives participating, a "separate sphere" model among the Japanese with least sole decision-making by the husband, and a mixed model among the Taiwanese. Regardless of gender, the better-educated parent in China and Taiwan is more likely to take sole charge of childrearing decision-making. This suggests that the human capital of parents may play an increasingly salient role in parenting behavior in contemporary East Asia in the sense that the better-educated parent has a greater responsibility for making childrearing decisions while the gender boundaries become more blurred over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how material and emotional investments in childrearing are rendered culturally meaningful in Chinese middle-class families in Singapore, and its consequences for family life. The competitive education system is a major concern for families with young children, and parents often invest substantial resources and energy in their children’s upbringing. The ‘overburdening’ of middle-class schoolchildren appears in most modern societies, as childhood has become a site of accumulation and commodification. But how can we understand the cultural logics of this seemingly global phenomenon? How is the representation of the child as accumulation strategy entangled with a gendered renegotiation of parenting strategies in everyday life? How do states shape and define notions of the value of children in and through existing policies and ideologies? Based on ethnographic data, I will illustrate how parents with young children perceive and handle childrearing, parenting arrangements and the meaning of educational success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]