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This study investigated whether the associations between (a) the quality of the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance and (b) early adolescents' life satisfaction differed depending on the importance of family values in the respective culture. As part of the Value of Children Study, data from a subsample of N = 1,034 adolescents (58% female, M age = 13.62 years, SD = 0.60 years) from 11 cultures was analyzed. Multilevel analyses revealed a positive relation between parental admiration and adolescents' life satisfaction independent of cultural membership. Further, the higher the importance of family values in a culture, the weaker was the positive effect of peer acceptance on adolescents' life satisfaction. The results highlight the universal importance of parental warmth and support in adolescence and underline the effect of culturally shared family values on the role of peer acceptance for adolescent development. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

Objectives: This article examines the "geography" of reported cases of child maltreatment in Israel by determining its frequency and rates according to nationality, area of residence, and size and type of locality. Method: The study collected data at the local level in Israel based on reports to social services of cases of child maltreatment during 2000; locality is the unit of analysis. Results: The rate of reported cases of child maltreatment was 17.8 per 1,000 children in Israel in 2000. The rates varied, however, among different localities. They were lower in Arab localities (9 per 1,000 children) than in the Jewish ones (20 per 1,000), higher in large cities and other socioeconomic affluent localities (19 per 1,000), and varied according to the geographic area. Conclusions: This study demonstrates considerable variation in rates of reported cases of child maltreatment by locality and by population makeup. Thus, to fulfill the Israeli legislation of mandatory reporting of any reasonable suspicion of child maltreatment, the state should better develop policies and services that encourage reporting of child maltreatment among the Arab and ultraorthodox populations and in smaller or socioeconomic disadvantaged localities. Furthermore, the social services must build a bridge to the minority populations in Israel, developing their trust in these services and increasing their propensity to use them.

Few studies have examined the links among hope, material resources, and subjective well-being (SWB) of children from their own perspectives. The article examines lack of material resources as a risk factor, hope as a human strength, and a possible moderator regarding children's SWB. The study employed a nationally representative sample of 2,977 Jewish and Arab Israeli children (ages 8-12). As predicted, there was a significant positive relation between hope and SWB, and a negative relation between lack of material resources and SWB. Hope was found to moderate the relation between lack of material resources and SWB. Furthermore, for 10- and 12-year olds, differences were found regarding the strength of the relations of the variables, suggesting a possible developmental trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The literature examining the relations between economic situation and happiness has focused almost exclusively on a household's income as a proxy for economic situation and, accordingly, also focused chiefly on the adult population, excluding children and adolescents. To fill this gap, this study examines the relation between economic deprivation and happiness by using 2 alternative proxies: material deprivation and social exclusion. The study tests the relation of these measures to the most common measure for happiness-subjective well-being (SWB)-in a sample of Israeli 12-year-olds (N = 1,081). The study also examines the effects of culture and life circumstances on these complex relations. Findings show that both material deprivation and social exclusion are negatively associated with children's SWB. Social exclusion explained a much larger percentage of children's SWB, adding up to 20%. Furthermore, children who were identified as materially deprived and socially excluded were found to be at much greater risk for unhappiness. Material deprivation was found to be significantly more important to the SWB of males compared with females, and for Jews compared with Arabs. Finally, some implications for social policy and regarding the relation of economic situation and happiness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expands research on the relationship between community (defined here as a locality) characteristics and child maltreatment. Research in this field is not new, but it is scarce. Our study is unique by examining changes between two periods rather than focusing on one point in time. Furthermore, our study examines structural conditions in small and medium size localities in Israel, a non-Western and non-Christian society. We compare our results with those from studies on inner-city and suburban neighborhoods in Western countries and earlier studies in Israel. We collected data on 169 Israeli localities, ranging from small ones (with as few as 1,500 residents) to medium size localities (i.e., towns) (with as many as 50,000 residents) in which approximately 34% of the Israeli child population resides. Our study tested four hypotheses: (1) Socioeconomic characteristics of the locality will be negatively correlated with the availability of social services; (2) Reported child maltreatment rates will be negatively correlated with the socioeconomic characteristics of the locality; (3) The availability of social services will be positively correlated with reported child maltreatment rates; and (4) Overall reported child maltreatment rates will be negatively correlated with the overall status of the localities. We have supported our second and third hypothesis in full, and partially supported our first and fourth hypothesis. In particular we have demonstrated that while demographics play a different role in Israel than in other countries in regard to child maltreatment, social, economic and cultural context are crucial for understating reported rates of child maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As research has shown, safety is also a subjective phenomenon. Contemporary scholarship has also underscored the importance of subjective well-being among children as a vital component of overall well-being. Our paper explores the potential relationship between reported levels of safety in different settings and the subjective well-being of children. We conducted our study on 2238 children ages 10 and 12 with varying sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings support our hypothesis that safety in different settings is positively inter-correlated and that safety perceptions are positively correlated with subjective well-being. Furthermore, the correlations exist among different sociodemographic groups and in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study explored political attitudes, awareness and values among 1753 Israeli-Jewish and Israeli-Palestinian adolescents aged 15 to 17 from different localities. The findings show that Palestinian adolescents reported more trust in the political system, were more aware and had a more formulated opinion of the political system than their Jewish colleagues. In addition, it was found that more religious adolescents showed more political awareness and involvement. In general, gender gaps in political participation measures were larger among Arab adolescents compared with Jewish adolescents. The researchers suggest that some of the findings can be explained by the potential role of participation in political activities by minority adolescents in the development of adolescents'' political perception and attitudes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study examined the relations between various characteristics of Israeli localities and three indicators of children's welfare: rates of reports on child maltreatment to child protection officers (CPO), rates of children registered at the social services, and rates of minor offenders on probation. A set of characteristics of 163 localities—including socio-economic status, religion, nationality, geography, demography and social services availability—was used to explore possible links with these indicators. Using secondary data analysis, the study found rates of child welfare indicators to vary considerably across localities. Multivariate hierarchical regression showed that Arab localities had lower rates of reported cases of child maltreatment and minor offenders on probation than Jewish localities with low concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews (i.e. the majority of localities in Israel). Ultra-Orthodox localities had lower rates of reported cases of child maltreatment but had higher rates of children known to social services than localities with lower concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Rates of children known to social services were lower in poorer localities. The ratio of social workers to residents and CPOs to children were correlated positively with the various child welfare indicators. The Discussion section examines the need for a more equal distribution of economic and social services resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The study presented here explores relationships between a set of locality characteristics, two variables of social services availability and child maltreatment. Data was collected on 173 localities in Israel, ranging from small towns to small cities. In which roughly 34% of the overall child population reside. This study was set to test three hypotheses: worse off localities will have more social services; worse off localities will have higher child maltreatment rates; localities with more available social services will have higher reported child maltreatment rates. The study shows that reporting rates vary across localities. The study established a relation between locality characteristics and availability of social workers but not with the availability of child protection officers. Findings supported earlier studies by finding a relation between locality hardship and higher child maltreatment rate. The study also established a clear relation between availability of social services and reported child maltreatment rates. Our study clearly shows that to prevent child maltreatment, one should address unemployment and better support of single-parent families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study expands the research on neighborhood effects and child maltreatment by examining the structural conditions, including religion and nationality, in small towns in Israel. The results are compared with those in inner-city and suburban neighborhoods in Western countries. Five community structural variables were statistically correlated with investigated cases of child maltreatment: adults’ unemployment rate, rate of new immigrants, rate of children in single-parent families, population gain or loss, and the community’s location in relation to a central city. A multivariate regression analysis of these variables explained 44% of the variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizenship is not merely a formal status. It is a source of human rights and entitles its owners to services, protection and benefits. Citizenship stipulates what obligations a citizen must fulfil and in what manner he or she is to behave. Citizenship is the prerequisite for belonging to a group (from a social and historical perspective) and as such bears a significant impact on identity formation. Therefore, citizenship is crucial for the well-being of human beings in general and for children in particular. Children' s civil status (and their citizenship) determines their rights (including their social, political and civil rights). Furthermore, children's possibilities to develop and practise various civil skills, and therefore their activities as citizens, have a major impact on their well-being, as children of today and adult citizens of tomorrow. The article discusses the relations between citizenship — rights — and the well-being of children. Children's rights are examined, throughout the course of their development, in a range of aspects of their lives. An overview of children's rights and their civil status in Israel is presented, by the age at which children are entitled to them. A further focus is on the 'dynamics of citizenship' by analysing child participation and its influence on children' s well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current knowledge emphasizes either a developmental or a cultural/contextual theoretical framework for understanding children's approaches to the concepts of rights and participation. This study, carried out among 1,753 Israeli adolescents (ages 15-17), uses a socioecological perspective instead to understand children's rights and participation. It examines adolescents' approaches to their rights and participation at 4 ecological levels-family, school, community, and the larger sociopolitical system-as well as a number of possible child, family, and societal correlates. It also looks at the interactions between some of these correlates. The findings show that different correlates have different links with various ecological circles. For example, girls reported higher levels of participation in the family and at school, but no significant differences were found between boys and girls in their participation in the community and at civic-political levels. Israeli Palestinians reported higher levels of participation in their schools and at the civic-political level but lower levels of participation in the family and the community compared with their Jewish counterparts. The significant interaction effect between nation and gender showed that, among Arab students, there were larger gaps between boys and girls in the different participation domains than there were among Jewish students. Furthermore, higher rates of participation in the family and lower rates of civic participation were found among students from single-parent families. This study shows that employing an ecological framework to the efforts to understand children's approaches to rights and participation is a first step in the right direction for fostering children's rights and participation., (© 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.)

Children's rights have become a cornerstone of discussions of human rights and human services around the world. However, the meaning of children's rights and their significance for policies and programs vary across nations, cultures, religions, and families. Only recently has research begun to study the conceptualization of children's rights in non-Western and non-Christian-dominated cultures and, thus, in more traditional and authoritarian families. This article reports on a cross-sectional survey among 810 Jewish and 582 Arab children (372 Muslims, 210 Christians), aged 12-14 from eastern and western Jerusalem to examine how children view their rights. Adolescents completed a structured, anonymous, self-report questionnaire. Results suggest that nationality/ethnicity is a major factor in explaining differences in children's views of their rights, with religion playing a minor role. Results also suggest that family values and practices are significantly correlated with the approach to children's rights, as is gender, although its explanatory power is weaker. These findings should guide practitioners and children's rights advocates as they strive to enhance the support for children's rights in the Middle East and develop appropriate policies., ((c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

With the nearly universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children's rights have become a cornerstone of discussions in relation to human rights and human services around the world. Although the concept of children's rights is now broadly established, the meaning of this concept and its significance for policies and programs are apt to vary across nations, cultures, religions, and age groups. With the close proximity of diverse national, ethnic, and religious groups and seemingly omnipresent political conflicts about the meaning of rights among them, the Middle East presents unusual opportunities to understand the effects of such variables on attitudes toward children's rights. Drawing from samples of Jews from Israel, Palestinian Muslims from Israel, and Palestinian Muslims from the Palestinian Authority, surveys were conducted of adolescents, young mothers (mothers of toddlers), middle-aged mothers (mothers of adolescents), and grandmothers. Attitudes toward children's rights were more strongly affected by the respondents' ethnicity and nationality than by their age., (2006 APA, all rights reserved)