Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Child analysis Case studies'

The problem of this study was to provide a more comprehensive and accurate profile of various aspects of selective mutism—family atmosphere/dynamics, aetiology and manifestations of mutism, usages and outcomes of therapeutic approaches, and a profile of the affected child—and to provide a more comprehensive and consistent basis to guide effective treatment strategies and facilitate additional research. A content analysis of case studies of selective mute children completed from 1929-1994 was used to educe this data.

This study used a single case design to explore the relationship between individual child-centered play therapy on children with developmental delays by examining its effectiveness in: 1) increasing measured developmental age; 2) reducing problematic behaviors related to developmental delays; and 3) increasing developmentally appropriate behaviors. Three participants were assessed weekly with both developmental and behavioral measures during the three phases of the study: baseline, intervention, and follow up. Additionally, parents of the participants completed behavioral measures at pretest, midpoint, and posttest administrations. The participant's weekly standard scores were graphed and results were examined separately using visual analyses. Changes between phases: non-intervention baseline, intervention, and non-intervention follow-up were examined; specifically, the level, trend, and variability of the data across the phases were examined. Each of the three participants served as their own control group in this single case analysis and their results, and all three of the participants demonstrated improvement on the developmental measures after receiving the play therapy intervention. Results from this single case analysis suggest the need for further replication, use and reporting of single case interventions and designs, to promote the efficacy of counseling interventions and to potentially enhance the literature and research base for evidence based interventions.

This study used an explanatory research model that determined the effect on caseworker time and therefore workload caused by specific characteristics of cases assigned after the child abuse investigation is complete. The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between child protection case characteristics and the time an assigned caseworker devotes to a case. With this knowledge an informed methodology to assess the current workload of a caseworker could be used to assure that the caseworker is able to successfully complete the tasks required for each child assigned. Further, the knowledge of the amount of time spent on a case with specific characteristics allows supervisors to assess and properly assign cases. Utilizing focus groups and a secondary data analysis of the Florida State Automated Child Welfare Service Information System (SACWSIS) the case characteristics of race/ethnicity, living arrangement, placement, removal and prior removal were found to significantly affect caseworker time spent on a case. Additionally, the case characteristics of gender, age, type of maltreatment, and disability were not found to affect caseworker time spent on a case.

This thesis aim to describe and analyze different organisations’ work with reducing child labour. In order to understand the complex matter of child labour, a case study concerning children’s situation within the mining industry in Peru has been made. The first part of the thesis has been designed to be an introduction to the matter, with a description of the mining industry in Peru and the situation of child labour. The two following parts are more analytic in character. The second and third part discusses how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be used as an instrument of reducing child labour. Further, top down and bottom up-theories will be discussed as different approaches and working methods for organisations.

In addition to find the answers to our questions, interviews have been conducted with employees of the organisations (ILO, UNICEF and Save the Children), articles and literature have been analyzed and finally Internet have contributed with information about child labour, Peru, the organisations, theories and the MDGs.

This study claims that child labour is a complex matter and one possible solution to reduce it can be through promoting education. This can only be viable if organisations work together with governments, using a combination of top down and bottom up approaches.

An alternating treatment design was used to systematically evaluate the communication response forms, picture exchange communication system (PECS) or sign language, selection for a child with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, profound hearing loss, and cochlear implants. The child had a limited pool of high preference items and very few functional skills. Key factors for this child included a structured environment that created a verbal community and contingent access to high preference items. No preference in communication response form was observed. The child successfully used four response forms to communicate: gestures, PECS, sign language, and vocalization. The results are discussed in terms of decision making factors in the selection of response forms.

My study arose in the context of an intervention programme aimed at the development of a child with autism’s communication and social interaction skills. The approach I take is a social constructionist one in which language is considered to be constructive and constitutive of social and psychological reality. This orientation challenges the assumptions of a western psychiatric approach that emphasizes the impairment and deficits associated with autism. The participants of the study are a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Autistic Spectrum), and his mother, father, sister and a volunteer on the intervention programme. The discourse analytic method of conversation analysis is employed as a means of elucidating the collaborative mechanisms employed by both the child and his co-participants in making sense of one another. The specific aims of the study are to closely examine the communicative behaviour and interactive styles of the child and his coparticipants, their implications for communicative success (co-ordinated interaction) or breakdown (discordant interaction), and the implications for how the child is positioned within the discourse in relation to his co-participants. My constructions of the data suggested that a playful, activity-based interactive style constituted by non-verbal turns, affection and short, simple utterances enhance mutual participation and the accomplishment of co-ordinated interaction. Barney’s co-participants sometimes tend to dominate interaction and frequently employ a strategy of repetitive questioning, which functions to direct and constrain the interaction and results in the child’s withdrawal and discordant interaction. This tendency to withdraw, however, seems to function as a means by which the child is able to actively resist positioning by others, and thus constitutes himself in a position of greater power. Furthermore, his use of the pronoun ‘I’ and collaborative negotiation of the words yours and mine suggest the active co-construction and positioning of himself as a separate person in relation to his co-participants. This research informs intervention efforts and encourages the co-participants to reflect on how interaction is co-constructed between themselves and the child.

This is a case study that focuses on the oral proficiency in English manifested by the 4-year-old sonof the author. He speaks Swedish as his L1 like his both parents but has been exposed to Englishsince he was one year old from using a tablet. The child’s spoken production was recorded andtranscribed with a focus on the plural-forms and the genitive. An important field that this case studyis motivated by is how child language development may be connected to the concept of innatism,that language is based on innate principles (Lightbown & Spada, 2013:20) as it has been found that anumber of languages are acquired according to predictable patterns and processes (Moskowitz,1994:621-627) such as a the u-shaped learning process and over-generalization which has beenfound when investigating both L1 and L2 acquisition (Abrahamsson, 2013:663). The aim of thisstudy is to find possible similarities within the learning process: whether L2 acquisition follows thesame developmental patterns as in L1 acquisition by analyzing the recordings mainly targeting theplural and the genitive morphemes produced by a 4-year-old L2 speaker of English. Findings in thisresearch revealed that the child demonstrated a similar developmental pattern in the form of theu-shaped learning process (Abrahamsson, 2013:663).

This thesis offers a critical assessment of anti- child trafficking discourse, policy and practice, using a case study of the situation in Southern Benin. It seeks to achieve two main goals. First, to transcend the reductiveness of the dominant paradigm around child trafficking, including dominant representations of it and prevailing policy approaches to dealing with it. Second, to complicate the simplistic nature of much of the academic literature that explains the existence and persistence of this dominant paradigm. Based on 14 months of multi-sited fieldwork, the thesis demonstrates, first, that the institutional narrative of ‘child trafficking’ misrepresents what would be better understood as adolescent labour migration in Benin, and second, that mainstream policy approaches to tackling this fail to account for the sociocultural or political-economic conditions that underpin it. The thesis suggests that this can be interpreted as a result of the power of three framing orders of discourse – ‘Apollonian Childhood’, Neoliberalism and that of the Westphalian State – which structure both what ‘trafficking’ can mean and what can be done about it. The thesis suggests that the material and power structures of the anti-trafficking discourse- and policy-making field are such that, even where individuals within it reject both the dominant paradigm and its (and the field’s) framing orders of discourse, little space exists for them to construct meaningful alternatives. The result is a degree of formal and representational stability, hiding practical hybridity. The conclusion is offered that, while anti-trafficking discourse is presumed to be accurate and while antitrafficking policy is justified in terms of its contribution to ‘beneficiaries’, theprinciple achievement of both is the depoliticised reproduction of the institutions, orders of discourse and political-economic context within which they are constructed.

Within the Brazilian strategy to reform out-of-home care services, efforts have been directed to the prioritization of foster care over congregate care. This study draws from the perspective that childhood is socially construed, therefore child protection systems are dependent of notions and ideals of childhood, especially concerning the child deprived of parental care. Interviews with ten professionals involved in the implementation and execution of foster care services in different cities were conducted for this study. Thematic analysis of interviews was triangulated with the contents of National Guidelines for out-of-home care services and legal provisions with the aim of investigating how ideas on children deprived of parental care and their best interests are translated into practice. Three research questions guided the study: (1) how participants perceive the out-of-home care reform and the provisions of rights in different care modalities, especially regarding how children placed in different types of out-of-home care are perceived, (2) how participants view children’s best interests and which practices are believed to secure them and (3) how practitioners’ views relate to the contents of the National Guidelines. Five themes emerged in the analysis: a scientific and legal defense of (1) foster care as the most up to date form of out-of-home care, the prioritization of (2) children’s needs for individualized parental care, that (3) practitioners’ strong discretion is conditioned by foster families’ choices, that (4) institutionalization and group are detrimental to children, and the invocation that (5) children must be onboard. The study concludes that a clearer conceptualization of the rights and bests interests of children deprived of parental is required to better inform the reform of child protection and its practices, where consideration to children’s participation could be extended over acceptance to decisions.

This thesis describes, analyses and compares changes in the practice of human resource management (HRM), the roles of human resource departments (HRD) and management models in companies in Belgium, France (partially) and Chile by highlighting the similarities and differences. This is therefore an international comparative study.

The study is carried out using a contextualist analytical approach.

It answers the question: what are the changes in HRM practice, the roles of HRD and the management models in social organisations in different contexts?

It uses theoretical models (“typical ideals”) to analyse reality, while drawing from writers such as Mintzberg, Pichault and Nizet, Crozier, Crouch, Ulrich, Pettigrew. With regard to management, the study resorts to classical, instrumental and political models. As regards human resource management (HRM), it is based on objective, conventionalist and individualised models. In the human resource department (HRD), the models are those of administrative officer, operational expert and strategic partner.

The changes do not only result from a decision-making process dictated mechanically by contextual factors but more particularly from complex interaction and the balance of power among the actors concerned who use the contextual elements to advance their own interests.

Amongst the most relevant developments which bear similar characteristics, one can cite:

1.- a significant increase in the use of management methods specific to the instrumental or “Californian” model,

2.- more extensive use of individual competencies in HRM practices, and

3.- a significant reduction in the size of the HRD and, notably, in the profile of administrative officer of the HRD.

As regards the differences found in the various contexts, one can highlight the fact that:

1.- In the Belgian and French models, the dominant managerial model remains political management. On the other hand, in the Chilean model, the Californian management model has become clearly dominant.

2.- In Belgium and France, the dominant HRM practices are those of the conventionalist model. On the other hand, in Chile, the dominant HRM practices are those of the individualised model.

3.- The evolution of the roles of HRD, in the Belgian model, has been practically non-existent or appeared later since the dominant role has remained that of the administrative officer (AO). On the other hand, in the Chilean model, the dominant role has become that of operational expert (OE). The role of strategic partner (SP) which was so recommended and desired by managers has been long in developing.

The professional relations model and the political system constitute one of the most important factors which explains the differences noted. In Belgium, the neo-corporate and social-democrat model of professional relations at the national level (with a strong trade unionist movement) functions as a socio-economic regulatory mechanism reflecting the forces and the agreements between social partners. In Chile, there exists neither social dialogue nor equivalent institutionalisation at the national level; what prevails here is the confrontational Latin model (with a weak trade unionist movement).

Similarly, in Belgium social legislation is more comprehensive, regulating the market more and protecting people’s interests. Furthermore, it offers greater social security coverage via, in addition, vast public expenditure by the State. In Chile on the other hand, social legislation is more incomplete and more flexible, favouring rather discretionary decisions by managers and allowing the interplay of market forces to regulate the labour market. The right to strike, the allocation of unemployment benefits, the procedures for hiring and firing, etc. testify to these differences.

The characteristics of the “hybrid” Belgo-Latin culture based on the traditional negotiation model increasingly influence, for example, the development of a political management model and conventionalist HRM practices, team work or coaching, etc. On the other hand, the characteristics of Chilean Latin culture, where authoritarianism and paternalism are still very present, stimulate a more classical management model and objective HRM practices.

The differences between the developments are evident. The social aspects (social security, education, workers’ rights, etc.) are better guaranteed in the Belgian model and the productivist logic stronger and damaging in the Chilean model. As long as the actors involved remain as they are, with their ideological, political and cultural particularities and their specific strengths, these models will remain different.

Cette thèse décrit, analyse et compare les changements des pratiques de la gestion des ressources humaines (GRH), les rôles des directions des ressources humaines (DRH) et les modèles de management, dans des entreprises situées en Belgique, en France (partiellement) et au Chili, en relevant les similitudes et les différences. Il s’agit donc d’une recherche internationale comparative.

La recherche s’inscrit dans une approche d’analyse contextualiste.

Elle répond à la question :quels sont les changements des pratiques de GRH, des rôles des DRH et des modèles de management dans des organisations sociales situées dans des contextes différents ?

Elle utilise des modèles théoriques (des “ideaux types”) pour analyser la réalité, en s’inspirant des auteurs tels que Mintzberg, Pichault et Nizet, Crozier, Crouch, Ulrich, Pettigrew. Au niveau du management, l’étude a recourt aux modèles: classique, instrumental et politique. Au niveau de la gestion des ressources humaines (GRH), elle se base sur les modèles: objectivant, conventionnaliste et individualisant. Tandis qu’au niveau de la direction des ressources humaines (DRH), les modèles sont ceux d’agent administratif, d’expert opérationnel et de partenaire stratégique.

On constate que les changements ne résultent pas seulement d’un processus décisionnel dicté mécaniquement par les éléments du contexte mais surtout d’un jeu complexe d’interactions, d’un jeu de pouvoir des acteurs concernés, qui mobilisent les éléments du contexte pour faire prévaloir leurs intérêts.

Parmi les évolutions similaires les plus relevantes, on peut citer:

1.- l’accroissement important de l’usage des méthodes de management propres au modèle instrumental ou « californien » ;

2.- l’utilisation plus extensive des pratiques de GRH individualisantes et,

3.- la diminution importante de la taille de la DRH et, notamment, du profil d’agent administratif de la DRH.

Quant aux différences retrouvées dans ces contextes différents, on peut relever :

1.- Dans les cas belge et français le modèle managérial dominant reste le management politique. Par contre, dans le cas chilien, le modèle de management « californien » est devenu clairement dominant.

2.- Les pratiques dominantes de GRH, en Belgique et en France, restent celles du modèle conventionnaliste. Par contre, au Chili, les pratiques dominantes de GRH sont celles du modèle individualisant.

3.- L’évolution des rôles de la DRH, dans le cas belge, a été pratiquement nulle ou plus tardive puisque le rôle dominant est resté d’agent administratif (AA). Par contre, dans le cas chilien, le rôle dominant est devenu celui d’expert opérationnel (EO). Le rôle du partenaire stratégique (PS), tant prôné et souhaité par les managers, tarde lourdement à se développer.

Le modèle de relations professionnelles et le système politique, constituent un des facteurs parmi les plus importants qui expliquent les différences constatées. En Belgique, le modèle de relations professionnelles néo-corporatiste et social-démocrate au niveau national (avec un syndicalisme fort) fonctionne comme un mécanisme de régulation socio-économique reflétant les forces et les accords entre les partenaires sociaux. Tandis qu’au Chili, il n’existe ni de concertation sociale ni d’institutionnalisation équivalente au niveau national ;il prévaut ici le modèle confrontationnel et latin (avec un syndicalisme faible).

De même, tandis qu’en Belgique il existe une législation sociale plus complète régulant davantage le marché et protégeant les intérêts des personnes, en offrant une sécurité sociale plus large avec, en plus, une forte participation de l’Etat dans les dépenses publiques, au Chili la une législation sociale est plus incomplète et plus souple, favorisant davantage les décisions discrétionnaires des managers amenant principalement une régulation par le libre jeu du marché du travail. Le droit de grève, l’assignation de chômage, les procédures de licenciements ou d’embauche, etc. témoignent de ces différences.

Les traits de la culture latine « hybride » belge, traditionnellement négociatrice, influencent davantage, par exemple, le développement d’un modèle de management politique et des pratiques de GRH conventionnalistes, un travail en équipe ou le coaching, etc. Par contre, les traits de la culture latine chilienne, où l’autoritarisme et le paternalisme sont encore forts présents, stimulent un modèle de management plutôt classique et des pratiques de GRH objectivantes.

La différence des évolutions est évidente. Les aspects sociaux (sécurité sociale, éducation, droits des travailleurs, etc.) sont mieux garantis dans le cas belge et la logique productiviste est plus forte et nuisible dans le cas chilien. Tant que les acteurs indiqués demeurent, avec leurs particularités idéologiques, politiques, culturelles et leurs forces spécifiques, ces modèles resteront différents.

Doctorat en sciences politiques
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Two major ideas dominate past literature on child labor. First, past literature continues to support the well-developed relationship between poverty and rates of child labor. Second, past literature continues to associate school attendance as the primary opportunity cost of child labor and juxtaposes the variables as a mutually exclusive trade off. The following project investigates both these ideas. By conducting several logit regression models between school attendance and participation in family-affiliated agricultural practices in Nigeria, the paper investigates a specific aspect of poverty (school attendance) while also providing empirical evidence to support the assumed relationship that education and child labor represent a trade off. The findings support the notion that school attendance correlates with a decreased likelihood of participation in moderate forms of child labor. Children in Nigeria who attend school are less likely to also have worked in a family affiliated agricultural capacity. The project concludes by discussing the potentially positive policy implications for eliminating exploitative child labor. By framing moderate agricultural labor as the most engrained form of child labor, the theoretical implications of the impact of school attendance on child labor becomes even greater.
Master of Arts

The right to participate and express a view is an intrinsic right afforded to all human beings, regardless of age (Lundy, 2007). Explicitly, Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) grant participatory rights to children and young people in decision-making. One of the forms of participation academics and practitioners have studied over the past decades, the engagement of children and young people in participatory processes, is moving away from the understanding of children as passive recipients of research to active participants. However, literature has paid scant attention to research led directly by children and young people (Thomas, 2015). Child-led research is understood, as starting definition from literature, as an approach in which children and young people are involved in all stages - from planning, fieldwork and analysis to dissemination. The aim of this research is to critically explore how the process and outcomes of children and young people's participation in their own child-led research contributes, positively or negatively, to decision-making processes in the context of international development programmes. The research questions are: Question 1: What are children and young people's motivations for, expectations of and experiences with engaging in their own child-led research as a way to influence decision-making? Question 2: What are the processes of child-led research that positively or negatively influence decision-making? Question 3: In what ways does child-led research influence decision-making? (And why and how do they do so?) This research project used a case study approach to examine two cases where children and young people claimed they conducted child-led research. The first, Bekaa and Irbid, investigated the research conducted by a group of children and young people on issues relevant to their situations as refugees in the host countries of Lebanon and Jordan. The second, Dhaka, reviewed child-led research focused on the lack of birth certificates issued for Bangladeshi children and the possible effects of not having this legal registration. A group of children and young people who are members of a Children's Parliament in Dhaka led this project. The research participants for this project are defined as (1) the children and young people, aged 12 to 18 (when I interviewed them), who are associated with World Vision programmes and engaged in the child-led research projects within their constituencies in the Irbid and Bekaa and Dhaka case studies and (2) the adult professionals who acted as facilitators of child-led research projects and those who worked in the design of these projects or dissemination of their findings. These participants were those who were best suited to provide the information needed as they were fully involved in the child-led research projects and had in-depth knowledge to contribute answers to the research questions. This project adopted several methods for data collection, including focus groups, semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary review. The study followed ethical research guidelines to ensure the safety, rights, dignity and well-being of both the children and young people and adult participants (Morrow, 2009). The research took into account the special considerations required to gain informed consent, ensure confidentiality and anonymity, acknowledge the cultures of the research sites, and refrain from presenting information that may potentially harm participants (Marshall and Rossman, 2006). The findings of the study show that the child-led research approach is considered an adequate participatory approach that creates spaces for children and young people to engage in their own research and influence change based on their findings. Thus, this approach enabled participants to gather together and pursue collectively a research project in which they were able to explore issues about their lives using research methodologies that were appropriate to their experiences, abilities and expertise. This conversion, however, highlights a variety of tensions around the understanding and legitimacy of child-led research. Findings from this study supports the view that child-led research generates empirically grounded knowledge, which produced through data collection and personal experiences of the young researches and its analysis as a whole. Findings also reveal that the young researchers' motivations and expectations were to make an impact on their own lives, as well as the lives of their peers and change a situation that they perceived as unfair. Findings show that the adult facilitators played an important role in facilitating the young researchers but not managing them. However, this study evidenced some tensions between participation and protection rights. The study found manifestations of power amongst the children and young people during the child-led research projects, which were based on age, gender, religion, language and ethnicity. This confirms children and young people can replicate power relations within their participatory projects, which are deeply embedded in their traditions and cultures. Findings show that child-led research has different levels of impact; on decision-making and in the individual lives of the young researchers. This is connected to the contexts where children and young people conducted their research, which was conducive in one case study and more challenging in the other case. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to the body of literature that challenges the dominant conceptualisation that children and young people are unable to conduct their own research. Instead, the findings of this research project contribute to the study of children and young people's participation by providing different perspectives on the debate around the children and young people's abilities and motivations to engage in their own child-led research projects. The findings contribute to knowledge about the nature of child-led research as an approach that supports children and young people in their struggle to participate in society. These findings contribute to the substantial gap of understanding about what is knowledge and expertise by exploring the ways in which children and young people conduct their own research and create knowledge with the aim of making a change in society. Specifically, the findings provide empirical evidence of the impact that their work has had on policy and practice and their personal lives.

Sarah's literacy from ages 2-5 is documented through this longitudinal interpretative case study. The researcher, Sarah's mother, employed ethnographic techniques and methodologies of data analysis and data collection, including interviews, writing samples, audiotapes, observations, and field notes, to accomplish the research goals and purposes. The initial research goals were twofold: (a) to observe and describe Sarah's literacy in natural settings, particularly at home, beginning formally at age 2; and (b) to analyze, understand, and explain her literacy learning process. The model of literacy learning presented, the generative learning cycle, is grounded and rooted in both the data and the theory and research of others, notably Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman, and Kathy Short. The data demonstrate that Sarah's learning is continuous and not hierarchically ordered as developmental stages propose. While the qualities of her literacy artifacts, or products, change, the quality of her thinking, strategies, and learning process do not. She perceives, questions, and invents sophisticated solutions to her inquiries concerning literacy, continually utilizing all she knows to outgrow herself and learn what she does not know.

Epidemiologic cohort studies often require a follow-up of and obtaining exposure and confounder information for several thousand subjects. This process can be time consuming and expensive. A sampling scheme which reduces costs is the case-cohort design. It involves obtaining exposure and confounder information for all cases and a random sample of the remainder of the cohort. In this thesis we consider the analysis of data from a case-cohort sample under the assumptions of a proportional hazards model. Specifically we review and describe techniques for point and interval estimation of parameters and tests of hypotheses first for a full cohort, then for a case-cohort sample. We apply the methods to a real example involving data from an occupational case-cohort study.

This creative project is a representation of the genre of journalism that delves deeper into the lives of ordinary people. The story contained in this creative project represents a literary journalistic account of a woman's life of abuse and neglect. Narrative techniques such as scenes, digression, characterization, and vivid description are utilized to vividly chronicle a tale that strives to be both entertaining and enlightening.
Department of Journalism

Expanding interests may be a behavioral cusp, resulting in widespread changes across skills, and therefore is particularly relevant in intervention programs for children with autism. Little research has addressed directly increasing the diversity of activities and interests for this population. This study describes a program developed to increase activities and interests in a girl dually-diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS) and Downs syndrome (DS). A multiple-baseline design across stimuli was employed to evaluate the program. The results show that the program increased number of total and different toy interactions. No effects were observed for overall duration of toy interactions. Results are discussed in relation to play skill instruction and preference assessment literature, the cusp, and autism intervention programs.

This study describes case managers' perceptions of the association between methamphetamine and child neglect. The analysis indicates that out of 30 women, 100.0% agreed that the use of methamphetamine is associated with child neglect. Children are being neglected due to methamphetamine causing impairment in the parents' ability to appropriately care for their children. The study findings note a statistically significant relationship between the variables at the .05 level of probability.

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-100).
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." - Sun Tsu from "The Art of War" Believed to have lived between 770 and 476 B.C In the age of code wars, have our lives changed for the better? Are we any safer than the bloody wars or the cold wars from the past? Is there any more guarantee now in a cyber age than in a kinetic age involving human forces? These are the types of questions that have little answers due to the secret nature of the operation. State-sponsored activities are commonplace. Whenever there is involvement by a state, the stakes are higher, and loss of life can never be ruled out. The objective of this thesis was to research historical cyber-warfare incidents from the past to current and map the relevant cyber-warfare data in a well-known framework called CASCON, which is a history-based conflict analysis and decision-support system. The CASCON-based analysis for cyber incidents revealed a larger picture of the world we live in and how easily that world could change. The information contained in this thesis is not meant to be conclusive, but a study of state-sponsored cyber cases using MIT's CASCON to map and categorize information for future learning about conflicts involving states. It is the purpose of this thesis to (a) research historical cyber-warfare incidents and (b) map cyber-warfare incidents into a framework.
by Mohan B. Gazula.
S.M. in Engineering and Management

Technology has, without a doubt, altered the social fabric of society. Mediated forms of communication have paved the way for more efficient production, and the vast amount of information available online has given people the opportunity to be more informed than ever. However, the rise of mediated communication has also presented a number of new threats. The current study focused on one of these threats, cyberbullying, and was interested in looking at how parents talk about and understand their child's cyberbullying behavior.

This study had the goal of uncovering if parents talk to their child about cyberbullying, and how they approach these conversations. The intent of this study was grounded in the idea that parent-child communication is a valuable tool for developing belief systems, as well as making sustainable, positive and effective changes to behavior and perceptions.

Ultimately, parents do not avoid conversations about cyberbullying with their children. Parents structure these conversations with the intention of positively changing their child's behavior and beliefs. Specifically, parents talk about cyberbullying with their children as an effort to decrease the perceived risk their child faces if he or she participates in cyberbullying. However, these conversations are limited because they are grounded in misrepresented media coverage of cyberbullying which intensifies cyberbullying behaviors. As such, media producers must work toward presenting more all encompassing and wide spread coverage of cyberbullying as an effort to educate parents about the variety of behaviors which relate to cyberbullying.

This study evaluates archival data from a home intervention with an at-risk preschool child and her family. The intervention model studied was created by the Developmental Research Lab at Texas Christian University. Data was collected prior to and during the first 4 weeks of intervention to assess change in parent-child interaction, behavior and neurochemical profile. Measures used include coding of videotape recordings of the intervention, neurotransmitter levels taken via subject urine samples, Child Behavior Checklist, Parent Stress Index, and ACTeRS Parent Form. Results suggest positive change in parent-child interaction, behavior and neurochemical profile. However, consistent growth was not observed in several neurochemical results. Future studies should assess the entirety of the home intervention model and with a larger sample size.

The demand for support for children and families impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continues to grow, and one increasingly popular avenue of support is the use of therapeutic canines. Parents searching for service canines trained to work with children with ASD however face formidable obstacles surrounding the availability and cost of canines. Due to these challenges, parents may seek less formal routes to support their children with ASD, often adding companion canines to their family. Despite enthusiasm for integrating companion canines into the care plan, research examining human-animal bonding in children with ASD and the mechanisms through which child-canine bonding occurs in this population is needed. Furthermore, research identifying factors that influence children on the spectrum’s ability to bond with a companion canine is meagre. Given the nuanced interactions that exist to indicate the presence or absence of bonding (e.g., proximity, initiations of interactions and touch), this exploratory case study employed interviews and observations to gain insights into the mechanisms or pathways through which child-canine bonding occurs and to identify factors contributing to this bonding process. Families (N=6), with a child aged 5-14 years with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD and their family canine, participated in the study. Using the components of attachment theory (i.e., safe haven, secure base, proximity seeking, and separation anxiety) as a framework to categorize thematic responses, directed content analysis was used to identify whether the child-canine relationship could be conceptualized as an attachment relationship. Conventional content analysis was used to identify key themes characterizing child-canine bonding arising in interviews and observations and later verified by field notes. Findings revealed support for the use of Bowlby’s theory to understanding child-canine bonding with proximity maintenance identified as the most prevalent component followed by secure base, safe haven, and separation anxiety. A cross-case analysis revealed seven prevalent themes characterizing child-canine bonding. The themes that were identified included: 1) Canine Acquisition; 2) Bonding Strategies; 3) Canine Characteristics; 4) Canine as Family Member; 5) Family Profile; 6) Benefits; and 7) Other. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are addressed.
Education, Faculty of (Okanagan)
Graduate

The present study is a microanalytic analysis of the communicative interaction between Inuit caregivers and their children at 16 and 20 months of age. The caregivers in the study included an older more traditional mother, a younger less traditional mother, and a teenage sibling caregiver. Videotaped samples of naturalistic interaction between the Inuit caregivers and children were coded for communicative intent using the Inventory of Communicative Acts-Abridged (Ninio, Wheeler, Snow, Pan, & Rollins, 1991). Preliminary comparisons between the Inuit data and the results of studies of white middle-class caregiver-child interaction were also assessed. Results of the study demonstrate that there are differences in caregiver-child interaction within the Inuit culture and between the Inuit and the white-middle class culture. The implications of these findings for interactionist theories of language acquisition such as Bruner's Language Acquisition Support System (1981, 1985) are discussed.

This study examines the impact of parental metharnphetmline use on the child welfare system in Cobb County Department of Family and Children Services. This study was based on the prenlise that methmnphetamine is contributing to mi increase in the number of children entering the child welfare system in large numbers. Data was gathered and analyzed from surveys completed by case managers in the Plepartment of Family and Children Services in Cobb County, Georgia. Findings from the study revealed that of the thirty participants, ninety-three percent agreed that parental methamphetamine use is impacting the child welfare system greatly. The conclusions drawn from the finding suggest that additional research and services are needed in child welfare systems to assist the parents in successful recovery and lessen the burden on the system.

This thesis is an exploratory ecological study of the role of the family environment as it relates to a number of variables under investigation in the Vancouver Day Care Research Project's extensive contextual study of children enrolled in family day care settings. These variables include child language scores, indices of socio-economic status, conditions of maternal employment and attitudes related to maternal employment, other measures of the home environment, and parental attitudes to childrearing. In addition, the family environments of the family day care caregivers were examined in relation to the quality of care provided. The Moos Family Environment Scale (1986) was administered to parents and caregivers enrolled in the study. Scores from its ten subscales were correlated with measures of the variables of interest and then tested for significance. Data was then analyzed for important trends, patterns and highlights. Results showed that exposure of family members to stimulating ideas and activities is facilitative of child language skills, while an emphasis on achievement seems to have a negative effect. Families from higher socio-economic status homes seemed to be more likely to provide these opportunities for their children, particularly if they are well-educated. Findings also indicate that mothers who are satisfied with their employment tend to provide more positive family environments for their children than those who are working reluctantly. Mothers who worked part-time also appeared to provide better family environments than did those who experienced the increased stress of full-time employment. Adult-centered parenting values which stressed obedience were associated with family environments which were less facilitative of child cognitive development, whereas homes with child-centered parenting values appeared to be more positive. Family day care caregivers who provided superior childcare were found to be more organized in their own families, more supportive of one another, and more able to allow their family members to function independently than were other caregivers. There was considerable overlap in the results for each variable of interest; many similar features were found in the environments which were considered optimal in terms of language development, socio-economic factors, conditions of maternal employment, attitudes to childrearing, and high quality care for children. The study results strongly support the importance of exposure to a wide range of intellectual and cultural stimuli, participation in activities outside the home, expression of feelings amongst family members, and well-organized family functioning in the creation of optimal family environments; an emphasis on achievement, and the use of rigid rules and doctrine were found to be deleterious to the creation of positive home environments.
Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
Graduate

The foundation for this thesis was extrapolated from a case study of a male with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This study explores one man's journey of survival and the recurring issues that have deterred his complete healing. Sexual abuse is examined in its social and political context as well as issues related to male victimization. The myths and stereotypes surrounding males who have been sexually abused are addressed. The notion that only women are sexually abused and that men abuse, is challenged.
This case is analyzed by focusing on the trauma, the immediate effects, the immediate adaptation and the long term consequences. The long term effects are addressed in-depth and focus on issues such as grief and loss and attachment related difficulties. The theory that links attachment in infancy and attachment-related trauma to later dissociative symptoms is addressed. Also, the notion that abuse is often symptomatic of the system of caregiving within the family is argued. The nature and duration of the abuse is not random, but systematically related to the family's functioning. In this respect, Dissociative Identity Disorder is viewed as an adaptive technique resulting from an abusive situation, rather than a pathology.
The importance of incorporating a loss model in treating these individuals is emphasized by addressing non-bereavement losses and attachment related issues.

The problem of this study was to determine if employee child care difficulties were related to absenteeism. A case study was conducted among sixty-three employees at a north Dallas bank using a survey questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze child care difficulties. A majority of employees experienced difficulty when co-workers had child care problems. A majority of the parent employees had difficulty finding sick or emergency/temporary child care, affording child care, and working overtime due to child care. The majority of parents had child care related absences and work interruptions and thirty-nine percent of them considered quitting their jobs due to child care problems. This study implied the need for employer-supported child care options for the bank employees.

The Rosebush Visualization Technique (RVT) (Allan & Crandall,1986) a projective art technique, and Q sort Methodology were combined in an experiment to test their usefulness in assessing sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Forty two children between the ages of 8 and 13 inclusive were selected from four groups; the sexually abused with a mean age of 9.5, physically abused with a mean age of 10.75, emotionally neglected with a mean age of 9.0; and children who had suffered neither abuse nor neglect with a mean age of 9.7. In accordance with the RVT, the subjects were instructed to take a minute or two to imagine themselves as a rosebush. Each child then inspected 24 drawings of rosebushes selected from a previous study using the RVT and representing a range of trauma from no known trauma to severe trauma, from amongst the four groups. Each child then selected and ordered the 24 drawings into those rosebushes that were most and least like their own visualizations. Each child subsequently developed a Q-sort of the 24 drawings that was analyzed by both Q-sort methodology and analysis of variance techniques. The results indicated that the Q-sort analyses did not support the hypotheses that traumatized children would select drawings completed by similarly traumatized children. However, a follow up repeated measures analysis of variance indicated a significant joint group x picture effect at the .05 level of significance. A study of these joint effects indicated that the two different groups, traumatized and nontraumatized, did in fact differentially identify some of the pictures, but not on the basis expected. This finding provides support for the hypothesis that children's preference for a set of pictures reflects their own background of abuse or non abuse. The implications of this finding for clinical practice and research are discussed.
Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
Graduate

The present study consists of two experiments that analyze the effects of high and low densities of reinforcemnt on the maladaptive behaviors of a 9 year old girl with autism. The first experiment investigates the isolated effects of density of reinforcement on the frequency of maladaptive behaviors during a motor imitation teaching task. High densities of reinforcement produced fewer occurrences of maladaptive behavior than low densities of reinforcement. Experiment 2 analyzes the effects of density of reinforcement during the same teaching tasks as in experiment 1 on maladaptive behavior, task accuracy, prompt resistance, and language. Maladaptive behavior did not recur during experiment 2. High density of reinforcement conditions during the second experiment showed a positive effect on the accuracy of responding and compliance with prompts.

Thesis (MMil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last forty years Africa has been one of the most conflict-ridden regions in the world, resulting in untold human suffering. It has been estimated that between 1955 and 1999 some nine to ten million people have died as a result of violent conflict in Africa. However, those suffering the most in these wars are not merely the defenceless victims of conflict, but also its active perpetrators. More than 120 000 children under the age of 18 years have been forced or recruited to participate in armed conflicts across Africa. Although the use of children in armed conflict is not a new phenomenon, it has never been as widespread and as brutal as during the past decade. Governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, security institutes and the media have conducted extensive research on the phenomenon of child soldiers, specifically focusing on the demobilisation and reintegration of child combatants. Surprisingly, not much research has been conducted on why particular states are more prone to utilise these little soldiers than others. This thesis attempts to fill that gap by analysing the circumstances under which children are utilised as soldiers in Africa. This aim is divided into three subdivisions, namely to describe the type of states in which children are utilised as soldiers, to analyse the conflicts in which child soldiers are utilised, and to describe the socio-economic conditions that urge children to take up arms. An analysis of the child soldier-phenomenon suggests that it transpires in weak states. These states exhibit very distinct characteristics, including serious problems of legitimacy, the absence of one cohesive national identity, the presence of opposing local strongmen, high levels of institutional weakness, economic underdevelopment, and a vulnerability to external international forces. The weakness of these states is created by the fragmentation of social control amongst various social organisations, which is in turn caused by the expansion of the world economy from Europe and also by colonialism. This fragmentation poses immense challenges to state leaders and forces them to adopt very distinct political policies, which put certain limitations on the process of state-making. In response to this, leaders have adopted a number of social, political and economic strategies. These, together with the socio-economic conditions - specifically poverty - within weak states often create civil violence. These strategies include political centralisation, authoritarianism, ethnic politics, the manipulation of democratic processes and mechanisms, patronage politics and the manipulation of state economic structures and policies. However, in order to successfully execute these strategies, rulers need wealth-creating resources, which usually result in the exploitation of scarce natural resources. Warlords and local strongmen also exploit resources to purchase arms to combat both government forces and opposing strongmen. In addition, large international private companies cash in on the financial advantages accrued from conflict. This leads to the formation of entrenched war economies. In the end then, these wars becomean excuse to plunder natural resources for private enrichment. A very distinct characteristic of these conflicts is the widespread use of child soldiers. All the armed groups in Africa's wars, including government armed forces, paramilitary groups and armed opposition groups, are to a greater or lesser extent guilty of recruiting, forcefully conscripting, press-ganging and deploying child soldiers. However, states that utilise child soldiers all exhibit similar socio-economic characteristics. Poverty is endemic. Famine is widespread and magnifies the problems caused by war and poverty even further. The provision of medical and health care is insufficient because of the vast number of war wounded and the destruction of hospitals and clinics. This is also aggravated by the high numbers of HIV/AIDS sufferers. Schools are destroyed, educational systems are often poorly developed and illiteracy is widespread. In addition, due to years of war and civil unrest, millions of people are displaced and forced to become refugees. These socio-economic characteristics create the ideal breeding ground for the recruitment of child soldiers.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die afgelope veertig jaar was Afrika een van die mees konflikgedrewe streke in die wêreld wat op onbeskryflike menslike lyding uitgeloop het. Dit is bereken dat tussen 1955 en 1999 ongeveer nege tot tien miljoen persone gesterf het as gevolg van die gewelddadige konflikte in Afrika. Maar diegene wat die meeste in sulke oorloë gely het, was nie maar net die weerlose slagoffers van die konflik nie, maar hulle was inderdaad ook aktiewe deelnemers daaraan. Meer as 120 000 kinders onder die ouderdom van 18 jaar is gedwing of gewerf om aan gewapende konflik regoor Afrika deel te neem. Alhoewel die deelname van kinders aan gewapende konflik nie 'n nuwe verskynsel is nie, was dit nog nooit so wydverspreid en so brutaal soos tydens die afgelope dekade nie. Regeringsorganisasies, nie-regeringsorganisasies, akademiese instellings, sekerheidsinstellings en die media het uitgebreide navorsing onderneem oor die verskynsel van kindersoldate, en spesifiek gefokus op die demobilisering en herintegrasie van kinderkrygers. Verbasend genoeg is nie veel navorsing gedoen oor waarom spesifieke state meer gereed staan om hierdie klein soldaatjies aan te wend as andere nie. Hierdie tesis poog om hierdie kennisgaping te vul deur die omstandighede waaronder kinders as soldate in Afrika aangewend word, te analiseer. Die doel hiermee word in drie onderafdelings verdeel, naamlik om die tipes state te beskryf waarin kinders as soldate aangewend word, om die konflikte te analiseer waarin kindersoldate gebruik word en ook om die sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede te beskryf wat kinders aanspoor om die wapen op te neem. 'n Analise van die kindersoldaatverskynsel dui aan dat dit in swak state voorkom. Hierdie state openbaar besonderse kenmerke, insluitende ernstige probleme rakende legitimiteit, die afwesigheid van 'n enkele samebindende nasionale identiteit, die aanwesigheid van plaaslike sterk leiers, hoë vlakke van institusionele swakhede, ekonomiese onderontwikkeling en In blootstelling aan eksterne internasionale kragte. Die swakhede van hierdie state het ontstaan deur die fragmentering van sosiale beheer onder verskeie sosiale organisasies, wat op hul beurt veroorsaak is deur die uitbreiding van die wêreldekonomie vanuit Europa en ook deur kolonialisme. Hierdie fragmentering gee aanleiding tot ontsaglike uitdagings vir staatsleiers en dwing hulle om onderskeidende politieke beleidsrigtings toe te pas wat weer sekere beperkings op die proses van staatsvorming plaas. In antwoord hierop het leiers 'n aantal sosiale, politieke en ekonomiese strategieë aanvaar. Tesame met die sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede - en spesifiek armoede - skep hierdie strategieë dikwels burgerlike geweld binne swak state. Sulke strategieë sluit in politieke sentralisasie, outoritêre oorheersing, etniese beleidsrigtings, die manipulering van demokratiese prosesse en meganismes, die politiek van beskerming en begunstiging, asook die manipulering van die staat se ekonomiese strukture en beleidsrigtings. Maar om hierdie strategieë suksesvol uit te voer, benodig die heersers welvaartskeppende hulpbronne wat gewoonlik uitloop op die uitbuiting van skaars natuurlike hulpbronne. Gewapende aanvoerders en plaaslike onderdrukkers plunder ook hulpbronne om wapens aan te skaf om sowel regeringsmagte asook opponerende onderdrukkers te beveg. Daarby trek internasionale private maatskappye ook voordeel uit die finansiële opbrengste wat uit konflik verkry word. Dit alles lei tot die totstandkoming van verskanste oorlogsekonomieë. In die finale analise word hierdie oorloë bloot 'n verskoning om natuurlike hulpbronne vir eie verryking te plunder. 'n Baie onderskeidende kenmerk van hierdie konflikte is die wydverspreide aanwending van kindersoldate. AI die gewapende groepe in Afrika se oorloë, insluitende regerings se gewapende magte, paramilitêre groepe en gewapende opposisiegroepe, is almal tot mindere of meerdere mate skuldig aan die werwing, gewelddadige rekrutering en aanwending en ook die ontplooiing van kindersoldate. State wat kindersoldate gebruik, toon almal soortgelyke sosio-ekonomiese kenmerke. Armoede is endemies. Hongersnood is wydverspreid en vererger die probleme wat deur oorloë en armoede veroorsaak is. Die voorsiening van mediese- en gesondheidsorg is onvoldoende as gevolg van die hoë aantal HIVNigslyers. Skole is vernietig, onderwysstelsels is dikwels onderontwikkeld en ongeletterdheid is wydverspreid. As gevolg van jare se oorloë en burgerlike onrus word miljoene mense verder ook uit hul huise gedryf en gedwing om vlugtelinge te word. Hierdie sosio-ekonomiese kenmerke skep die ideale teelaarde vir die werwing van kindersoldate.

The research presented in this dissertation covers three separate topics of conservation as defined by the National Science Foundation: 1) Materials Stabilization, Strengthening, Monitoring, and Repair; 2. Understanding Material Degradation and Aging; and 3) Materials and Structural Characterization of Cultural Heritage Objects (the `technical study'). The first topic is addressed through a study to assess the consolidant tetraethoxysilane for the stabilization of alum treated wood. Falling under materials degradation studies is a study published in American Museum Novitates to understand how environmental conditions affect the aging of fossil resins from five different deposits. Two separate studies are included in technical study of cultural heritage objects which comprises the third research area of materials characterization. The first is a survey of red dyes used in Chinese paintings from the Ming Dynasty to the Early Republic (1364-1911). The second is a study of the pigments, dyes and binders used in Hawaiian barkcloth (kapa) from the 19th century.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1985.
MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY.
Bibliography: leaves 149-155.
by Martha H. Sewell.
M.S.

Includes bibliographical references.
This research examines the problem of child labour in Tanzania. It seeks to explore the magnitude, scope, causes and consequences of child labour, and the worst forms of child labour. Children are defined as persons less than 18 years and child labour refers to specific categories of children between 5 years and 18 years who are economically active. Children may be involved in paid as well as unpaid work within the formal and informal sectors, or in urban and rural areas. The Worst Forms of Child Labour include slavery, prostitution or pornography, illicit activities and hazardous work. As in many African societies, Tanzania's children are expected to carry out several tasks as they progress to adulthood under the principle of preparing them to be adults; this is generally referred to as 'socialization'. These tasks often place children in danger or expose them to unhealthy, dirty, strenuous, moral and exploitative conditions and constitute the type of child labour that the Tanzanian government is concerned about.