Dissertations / Theses: 'Kinship care'

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Ince, Lynda C. "Kinship Care : an Afrocentric perspective." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2010. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/492/.

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This thesis explores the experiences and meanings that are attributed to kinship care by caregivers, young people of African descent, and social workers. It examined the meanings each group attached to kinship care and the risk and resilience they saw within it. The research was framed within the culturally distinctive theoretical framework of the Afrocentric paradigm which encapsulates cultural values. A qualitative approach was adopted for data collection, using interviews, and aspects of Grounded Theory for data analysis. The findings show that kinship care is a survival strategy that has historical significance for people of African descent, because it is linked to a tradition of help and a broad base of support. The study found that while local authorities were formally placing children with their relatives, there was a distinct lack of policy development to support kinship care as a welfare service. The absence of clearly identified support structures, tools for assessment, training and monitoring increased the risk factors for children who were placed in kinship care. Resilience was transferred through the Afrocentric cultural values, a key factor that led to family preservation and placement stability. The study concluded that there is an urgent need to reframe policy and practice.

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Carriere-Laboucane, Jeannine. ""Kinship care: A community alternative to foster care"." School of Native Human Services, 1997. http://142.51.24.159/dspace/handle/10219/470.

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I realized the importance of kinship connection and family preservation the first time I met one of my birth family members at age twelve. As an adopted child, I often felt I was living in a borrowed state of being. In someone else's family, borrowing someone else's name and culture. Meeting my birth family and recognizing my connection to the Metis community gave me a sense of belonging for the first time in my life.

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Okruhlicová, Naďa. "Simply Wood : The Kinship of Care." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för design (DE), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-95488.

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Simply Wood is a collaborative inquiry into the topic of all wood joints for industrially produced furniture through engineering and the culture of care for and with furniture through Design+Change. This thesis is written in collaboration with the product development and communication wings from IKEA of Sweden, as the external tutors and supervisors. The design part, called the Kinship of Care, focuses on the culture of care between IKEA’s fast furniture and its user. This research, Kinship of care, consists of slow design principles reveal, expand, and reflect that serve as a cyclic timeline through the design process. Reader, the new caregiver is at the beginning introduced into the field of Slow Design and what does it mean to be the agent of change in today’s world. As the thesis unfolds, the section Reveal expresses challenges IKEA is facing when it comes to the culture of care. These challenges serve as a foundation from which this thesis builds its shape. The notion of care is highly abundant in meanings, and the understanding of furniture is quite narrow and static. The sectionReveal reframes the idea of care in collaboration with other caregivers in the form of a Caregiver manifesto for Living in Times of Social Distancing. The notion of furniture is revalued during an intervention walk Beyond Furniture that reveals hidden connections to furniture in the forest. Once the concepts of furniture and care are reframed, they are brought together and reimagined in the next section Expand. Expand uses tools of bisociation to combine seemingly unrelated notions together. All this information is transformed in conclusion into seeds for caring with furniture that serves as carative guidelines, guidelines that motivate caregiving behaviour in one’s household, and guidelines for imagining caring furniture. In the last section Reflect, the reader contemplates the life of furniture and learns to let go for sustainable disposal practices through the Love and the Breakup letters. This section also contains an interview with a caregiving practitioner, a furniture upholsterer. In conclusion, seeds for caring with furniture are introduced in the form of a moving zine. This thesis, Simply Wood, encourages the reader, fast-furniture user, and fast-furniture producer, to become a slow caregiver in this fast-changing society and offers tools for re-conceptualizing rooted notions of care and furniture.

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Clark, Nancy Elizabeth. "Perceptions of satisfaction in the delivery of services to kinship and non-kinship care providers." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2463.

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Assim, Usang Maria. "Understanding kinship care of children in Africa: a family environment or an alternative care option?" Thesis, University of Western Cape, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/3476.

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Doctor Legum - LLD
In Africa generally, orphaned and vulnerable children are traditionally cared for by their relatives or close family friends; this is an abiding practice even in contemporary times. This was historically considered to be a moral obligation binding on different relatives in different ways or at differing levels. In the face of the increasing complexities and changing demographics in African societies, high levels of poverty and socioeconomic inequalities as well as the incidence of HIV and AIDS, among others, the traditional family continues to undergo structural changes and experience various challenges which make child rearing responsibilities difficult to cope with especially in the context of loss of parental care. Nonetheless, the extended family system still bears the greatest burden in caring for such children, despite the obligation of governments to provide alternative care for children without parental care. The care of children who have become deprived of parental care by other relatives/family members or family friends is generally described as kinship care. This study seeks to examine kinship care against the background of international children’s rights law as encapsulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, among others. Thus, this research seeks answers to a number of related research questions such as: Does the international children’s rights framework recognise or provide for kinship care as a measure of alternative care for children deprived of a family environment? What is the history and practice of kinship care in Africa and what are the challenges confronting kinship care in contemporary African societies? What is the relationship between kinship care and the child protection system? And what forms of support are available for kinship care at both the international and national levels? Four main themes are considered in separate chapters of the thesis as follows: the contextual and historical background to kinship care in Africa; the international and regional legal framework on the right to alternative care; the conceptualisation of kinship care as alternative care; and the law and practice of kinship care in selected domestic jurisdictions. South Africa and Namibia are the main focus of this study in the chapter on the status of kinship care at the domestic level. This is mainly because both countries have made some progress in the attempts at (legally) providing for kinship care and addressing some of its attendant challenges, with a particular emphasis on the provision of support for kinship care.

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Hu, Yang. "Constructions of children's needs in informal kinship care in rural China." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61885/1/Yang_Hu_Thesis.pdf.

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Kinship care is the oldest form of alternative child care in the world. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of children being placed in kinship care across Western countries. However, in contrast to rapid knowledge advances about formal kinship care, far less is known about the needs of children in informal kinship care, especially in Asian contexts. This thesis and the study upon which it is formed sought to redress this knowledge gap. Qualitative approach was adopted to explore social constructions of children in informal kinship care in rural China. Parents in China seeking work in cities have left behind around 58 million rural children, mostly with relatives and without the involvement of the state. The present study examined caregivers’ and school personnel’s understandings of these school-age children’s needs through semi-structured interviews with 23 kin caregivers and five school personnel in Shijiapu Town, Jilin Province, China. The central question that guided the whole study is: What are the needs of children in informal kinship care in rural Jilin Province, China? Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to categorise and interpret the qualitative data. Based on participants’ constructions, this study developed a need model with eight themes. They are: (1) emotional needs and mental health, (2) relationships, (3) empowerment and agency, (4) safety, (5) education, (6) basic care, (7) physical health, and (8) personal development. These needs are grounded in the Chinese context, and therefore a good understanding of Chinese culture is essential to address them. The first four needs particularly capture children’s separations from their parents, and the rest are more general, and can be applied to most Chinese children. To meet the most important need for children left behind, namely education, these caregivers determined that others needs sometimes have to be compromised. Children left behind are a vulnerable group in contemporary rural China, and their diverse needs are attended to by several groups. This study found that as children’s closest kin while their parents are away, caregivers play a vital role in salving the children’s emotional loss. Caregivers’ love and familial obligations strongly motivate them to care for these children, and sensitivity to social stigma makes them strive to show their love and care to compensate for perceived differences between these children and their peers. Caregivers’ efforts to make children happy, however, were sometimes criticised by some school personnel, who see this as spoiling. The conflicting viewpoint between caregivers and school personnel indicate their different roles and perceptions in children’s lives, and the latter influence these children in a more authoritative way. Informal kinship care has several advantages of addressing children’s needs, especially their needs for emotional bonds with family. Community-based kin networks provide children with both emotional and material support. However, these advantages sometimes are restricted by caregivers’ child rearing capacity. Having developed a model of the needs of children left behind in China, this study suggests that caregivers, school personnel and government social services work in harmony to be child-centred and meet these children’s diverse needs. The unmet needs of children left behind mainly result from unbalanced development between urban and rural China, therefore, it is imperative to enhance state policies and programs that improve wellbeing for this growing part of China’s people.

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Heath, Mac. "Developing kinship care : a case of evidence based social work practice?" Thesis, University of Sussex, 2013. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/45652/.

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This thesis provides a description and analysis of contemporary policy and practice in kinship care within three local authorities in England. The aim is to examine the extent to which government policy principles and available research evidence have translated into professional practice on the ground in different agency settings and to consider the implications of these findings for future management planning in this field. This is approached through considering UK research on kinship and examining the relationship between the statutory principles driving policies and the way the three local authorities have responded. This is with a view to questioning how kinship locally has influenced social work practice at a case level and compares local policies and practice against wider research evidence. Proposals are made about the modelling of a more effective approach to social work practice and management in kinship care planning. This study of different authorities and their approaches to kinship explores some of the challenges by which policy principles and research findings get translated into social work practice in a field of practice and theory that is itself contested. The study was undertaken in four stages: 1. A review of the extent to which local authority policies are compliant and consistent with statutory rules and contemporary research findings on kinship care. 2. A comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between policies and their formation in three studied authorities. 3. An analysis of the extent to which local management and social work practice, as reported, is consistent with policy and research. 4. The modelling of a Kinship care Definition and Policy Model could be proposed that is compliant with the principles of the Children Act 1989 and responsive to the research findings. The challenge set out in this research is to bridge academic research, policy formulation and operational practice. This research does not seek to evidence best practice in its own right but to recognise the variance of kinship in practice and approach and, from knowledge gained, set out a proposed model of good practice, one that is responsive to the findings and could be adopted within local authorities in England.

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Hill, Lindsay. "Using a resilience framework to explore and develop kinship care practice." Thesis, University of Brighton, 2015. https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/e2b22107-4e7d-477c-8189-debb8f9338ce.

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This thesis explores how Resilient Therapy (RT) a published approach to operationalizing the findings of resilience research was introduced to formal kinship carers who are looking after children who have experienced abuse and neglect. The RT approach is underpinned by four key principles and it has five domains that can be used by parents and professionals as an aide memoire to inform practice. The research examined the question: How can an RT approach be implemented in support of kinship care practice?

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Sandoval-Cervantes, Ivan. "The Intersections of Transnational and Internal Migration: Gender, Kinship, and Care." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/20471.

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This dissertation analyzes the intersections of different forms of migrations, and how such intersections shape and are shaped by gendered kinship and care relationships. In other words, I analyze how the ways in which people relate, and how they define and redefine their gender identities as they become mobile in diverse ways. This dissertation is based on ethnographic research conducted with the Zapotec community of Zegache, Oaxaca. Research took place in Oaxaca (Mexico), Mexico City, and Oregon. I approach the study of different migrations from a transborder perspective that is able to better capture how the crossing of different borders (national, regional, ethnic, rural and urban) has different meanings and consequences for migrant men and women from Zegache. I analyze how different forms of mobility and migration are constructed and discussed in scholarly works and “in the field.” The definition of who is a migrant is even more complicated as we consider that men and women from Zegache often engage in more than one form of migration. Thus, women who migrate to Mexico City sometimes will also migrate to the U.S. Even if women don’t migrate, they are increasingly becoming mobile and commuting to Oaxaca City, and are often in families with transnational migrants. In the same manner, men who join the military (which, I argue, is a form of migration) often become transnational migrants themselves. This dissertation looks at the articulations of intersecting migrations shows how relatedness and gender identities become constructed and re-constructed when people become mobile.

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Greenwood, Judith Mary. "Kinship care placement: Do grandparents' relationships with birthparents affect placement outcomes?" CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2819.

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This study will explore whether the relationships between grandparents and birthparents affect kinship care placement outcomes for court dependent children. Data was extracted from an existing study of kinship care providers.

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Gobind, Teracia. "Birth family contact and placement outcomes for children in kinship and foster care." Thesis, University of Canterbury. School of Health Sciences, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8082.

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A prospective, exploratory study examined the relationships between birth family contact factors and long-term placement outcomes for children who are in foster or kinship care in New South Wales. The present study utilized data which was collected for 338 children in the Children in Care study; which was conducted between 1999 and 2009. This included data that was collected from a baseline survey and a review of case files from the State Child Welfare database. The participants of the Children in Care study were between four and eleven years of age. The present study involved a series of statistical analyses including: correlations, chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVAS, multiple linear regressions, and binary logistic regressions. Some linear associations were identified between frequency of contact and reported issues, frequency of contact and restoration, and children’s reactions to contact and reported issues. However; these associations were found to be insignificant when controlling for other significant predictors in regression models. None of the birth family contact variables examined in the present analyses were found to be significant predictors of further abuse/behavioural issues in care, placement stability, or restoration. Some of the significant predictors of such outcomes included: age at entry into care; pre-care mental health; previous placements, care arrangements; and caregivers support and contact with other foster carers. Overall, the present analyses highlighted that contact may not necessarily have detrimental, or beneficial impacts on children in care; however further research in this domain is required in order to identify if other contact factors may have any impact on outcomes for children in kinship or foster care.

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Manthosi, Frans Lesetja. "Kinship foster care – perceptions and experiences of grandparents regarding fostering their teenage offspring." University of the Western Cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7977.

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Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS)
Kinship foster care in South Africa, whereby orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) are being cared for by their biological relatives, is increasing. The significant increase in kinship foster care has a strong correlation to the high rates of HIV/AIDS-related deaths, resulting in a high prevalence of children who are vulnerable and orphaned. Social workers are mandated to seek alternative care placements for such OVC, prioritising kinship care as opposed to foster care with non-biological families. However, such kinship foster care, in which children are likely to be placed in the care of their grandparents, as common practice in South Africa, is not without challenges relating to family dynamics, especially when foster children become teenagers.

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Bozin, Marie A. "Delinquency, Foster Care Placement, Attachment, and Race." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1208802867.

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Hamlin, Allyson Foster. "A Phenomenological Study on the Challenges Experienced by Kinship Adopters." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5628.

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This research addressed the social and emotional challenges kinship adoptive families have encountered when their adopted child's trauma symptomology surfaces. The unique relationship between the adoptive relative and the kinship child offered a different view on the coping techniques used by kinship families and uncovered areas where resources could support permanency. In this phenomenological study, 12 interviews with relative adoptive parents guided by the attachment and family system theories, offered insight to what fosters or degrades the bond with the adopted child. Using post-adoption resource events, service agencies, and community resources, this study recruited participants through flyers posted on websites, agency waiting areas, public bulletin boards, and email distribution. The self-selected respondents learned more about the study to decide if they would participate. The data reached saturation after 12 interviews and the transcribed accounts were reviewed with each corresponding participant. Using NVivo 11 to organize the data,, the transcribed interviews were compared to discover themes inherent to the adoptive relative parent(s). Learning about kinship challenges after adopting a child exposed to maltreatment, neglect, or pre-adoptive trauma and the methods used by these families to overcome thoughts of dissolution or their discovery of areas that would benefit from supportive resources may contribute to the understanding of successful kinship adoption. The implication for social change is the decrease in dissolution rates of the adoptive relationship, thereby creating permanency outcomes in the lives of the children and creating a system of care that is proactive to societal needs and influential in providing for future generations.

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Pratchett, Rebecca. "Exploring outcomes of children and young people in kinship care in South Wales." Thesis, Swansea University, 2018. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa45015.

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Around 30,000 young people enter care every year, with more than a fifth of those being placed with a relative or close family friend in kinship care. Literature has suggested that kinship care may be a positive avenue for providing alternative out-of-home care to young people in a cost-effective manner. However, some studies have pointed to systematic challenges in formalising kinship care, which threatens to undermine the benefits of a family-based placement. These include permanency options such as Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs). This study will explore some of the outcomes of formal kinship care placements. The objective of this thesis is to explore the implications of a theoretical shift from formal care toward a kinship model via three study aims: to explore factors affecting stability within kinship care; to assess the relative wellbeing of young people in kinship care who are looked after; and to assess the educational achievement of looked after young people in kinship care. The study employs a mixed design comprised of two phases. Phase One explores the destination of early care leavers (n= 271) of whom 71 were in kinship care and care leavers ‘aging out’ (n= 48) of whom three were in kinship care. The exploration was comprised of a case file audit in two local authorities with follow-up of medium-term placement outcomes for early care leavers (12 months) and those aging out of care (18 months). Phase two explores the impact of kinship care on young people and kinship carers. Standardised measures explored the mental health, emotional literacy, attachment, cognitive skills, literacy and numeracy of young people. Bespoke questionnaires captured quantitative and qualitative data regarding placement characteristics and viewpoints from young people in kinship care (n=21), their carers (n=24), and their social workers (n=21). These areas were further explored via semi-structured interviews with each participant and a focus group of supervising social workers (n=4). Results from phase one indicate that pre-leaving care placement type had an effect on the post-care destination of young people leaving care early and that SGOs are stable in the medium-term. Phase two results demonstrated that kinship care is beneficial for the mental health and attachment of young people within the care system. The study also found kinship care to be advantageous in maintaining a strong personal and family identity. The study reports novel data on the educational attainment of young people in formal kinship care finding that children are achieving at an appropriate level as predicted by cognitive ability. However, attempts to regulate formal kinship placements from within the current model has created hardship for kinship carers, has led to feelings of intrusion and undermined the concept of family. This thesis posits that it is crucial that the social work system adapts to incorporate the differing needs of kinship carers rather than attempting to shoehorn a family unit into a professionalised care model. The concept of a dual model of social care, in which foster placements and kinship placements are treated as inherently different, is discussed in relation to modern social work practice.

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Cooper, Kimberlea. "Being a parent, but not : the role of foster and kinship carers in supporting children and young people." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2020. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/173693.

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Home-based carers play an important role in the lives of children and young people. In Victoria, Australia, home-based care is now the most common form of alternative care, reflecting national and international trends. However, home-based care does currently face some challenges, such as shortages of carers. Therefore, strengthening this form of care through the training and support of foster and kinship carers is a key priority of Victoria’s reforms of child and family services. In the context of a university-industry collaboration, the current research drew upon the expertise of sixteen foster and kinship carers in the Central Highlands region of Victoria. Using constructivist grounded theory, the research sought to understand how carers support children and young people and how they see their role. In addition, the research sought carers’ perspectives on their interactions with the Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) system, including what they find supportive and challenging. The research revealed that home-based carers see some elements of their role as parenting, and others as going beyond parenting. The carers utilise principles of trauma-informed care to support children and young people, but do not experience trauma-informed support from the OOHC system. This discrepancy suggests that the implementation of trauma-informed care has the potential to increase pressure on home-based carers if it is only encouraged at the interpersonal level between carers and children and does not incorporate associated systems-level change. Therefore, this research proposes that whilst micro-level support and training for carers is necessary and useful, it is crucial to move beyond such initiatives to make macro-level reform. This research also raises doubts regarding the capacity of home-based care to become fully trauma-informed due to potential incompatibilities with the current risk-averse and deficit-oriented paradigm of the child protection system.
Doctor of Philosophy

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Davey, Jill. "The care of kin : a case study approach to kinship care in the south of England and Zululand, South Africa." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2016. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/25573/.

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This thesis focuses on kinship care specifically for children and young people requiring this provision away from their biological parent and for whom Children’s Social Services, United Kingdom and Child Welfare Agencies, South Africa, have a statutory responsibility (UK CA, 1989; SA CA, 2005). The study explores kinship care from a multifaceted viewpoint. A case study approach, incorporating interviews and observations was adopted for the data collection and a thematic analysis approach utilised for the data analysis. A total of thirty-two interviews were undertaken, in both the United Kingdom and South Africa, involving seventeen kinship carers and fifteen social workers. This study highlights practice complexities experienced in the care of kin in the United Kingdom and South Africa and considers similarities and differences across the two distinct cultural settings and relevant philosophical, but divergent, underlying ideologies. Findings from this study show that kinship carers who participate in statutory assessments are forced to surrender some of their privacy and autonomy in return for legal endorsement and financial remuneration. Attitudes towards kinship carers are dependent on the social construction of an underlying cultural philosophy or ideology that determines what is best for the child in each country. Specifically, in relation to the United Kingdom, the study found that kinship legislation is often ignored by local authorities, and tacitly ignored by other government agencies. With regard to South Africa, the study found that the poverty issues in Zululand prevent carers from adequately caring for their kin, and issues of illiteracy prevent many carers applying for grants that would alleviate their situations. This research clearly demonstrates that immediate changes need to be made to improve the way in which kinship care legislation and policy are created and then put into practice in both countries. Furthermore, recommendations are made in relation to the training and up-skilling of social workers involved in kinship care provision.

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Hughes, Catherine. "Kinship care : how is the role perceived? : what are the specific difficulties and support needs?" Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/kinship-care-how-is-the-role-perceived-what-are-the-specific-difficulties-and-support-needs(98e12bd2-4905-4cf1-bf94-933c91470c5a).html.

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Many countries have seen an increase in the last 20 years in the number of children cared for by their Grandparents (Edwards & Sweeney, 2007; Edwards & Taub, 2009; Worrall, 2009). In the UK, Looked After Children (LAC) are increasingly being placed with kinship carers, formally known as ‘Family and Friends Care’ following guidance from The Children’s Act (2004). Support for this growing group of carers appears sporadic, and there has been some delay both in practice and procedures in responding to this increase in placement type. Children who are looked after by any carer other than their birth parents are more likely to experience difficulties within the educational context (Dent & Cameron, 2003). The increasing number of these children has implications for child and educational psychologists and other professionals within Children’s Services, as research suggests that children’s success in school depends upon contextual variables associated with the child, their home and school environments. This study explores the characteristics of kinship carers, how they perceive their role and the support currently available to them and also examines the reported educational progress made by children in their care. In addition, this exploratory study considers whether a model developed from Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a useful conceptual framework for professionals supporting KCs. This research uses a case study design; qualitative data has been obtained using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Difficulties and support requirements varied across kinship carers, the majority of whom were pleased with the support they received, particularly from their families. There were some criticisms of Children’s Services support. Recommendations are made for both Children’s Services staff generally and child and educational psychologists specifically.

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Griesser, Michael. "The Nepotistic Parent; Predator Protection, Kinship and Philopatry." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Universitetsbiblioteket : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-3384.

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Cole, Maura Kathleen. "Exploring the Experience of Grandchildren in Custodial Grandparent Care." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1507327589786526.

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Johannes, Arnold Marius. "The influences of substitute care on learner motivation." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/527.

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Substitute care is a temporary or permanent placement of children under the supervision of an adult person due to the absence of their biological parents. The escalating divorce rate, increase in extramarital births, high incidence of family violence, the growing number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and the increasing career-orientatedness of parents have led to the development of diverse family structures. Grandparents and other family members are increasingly becoming the primary caretakers for children. Whilst it is generally assumed by society that children’s well-being is better served when they are raised by their biological parents, the purpose of this study is to: • explore what influence substitute care has on learners’ motivation; • formulate guidelines and recommendations for educators to improve the current levels of motivation of learners in substitute care. The literature related to substitute care and motivation were reviewed, with the aim of providing a firm theoretical basis for the study. Concepts related to motivation discussed, included types of and sources of motivation. Concepts related to the second focus of this study included forms of substitute care. Motivational theories related to this study were briefly discussed, namely: the Attribution Theory, the Drive Theory, Goal Theory, and the Self-worth and Selfefficacy Theories. Factors that have a motivational influence on learners, such as acceptance versus rejection, praise versus criticism, success versus failure and positive self-concept versus negative self-concept, were also discussed. A link was then drawn between motivation and substitute care. ii The research design chosen for this study can be described as qualitative, interpretive and constructive in nature. The research study was conducted in two phases: Phase One provided an investigation of the research problem by means of the following open-ended question: What is the influence or impact of your status as a child in substitute care on your motivation? Data were collected by means of eleven unstructured, in-depth personal interviews. Purposeful sampling was undertaken, which included high school learners all in substitute care. Data were analysed, as proposed by the eight steps of Tesch. Discussions between the observer, moderator and an independent re-coder took place to determine the final results of the research through a consensus principle. Key and related concepts were clustered together to formulate themes, categories and sub-categories. The following three themes emerged, based on the results of the data analysis. I. Problems in the close family circle have profound effects on learner motivation. II. Certain motivating forces help learners in substitute care to cope. III. Substitute care does influence learner motivation. Phase Two offered recommendations, derived from the findings of Phase One, to empower teachers in effectively supporting and motivating learners in substitute care. The conclusion was reached that substitute care does have an influence on the motivation of learners. This motivation can either be positive, which means encouraging learners towards their goal, or negative, which implies that it moves learners away from their goal.

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Murray, Linda Kaye. "Foster and kinship caregiver perceptions of support and training in Canterbury, New Zealand." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Educational Studies and Human Development, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1061.

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This dissertation describes a study that investigated the perceptions of foster/whānau caregivers of support and training provisions in Canterbury, New Zealand. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative component consisted of six questions presented to caregivers at individual or couple interviews. Major themes identified in the response to these questions indicated that participants are generally feeling under-supported and disrespected by social services staff, overwhelmed by the range, severity and difficulty of their children's behaviours, isolated in their role, unable to access relief care and a lack of provision and support for training in local areas. Participants also indicated a desire for training on the etiology and management of difficult child behaviours, managing birth family contact and legal issues relating to allegations and permanency. Areas of current support that caregivers indicated are useful included the support provided by Caregiver Liaison Social Workers, school and early childhood education staff, general practitioners, and other caregivers The quantitative component consisted of a survey covering basic demographic information. A modified child behavioural checklist, containing selected items from the 'Child Behaviour Checklist' and the 'Assessment Checklist for Children' was constructed to assess the range of problematic child behaviours caregivers are experiencing and how prepared they felt in dealing with them. Findings indicated that the participants are experiencing a range of severe behaviours well outside the normal experience of parents but are consistent with those reported in the international literature for children in care. The PSI was used to assess caregiver's stress levels relating to their parenting role. Participants reported high levels of stress particularly in the child domain of the PSI with sub-scales in the high to clinical range across this domain. Implications of theses results are discussed including implications for the caregivers, social welfare practices and the development of future training packages for caregivers.

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Melander, Petra, and Carolina Tjernberg. "Familjehemsplacering hos "annan närstående" : en undersökning, med utgångspunkt i SoL 6:5, om socialsekreterares uppfattning och övervägande av närståendeplacering." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of Social Work, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-7088.

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Our study has its starting point in the Swedish social legislation (Socialtjänstlagen) and more specifically in the 6th chapter's 5th paragraph. That paragraph regulates that social workers should try to find a kinship care placement when they are about to do a placement of a child. Our purpose is to examine how social workers, before they do a placement of a child, understand the informal kinship that is not relatives, if they consider the informal kinship and if certain circumstances have an impact on the consideration. To get this information we have done five interviews with social workers. Recent studies show that social workers in past years have begun to think more positively of people's kinships and that they more often use the resources of the kinship. Our results shows that the social workers contact the informal kinship before they do a placement, they have positive attitudes towards these types of placements, they have similar understandings of who should be considered in the informal kinship, they do this consideration in most cases and many circumstances has an impact on this consideration. To get a deeper understanding of the results we analyzed them with social constructivism and the sociology of law.

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Ciobanu, Patricia. "Designing for and with Care in Multispecies Kinship: Exploring Methods of Decentering the Human in Design." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-254984.

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In the current climate crisis, creating a symbiotic collaboration between all members of an ecosystem has become a prominent topic. By reevaluating human-centered methodologies through a cultural probe and an orienting activity, I address notions of collaboration, cohabitation and extending one’s body beyond the skin. I explore the concept of care in human-plant relationships, along with understanding the trouble with designing for and with care in the context of human-nature-technology kinship. The cultural probe, through its ambiguity, has prompted reflections on care and multispecies kinship, whereas the orienting activity has been an attempt to potentially shift to a non-anthropocentric perspective. A materialization of speculative thinking, these activities are a first step in challenging human exceptionalism, a new approach to viewing the human as decentered in design. This paper positions care as a premise in addressing human-centered methodologies to include non-human actors, with prototypes and speculative design as techniques that facilitate approaching a challenging and complex topic as one of more-than-human assemblages.
I den nuvarande klimatkrisen har skapandet av symbiotiska sammarbeten mellan alla deltagare av ett ekosystem blivit ett viktigt ämne. Genom att omvärdera människocentrerade metodiker genom en cultural probe och en orienterande aktivitet adresserar jag idéer om sammarbete, samlevnad och förlängningen av ens kropp bortom huden. Jag utforskar konceptet handomtagande i människo-plant-relationer tillsammans med förståelsen för mödorna med att designa för och med handomtagande i kontexten människa-natur-teknologi-släktskap. En cultural probe har genom dess tvetydighet drivit reflektioner kring handomtagande och mångfaldsläktskap, där den orienterade aktiviteten var ett försök till ett potentiellt shifte till ett icke-antropocentriskt perspektiv. Dessa aktiviteter, som är material från spekulativt tänkade, är ett tillvägagångasätt och första steg i att utmana människocenterad exceptionalism i design. Denna artikel positionerar handomtagande som en premiss i adresserandet av människocentrerade metodiker till att inkludera icke-mänskliga aktörer genom användandet av prototyper och spekulativ design som underlättande tekniker till utmaningar och komplexa ämnen som mer-än-mänskliga församlingar.

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Atwool, Nicola, and n/a. "Who cares? : the role of attachment assessments in decision-making for children in care." University of Otago. Children's Issues Centre, 2008. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20081212.143625.

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In this practice-based research the use of attachment assessments to assist with decision-making about the placement of children in State care is explored. In Aotearoa New Zealand care and protection legislation emphasises the importance of working with families. The central decision-making forum is the Family Group Conference where families, their support people and statutory social workers come together to work out a plan for children considered to be in need of care and protection. This research focused on conflicted situations where agreement could not be reached about where children should live. The research was structured around one over-arching objective: the examination of a specific aspect of practice, namely the use of attachment assessments in decision-making, with a view to identifying elements of best practice. Within this were three other objectives: an exploration of the impact of attachment assessments on decision-making processes; an exploration of the experience of participants in this process; and an examination of perceived outcomes for children who have an assessment completed. In order to achieve these objectives the historical and cultural context influencing these decision-making processes was explored; the theoretical framework underpinning the use of attachment assessments was critically examined; recent literature on children�s experience in foster care was reviewed; the role of assessment in decision-making was explored; and the use of attachment assessments was evaluated from the perspective of social work practitioners. The outcomes of this research indicate that attachment assessments are theoretically sound processes, which provide relevant information that facilitates decision-making in conflicted situations and the achievement of positive outcomes for children. It was, however, found that attachment assessments have an indirect influence by providing a pivotal point in the decision-making process rather than a direct impact. A number of variables influencing outcomes for children were identified and explored: availability of suitable placements; management of contact with birth family; provision of support networks including attention to ongoing cultural connectedness; and support through adolescence. Children�s absence from participation in decision-making was highlighted. I conclude with an outline of guidelines for best practice.

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Baird, Nancy Coyne. "Attachment experiences of grandparent kinship caregivers and nonkinship foster parents with preschool-aged children in their care." Thesis, The University of Utah, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3609113.

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This study explored the attachment relationships of grandparent kinship caregivers and nonkinship foster parents with preschool-aged children in their care. Research suggests that attachment is crucial in early childhood relationships and can impact relationships throughout the lifespan. Children in kinship care or nonkinship foster care are removed for abuse, neglect, dependency, and other traumatic life experiences, which can affect their ability to form positive attachment relationships. The goal was to understand attachment relationships in the grandparent kinship caregiver and nonkinship foster care milieu. Qualitative research methods were utilized. There were 8 grandparent kinship caregiver participants and 8 nonkinship foster parent participants. The themes that emerged were: 1) importance of family; 2) attachment, trauma, and traumatic grief and loss; 3) challenges; 4) roles; and 5) family relationship styles. Each theme contained subthemes. All participants reported challenges and the majority reported positive attachment relationships. This was the first qualitative study to explore attachment experiences of grandparent kinship caregivers and nonkinship foster parents with preschool-aged children in their care. The findings from this study can be used to inform mental health professionals, the child welfare system, grandparent kinship caregivers, nonkinship foster families, and serve as a guide to future research.

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Cooper, Elizabeth C. "Who cares for orphans? : challenges to kinship and morality in a Luo village in Western Kenya." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b3449dac-1ef4-491f-aec4-e36216488805.

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This dissertation analyses an ethnographic study of how people in a peri-urban, agricultural village in western Kenya have responded to the questions of who will care for children, and how, when those children’s parents, or other primary caregivers, have died. It examines the practical and ideological implications of wide-scale orphaning among a population that has experienced increased numbers and proportions of orphaned children mainly due to HIV/AIDS, as well as the gradual depletion of resources in terms of both the availability of middle-aged adults and the security of economic livelihoods. The research explores how specific caring relationships, as well as general sociality, have been challenged, adapted, and affirmed or rejected normatively and practically in this context. The research revealed a high degree of questioning in people’s efforts to forge responses to children’s orphaned situations. Rarely was there unambiguous consensus in the study context concerning what should be done in response to children’s orphanhood in light of families’ diminished livelihood capacities. More broadly, there was a distinctive concern with how such situations might be appraised in moral terms. The analysis therefore focuses on three main concerns, including: how to understand uncertainty as a condition of life, and the implications of this; how a shared perspective of uncertainty has spurred a concern with morality in the study context, and specifically galvanised a moral economy of kinship; and how the concern with morality affected what was deemed at stake in people’s lives.

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Davis-Sowers, Regina Louise. "Salvaging Children's Lives: Understanding the Experiences of Black Aunts Who Serve as Kinship Care Providers within Black Families." unrestricted, 2006. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07242006-140208/.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006.
Ralph E. LaRossa, committee chair; Elisabeth O. Burgess, Charles A. Gallagher, Romney S. Norwood, committee members. Electronic text (264 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 29, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 222-248).

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Jackson, Vivian H. "An Exploratory Study of the Meaning of Culture in Family Preservation and Kinship Care Services: An Africentric Translation." online version, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=case1195303638.

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Stokes, Charu. "Complex Lives: Resiliency of Midlife African American Women Living with HIV/AIDS Serving As Informal Kinship Care Providers." Thesis, Boston College, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104415.

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Thesis advisor: Ruth McRoy
Historically, many midlife African American women have served as kinship care providers for children in the family. These parenting responsibilities present even greater challenges for the increasing and disproportionately high number of African American women in this age group who also are living with HIV/AIDS. Even though there have been technological innovations in treating and managing HIV infection, HIV is the fourth leading cause of death among midlife African American women. Despite the existing research on African American women with HIV/AIDS and on African American kinship caregivers, significant research with a specific focus on resiliency within this population has not been conducted. To fill this gap, using a resiliency model as a conceptual framework, the researcher conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 24 middle-aged African American women with HIV/AIDS who are providing informal kinship care. Implications for policy, research, and practice are provided and suggestions for health care providers and child welfare professionals regarding how to support these women and children through enhanced services and other interventions
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work
Discipline: Social Work

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Sishuta, Happy Babalwa. "Foster care as a form of substitute care in the black community : an exploratory-descriptive study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006505.

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Kinship care is increasingly supplementing the more traditional forms of out-of-home care. Because related foster care has potential great value, the possibility of placement with relatives needs to be explored first. At its best it provides the child love and security with known people and possibly in a familiar environment. Yet, important as it is, this area of practice is seriously underdeveloped - few publications especially in South Africa exist on how children fare in this arrangement. This situation exists in spite of the fact that many children find themselves in both legal as well as privately arranged related foster care placements. Equally of course no comprehensive study has been undertaken to study the black family's perception of formal foster care and their adjustment to formal foster care practice which for many is a new encounter in their lives. More clarity on these issues pertaining to kinship care will not only improve our understanding but can lead to a better service. Socio-political influences have weakened the mutual aid system in African families. This has resulted in needs· and problems which the African family find it difficult to deal with. This has prompted families to make use of non-family support particularly services from specialized and other welfare agencies. Formal foster care is a foreign practice to the black community as a result of their tradition and custom. It offers a new method of coping with child care problems and indicates a shift from the conventional patterns among South African blacks. As a result there is often confusion and a lack of understanding, making the community not to make proper use of this service. This study is exploratory-descriptive. The sample comprised thirty foster parents. The main objective of this study was to investigate the nature and practice of formal foster care in the black community with specific emphasis on related foster care and its perception. The study has raised a number of issues for practice and policy consideration. Notable findings were: the need to (1) promote much more active involvement of foster parents, foster child and their families (2) educate the community about foster care (3) prepare, train, support and supervise foster parents. The study revealed that these placements have become indistinguishable from natural parenthood and the foster children have become absorbed into the foster family. A need exists for permanency planning in foster care. It is hoped that the research findings will contribute to the existing body of knowledge and that more studies will be undertaken in future.

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Rohwer, Shayna A. (Shayna Alexandra) 1975. "Information, kinship, and community: Perceptions of doula support by teen mothers through an evolutionary lens." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11181.

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xvi, 243 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Human birth represents a complex interplay between our evolved biology and the cultural norms and expectations surrounding birth. This project considers both the evolutionary and cultural factors that impact the birth outcomes of teen mothers that received support from a trained labor support person, or doula. Doula support has repeatedly been found to decrease the length of labor, the use of pain medication, the rates of caesarian section, and instrumental births and to increase rates of breastfeeding and bonding. However, virtually no studies evaluate why these positive outcomes occur. Current life history models suggest that traits such as short inter-birth intervals, early weaning, extended dependency, and simultaneously raising multiple dependent offspring co-evolved with child-rearing support from multiple caregivers. These models suggest that mothers should be particularly sensitive to perceived cues of social and material support for childrearing; doulas might provide such cues. The goal of this project was to explore how doula support impacted teen mothers' perceptions of their birth experience and outcomes. Data for the project were drawn from three sources: a 15-month participant observation at a non-profit organization providing doula support to teen mothers, 20 semi-structured interviews with mothers who received doula support for the birth of their babies, and by my attendance as a doula at over 50 births. Results suggest that teen mothers experience upheavals in social relationships with their friends, families, and partners following the discovery of their pregnancy. Participants indicated that doula support increased their knowledge of the birth process, provided unbiased and non judgmental support and information, gave them confidence in their ability to give birth, and encouraged mothers to be proactive in communicating with their care providers. Teens used friendship and kinship terms when describing their doula, suggesting that doula support provides cues of kinship that women have used throughout evolutionary history to assess the availability of alloparental care. While doulas themselves provide salient cues of social support, participants also indicated that doulas increased support from fathers and families, thus mobilizing support from existing social networks. Cues of adequate support may lead to increased maternal investment, thereby improving both maternal and fetal outcomes.
Committee in charge: Lawrence Sugiyama, Chairperson, Anthropology Frances White, Member, Anthropology; James Snodgrass, Member, Anthropology; Melissa Cheyney, Member, Not from U of O; John Orbell, Outside Member, Political Science

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Hultberg, Susanna, and Susanne Jonsson. "Kan barnets bästa tillgodoses genom släktingplacering? : En forskningsöversikt." Thesis, Örebro University, Department of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-415.

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Denna studie är en forskningsöversikt med syfte att undersöka hur barnets bästa i form av identitetsskapande, familjerelationer och etnicitet tillgodoses vid familjehemsplacering i släktinghem. Frågeställningar för att besvara syftet var; vad visar forskningen beträffande barns behov av stabilitet i relationer och identitetsutveckling vid släktingplacering? Utifrån detta tittar vi även på de etniska aspekterna, eftersom lagen är tydlig med att barn med annat etniskt ursprung, helst ska placeras inom släkten. Till tidigare forskning har vi använt oss av fem forskningsöversikter skrivna inom området släktingplaceringar. Teoretiska utgångspunkter i studien är familjerelationer och identitet. Materialet till studien har samlats in främst via sökmotorer på Internet. Urvalskriterier var relationer till biologiska föräldrar, närhet till ursprungsmiljön, beskrivning av barnens situation i placeringen och etnicitet. Kravet på de studier vi undersökte, var att de skulle ha varit publicerade i någon vetenskaplig tidskrift. Urvalet, som bestod av tio studier, sammanställdes i en tabell i resultatredovisningen. Därefter delades resultatet upp i teman utifrån frågeställningar från syftet. Resultatet analyserades utifrån den tidigare forskningen och teoretiska utgångspunkter. En begränsning i studien var det knapphändiga underlaget av tidigare studier och framför allt svensk forskning om släktingplaceringar utifrån barnets behov. Denna studie visar att det är stor etnisk skillnad mellan vilka barn som placeras i släktinghem och att barn ofta mår bättre av att placeras i släktinghem, både identitetsmässigt och relationsmässigt. Det finns dock en del motsägande fakta, som menar att det ibland är sämre med släktingplaceringar, utifrån barnets behov.

CAN IT BE IN THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN TO BE PLACED IN KINSHIP CARE? A LITERATURE REVIEW

This study has a purpose to see how the interest in children can be provided for in terms of identity, family relations and ethnicity in kin ship care. The questions we had, to be able to answer the purpose were: What does the research show about children’s need of stability in relations and identity development in kin ship care? On the basis of this we also include the ethnic aspects because the Swedish law are very clear that children with another ethnic origin should be in kin ship care. We have used five literature reviews about the kin ship subject area in our previous research chapter. Theories used in this study were family relations and identity. The material for the study has been collected by search engines on Internet. The selection criterions were relations to biological parents, the nearness to origin environment, and description of the children’s situation in kin ship and ethnicity. The requirements of the selected studies were that they should have been published in some scientific periodical. The selections of the ten studies were compiled in a table in our result account. After that the results were divided in themes on the basis of the questions from the purpose. The results were analysed on the basis of the previous research and the theories. The limitations in this study were the briefly basis in earlier studies and in the first place the Swedish research of children’s well being in kin ship care. This study shows that it is a large ethnic difference between children in kin ship care. It also shows that children often feels better when they are placed in kin ship care, both identically and in relations. There is a contradictory fact that shows that kin ship care not are in the interest for the children and their needs.

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Moore, Georgia Lee. "Improving support services for kinship caregivers of dependent children in San Bernardino County." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2007. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3115.

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This study examined the support services offered to kinship providers through the Kinship Family Center and find ways to increase and/or improve these support services for kinship care providers who are caring for children that are dependents of San Bernardino County.

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Isidoro, Francisco. "Helping youth in care graduate from high school with resources for foster parents and kinship caregivers| A grant proposal." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10096068.

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The purpose of this project was to create a grant proposal to fund the development of resource materials that could be used by foster parents, kinship caregivers, and child welfare workers to help the youth in their care graduate from high school and increase opportunities for higher education or vocational training. The emotional, social, and cognitive stages of adolescent development are complicated by the circumstances that caused separation from their parents and then additional challenges that arise from going to live with relatives or joining foster families. Resource materials are needed so that foster parents, kinship caregivers, and child welfare workers can help young people overcome the obstacles and be advocates for them to complete high school. This project describes a potential host organization, staffing, implementation steps, budget, and a potential funder. Actual funding and submission of this grant proposal were not requirements for the successful completion of this project.

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O'Higgins, Aoife Anais. "What are the risk, promotive and protective factors for the educational outcomes for children in foster and kinship care?" Thesis, University of Oxford, 2018. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:37cdb2db-0c4c-4fc1-a3c7-e62d0d10d742.

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Background: Children in care are at risk of low educational attainment (Trout, Hagaman, Casey, Reid, & Epstein, 2008). Interventions have been developed to address this problem but systematic reviews of the evidence find that their effectiveness is currently limited (R. Evans, Brown, Rees, & Smith, 2017). Research suggests that the processes underlying low achievement for this population, which are key to informing theories of change in interventions, are poorly understood (Liabo, Gray, & Mulcahy, 2012; Stone, 2007). This thesis speaks to this gap in the literature by investigating risk, promotive and protective factors for children in care. Methods The thesis includes two studies. In the first, a systematic review of risk, promotive and protective factors for the educational outcomes for children in care was conducted. It aimed to uncover variables that might be targeted in educational interventions. The second study analysed longitudinal secondary data on the educational outcomes of 690 teenagers in care in Ontario, Canada. It examined the relationship between carer involvement and the educational outcomes of young people they care for. Specifically, the study used descriptive statistics and two latent growth curve models to explore what carers do and whether carer involvement, specifically aspirations, is a promotive factor for educational outcomes for children in foster and kinship care. Moderation analysis was then carried out to determine whether carer's high aspirations are a protective factor for children in care with special educational needs. Results The review identified 33 studies for inclusion. Findings suggested that boys, those from minority backgrounds, children with special educational needs or behavioural problems were more likely to struggle academically than others. Length of time in care was not a risk factor. Finally, findings indicated that carer involvement in educational activities is associated with better school performance outcomes. In Study Two, analyses showed that carers are involved in the education of children, that high aspirations predict better school performance outcomes even after controlling for prior school performance and that carers' aspirations are a protective factor for children with special educational needs. Conclusion This thesis presents evidence that carers' involvement in children's education, in particular high aspirations, is a promotive factor for children in care and a protective factor for children in care with special educational needs. However, it also highlighted a significant gap in the literature suggesting that carer involvement is not well understood for children in care. These findings may inform future interventions to promote the education of children in care.

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Villagomez, Gloria Consuelo. "Helping Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers Support High School Graduation for Children in Their Care| A Self-Instructional Workbook." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10262077.

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The purpose of “Helping Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers Support High School Graduation for Children in Their Care: A Self-Instructional Workbook” is to help parents and caregivers with the young people in their care to navigate the crucial last 2 years of high school and graduate. It is renamed “Guidelines to Graduation” to be more user-friendly. This project included a literature review and a rationale for a self-instructional design. Activities include: true/false questions about the benefits of graduation, identification of strengths and positive traits, personal resources, and strategies for motivating youth.

Foster and kinship caregivers may work individually, with family members, or with child welfare workers. The design aims to: (a) accommodate foster and kinship caregiver’s busy schedules; (b) allow for caregivers to learn at their own pace; (c) skip or go back to sections that are predominantly helpful; (d) provide a suitable and comprehensive guide that enhances parenting abilities.

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Tessier, Nicholas. "Three Studies of Transitions of Young People in Public Care: A Focus on Educational Outcomes." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32466.

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The educational outcomes of children in care, as they prepare for and eventually complete the transition out of care, have been the subject of a growing body of research. Despite the progress made, no unified theory of risk and protective factors associated with educational outcomes has yet arisen from the longitudinal, cohort, and cross-sectional studies conducted with youth in care. This dissertation presents three papers that examine the effects of risk and protective factors on a range of educational outcome variables. The studies follow the timeline of a young person preparing for transition, moving into supported transitional living, and then eventually exiting care altogether. Study 1 presents cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of the generalizability of many of the risk and protective factors identified by O’Higgins, Sebba, & Gardner (2014) in their systematic review of predictors of educational achievement among young people living in foster or kinship care. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 3,662 young people aged 12 to 17 years who were residing in out-of-home care in Ontario, Canada. An additional longitudinal sample was composed of a subsample of 962 young people from the cross-sectional sample who had also been assessed 36 months later with the AAR-C2-2010 during year 13 (2013-2014) of the OnLAC project. Supporting evidence for twelve of the twenty factors identified by O’Higgins et al. are revealed in the broad cross-sectional study and for the four factors that were found to predict change in academic success over a longitudinal timeframe suggest we are on the right track. Study 2 uses a lag-as-moderator approach to see if the time between assessments influences the predictive capacity of variables assessed when the young person was in care to predict educational variables evaluated when the youth had completed the transition to support independent living. Results from this thorough methodological study of gap length over six years of OnLAC data are encouraging: 87.5% of the predictors tested for statistical moderation effects by the length of time between assessments were shown to be stable predictors across all gaps (i.e., no moderation by gap length effect). Study 3 presents a pilot 12-month follow-up study conducted with young people at the point of a major transition within or from child welfare services, comparing their characteristics with those of samples from the general population. When assembled together, the three studies provide a foundation towards the formalizing of a list of risk and protective predictors of educational outcomes (namely, academic success, educational attainment, educational aspirations, and NEET status) originally selected from a systematic review that identified a range of factors to be associated with the educational outcomes of youth in care (O’Higgins, Sebba, and Gardner; 2014). Additionally, this dissertation presents a series of recommendations regarding the management and multiple imputation of missing data and the use of Lag as Moderator statistical methods in child welfare research.

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Osborne-Lewis, Emily Jane, and Shanta LaShawn Clardy. "The needs of informal grandparent caregivers and how they are met at the Kinship Family Center." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2790.

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Seventeen grandparent caregivers, who have primary responsibility for one or more grandchildren and do not have a parent of the grandchildren living in the household, were interviewed to evaluate the effectiveness of the services offered by Kinship Family Center (KFC), a non-profit support agency for relative caregivers and the children in their care. Kinship Family Center is a program of the Central City Lutheran Mission and is funded by the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services. The researchers found that KFC was an effective asset for informal grandparent caregivers. For grandparents, it was a source of support and comfort in their role of "second time around parents." For children, it served as a means to help identify with other children in similar situations.

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Ayres, Noreen Orman. "Role satisfaction: Grandparents raising grandchildren." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3049.

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Three psychosocial dynamics were assessed for their effect on role satisfaction among grandchildren: (1) the impact of expanding a household on a limited fixed income, (2) health issues of the grandparent as they apply to stamina, and (3) the interaction with their existing social structure to include grandchildren (adjustments, prioritizing, and social isolation). Sampling included a population of 33 custodial grandparents (age=55 and older; male and female; various ethnicities) and selected from a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group in Idyllwild, California. The instrument of this quantitative and qualitative study was an adaptation from the County of Riverside, Department of Mental Health, Children's Department Personal Satisfaction Survey. Survey answers were based on a Likert scale model. Responses from the surveys indicated that the custodial grandparents are satisfied with their roles. However, there are sufficient data to suggest there is a need to increase quality of life and custodial role satisfaction.

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McCohnell, Joan D. "The experience of African American grandmothers in fostering relative adolescents." Click here for text online. The Institute of Clinical Social Work Dissertations website, 2000. http://www.icsw.edu/_dissertations/mccohnell_2000.pdf.

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Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 2000.
A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-254)

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Kaye, Sarah. "Internalizing and externalizing behaviors of adolescents in kinship and foster care findings from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being /." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/6755.

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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2007.
Thesis research directed by: Family Studies. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

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Harding, Leith Forbes. "Where is home: Foster and kin carer's perceptions of their role." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/204191/1/Leith_Harding_Thesis.pdf.

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The thesis by publication is comprised of three published studies that examined the experiences of foster and kin carers in Australia specific to carer stress, the stress-satisfaction relationship in providing care, and a comparative look at the wellbeing of foster and kin carers. An anonymous self-report online survey assessed carer reported stress and role satisfaction, their perceptions of the child in their care, and the child protection system in which they provide care. Four main areas were identified specific to carer stress, satisfaction in the care role, access to services, resources and support, and the negative impact of the uncertainty of the child protection system for caregivers. The research highlights the complex and challenging role of caregivers in Queensland.

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Thoresen, Petria Beryl. "The effects of interviewing on the comfort levels of children with varying levels of sensitivity to questions that touch on their felt security and perceptions of being in kinship care: A Pilot Study." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Health Sciences, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/9739.

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Aim: This thesis reports the outcomes of a study designed to explore whether and how ethical and responsive interviewing of children in care with varying levels of sensitivity to topics that may threaten their felt security can be achieved. Background: Children come into care with a complex array of developmental challenges. They have often experienced maltreatment, loss and disrupted attachment relationships. Little is known about the effects of interviewing children in care with varying sensitivity to questioning strategies designed to measure felt security and their perceptions of being in care. Methods: The present study was iteratively designed using an exploratory mixed qualitative design. Children’s reports (N= 12) were collected using a series of iteratively designed interview methodologies supplemented by information provided by their kinship carers. Results: The following factors influence the comfort experiences of children in care: interviewer skill, interviewer and child role, child competence (perceived and real), child characteristics, external factors, ethical factors and the interview methods. The potential influence of mental health status and age were less clear. Factors related to felt insecurity were: relational, self-perceived competence and confidentiality related factors. The maintenance of the comfort experience of children in care when interviewing, cuts across many dimensions of the research context including relational, performance and methodological aspects. Children engaged in strategies to mediate their comfort, this was somewhat reliant on the methodologies and interviewer competency. Overall acceptable levels of comfort were reported to be maintained over the span of the research process. Conclusions: Children in care have vulnerabilities that need to be addressed when including them in research. Careful consideration to the design of studies and interview methodologies will ensure children in care can participate in protective research environments. The benefits to this are reflected in the gathering of quality data which can contribute to the timely provision of the appropriate services for children in care. The present study findings provide guidance for future research involving children in various types of alternate care.

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Kelmendi, Vjollca, and Klara Hällström. "Vad avgör beslutet att placera barn inom dess nätverk? : En studie om socialsekreterares upplevelser." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för socialt arbete och kriminologi, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-30021.

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Studien syftade till att belysa vad socialsekreterare anser vara avgörande för beslutet att placera barn inom nätverket. Fem socialsekreterare på socialtjänstens enhet för barn och unga runt om i Sverige intervjuades i en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Den tematiska analysen visade att det saknas specifika riktlinjer för nätverksplacering men att man uttrycker sig ha ett nätverksorienterat arbetssätt, vilket i studien analyseras utifrån systemteori. Faktorer som avgör beslutet att placera barn inom nätverket visar sig vara bland annat, orsak till placering, nätverkets egenskaper och arbetsbelastning. Barn bedöms enligt socialsekreterarna inte ha förmåga att på grund av lojalitet till föräldrarna välja vart de ska placeras, vilket påverkar barns delaktighet i utredningen. Placering av barn inom nätverket visas vara ovanligt och det nätverksorienterade arbetet försvåras på grund av organisatoriska hinder. Resultatet visar att nätverksplacering är att föredra då både barn, föräldrar och socialsekreterare känner sig mer trygga än vid placering i främmande familjehem.
This study aims to highlight what social workers consider to be crucial for placement within network care. The study was conduted with qualitative interviews with five social workers at the social services in Sweden. The thematic analysis showed that there are no specific guidelines for network-oriented work but social workers nevertheless state that their mode of operation is network-oriented based on system theory. Factors that determine placement within network care are; reason for placement, network characteristics and workload. The study shows that children are not expected to be able to choose their placement due to loyalty to their parents and this affects children ́s participation in the investigation. Placement of children within network care appears unusual and network-oriented work is complicated due to organizational barriers. The result shows that preferred placement is within network care as both children, parents and social workers feel more secure compared to placement in foster care.

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Egan, Diana Ray, and Meri Lynn Vandom. "Kin caregivers' perceptions of social worker and agency services and support." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2783.

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Investigates kin caregiver's perceptions about social workers and child welfare agencies they worked with in caring for court dependent relative children who are/were placed in their care. A stratified random sample from 150 interviews of kin caregivers with dependent relative children maintained by San Bernardino and Riverside County Child Protective Services allowed for qualitative analysis of interview responses that related kin caregiver's perceptions of social workers and social service agencies. Results indicate that some relative caregivers were satisfied with the support they received from social workers/agency staff, while others did not feel supported at all.

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Watts, Janet. "'Holding Baby' : a creative exploration to raise awareness about kinship care through the writing of a play, 'Holding Baby', and a poetry collection, 'Holding'." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8498/.

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Holding Baby: A creative exploration to raise awareness about Kinship Care through a play, Holding Baby, a poetry collection, Holding, and a critical commentary placing the work in a cultural, societal and practice-led context. The dramatic work Holding Baby covers a crisis where a grandparent is left taking responsibility for a young baby. In the tradition of social realist and community based drama, it reflects the real life stories of a growing number of connected persons or family members raising children who are not theirs by birth. The poetry collection Holding considers the personal response of the author, as a kinship carer, to that role's challenges and its rewards. In the critical commentary issues around kinship care are considered together with the history of the writing and its context. A detailed account is offered of the stage production process, as well as problems and possibilities around reaching potential audiences for both play and poetry. The relationship between the direct focus of the script and the comparative subjectivity of the poetry is reflected on and discussed.

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Roach, Rebecca G. "BY NEED AND BY NAME: SCHOOL LEADERS FOSTERING ENVIRONMENTS FOR GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN." UKnowledge, 2017. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/33.

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Children raised by their grandparents are a steadily growing demographic in schools throughout the United States. When parents are unable to care for their children, grandparents sometimes assume the role of primary caregiver. This is especially true when they are faced with the threat of placing their grandchildren in the foster care system. More often than not, these grandparents are not adequately prepared for the challenges of raising children who have lost their parent through death, drug abuse or incarceration and few resources exist to guide elementary school principals to engage this demographic. Regardless of the growing numbers of caregiving grandparents there exists a dearth of research and literature to guide school leaders in effectively engaging these grandparents in school involvement. The purpose of this study was to understand principals’ experiences with grandparents raising grandchildren (GRG), to discover grandparent’s experiences and perspectives on their own experiences in their grandchildren’s schools, and finally, construct theory on how elementary principals create and nurture positive and productive relationships with grandparents raising grandchildren. Analysis of date contributed to the development of propositions that reflect study findings. These propositions contributed to the development of a framework toward theory: Although principals were cognizant of the challenges GRG face, this knowledge did not influence their leadership. As a result, their leadership practices created school environments in which GRGs were effectively engaged in two-way communication but limited decision-making. Furthermore, the schools did not provide a bridge to resources to meet many of the challenges GRG and their families faced.

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Littlewood, Kerry Anne Barbarin Oscar A. "Examining the kinship care experience the impact of social support and family resources on caregiver health, family involvement with the child welfare system, and permanence for children /." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,1584.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Sep. 16, 2008). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Social Work." Discipline: Social Work; Department/School: Social Work.

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Kao, Philip Y. "The victims of a sorted life : ageing and caregiving in an American retirement community." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3980.

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This thesis is an ethnographic analysis of a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in the American Midwest. I examine salient aspects of American culture, and how persons in the American Midwest understand relationships and themselves in the context of eldercare, and particularly, how issues of personhood and kinship are conceptualised in a long-term care facility. Rather than focusing exclusively on just the labour of caregivers, or how the residents in the CCRC receive care, my study is grounded in the interaction and relations that obtain during specific regimes of caregiving. Because the exigencies of ageing are met with certain exigencies of care, this study touches upon three dominant themes that make sense of the tensions that emerge when principles and practices do not square up. The first theme deals with how ageing and care are constituted, and made relational to one other. Secondly, I demonstrate that in the CCRC where I conducted fieldwork, ageing is constructed as a process and institutionalised, resulting in a distinctive way in which space and time are dealt with and unravelled from their inextricability. The resulting consequences affect not just the older residents and the CCRC staff, but also impacts how caregiving takes on specific forms and meanings. Thirdly, I investigate how formal (professional) caregivers and care receivers produce a type of social relation, which cannot be understood alone by conventional studies of kinship and economic relations. Ultimately, this thesis sets the frame for future debate on the ontological commitments involved in eldercare, and how the segregation of care and of the elderly in society relate to wider social norms regarding ageing and marginality.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Kinship care'

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