Parental chronic illness and child education: Evidence from children in Indonesia

Using two waves (2007, 2014) of Indonesian Family Life Survey data, this paper investigates effects of parental chronic illness on educational attainment of children in Indonesia. Studies on this nonpecuniary cost of adult morbidity are rare in the literature despite its significance in future wellbeing of people in developing countries. This paper is distinguished from existing related studies in that it accounts for the duration of illness in the estimation of the effects. The results show that girls whose father suffers from chronic illness for a longer duration achieve significantly lower educational levels between 2007 and 2014, compared to children of their same age cohort with healthy parents. In contrast, boys are unaffected by the father’s duration of chronic illness. Furthermore, this paper finds no evidence that mother’s duration of chronic illness affects educational attainment of children in Indonesia.     

Evaluation of second step child protection videos: A randomized controlled trial

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) examined the effects of the Second Step Child Protection Unit videos on parents’ knowledge, motivation, and self-reported communication with their child about personal safety and childhood sexual abuse prevention. Parents of children between the ages of 3–11 years were randomly assigned to the intervention (watching the Second Step videos) or the control (watching videos on child obesity) groups. They completed measures assessing their knowledge of child sexual abuse (CSA), motivation to discuss CSA, self-reported discussions of CSA, child history of victimization, parent exposure to CSA, and comparable measures on topics of health and nutrition at pre-test. Participants viewed the videos one week later and immediately completed post-test 1, and then two months later completed the measures again. Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVAs) and serial mediation analyses were conducted with the final sample of 438. The intervention group, compared to the control group, had significant increases in knowledge (specifically, less restrictive stereotype beliefs about CSA) and motivation to talk with their children about CSA both immediately after the intervention and at the two-month follow-up. Although the intervention did not have a direct effect on parent self-reported conversations with their children about CSA, it had a mediated effect. The intervention increased knowledge regarding CSA, which then predicted motivation, which in turn predicted conversations. The most pronounced effect was the intervention’s direct effect of increasing motivation immediately after the intervention, which then increased self-reported conversations with children about personal safety and CSA two months later.     

No harmless child labor: The effect of child labor on academic achievement in francophone Western and Central Africa

This study empirically examines the effect of child labor on academic achievement in 10 francophone Western and Central African countries. The data were taken from the Programme d’Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la CONFEMEN and comprised characteristics of 25,288 grade six students across 1803 schools. Two-stage least squares analysis highlights that child labor undermines academic achievement regardless of subject, gender, and age. It lowers reading and mathematics scores for both genders and for children under 12 and over 13 years. Child labor therefore hinders human capital accumulation in African countries, and it takes place at the cost of future prosperity.     

A measure of human rights competence in students enrolled on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

This article presents findings from a larger multiple methods study that explores the levels of adherence and experiences students have of the International Baccalaureate Organization human rights ideals in different school contexts. A three-component model of human rights competence, incorporating identification with all humanity, ethno-cultural empathy, and positive attitudes to human rights, is presented and tested. The findings reveal that identification with all humanity, ethno-cultural empathy, and positive attitudes towards human-rights-promoting values and behaviour act as prerequisites for the intention to act, and for human rights competence. The level of human rights competence can indicate the level of adherence students have to the human rights ideals of the International Baccalaureate Organization.     

Oral health-related quality of life in Brazilian child abuse victims: A comparative study

This study aims to assess and compare Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) in child abuse victims and non-abused children in a Southern Brazilian city. The study compared two independent samples of children aged 8–10 years: 48 child abuse victims recruited from a centre for Child and Adolescent Psychological Support (NACA) for abused children, and 144 public and private school students. Data collection consisted of administration of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 8–10 (CPQ_8-10) to measure OHRQoL (dependent variable), clinical examination (dental caries), and collection of socioeconomic and demographic information (age, sex, skin colour, family income, and type of school). Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the association between presence of abuse and OHRQoL and subscales. After adjustment for clinical and sociodemographic variables, child abuse victims were found to exhibit higher CPQ scores on the overall scale and on the oral symptoms and functional limitations subscales. In conclusion, child abuse victims have a higher impact on OHRQoL. Based on the results, it is possible to suggest that greater care should be taken of these children, not only in providing treatment for oral disorders, but also in providing interdisciplinary care.     

Between a rock and a hard place: decolonising religious and human rights education

ABSTRACT

Human rights education and Islamic education are typically presented as finished products without room for critique that do not always align with local and personal realities, resulting in a phenomenon sometimes called ‘decoupling’. To examine the ways in which decoupling might occur in one setting, this proposed article reports on the results of a quantitative study that analysed the responses of 470 education students at a university in Kuwait who were asked to rate on a 4-point scale their level of agreement with statements of women’s rights in general terms and in specific situations. Mean differences in their responses to women’s rights in general were compared to their responses to women’s rights, in particular, using a one-sample t-test, along with comparisons of demographic differences in responses analysed using ANOVA. The results showed that the students agreed with women’s rights in general but there was significantly less agreement with women’s rights in particular, suggesting that even on an individual level, a decoupling effect takes place when translating universalised value systems, like human rights and religion, to local realities.     

In search of a universal human rights metaphor: Moral conversations across differences

This article takes up the educational challenge of the framers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Specifically, the author explores the question of: how can we talk about a universal conception of human rights in a way that both respects the need for cultural pluralism and the necessity to protect those rights and freedoms that all people—regardless of differences such as race, class, culture, or religion—are entitled to? What metaphor or metaphors can be useful for us to speak clearly and coherently about the issue of universal human rights in a diverse world? The author examines a prevailing yet problematic metaphor, which Makau Mutua critiques in his well-known essay ‘Savages, Victims and Saviors: The Metaphor of Human Rights.’ He then attempts to articulate some common values that can serve as a foundation for an alternative conception of human rights. Next, he proposes an alternative metaphor—the Buddhist notion of equalizing and exchanging self and other—that more aptly captures the complexity and contradictions of talking about universal human rights. Finally, he turns to the role of education in helping people become familiar with and respect this alternative metaphor.     

Dilemma of concepts and strategies for the prevention of spread of HIV in relation to human behavior, law and human rights

The new prevalence data regarding the estimated global number of human immunodeficiency virus positive (HIV⁺) cases, i.e., including people who are either aware or unaware of their HIV infection in 2010, lead many to wonder why the increase in incidence has reached today’s unprecedented level and escalated within such a short time. This, in spite of prevention campaigns in countries affected by HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) with their urgent messages aimed at preventing HIV transmission by promoting changes in individual’s behavior. This article analyzes the background of the prevention strategies, in particular their political, social and legal concepts in terms of human rights, and reveals traits of human behavior not considered thus far. A radical reappraisal is necessary, at social and legislative levels, as well as options additional to current concepts. When ethical issues come up, they become blamed for outmoded moralistic positions. However, ignoring the reality has led to dire consequences from prioritizing individual human rights over society’s collective need to prevent the spread of HIV.     

城乡中专生学习动机的比较研究

农村中专生在追求成功动机因子上得分显著高于城市中专生。一年级农村中专生在追求成功动机因子上得分显著高于同一年级城市中专生;二年级农村与城市中专生在追求成功动机和回避失败动机因子上得分差异不显著。这提示教育工作者应根据中专生学习动机特点,引导学生合理归因．适时激发其学习兴趣,发掘其学习潜能。     

跨国公司生产守则与农民工权益保护

在华跨国转包体系中农民工权益受损十分严重,这不但引起了我国政府和社会的极大关注,国际社会也开始指责处于跨国商品链顶端的跨国公司应对此承担责任.跨国公司生产守则作为经济全球化背景下协调劳资关系、改善劳工状况的崭新形式,它的兴起与发展对于维护跨国转包体系中的劳工权益,特别是维护在华跨国转包体系中农民工权益有积极意义.     

The complexity of human rights in global times: The case of the right to education in South Africa

The right to education has an established legacy in international agreements and debates, but has nonetheless proved difficult to achieve across the countries of the world. This paper explores why this might be so. It begins by locating the current architecture of rights in Enlightenment philosophy and the political and legal formations of modernity, exploring the paradoxical legacy this brings. It then looks more specifically at the right to education, and why it cannot be assumed that statements of rights deliver what they promise. Finally, it looks at education in South Africa to explore both the limits and the possibilities of using a framework of rights to achieve greater social justice in global times.     

近20年来我国关于美国人权外交研究综述

人权是美国外交政策的重要武器和手段，是美国实现全球利益不可或缺的重要组成部分。人权外交自卡特政府提出以来一直成为美国外交政策中的一个重要方面。上世纪90年代以来我国学术界围绕人权外交出台的原因、实施手段、取得的成效、实质等问题展开了广泛而深入的研究。但与国外同一领域的研究相比，我国学术界对人权外交的研究存在选题重复、观点陈旧、关于美国对中国人权外交的研究不足等问题。     

Prenatal prediction of child abuse and neglect: A prospective study

Five hundred eighty-seven women in a combined Maternity-Infant, Children and Youth project were interviewed at between 3 and 6 months of gestation by a skilled masters degree social worker (M.S.W.) using a Family Stress Checklist developed at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Only 7% of the women were scored as “high risk” for serious parenting problems. Neither single status nor teenage status increased the risk significantly. A review of charts of 100 of the children whose mothers had been considered “at risk” was conducted 2 to 2.5 years later, and compared with 100 charts on children whose mothers had been considered at “no risk,” giving the following results: Twenty-five children had experienced failure to thrive, neglect or abuse. Twenty of these were from the original high risk mothers, giving an incidence of neglect/abuse in that group of 52%. The no risk control group of 100 mothers showed a 2% incidence of abuse/neglect; a low risk group showed a 4% incidence of abuse/neglect; and a mid-score group had an abuse/neglect rate of 5%. The scale proved a remarkably accurate predictor, with a sensitivity (percent correct negatives) of 89%. The authors suggest use of such scales prenatally or even before conception as a step toward the development of true preventive measures.     

Private vs public child welfare systems: A comparative analysis of national safety outcome performance

BackgroundEnsuring the safety of American children is one of the chief mandates of the U.S. Child Welfare System. Yet system differences, including privatization remain an area of concern for whether safety of children is achieved.ObjectiveThis study examined the effect of privatization policy on the performance of state child welfare systems in terms of achieving national safety outcome standards.Participants and SettingN₁ = 10 states systems (5 privatized and 5 public systems) with N₂ = 118,761 foster care cases located throughout the U.S.MethodUsing data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), safety outcome performance measures were assessed, as were child-/case factors to predict the likelihood of the system types meeting the national safety outcome standards.ResultsLogistic regression models of child, case, and system factors predicting the likelihood state systems met national safety outcome performance standards were statistically significant. Private systems, compared to non-private systems, were found to have lower odds of meeting the safety outcome 1 standard (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.40–0.42), but greater odds of meeting the safety outcome 2 standard (OR = 6.79, 95% CI = 6.56–7.02).ConclusionsThe implementation of privatization policy in state child welfare/foster care service delivery was found to have mixed results in terms of the national safety outcome standards.     

Demanding and resisting vocational education: a comparative study of schools in rural and urban China

The Chinese government is pouring resources into building vocational education at all levels of the Chinese educational system. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three vocational secondary schools in 2007–2012, this article compares rural and urban schools to highlight the persistent urban–rural divide in implementing vocational education, and to understand popular resistance to vocational education and its effects on students and families. Through observations of classroom practice and interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators, the authors investigate the paradox of why vocational education is growing rapidly in China, even though parents and students have deeply-held objections to this form of schooling.     

Listening to Children: A study of child and family services

This paper reports on child data generated in a pilot project of the ACCESS Study of Child and Family Services , an investigation of the degree to which child and family services meet user needs within local communities. Based on theoretical perspectives drawn from social capital theories, the pilot study was undertaken by a partnership of local early childhood services within the precinct of Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia) and included two childcare centres, two kindergartens/ preschools, one playgroup and one primary school. Seventy-six children aged 3-8 years were asked, in informal conversations with their caregivers, to comment on their experiences in the service and to consider possible advice they might give to children coming into the service. Theoretical perspectives from the sociology of childhood are used to examine children's accounts of their lived experience in early childhood services.     

School context and instructional capacity: A comparative study of professional learning communities in rural and urban schools in China

This study examines the teaching gap between rural and urban schools in China from the perspective of teacher professional learning communities (PLCs). Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 primary school teachers, the study finds striking disparities between rural and urban schools in the working of Teaching and Research Groups (TRGs). These disparities in TRGs result in divergent patterns of instructional capacity building in rural and urban schools. The evidence shows that teaching and teachers are strongly shaped by the school organizational context. It suggests that strengthening school-wide PLCs is an important way of narrowing the rural-urban teaching and learning gaps.     

Parental alienation,coaching and the best interests of the child: Allegations of child sexual abuse in the Family Court of Australia

BackgroundAllegations of child sexual abuse provide complex challenges to family court systems.ObjectivesDespite being highly criticised in the academic research, this analysis examined whether and how the gendered concepts of parental alienation syndrome or parental alienation more broadly are still being used to rebut allegations of child sexual abuse in family court cases in Australia. Parental Alienation is broadly understood as the deliberate actions of one parent to disrupt and prevent children’s ongoing relationships with their other parent, in this case through allegations of abuse.MethodsWe examined 357 publicly available judgements of the Family Court of Australia between 2010 and 2015. Judgements were analysed qualitatively for key themes using N-VIVO software.ResultsFive themes emerged in the data, including use of the concept of parental alienation, coaching, mothers as manipulative, mothers as mentally ill, and impact of the best interest of the child.ConclusionsResults indicate that judgements made in the Family Court of Australia are both similar and divergent from those made in other jurisdictions internationally. The complexity of responding to allegations of child sexual abuse for parents is discussed.     

Three models of child abuse consultations: A qualitative study of inpatient child abuse consultation notes

Child abuse pediatricians have multiple roles in caring for abused children, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and, when needed, expert legal opinion. The child physical abuse consultation differs from the traditional medical consultation in that it has medical, investigative and legal audiences, all of whom have different information needs. How child abuse pediatricians approach their cases and how they document their initial inpatient consultations that will be used by such a diverse audience is currently unexplored. We used content analysis to examine 37 child physical abuse consultation notes from a national sample of child abuse pediatricians in order to understand physicians’ approaches to these consultations. Three commonly used models of child physical abuse consultation were identified in the data that we named the base model, the investigative model, and the family-dynamic model. While model types overlap, each is distinguished by key features including the approach used to gather information, the information recorded, and the language used in documentation. The base model most closely mirrors the traditional medical approach; the investigative model concentrates on triangulation of sources of information; and, the family-dynamic model concentrates on physician perceptions of family relationships. The three models of consultations for child physical abuse mirror the areas of child abuse pediatrics: diagnostic, forensic and therapeutic. These models are considered in relationship to best practice from other medical specialties with forensic components.