Effective Antenatal Education: Strategies Recommended by Expectant and New Parents

Antenatal education is a crucial component of antenatal care, yet practice and research demonstrate that women and men now seek far more than the traditional approach of a birth and parenting program attended in the final weeks of pregnancy. Indeed, women and men participating in this study recommended a range of strategies to be provided during the childbearing year, comparable to a “menu in a restaurant.” Their strategies included three program types: “Hearing Detail and Asking Questions,” “Learning and Discussing,” and “Sharing and Supporting Each Other.” The characteristics of each type of program are identified in this article. The actual learning methods the study participants recommended to be incorporated into the programs were “Time to Catch Up and Focus,” “Seeing and Hearing the Real Experience,” “Practicing,” and “Discovering.”     

Suspected Child Maltreatment: Preschool Staff in a Conflict of Loyalty

Objective To investigate the actions of Swedish preschool staff when suspecting the maltreatment of children in their domestic environment, and the staff’s further experiences and relations to the family members. Methods A questionnaire in 2005 to the staff of 189 child groups in community preschools, including 3,100 children. Results A report to Child Protective Agency (CPA) was submitted in 30% of the cases where maltreatment was suspected. The staff’s decisions as well as their working situation, and how they estimated the parents’ benefits from CPA support were deeply affected by their different relations to the families. The staff had their best contact with the children and their most insecure and vulnerable contact with the fathers. Conclusions In situations with suspected child maltreatment the staff face conflicts of loyalty, mostly based on insecure relations, which could become an impediment to supporting and educating the children.     

Recent trends in European migration policies

This paper describes the composition of the migrant worker population in the countries of Western Europe. It traces developments in government policies regarding control and stabilization of immigration, provision for education and granting of political rights. The current international recession and the freeze on immigration might provide a much-needed breathing space for re-thinking policies that affect the personal, educational and vocational futures of large numbers of human beings.     

Understanding the rise of e-participation in non-democracies: Domestic and international factors

While it has often been suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide an important means of increasing citizen participation (which is at the core of democratic government), few commentators have expected non-democracies to create online environments in which citizens can take an active part in political processes. In recent years, however, some non-democracies have begun to outperform countries with long-standing democratic traditions in terms of e-participation development. According to the 2010 United Nations (UN) e-government survey, Bahrain outranks France, Kazakhstan beats Sweden and Malaysia ranks higher than Germany. This article sets out to understand the recent rise of e-participation initiatives in non-democracies. Drawing on comparative longitudinal data from the UN e-government surveys, we tested the assertion that international drivers of change are competing with the dominant focus on domestic factors, especially in the non-democratic world, and are influencing the patterns of reform. The empirical analysis demonstrated important differences between the drivers of change in democratic and non-democratic countries and found economic globalization to be the strongest predictor of e-participation initiatives in non-democratic countries. In conclusion, we argue that economic globalization alters the context of e-participation and necessitates a re-examination of many of its premises and tenets.