Culture-specific views of child maltreatment and parenting styles in a Pacific-Island community

OBJECTIVE: Providing culturally sensitive definitions of child abuse is difficult as perceptions of what constitutes abuse can vary around the world. This study was undertaken to assess how teachers in the Republic of Palau perceived the severity of potentially abusive incidents and what types of recommendations, if any, they would have for situations judged as severely abusive. Attitudes about child rearing practices were also evaluated. METHODS: Teachers (n = 141 ) were given: (1) a questionnaire consisting of 25 vignettes describing parent/child interactions that were potentially abusive and asked to rate the severity of abuse and recommended interventions for each vignette; and (2) a 40-item parenting styles questionnaires to evaluate attitudes about child-rearing practices. RESULTS: Teachers identified and recommended interventions for more severe forms of abuse at rates similar to other international samples. For less severe parental misconduct, teachers were reluctant to involve nonfamily and outside agencies. Sexual abuse was rated as the most serious type of abuse and when identified, intervention was highly recommended. Some traditional Palauan parenting practices that might be considered maltreatment by other cultures were not considered abusive. For parenting styles, older individuals were more likely to use guilt induction and less likely to use methods of acceptance. Aggressive parenting styles were negatively correlated with all forms of abuse, suggesting that teachers who used aggressive disciplinary styles were less likely to perceive abusive situations as harmful. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that cultural values and practices play important roles in shaping the definition and interpretation of child maltreatment.     

Reading comprehension strategy instruction and attribution retraining for secondary students with learning and other mild disabilities

A pre-post experimental design with 6-week delayed posttest was implemented to investigate the effects of reading comprehension strategy (RCS) instruction with and without attribution retraining (AR) on reading outcomes for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders with learning and other mild disabilities. Students were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: RCS+AR, RCS, or a Read Naturally (Ihnot, 1992) comparison condition. Results indicated that compared to the comparison group, both strategy instruction groups performed better on a summarization measure of comprehension after treatment producing large effect sizes. Both groups also performed better after a 6-week delay; however, only the RCS+AR group maintained a large effect size. In addition, RCS+AR students displayed higher attributions for reading success at post- and delayed posttesting. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Cues of paternal uncertainty and father to child physical abuse as reported by mothers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Objective

Paternity is uncertain, so if paternal feelings evolved to promote fitness, we might expect them to vary in response to variables indicative of paternity probability. We therefore hypothesized that the risk of lapses of paternal affection, including abusive assaults on children, will be exacerbated by cues of non-paternity.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of 331 Brazilian mothers, interviewed about 1 focal child (age 1–12) residing with her and the putative father. Child physical abuse was assessed using the Conflict Tactic Scales: Parent Child (CTSPC). Two potential cues of (non) paternity were (1) whether the parents co-resided when the child was conceived, and (2) whether third parties allegedly commented on father–child resemblance. Data were analyzed through multiple logistic regressions.

Results

Mothers reported child physical abuse by 15.9% (95% CI 4.6–27.1) of fathers who had not cohabited with them at conception, compared to 5.9% (95% CI 3.1–8.7) of those who had. The odds ratio for abuse by fathers who had not cohabited at conception in relation to those who had—adjusted for income, education, age, sex of child, whether child was first born, household size, time father spent with child, and alcohol abuse and drug use by father—was 4.3 (95% CI 1.4–13.8). Mothers reported abuse of 7.0% (95% CI 4.0–10.0) of children who purportedly resembled their fathers, versus 8.7% (95% CI 0.2–17.1) of those who did not.

Conclusion

According to maternal reports, not having co-resided at conception quadrupled the chance of child physical abuse by currently co-residing Brazilian fathers. The reported prevalence of abuse was unrelated to reported allegations of father–child resemblance.     

Fostering Collaboration with Families of Children with Disabilities: Online Professional Development for K–12 Teachers

Technology has reshaped conceptions of professional development by increasing access to information, enabling sustained follow-up efforts, and fostering teacher reflection and collaboration. Drawing on theoretical models of parent involvement and an ethic of caring, this study examined the perceptions and attitudes of educators toward collaborating with parents of children with disabilities. This inquiry utilized a digital documentary and online curriculum for inservice K-12 special education and general education teachers' professional development in a rural school district. Results indicate that teachers who participated in the online professional development showed increased recognition of the importance of collaborating with families. Limitations and implications for future research and practice are addressed in the article.     

The influence of a customized continuing professional development programme on physical education teachers’ perceived physical literacy and efficacy beliefs

PROSPECTS - The purpose of this article is to explore the influence of a customized continuing professional development (PE-CPD) programme on PE teachers’ perceived physical literacy and...     

Age at start as a correlate of intervention effectiveness

This investigation examined the “earlier one starts an intervention, the better” hypothesis for handicapped preschoolers. Posttest performances of handicapped preschoolers on the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI) and the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) were evaluated in relation to the age at which the intervention began, the length of intervention, and Bayley pretest scores. Results indicated that age at start and length of treatment bore little relation to treatment outcomes. However, Bayley pretest scores correlated moderately with posttest scores. Possible explanations are discussed.