8: Competency,Relevance, and Empowerment

Children's programs should be restructured so as to provide social systems that vigorously support child and youth care rather than hinder it. Specifically, programs should be reoriented so as to promote normal growth and development, i.e., competency, particularly interpersonal competencies. Programs should be made more relevant to community, rather than institutional, living. Democratizing programs by empowering children and those who care for them will make the programs more effective and appropriate for raising and treating children and youth. Restructuring as a strategy for change is also examined.     

Children and Youth Care Education for the Culturally Different Student:

The authors discuss the issue of how to educate child and youth care workers to work with culturally different children using the example of educating Native students. In order to educate Native students, educators must be prepared to adapt curriculum and child care methodology within the total education program. In addition, the needs of the culturally different child must be addressed within the mainstream programs.     

2000 and Beyond:

Established child and youth care training programs attempt to ensure that students become skilled and knowledgeable in core competencies appropriate for the breadth of work settings with children and youth. Providing direction about employment areas also now requires information for students contemplating study at the graduate level. Six future career pathways are described, including preparatory skills, work characteristics and realities about each career area.     

Measuring the Effectiveness of Routine Child Protection Services: The Results From an Evidence Based Strategy

Most of what is known about the effectiveness of child welfare is found in studies of specific programs. Little is known about the effectiveness of the routine services provided in child protection systems. Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County is a Canadian child welfare agency that decided to expand its mission beyond protecting children to include enabling child development. This article discusses its effort to improve outcomes for children receiving a child protection service at home: the key elements examined are the selection of outcomes, the implementation of a child development strategy, and the collection and analysis of outcome data. Many of the findings are encouraging. The outcomes described rely on parents, social workers, and children and youth as sources of information. The triangulation resulting from combining a number of sources and instruments for the collection of the outcome data supports the credibility of the findings. Through the evidence based strategy that was adopted knowledge was acquired about what is possible in attaining better developmental outcomes in the course of child protection intervention.     

Does child care quality matter? A comparison of children's developmental outcomes across classrooms with different quality standards

It has long been an established view that children who attend high-quality early learning programs are more likely to be school ready. However, some studies have found that program quality is not as important to child outcomes as is participating in some form of early learning. This study aimed to compare 2 early learning classrooms in the same school with different quality standards to determine whether the differences in quality significantly affected children's developmental gains during the academic year. Results indicated no significant differences in the developmental outcomes of children on the basis of classroom type. One possible explanation for the lack of differences is that both classrooms were in the same school. Other studies have found that child care programs benefit from partnerships with programs that have higher quality standards. The findings demonstrate a need for further research about the benefits of child care program partnerships.     

The listen to me project: Creating lasting changes in voice and participation for children in care through a youth-led project

In this article, we present the results from a youth-led project on the voices and participation of children in state care in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this project was for youth to share their voice about what they wish child protection workers and agencies could do to improve their experiences within the child protection system. Many youth in care in Canada and internationally report that their voices are not heard and that they are not involved in decisions involving their care. Seven themes were extracted from this voices of youth project asking child welfare workers and agencies to listen to [them] and believe [them], keep [them] informed and be honest, involve [them] in decisions, support [them], keep [them] connected,; ignite [their] passions, and don't give up on [them]. Suggestions from the youth involved in this project are offered on ways to create true and meaningful change in child welfare.     

Adolescent psychiatric inpatients: Characteristics,outcome, and comparison between discharged patients from a specialized adolescent unit and nonspecialized units

We have recently studied the outcome of school-aged children treated in day hospital and inpatient psychiatric units using four operationally defined preadmission child and parent/family variables as predictors of outcome. Our studies have provided considerable support for these preadmission variables singly and/or in combination in predicting poor outcome in school-aged children in these hospital settings. The present study describes the prevalence of these variables and their ability to predict outcome in two groups of adolescent psychiatric inpatients in the same hospital: one group placed on a specialized adolescent unit and one group placed on other inpatient psychiatric units. The findings indicate that overall there is a lower prevalence of the preadmission variables in the adolescent group compared to the school-aged inpatient group. In the adolescent group, only the preadmission variable of severe aggressive/destructive behavior predicted poor outcome. There appears to be a greater prevalence of severe behavioral disturbance in the group of adolescents discharged from the specialized adolescent unit compared to adolescents discharged from other psychiatric units, and an associated poorer outcome in the former group. Possible reasons for these findings and their implications for the hospital-based evaluation and treatment of aggressive and severely disturbed adolescents are discussed.This paper was presented in part at the 144th annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 1991.Received M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Research interests are outcome of youth treated in psychiatric programs, aggression and conduct disorder, and children of substance-abusing parents.Received M.A. in psychology from the New School for Social Research. Research interests are psychobiology, affective disorders, and metabolic regulation.     

Chapter 2. From Risk to At-Risk

Abstract

The American economist, Frank Knight (1921), introduced risk as far back as the early 1920s with his analysis of profit legitimisation. In the profession of law, by the latter part of the 19th century risk had entered into mainstream social law in Europe (Ewald, 1991). Risk discourse seems to have regained popularity since the 1970s. Despite the voluminous work published since then with over three thousand books and articles by the end of the 1990s (Renn, 1998) there is no consensus regarding the risk construct itself, as it is approached from so many differing perspectives and disciplines. Many researchers tended, when writing about risk and children and youth, to focus on single variables such as intense interparental conflict that exacerbates maladjustment in children. This has now changed since the introduction of population health child and youth care perspectives. We are now far more interested in co-occurring adversities and the total, or whole, environment of a child. This chapter explores how and why a child or youth might be considered at risk exploring educational environments, the world of insurance, the natural world, medical discourse, and the world of the individual.     

The Roles of Mothers’ Neighborhood Perceptions and Specific Monitoring Strategies in Youths’ Problem Behavior

The neighborhood context can interfere with parents’ abilities to effectively monitor their children, but may be related to specific monitoring strategies in different ways. The present study examines the importance of mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood disorganization for the specific monitoring strategies they use and how each of these strategies are related to youths’ alcohol use and delinquency. The sample consists of 415 mother–child dyads recruited from urban and suburban communities in Western New York state. Youths were between 10 and 16 years of age (56% female), and were mostly Non-Hispanic White and African American (45.3 and 36.5%, respectively). Structural equation modeling shows that mothers who perceive greater neighborhood problems use more rule-setting strategies, but report lower levels of knowledge of their children’s whereabouts. Knowledge of whereabouts is related to less youth alcohol use and delinquency through its association with lowered peer substance use, whereas rule-setting is unrelated to these outcomes. Thus, mothers who perceive greater problems in their neighborhoods use less effective monitoring strategies. Prevention programs could address parental monitoring needs based upon neighborhood differences, tailoring programs for different neighborhoods. Further, parents could be apprised of the limitations of rule-setting, particularly in the absence of monitoring their child’s whereabouts.     

How much insecurity does security need? The discrepancy in assessing the sense of security of children,adolescents, and caregivers in institutions

When developing concepts for protecting children and youth who live in institutions, the perspective of the addressees has so far been insufficiently taken into account. This study aims to compare the assessment of children, youth, and caregivers in institutions with regard to group atmosphere, participation, and sense of safety. A combined quantitative and qualitative approach compares the assessment of children or youth and caregivers in child and youth welfare institutions, boarding schools, and clinics through the use of an online questionnaire and group discussions that address the topics safety, group atmosphere, and participation. The quantitative questionnaire included 233 youth age 14 years and up and 490 caregivers; 87 children or youth between the ages of 11 and 18 years and 73 caregivers were part of the qualitative group discussion. The questionnaire showed that youth and caregivers assessed the sense of security in principle as positive. With regard to group atmosphere and participation, youth tended to see these aspects in a positive light, but almost all youth-aged participants viewed these specific categories more critically than did the adult caregivers. The results from the group discussions make clear that children, adolescents, and caregivers often underestimate the real dangers. The existing sense of security in institutions may be the result of underestimating real dangers. Implications for the implementation of protection concepts are drawn.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Work Values: A Meta-Analytic Review

Work values act as guiding principles for individuals’ work-related behavior. Economic self-sufficiency is an important predictor for psychological well-being in adulthood. Longitudinal research has demonstrated work values to be an important predictor of economic behavior, and consequently of self-sufficiency. Socialization theories designate parents an important role in the socialization of their children to cultural values. Yet, extant literature is limited in demonstrating the role families play on how youth develop agentic pathways and seek self-sufficiency in transition to adulthood. This study presents a meta-analytic review investigating the intergenerational transmission of work values, which is frequently assessed in terms of parent–child value similarities. Thirty studies from 11 countries (N?=?19,987; Median child age?=?18.15) were included in the analyses. The results revealed a significant effect of parents on their children’s work values. Both mothers’ and fathers’ work values, and their parenting behavior were significantly associated with their children’s work values. Yet, similarity of father–child work values decreased as child age increased. Our findings suggest a moderate effect, suggesting the influence of general socio-cultural context, such as generational differences and peer influences, in addition to those of parents on youth’s value acquisition. Our systematic review also revealed that, despite its theoretical and practical importance, social science literature is scarce in comprehensive and comparative empirical studies that investigate parent–child work value similarity. We discuss the implications of our findings for labor market and policy makers.     

Capacity-Building Partnerships Between Indigenous Youth and Elders

Abstract

Various strategies are discussed for creating intergenerational research opportunities that support the rights of indigenous children and youth. These strategies were developed during an international workshop that brought together indigenous elders and youth from 20 nations to discuss a global intergenerational action plan. Specific workshop goals were to (a) explore traditional values and teachings that nurture children, and (b) identify ways in which the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child might support indigenous peoples in developing research and training initiatives for strengthening the rights of indigenous children. The workshop applied traditional methods of mediation and dispute management to discussions of key child-rights issues relevant to indigenous children. The plan of action developed in the workshop included specific strategies for community and national level research based on information provided by Indigenous elders, children, and youth. Issues appropriate for study by inter-generational researchers include those related to discrimination, health, child protection, and increased participation of children and youth in cultural traditions.     

Concepts of Child Care in the Novels of Charles Dickens

This paper challenges child care and youth workers to re-examine the works of Dickens for their commentary on the treatment of children and youth in families, schools and society. The fictional presentation of young peoples' lives by Dickens has relevance to today's practice issues.     

Focused training of child and youth-care workers for promoting social and educational inclusion of youth at risk

Engaging marginalized youngsters in the mainstream society poses a great challenge for child and youth-care (CYC) workers. Workers' ability to promote significant inclusion of these adolescents is largely shaped in process of their professional education. Most academic programs for CYC workers define the profession too broadly, and this lack of specification, reflecting the scope and complexity of the field, could have a negative impact on the inclusion-aimed process of professionalization. This opinion note aims at opening a discussion about a new, inclusion-focused perspective on higher professional education of CYC workers. This discussion could suggest a refinement of CYC curricula to reflect specific characteristics of the target populations as well as consider some core concepts of the field of child and youth care.     

Urban Youth Workers' Use of “Personal Knowledge” in Resolving Complex Dilemmas of Practice

Using narrative inquiry to analyze accounts of how two experienced youth workers handled the potential for gun violence in their organizations, this article argues that youth worker expertise in part is based on personal knowledge derived from childhood neighborhood-based peer groups and participation in youth programs. Expert youth workers draw on personal and professional craft knowledge and move between the rules of youth organizations and the rules of the streets to read people and situations and address the potential for serious violence. Implications for youth worker professional development are raised.     

Psychopathy in Youth: Pursuing Diagnostic Clarity

Psychopathy in youth has received increased recognition as a critical clinical construct for the evaluation and management of troubled adolescents (e.g., Frick, P. J. (1998). In Cooke, D. J., Forth, A. E., and Hare, R. D. (eds.), Psychopathy: Theory, Research and Implications for Society. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 161–187; Lynam, D. R. (1998). J. Abnorm. Psychol., 107: 566–575). To date, clinical research has examined psychopathy simply as a global construct rather than focusing on its specific criteria. In addition, researchers have tended to utilize downward extensions of adult conceptualizations of psychopathy to understand this syndrome in youth. This study was designed to assist in clarifying the construct of psychopathy in youth from a fresh perspective via prototypical analysis. Psychologists from the Clinical Child Psychology Section of the American Psychological Association (i.e., Division 53; N = 511) rated the prototypicality of the psychopathy construct for both male and female youth. Factor analyses for both genders resulted in 2 dimensions that reflected both personality and behavioral components of the disorder. Prototypicality ratings revealed important adult-to-child and male-to-female differences. In addition, child psychologists' views of their effectiveness at treating psychopathy in youth was surveyed. Contrary to the prevailing pessimism, clinical child psychologists reported that children and adolescents made moderate gains in psychotherapy. These results provide a framework for clinical child psychologists in their evaluations and treatment of psychopathic youth.     

School predictors of alcohol use in high school Hispanic and non-Hispanic youth

Many youth alcohol prevention programs are not culturally sensitive and have focused on avoidance tactics. Given the differences in alcohol use and the possibly differing intervention strategies for Hispanic and non-Hispanic youth, this study aims to analyze the contributing factors of alcohol use within these two groups. Two hundred and one high school students participated in a survey. Findings indicate that prevention programs should focus on situational opportunities to use alcohol for both Hispanic and non-Hispanic youth. For Hispanic students, school management skills did not relate to less alcohol use, as expected. There should be less emphasis on how risky drinking can be, and more emphasis on the moral implications or “wrongness” of drinking, particularly for non-Hispanics. The discussion includes some possible interpretations of the relationship between skill management skills and heightened alcohol use for Hispanic students.     

Chapter 10. Patterns of Career Development in Child and Youth Care

Abstract

Patterns of career development in the field of child and youth care are reexamined in relation to roles that involve working directly with children in specific settings as well as in relation to roles that involve working indirectly in support of children through working with other adults, be these parents, other caregivers or professionals. Other career roles involve working in support of human service systems that impact on the care of children and young people and influence family welfare. Finally, some career roles involve working at the macro level to formulate policies that shape the culture of caring communities to support the health and well-being of children. Each career role presents important challenges and offers valuable opportunities for influencing the lives of children, young people and their families.     

Finding Identity in Family Work

SUMMARY

The family has always enjoyed an elevated status in Ireland, yet it was not until the mid-1990s that family-based intervention work really found expression in a new division of child and youth care: community child care-workers. This paper introduces readers to an area of child and youth care work in Ireland devoted to an ecological understanding of the child “at risk” and working with the child and the child's family outside of a residential or institutional setting. The paper includes a brief interview with a community child care-worker, observations from a master's student in social care who has also worked in community child care, and concludes by reviewing 12 key areas community child care-workers must address if their status is to be secured in the Irish child and