Life Lessons in Children's Choirs

CHILDREN choirs not only train children how to sing but also nurture in them a collabora-tive spirit which benefits them for the rest of their life. Their young voices harmonize gloriously and the happy faces of the Baby Snail Choir clearly show that they enjoy singing.Yet the group of children in the choir face a major challenge that belies their vocal ability.They were all born with severe hearing im-pairments.Even with cochlear implants,the world they hear is different from ours.     

The Marital Context for Father Involvement with Their Preschool Children

SUMMARY

Fathers from dual-earner families with preschool-aged children reported that they were frequently involved in disciplining their children, often helped them in their daily routines, and occasionally got up at night with them. Fathers' sense of competence in the paternal role was predicted by marital satisfaction and the perception that their partners view them as competent fathers. Fathers' satisfaction in the paternal role was predicted by marital satisfaction and adaptability within the couple relationship. These results highlight the marital relationship as an important context for the quality of men's experience in their fathering role. Implications for programs promoting father involvement are discussed.     

Swedish 10-Year-Old Children's Perceptions and Experiences of Bullying

Abstract

The main aim of the present study was to describe children's perceptions and experiences of bullying: the way they define it, their thoughts about why children are bullied and their experiences of the way adults respond to bullying. The study group comprised 960 children in the fourth grade. The most frequent answers concerning why some children get bullied were that these children have a different appearance (43%) or that they are deviating in other ways than by appearance (31%). Two groups of bullied children seem to be of special concern; the children who do not tell adults about their situation (9% of the bullied children) and the children who do not perceive that they have received help from adults at school (24% of bullied children). The children's perceptions and experiences are discussed in relation to interventions in Swedish schools.     

Village Elementary School Affecting the United Nations

"Left-behind children" are children who have one parent or both parents working in another city while the children stay in the village. These children usually live with either one of their parents, relatives or family friends. Research shows that there are over 58 million left-behind children in China; 57.2 percent of them have one parent working in another city, 42.8 percent of the children have both parents working in another city, 79.7 percent are raised by their grandparents, 13 percent of the left-behind children are raised by relatives or friends, 7.3 percent of these children are raised without a guardian or information about them is uncertain. As the Chinese economy prospers, working-age adults from villages increasingly choose to work in cities with left-behind children a special population that requires special attention in Chinese village education. Social researchers warn that left-behind children are not only a problem for families but a social problem. The education program in Linzi Elementary School, Rugao City, Jiangsu Province has raised awareness of left-behind children’s education. The school’s "Left-behind Children ’33433’ Linzi Model" is now popular in the country and followed by many elementary schools. This school is now a major experimental elementary school under the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) caring for left-behind children.     

关注艾滋病对老年妇女的影响

老年妇女同样面临感染艾滋病风险,她们的感染人数在悄然增长。子女感染艾滋病病毒后,对老年妇女的经济、健康、心理和晚年保障各方面产生严重后果。在广大发展中国家,她们还担负着照料和支持艾滋病子女的重要角色。在以往艾滋病的研究和行动中,公众、研究者和决策者都忽略了艾滋病对处于年龄和性别双重弱势地位的老年妇女的影响,妇女在艾滋病相关工作中很少得到关注和重视。因此,有必要了解艾滋病对老年妇女的影响并研究应采取的对策。     

Cognitive Dissonance in Social Work

Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension occurring when a person holds two psychologically inconsistent cognitions. For this study, 21 social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children in British Columbia were interviewed: 1) Do social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children experience cognitive dissonance? If so, in what ways? 2) How does cognitive dissonance impact them? 3) In what ways do social workers reconcile a sense of dissonance? Findings suggest that social workers do experience cognitive dissonance, that they are adversely impacted, and that they find ways to reconcile the cognitive dissonance.     

Children, women, and substance abuse: a look at recovery in a communal setting

This study explored the sense of community among women (n = 21) and women with children (n = 30) living in Oxford Houses, with emphasis on how the presence of children might affect the household. Sense of community did not vary between participants with more or less than three months residence. Residents reported very high levels of satisfaction with the home, possibly because of a ceiling effect of little room for increases in their sense of community over time. Participants reported that they were getting along with the children in the home, that mothers could count on babysitting help, and that the children had a positive effect on the household and their own recovery process. This effect did not differ between mothers and non-mothers, suggesting that non-mothers might view the children in the home with a sense of responsibility and sensitivity comparable to that of the mothers. Implications are discussed.     

女性割礼:妇女人权与文化民族主义的悖论

女性割礼作为一种复杂的社会文化现象已经延续了数千年,至今仍在非洲许多国家和地区盛行,由于其对妇女和儿童的身心健康造成了极大的伤害,因此外部文化极力要求废除这一陋俗;可这种文化内部的执行者和拥护者却认为,实行割礼的民族应有自己的文化自决权,外界无权将与之相反的价值标准强加于该社会。在这种二元对立的语境下,非洲各国受尽割礼之苦的妇女们作为受害者,如何通过自身的觉醒从女性割礼习俗中解脱出来,这是国际社会普遍关注的问题。     

Fathers’ Perspectives Regarding Their Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence

Children exposed to intimate partner violence are at high risk for mental health and behavioral problems. Numerous studies have examined mothers’ perceptions about the influence of exposure to violence on their children; few studies have examined the views of violent fathers. This study sought to identify how fathers, participating in batterer intervention programs (BIP), perceive consequences of their violence on their children and how they protect and mitigate the destructive effects of their violence on their children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 fathers, with a qualitative approach for analysis. The findings highlight the need for specific intervention for fathers.     

THE PARENTS' AUXILIARY OF LITTLE PEOPLE OF AMERICA:

Average-sized parents of newborn and young dwarf children characteristically experience emotional distress growing out of a lack of knowledge about the practical and social problems their child will experience. The Parents' Auxiliary of Little People of America provides information and advice which enables parents to deal successfully with the medical and logistical problems of child rearing and their short-statured child's development. It further offers social and psychological support that legitimizes self-image for dwarfs and their families, and provides role models of happy, effectively functioning adult dwarfs and children who have made successful adaptations to the average-sized world around them.     

农民进城对其留守子女教育的影响

在市场经济迅猛发展的推动下，数以千计的农村富余劳动力涌向城市，其中大部分人长期与子女处于分离状态。由于留守子女得不到很好的关爱，各方面的素质普遍存在一定不足，学习动机、学习过程、学习环境也因父母的外出发生一定变化。该文通过分析相关问题及原因，对外出父母、留守子女本人、留守子女的监护人以及学校、社会、教育政策等方面提出了见解。     

农村家庭结构变化对家庭成员心理的影响及其对策

改革开放以来,我国农村传统的家庭结构发生了巨大的变化,完整的家庭逐渐分化为由留守儿童、空巢老人组成的农村留守家庭和由青壮年农民工组成的城镇流动家庭两部分。由于家庭成员在当前经济转型时期仍属弱势群体,因而较易出现心理问题。心理科学应研究他们的心理健康状况,帮助他们树立科学的家庭理念,建立健康的心灵家园,使心理科学在社会主义新农村建设中发挥出支持作用。     

“90后”大学生思想道德行为特征解析

"90"后大学生的思想道德行为在生活方式上存在发展滞后的生活能力,标新立异的生活态度,贪恋当下的享受快乐;在行为方式上存在自我中心的行为取向,我行我素的行为特征,理性务实的行为作风;在思想理念上存在浓厚的民主理念,率性的自由精神,剧烈的价值冲突。对此应将思想政治教育与制度管理相结合、人文关怀与心理教育相结合、素质教育与能力培养相结合、挫折教育与激励教育相结合,以帮助其健康成长。     

First Single Children Come of Age

China’s first generation of single children have now reached the age where they are expected to have gained a solid footing in their careers and started their own families.For many this has been a painful transition.     

PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES,AWARENESS AND USE OF SELF-HELP GROUPS

The aim of this project was to contribute information on an important aspect of the self-help movement: the nature of its relationship with professional mental and physical health practitioners. Focusing on the professions of psychology, social work, psychiatry, medicine and nursing, the goal was to ascertain the degree to which these professionals were aware of selected self-help groups in Toronto, the extent to which they used them and their attitudes toward these self-help groups. Data obtained from 308 professionals indicated that they have some degree of familiarity with self-help groups in the community, are prepared to inform their clients about groups which may be helpful to them, are prepared to make referrals to such groups and hold favorable attitudes toward such groups.     

Lost in revolution and reform: The socioeconomic pains of China's red guards generation, 1966–1996

This paper examines why the socioeconomic life of China's Red Guards generation has been difficult in both Mao's time and in the post‐Mao reform era. It shows that Mao's Cultural Revolution destroyed the normalcy of society and prevented this generation from securing the life they expected. When reform moved China toward a market economy, their past misfortunes produced their present disadvantages. Their limited education disqualified them from the opportunities of employment and career promotion; their protracted sent‐down to the countryside postponed their marriage and normal social life; and their longtime economic hardships debilitated their market competitiveness. Mao's revolution made them ill‐prepared for the coming economic liberty, yet the post‐Mao reform, instead of compensating them for their distress, left them behind when it pursued market efficiency.     

Teachers’ Perspectives on Hitting Back in School: Between Inexcusable Violence and Self-Defense

Israeli schools expressly forbid a student to hit back after being attacked. In semistructured interviews,71 Israeli educators were asked for their views on the hitting-back tactic. The interviews compared their attitude toward hitting back as teachers with their take on the matter as parents. The results, analyzed using grounded theory, show that most educators would not object if their children hit back in self-defense when attacked but would discipline students who hit back unless they can prove their claim of self-defense. Interviewees are much less inclined to discipline retaliators who do manage to prove self-defense but feel that investigations to verify self-defense under school conditions are impractical. To deter bullies, they say, teachers must declare their readiness to discipline everyone involved; otherwise, bullies will falsely claim self-defense. The discussion explores the implications of role theory on teachers’ attitudes.     

“We All Have to Eat”: Experiential Learning in Courses on Food and Hunger

Community-based learning offers students the opportunity to understand important concepts through their own experiences. Two courses on food and hunger in society, one a first-year seminar of 12 students and one an upper-level psychology course of 20 students, made site visits to local farms, markets, and a soup kitchen while reading about the issues and discussing them in class. At the end of the semester, each student wrote a short self-evaluation in which they were invited to discuss the aspects of the course that affected them most. Student responses suggest that the experiential component of the course was disproportionately powerful, impelling many of them to make changes in their lives as a result.     

Women leadership in Oxford House: examining their strengths and challenges

This study examined the perspectives and definition of leadership by women and mothers with children (n = 40) affiliated with Oxford Houses, a communal mutual-help recovery setting. Participants were asked questions relating to their experiences living in an Oxford House including the strengths and challenges encountered and how leadership impacted the stability in their house. Results illustrated the value of female leadership and highlighted the characteristics deemed important for women leaders in Oxford House, as well as some differences between these women's perception of leadership and the standard definition of leadership. The implications of the findings and how they may be useful to women's and mothers' with children houses are discussed.     

Pedagogy of the Logic Model: Teaching Undergraduates to Work Together to Change Their Communities

Undergraduate community psychology courses can empower students to address challenging problems in their local communities. Creating a logic model is an experiential way to learn course concepts by “doing.” Throughout the semester, students work with peers to define a problem, develop an intervention, and plan an evaluation focused on an issue of concern to them. This report provides an overview of how to organize a community psychology course around the creation of a logic model in order for students to develop this applied skill. Two undergraduate student authors report on their experience with the logic model assignment, describing the community problem they chose to address, what they learned from the assignment, what they found challenging, and what they are doing now in their communities based on what they learned.