This ethnographic research investigates how adolescents use writing. Deborah M. Alvarez uncovers the hidden abuses and violence that adolescents bore with each school day. In two different research sites, the author follows adolescents through their academic and personal lives to discover how they use writing only to uncover the impact the public…

In seeking to clarify the meaning of the terms "child abuse" and "child neglect" it has been assumed that, like other forms of social deviance, they are socially defined phenomena. Interviews were conducted with those professionals (lawyers, pediatricians, police officers, and social workers) who daily handle the problems of…

Despite the growing recognition of the prevalence of incest which is challenging traditional views about the family as a safe haven for children, there is a serious paucity of scientific research on incest in South Africa in the new field of family violence. Almost a century after Sigmund Freud dismissed most women's reports of incest…

In 1993, the Community Research Group (CRG) at the University of Virginia was provided the opportunity to gather systematic information on parent education and family support programs for the prevention of abuse and neglect throughout Virginia. Based on the group's research into 25 distinct parenting programs, this book outlines an empowering…

This book is devoted to the problems of family violence, child abuse, and child maltreatment, including the legal, social, psychological, and community issues. Articles contained in this volume are as follows: (1) "Child Maltreatment Research and Social Policy: The Neglected Nexus" (D. Cicchetti and S. Toth); (2) "Defining Child…

This book examines the developmental functions of social pretend play (SPP), asserting that SPP is salient in the formation of both social interaction skills and friendships from the toddler period into middle childhood. Part 1 discusses the mastery of the communication of meaning in SPP and presents three studies on the relationship between…

The question of whether corporal punishment is an effective method of discipline has been hotly debated by parents, teachers, and child-rearing experts. Based on studies of over 9,000 families, this book describes the extent to which parents in the United States use corporal punishment (such as spanking and slapping) and its effects on their…

Based on a study conducted in an intervention program for parents of maltreated children, this book examines the well intended but often ineffective efforts of the child welfare system to prevent maltreatment, as illustrated by the experiences of three parents targeted by the state's child protection agency, and urges more far-reaching policy…

Noting that men make up less than 1 percent of childcare workers, this book details a study of gender in the workforce, exploring the experience of male childcare workers in England. Chapter 1 presents the stories of six men and women in childcare centers of various kinds and outlines the relationship between mothering, fathering, the self and…

This book reports research on the question, "Why do mature women return to education?" Chapter 1 describes 49 women/participants (all of whom were attending colleges or universities in northern England) and their interviews. Chapter 2 discusses reasons women gave at the start of the interview for returning to education and different…

This book presents the Contextual Systems Model (CSM), a theoretical framework for the study and education of young children at risk for failing at formal schooling. Chapter 1, "Contemporary Children and Risk," provides a demographic snapshot of the realities of children's lives and introduces formal concepts regarding risk and risk…

The second of two volumes, this book contains 21 studies of children and families. Selections, grouped into three sections, are intended to provide a representative sample of current research, including case studies and less formal reports. The first section reports on families in distress. Articles focus on adults who were antisocial children,…