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Children's Activities (children + activity)
Selected Abstracts"A Child Is a Child": Fostering Experiences in Northwestern CameroonETHOS, Issue 1 2007Heidi Verhoef Past research comparing fostered and nonfostered children's welfare in sub-Saharan Africa has led to inconsistent results. One reason for this disparity might be that children's experiences are shaped more by the circumstances in which they are fostered than by merely being raised away from their parents. This article examines how fostered children in one urban community in northwestern Cameroon spend time relative to their nonfostered peers and, by grouping fostered children according to fostering circumstances, how they spend time relative to one another. Analysis of children's activities suggests little variance between the experiences of fostered and nonfostered children, but significant differences among fostered children. These results are interpreted using children's views of activities, and the potential consequences of children's relative integration in foster households are discussed. [source] Child's play: Reflections on the invisibility of children in the paleolithic recordEVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 6 2006John J. Shea Were there children in Early Paleolithic times? At first glance, this seems a stupid question. We are obviously descended from Paleolithic ancestors. Yet, in archeological models of Paleolithic stone tool variability and assemblage formation processes, children might as well be invisible. There have been some efforts to identify byproducts of children's activities in a few Late Paleolithic contexts, but their possible role in broader patterns of Paleolithic industrial variability remains largely unexplored.1 In this paper I argue that the reason we know so little about children's knapping behavior in prehistory is not that this behavior was genuinely absent, but rather that we have not looked hard enough or in the right way at the lithic record. This is a pity, because of all the behaviors we archeologists attempt to reconstruct in our research, child-rearing must certainly number among those with the most immediate and important evolutionary consequences. [source] Civic Engagement Among Low-Income and Low-Wealth Families: In Their WordsFAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 2 2006Amanda Moore McBride Abstract: Using in-depth interviews, we explored civic engagement that included volunteering through religious organizations, neighboring, involvement in children's activities, and contributing. The sample consisted of 84 low-income, low-wealth families. Findings indicate that although people of limited resources may be engaged, they face substantial challenges to active engagement. Data are suggestive of a modified life cycle theory, a resource or "stakeholding" theory, and institutional theories regarding challenges to engagement. In the context of the study's limitations, implications are discussed for measurement, research, and interventions. [source] Social action with youth: Interventions, evaluation, and psychopolitical validityJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Julie Morsillo We describe two interventions designed to encourage community action with youth in a school and a community service setting. The school intervention took place with a Year 10 class, while the community-based intervention took place with a group of same-sex attracted youth. Using a participatory action research framework, youth in both settings devised a series of community projects to promote personal, group, and community wellness. Projects included drama presentations addressing homophobia, designing an aboriginal public garden, children's activities in a cultural festival for refugees, a drug-free underage dance party, a community theatre group, and a student battle of the bands. We evaluated the various community projects using self-reports, videotapes, and ethnographic data. While goals of personal and group wellness were meaningfully met, wellness at the community level was harder to achieve. Introducing a tool for the evaluation of psychopolitical validity, we examined the degree of both epistemic and transformational validity present in the interventions. Our assessment indicates that (a) psychological changes are easier to achieve than political transformations, (b) epistemic validity is easier to accomplish than transformational validity, and (c) changes at the personal and group levels are easier to achieve than changes at the community level. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 35: 725,740, 2007. [source] Ethnographic Studies of Childhood: A Historical OverviewAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2007ROBERT A. LeVINE In this article, I briefly survey the ethnographic research literature on childhood in the 20th century, beginning with the social and intellectual contexts for discussions of childhood at the turn of the 20th century. The observations of Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead in the 1920s were followed by later ethnographers, also describing childhood, some of whom criticized developmental theories; still others were influenced initially by Freudian and other psychoanalytic theories and later by the suggestions of Edward Sapir for research on the child's acquisition of culture. The Six Cultures Study led by John Whiting at midcentury was followed by diverse trends of the period after 1960,including field studies of infancy, the social and cultural ecology of children's activities, and language socialization. Ethnographic evidence on hunting and gathering and agricultural peoples was interpreted in evolutionary as well as cultural and psychological terms. The relationship between ethnography and developmental psychology remained problematic. [source] Effects of a booster seat education and distribution program in child care centers on child restraint use among children aged 4 to 8 yearsCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2009Richard ReadingArticle first published online: 5 JUN 200 Effects of a booster seat education and distribution program in child care centers on child restraint use among children aged 4 to 8 years . ThoresonS., MyersL., GossC. & DiGuiseppiC. ( 2009 ) Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine , 163 , 261 , 267 . Objective To compare child care centre-based booster seat education and distribution with no intervention when implemented immediately after booster seat legislation. Design Cluster randomized controlled trial. Setting Thirty-nine urban child care centres. Participants A total of 854 parents and 1010 children aged 4 to 8 years in vehicles leaving centres. Intervention We trained 168 staff members at 20 centres to give parents and children messages promoting booster seats and supplied lesson plans, children's activities, and free booster seats. Main outcome measures Observed booster seat use, ,good practice' restraint use and legal restraint use. Results Parents at intervention centres were more likely to report receiving restraint information from the centre [adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 4.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.48,6.67], speaking with staff about booster seats (AOR, 3.95; 95% CI, 2.26,6.88) and using fit to decide when to move children into seat belts (AOR, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.91,5.99). Groups did not differ in proportions using booster seats (44% vs. 43%; AOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.62,1.73), good practice (42% vs. 41%; AOR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.70,1.74) or legal restraints (65% vs. 65%; AOR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.48,1.31). Results were similar for children aged 4 to 5 and 6 to 8 years. All outcomes were significantly less likely among children riding in pickup trucks or with Hispanic or black drivers. Conclusions The intervention increased parents' receipt of information from centre staff and knowledge about booster seats but not booster seat use. Research is needed to identify methods and messages that will empower centre providers to promote booster seats effectively and reach high-risk populations. [source] Child or family assessed measures of activity performance and participation for children with cerebral palsy: a structured reviewCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2005C. Morris Abstract Background, There is a need to measure children's ,activity performance and participation' as defined in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (WHO ICF). The aim of this review is to identify instruments that are suitable for use in postal surveys with families of children with cerebral palsy. Methods, We conducted a structured review of instruments that use child or family self-assessment of ,activity performance and participation'. The review involved a systematic search for instruments using multiple published sources. Appraisal of the instruments used the predefined criteria of appropriateness, validity, reliability, responsiveness, precision, interpretability, acceptability and feasibility. Results, There are relatively few child or family assessed instruments appropriate for measuring children's activities and participation. Seven instruments were identified that could potentially be administered by mail. The Assessment of Life Habits for Children (LIFE-H) was the most appropriate instrument as assessed by its content but the reliability of child or family self-assessment is not known. If the LIFE-H were shown to be a reliable self-report measure then the LIFE-H would be the recommended choice. Currently, the Activities Scale for Kids and the condition-specific Lifestyle Assessment Questionnaire for cerebral palsy (LAQ-CP) provide the broadest description of what and how frequently children with cerebral palsy perform a range of activities and thereby indicate participation. The LAQ-CP also provides additional contextual information on the impact of any disability on the participation of the family unit. Conclusion, There remains much scope for developing valid and reliable self-assessed measures corresponding to the WHO ICF dimensions of activities and participation. [source] | ||||||||||