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Myths And Moms: Images Of Women And Termination Of Parental Rights, Odeana R. Neal

All Faculty Scholarship

For most of us, the word "mother" evokes a myriad of often conflicting images and emotions, expectations and disappointments, and gratitude and blame. What a mother is - our own mothers and the class of people who are mothers - means much more than that a woman has given birth. We expect mothers to provide their children with all the love, caring, nurturing, and emotional fulfillment that we perceive those children need and desire; we expect her to be all things that we want her to be when we need her to be them. A woman who can fulfill the …

A Comparison Of The Ways That Teachers, Parents And Preschool Children Classify Toys Into Gender Categories, Linda Schneider

Student Work

This study compared the ways that teachers, parents and children classified toys according to gender categories. Fifty-eight teachers and seventy-eight parents completed a toy survey in which they were to sort a list of 49 preschool classroom toys into gender categories. The six toys most often rated masculine and the six toys most often rated feminine by the teachers were used in a toy sorting task for preschool children. Seventy-four preschool children were asked to sort pictures of the twelve toys into gender categories.

One-way analyses of variance, t-tests, and Least Significant Difference multiple comparison procedures were used to examine …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Self-Reported Child Sexual Abuse History And Responses On The Beck Depression Inventory, Nancy K. Gongaware

Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine responses on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) between depressed women with a self-reported history of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) and depressed women who did not report such a history. The question to be studied was whether the responses on the BDI would generally be the same regardless of the client's abuse history. Forty women seeking treatment for depression at a Midwestern counseling center served as subjects for this study. They completed a self-report questionnaire, which included an item on abuse history, and the BDI. The group reporting a history of CSA had …

Providing Justice For Children In Disputed Adoptions: A Feminist Perspective, Meghan S. Skelton

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Unblinded Mandatory Hiv Screening Of Newborns: Care Or Coercion?, Linda Farber Post

Cardozo Law Review

The image of mother and child is perhaps the most universal symbol of love and protection. The concept of mother and sick child evokes instant compassion and the desire to do somethinganything-to help the mother help her baby. When the disease is both incurable and fatal, there is the expectation that the combined efforts of the state and the medical community will be mobilized to intervene on behalf of those who are afflicted. This Note looks at one such attempt and considers, not the good intentions that prompted it, but the legal ramifications of its implementation.

Black Children, White Bias, Victoria J. Porter

Student Work

Empirical studies of young children’s racial attitudes and identity extend over more than five decades. The pioneering work of Clark and Clark in the 1930’s involved the use of brown and white dolls to study racial preferences, awareness, and identity o f African American children. On items that were designed to measure racial preferences and attitudes, most African American children attributed the positive characteristics to the white doll and the negative characteristics to the darker skinned doll. The current study investigated the racial identity and attitudes of African American and Caucasian children. The effects of socio-economic status (SES), as well …

Assessment Of Parental Expectations: A Preliminary Investigation Of The Expectation Sort For Parents, Jennifer J. Stepan

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The standards that parents set for their children and the expectations they hold are an important consideration in studying family dynamics, development of a child's self-esteem, quality of parental care, emotional responses to required and desired behavior, and virtually any other aspect of the parent-child relationship. Parents maintain expectations of their child's physical, socio-emotional, and intellectual development. Children's self-concept, self-esteem, and general emotional well-being are all affected by their ability to fulfill parents' expectations. Failure to live up to a standard that is important to the parent could lead to psychological distress for the child and disruption in the family. …

Differential Parental Participation In A Comprehensive Early Intervention Project: Is More Active Better?, Gary Percival

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The current study examined the level of participation by families who have been involved between 1 and 3 years with the Community-Family Partnership (CFP) project. The CFP project is 1 of 34 Comprehensive Child Development Projects funded by the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families through the Head Start Bureau. The CFP makes available comprehensive, on-going services to enrolled families. Twenty-six families were identified as the Low Participation Group. Twenty-three families were identified as the High Participation Group. Children from each group were tested using the Battelle Developmental Inventory on a yearly basis. Results of a repeated measures ANOVA indicated …

Competence And Acceptance Of Children With Developmental Disabilities: An Examination Of Self-Concept, Cindy S. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship of the self-concepts of a sample of 248 children with developmental disabilities with demographic variables and measures of child functioning and family situational variables. In addition, responses on a measure of self-concept were compared with those of a normative sample provided by Harter. Results indicated that, using this measure and these populations, there were no differences in the self-concept of children with disabilities and those without disabilities. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that children's cognitive achievement and independent functioning skills were moderately related to their self-concepts, but demographic variables and family …

Divorce, Custody, Gender, And The Limits Of Law: On Dividing The Child, Lee E. Teitelbaum

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Dividing the Child: Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody by Elanor E. Maccoby and Robert H. Mnookin

The Predictive Validity Of The Battelle Developmental Inventory As A Measure Of Adaptive Behavior : A 2-3 Year, Longitudinal Comparison With The Scales Of Independent Behavior, Clarice E. Jentzsh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Within the last 5 years, researchers have given increased attention to preschool assessment. One test, the Battelle Developmental Inventory, has become increasingly popular for use with preschool-age children. Despite its frequent use by early intervention programs, few researchers have studied the technical adequacy of the Battelle. The predictive validity of the Battelle was examined, using 154 children with disabilities. Scores on the Battelle for children 3 to 5 years of age were compared with scores on the Scales of Independent Behavior administered to the same children 2 to 3 years later. Moderate to strong relationships were found between the scores. …

Black Identity And Child Placement: The Best Interests Of Black And Biracial Children, Kim Forde-Mazrui

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to question whether racial matching by courts and child-placement agencies serves the best interests of Black children. The principle that guides this Note's analysis is that racial matching is justified only if such a policy better serves the interests of Black children than a policy in which race is not a factor in a child-placement determination. This Note also questions whether racial matching serves the interests of biracial children and those of Black people as a cultural group.

Early Marriage And Reproduction In Two Egyptian Villages, Laila El Hamamsy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

As noted in this monograph, marriage forms a central element of social life for Egyptians. Marriage in Egypt is nearly universal, and parents invest heavily to establish their children in married life. Once married, couples are faced with social pressures to begin childbearing immediately, a reflection of the high value placed on parenthood and children. But not all marriages begin with the same prospects for stability and satisfaction. This study draws attention to the problems faced by women who marry at very early ages in parts of rural Egypt. Despite a legal minimum age of 16, significant numbers of young …

Who Is Jessica's Mother? Defining Motherhood Through Reality, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Other Publications

The recent Baby Jessica case and others like it have renewed the nature versus nurture debate in family law. Baby Jessica's biological parents, the Schmidts, sought to obtain permanent custody of their daughter after giving her up for adoption to the DeBoer family. Their argument was one that found its basis in biology and the idea of a traditional family. On the other hand, with the assistance of Professor Scarnecchia, the DeBoers argued that it was more important forJessica's overall health to remain with her primary caretakers of two years. Courts, however, have taken a more traditional view of this …

Tribute To William F. Fratcher: Marital Property Rights In Transition, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

"Marital property rights," a term that covers a vast multitude of rights or interests conferred by law on persons who occupy the status of spouse, are in a state of transition. To discuss the themes and trends that are emerging, this Article is divided into four discrete, yet related segments. The first segment addresses how the law allocates original ownership between spouses in a marriage. The second segment turns to the intestate share of the surviving spouse. This is not a topic that much concerns high-powered estate planners because intestate estates are usually fairly small. But to the surviving spouse, …

An-Pan Man: Language And Culture In A Japanese Children's Cartoon, Debra Jane Occhi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines a Japanese children's fantasy story, An-Pan Man, an animated television cartoon. The cartoon employs stereotypical characterizations that are (a) defined by language use, especially politeness markers encoded in referents for self and other, and (b) exhibited through enacted nonverbal behavior. Since the episodic An-Pan Man story is directed toward a young audience, it can be considered as a presentation that models appropriate and inappropriate language and behavior to children through the media of popular culture. I present an interpretation of culturally specific identities established by language use through translation and interpretation of the cartoon assisted by native-speaker …

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: A Parent's Perspective And Proposal For Change, Martin A. Kotler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

For two years, beginning in the fall of 1991, I was involved in an ongoing legal battle with the Delaware County, Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit No. 25 regarding the "appropriateness" of preschool programming for my son. To a large degree, the following Article has its origin in that battle.

Nevertheless, the point of this Article is neither to get even for wrongs, real or imagined, nor to utilize these pages to supplement the already extensive briefs and formal arguments made in that case. Rather, I believe that my position as a law professor, lawyer, litigant, and parent of a disabled child …

Finite Horizons: The American Family, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

In the summer of 1992, while I was reading and thinking about Martha Minow's latest book, I was struck with my double role as a responsible adult. Vacationing in the north woods of Wisconsin with my mother, I suddenly needed to care for her as well as my own small children. Generational connections, important before, swelled hugely in crisis. As I caught my breath between hospital runs and kids' activities, I was thankful that I had received so much from my parents during my childhood. And I resolved to rethink the relationships between parents and children, adults and elderly.

Policy …

Age And Gender Differences In The Effect Of Divorce On Children, Maureen P. Knox

Theses

The differences in the effect of divorce on children were examined. The researcher specifically looked at the difference in the two variables of age and gender to determine if parental divorce had more of an impact on one sex than the other, and/or on a child of one age group compared to a child of a different age group. Seventy-nine divorced, un-remarried mothers completed a forty-two item questionnaire which assessed if the parental divorce impacted the child and if so in what manner. The children discussed in the questionnaire responses ranged in age from three to seventeen years old. There …

Mommy Has A Blue Wheelchair: Recognizing The Parental Rights Of People With Disabilities, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

War And P.E.A.C.E.: A Preliminary Report And A Model Statute On An Interdisciplinary Educational Program For Divorcing And Separating Parents, Andrew Schepard

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article is a report on P.E.A.C.E. (Parent Education and Custody Effectiveness), an interdisciplinary attempt to create a parent education program in New York. P.E.A.C.E. is an educational program that provides information to parents on three topics: the legal process for determining custody and child support; the effects of divorce and separation on adults; and the effects of divorce and separation on children, and how parents can help children cope with this difficult transition. P.E.A.C.E. is education-nothing more. It is not mediation or therapy. Parents do not talk to each other directly during P.E.A.C.E. sessions and the program makes no …

Maternal Perceptions Of The Social Development And Behavior Of Asthmatic Children, Chelley A. Merrell

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To assess the effects of asthma on the social development and behavior of asthmatic children, 60 mothers of 6- to 13-year-old children (30 mothers of asthmatics, 30 mothers of non-asthmatics) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1986) and were administered the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland: Sparrow, Balla, & Cicchetti, 1984). It was hypothesized that asthmatic children would lag behind non-asthmatic peers in social development, defined as the development of age-appropriate behaviors (i.e., communication, daily living skills, and socialization). In addition, it was hypothesized that asthmatic children would exhibit more internalizing behaviors than non-asthmatic children. There were …

The Perceptual Weighting Of Speech-Related Acoustic Cues For 3 & 1/2-Year-Old Children Differs From That Of Adults: Results Using Natural And Synthetic Stimuli, Carol J. Manning

Student Work

Previous studies have found that children’s judgments of syllable-initial /s/ and / ∫ / are more related to the vocalic F2 transition and less related to the fricative-noise spectrum than are adults’ judgments [Nittrouer & Studdert- Kennedy, JSHR, 30 (1987); Nittrouer, J. Phon., 20 1992]. These results have been taken as evidence that young children organize linguistic input in units more closely approximating syllable size than phoneme size. Furthermore, such results have led to a model of speech development proposing that children’s weighting of the acoustic cues for phonemic categories changes as they gain linguistic experience, with a general shift …

Reforming Welfare Through Social Security, Stephen D. Sugarman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, I first want to illustrate the connection between Social Security and AFDC-to explain the Social Security program and to demonstrate how it contributes to the welfare problem. More importantly, I then want to offer a reform proposal that builds on Social Security as a way to begin to eliminate AFDC and the current welfare problem. Simply put, I propose that Social Security should provide benefits to children with absent parents on the same basic terms on which it now provides benefits to children with deceased, disabled, or retired parents.

The Effect Of The Postdivorce Relationship On Paternal Involvement: A Longitudinal Analysis, Constance R. Ahrons, Richard B. Miller

Faculty Publications

Longitudinal analyses of data from 64 pairs of former spouses indicate that the quality of their postdivorce relationship had a significant impact on fathers' involvement with their children. The strength of the influence declined over time, however, as the patterns of interaction in the reorganized binuclear family became more stable.

Perceived Control: Precursors To Achievement In Oglala Lakota Children, Stephen Blaine Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The discrepancy between American Indian and Caucasian children in academic achievement is well documented. Theorists suggest a connection between perceived locus of control and the level of educational performance. This study first sought to determine if the factor structure of a measure of the perception of lo cu s of control (Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control) was similar for Caucasian and American Indian (Oglala Lakota) children. Second, the study sought to determine if there were differences between the groups on the MMCPC subtest scores. Finally, the study sought to determine the relationship between locus of control and academic …

Comparative Analysis Of Syntactic Abilities Of Hard-Of-Hearing And Deaf Children, As Measured By The Screening Portion Of The Test Of Syntactic Abilities, Dawn Misenhimer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

According to the authors of the Test of Syntactic Abilities (TSA), the most difficult task facing deaf and hard-of-hearing children in our educational system is the acquisition of English. The structure, or syntax, of the English language, is especially challenging for these children. The eventual result is that few deaf and hard-of-hearing students acquire even an adequate knowledge of standard English. This in turn affects all other aspects of education, including the learning of reading, writing and content subjects (Quigley, Steinkamp, Power & Jones, 1978). Most deaf and hard-of-hearing children do not even use English syntax to any great extent …

Correlates Of Disciplinary Practices In Working- To Middle-Class African-American Mothers, Michelle L. Kelley, Janis Sanchez-Hucles, Regina R. Walker

Psychology Faculty Publications

The disciplinary practices of 52 working- to middle-income African-American mothers were coded to assess the degree to which the mother took a parent-oriented versus a child-oriented approach across various aspects of discipline. Factors associated with physical punishment included maternal education and maternal age. The use of social/material control practices were associated with maternal age, father presence, and concerns about child victimization. Only maternal education was associated with restrictive discipline. Fear of child victimization independently predicted the use of material/social consequences. Findings are discussed in terms of the factors contributing to these individual differences, and the adaptiveness of these practices for …

Language Outcomes In Late-Talkers: Kindergarten, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

To examine language outcomes related to language acquisition and academic readiness, this study followed a group of toddlers with slow expressive language development (SELD) through their kindergarten year. Subjects were 27 children between 20 and 34 months who produced fewer than 50 words or no 2-word combinations on L. Resconla's (1989) Language Development Survey. This group was matched with a control group of 25 children with expressive vocabularies larger than 50 words. All subjects were given an intensive battery of assessments for receptive language, cognitive development, oral motor function, and adaptive behavior. A videotaped free play interaction between parent and …

Behavioral Sex Differences In Children Of Diverse Cultures: The Case Of Nurturance To Infants, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This chapter draws on the data from the Children of Different Worlds study (Whiting & Edwards, 1988) to consider the origin of sex differences in children’s behavior worldwide, in particular: (1) how different kinds of social behavior are elicited by different contexts of socialization (defined by the sex, age, status, and kinship of social interactants, ongoing activities, and other potent dimensions of setting); (2) how these contexts of socialization are distributed across cultures and associated with various adult subsistence strategies, family structures, household patterns, and forms of social networks; and (3) how boys and girls of each age in diverse …