{"title":"Australian high school students and their Internet use: perceptions of opportunities versus ‘problematic situations’","authors":"L. Gaspard","doi":"10.1017/cha.2020.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2020.2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Internet has, for varied reasons, emerged as a critical mediating tool in the everyday experience for many young people. Opportunities for access and participation are vast and well-documented. There are, however, risks, or more accurately ‘problematic situations’, associated with these online experiences. From a digital youth’s perspective, real and perceived threats, primarily related to content, contact and conduct, all play to policy agendas, and adult fears of how best to protect youth within virtual space where the boundaries of private and public are easily blurred and compromised. Drawing upon a purposive sample of four high schools, in greater Melbourne, Australia, frequency analysis is performed on questionnaire data from 770 students aged 12–18. Adapting the research taxonomy from the EU Kids Online (2014, EU Kids Online: findings, methods, recommendations (deliverable D1.6)) project, this paper extends that work by developing a more comprehensive coding structure to reflect the complex attitudes high school students of this study exhibit with their online practice. In doing so, this research, via a more nuanced classification, supports the ongoing validity of previous research that points to navigation of the Internet as a continuing contestation between balancing opportunity and risk.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2020.2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45983676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The influence of culture on maternal attachment behaviours: a South African case study","authors":"Rachel Zaidman-Mograbi, L. L. le Roux, Herna Hall","doi":"10.1017/cha.2020.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2020.4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract It is widely accepted that culture is a contextual factor that can affect mother–infant attachment. Cultural beliefs are translated into child-rearing patterns that influence maternal responsiveness to infant attachment behaviours and could thus affect sensitive caregiving that lies at the heart of secure attachment. This article reports on the findings of a study that explored the influence of culture on maternal caregiving behaviours in the multi-cultural South African context. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews conducted with participants from three study samples to ascertain their perceptions of socio-cultural influences on attachment. Two samples consisted of mothers and mental health professionals, respectively, who represented different South African cultures (Xhosa, Sotho, Zulu, Coloured, Indian and White). The third sample consisted of experts in the field of attachment. The research findings indicate that culture could influence maternal caregiving behaviours. Although all the participants valued good caregiving, some maternal responses to infant attachment behaviours varied among participants from different cultures. The research emphasises the importance of considering local contexts in understanding attachment and maternal sensitivity.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2020.4","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44837447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining child protection practice in New South Wales: Non-accidental injury and the principle of strict liability","authors":"P. Hansen, F. Ainsworth","doi":"10.1017/cha.2020.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2020.5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines child protection practice when the Department of Communities and Justice in New South Wales takes the view that an injury to a child is non-accidental. The position taken in this paper is that once a child protection caseworker takes the position that an injury is non-accidental, then a strict liability or absolute liability approach is adopted. In effect, any of the child’s parents or caregivers are identified as persons who may have caused the injury or harm. What follows is the decision that a child must never be restored to the parents or caregivers, unless a person confesses to causing the harm and completes specific child protection counselling. Our concern is with the process of investigation, the reliance on one medical opinion in a context where the parents or caregivers are not in a financial position to obtain a second opinion, the failure to observe the rules of evidence when considering medical opinion, and the manner of substantiation of the non-accidental injury. In addition, we argue that there is a lack of knowledge about the factors that influence a paediatrician’s decision-making and that the guidelines for judicial decision-making derived from case law need to be examined further.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2020.5","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47154654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of capitalist-led neoliberal agenda’s on parents and their children","authors":"R. Sanders","doi":"10.1017/cha.2020.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2020.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract One of the most important social relationships in any community is that of parent and child. Parents and primary caregivers are typically tasked with raising their children; however, they are but one of many social agents and structures that contribute to childrens’ overall socialisation. Children’s beliefs, values and behaviours are influenced by the broader social systems in which they are raised, including social and economic ideologies. This commentary aims to build an argument based on a broad collection of literature and research, that Australia’s current variegated form of neoliberalism has the potential to create friction within the parent–child relationship, and questions about the social morality of this position are raised.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2020.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43523389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Philip Mendes, Marcia Pinskier, S. McCurdy, Rachel Averbukh
{"title":"Ultra-orthodox Jewish communities and child sexual abuse: A case study of the Australian Royal Commission and its implications for faith-based communities","authors":"Philip Mendes, Marcia Pinskier, S. McCurdy, Rachel Averbukh","doi":"10.1017/cha.2019.44","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2019.44","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To date, little is known about manifestations of child sexual abuse (CSA) within ultra-orthodox Jewish communities both in Australia and abroad. There is a paucity of empirical studies on the prevalence of CSA within Jewish communities, and little information on the responses of Jewish community organisations, or the experiences of Jewish CSA survivors and their families. This paper draws on a case study of two ultra-orthodox Jewish organisations from the recent Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to examine the religious and cultural factors that may inform Jewish communal responses to CSA. Attention is drawn to factors that render ultra-orthodox communities vulnerable to large-scale CSA, religious laws and beliefs that may influence the reporting of abuse to secular authorities, and the communal structures that may lead to victims rather than offenders being subjected to personal attacks and exclusion from the community. Commonalities are identified between ultra-orthodox Jews and other faith-based communities, and reforms suggested to improve child safety across religious groups.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2019.44","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49334222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Family Law Court orders for supervised contact in custodial disputes – unanswered questions","authors":"E. Schindeler","doi":"10.1017/cha.2019.42","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2019.42","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The focus of this study was on the application of orders for supervised access made by the Australian Family Law Court in cases that involved conflicting claims by custodial and noncustodial parents. Based on accessible Court transcripts for the 28-month period ending in early 2019, 103 cases involving 172 children were identified in which orders required supervision for visitation and/or changeovers. The patterns found through thematic analysis suggest that there is a shift to increasing use of final orders involving supervision through child contact centers as either an indeterminate or permanent arrangement. This shift has significant implications for current models of supervised access/changeover, and a greater understanding in terms of the outcomes being achieved is required.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41843085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The pathway to mindfulness for children and young people","authors":"J. Lehmann","doi":"10.1017/cha.2019.41","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2019.41","url":null,"abstract":"For more than two decades, there has been enthusiasm for mindfulness training and therapy for children and young people, though it seems the enthusiasm might still outweigh the evidence of efficacy (Greenberg &Harris, 2011). It is certainly an approach that, intuitively, sounds and feels like a good idea. Most of us, and our children, live very “crowded” lives and not only in terms of activities undertaken.We are constantly bombarded by noise, lights and smells; by the pressures to respond to our peers, to the demands of technology and to cultural expectations – family, community and beyond. There is little room for silence and quiet contemplation, time for emotional restoration or for the generation of ideas that come from within ourselves and are part of our creative spirit. So, the permission mindfulness gives us to stop and be in the moment has become more important than perhaps it might have been in times past. It’s no surprise, then, that in the last 10 years or so, mindfulness has grown beyond a therapeutic approach to be a restorative process for adults in all walks of life. In addition, numerous tools have been developed ranging from colouring-in, individual exercises to team and group work exercises. And in this same time frame, tools for children have also been developed in tandem with the introduction of mindfulness into contexts beyond the counselling room. Coholic’s Arts activities for children and young people in need (Coholic, 2010); and Plummer and Surrurier’s Focusing and calming games for children: Mindfulness strategies and activities to help children relax, concentrate and take control (Plummer & Serrurier, 2012) are but two examples of guides and activities that are now used in a variety of environments. Quite apart from mindfulness for children being supported by psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, it has found purchase in the work of life coaches like van der Steenstraten (2017), who recorded her observations of themany benefits of mindfulness in Educating young children: Learning and teaching in the early childhood years. Many schools have been quick to include mindfulness in the classroom curriculum to allay issues of anxiety, of over-active behaviour (for instance, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder, and to teach self-calming techniques and increase focus as identified by Sheinman, Hadar, Gafni, andMilman (2018). The inclusion of mindfulness in school curricula has been to support positive development, to assist children and young people to overcome stress and promote life skill development that, together, support the educational process. It is the capacity of mindfulness to assist in coping with stressors that offers children and young people a tangible set of skills to build resilience. Most health professionals will be aware that children do not always recognise when they are stressed, but acute and chronic stress can lead to a range of physical symptoms as well as disrupting behavioural patterns and","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/cha.2019.41","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47544692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Family Inclusive practice in child welfare: report of a Churchill Fellowship study tour","authors":"J. Cocks","doi":"10.1017/cha.2019.43","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2019.43","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Drawing on the findings of a Churchill Fellowship study tour, this article discusses the need to expand our understanding of family engagement and, in particular, to implement Family Inclusive practice in Australian child welfare, both to increase reunification and to improve outcomes for children who do not return home. I argue for this expansion through the integration of six key elements of Family Inclusive practice drawing on examples of practice and innovation from my study tour. This article commences with a discussion of the literature in support of family engagement and Family Inclusive practice. It is argued that we need to embrace an approach to Family Inclusive practice that acknowledges and addresses power imbalances, is contextualised and goes beyond relationships between workers and families. An exploration of the six elements of Family Inclusive practice follows, contributing to the understanding and practical application of Family Inclusive practice, with reference to initiatives in several countries visited during my study tour as well as to the literature more broadly. If these elements are integrated into child welfare practice and policy, they will contribute to Family Inclusive practice in the interests of children in Australia.","PeriodicalId":44896,"journal":{"name":"Children Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47817436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}