Bridging or Maintaining Distance: A Matched Comparison of Parent and Service Provider Realities (FULL REPORT)

When service providers and parents engage with each other to improve family circumstances, do they have similar impressions of what is important and what is helpful? Our purpose in interviewing parents who have been involved in child protection services and their service providers was to understand how parents and service providers view each other, their interactions, and the services they are engaged in. We were also interested in the “official record”—the files that describe parents, children, their needs, and the services provided in response. A comparison of the perspectives of service providers, parents, and files highlights some of the barriers and assumptions at work when service providers and parents engage with each other to improve family functioning. Contrasting these three versions of events highlights how differences are bridged or maintained. To begin our matched comparison of parent, file, and service provider realities we present a “case study” summarizing a parent’s perspective, the corresponding service provider’s perspective, as well as an excerpt taken from this particular parent’s file with the Children’s Aid Society. In presenting this individual matched comparison, we offer a glimpse of the data that was used to form the basis for this report. It illustrates the nature of the information, the types of comparisons undertaken, as well as more generally to provide a sense of the three perspectives included

The Effects Of Mood Disorders On Families And Their Well Being

People who suffer from bi-polar disorder or other types of depression experience a range of symptoms and reactions due to the disorder that causes not only themselves but their loved ones, to experience negative effects. In the relationship between parent and child, the parent’s mental status is altered, in effect taking a toll on their abilities to care for their children. The literature provides examples of how depression affects parenting abilities and in turn affects the development of children of those that suffer from a depressive disorder. The literature does not claim that parents who suffer from these disorders are unable to parent adequately, only that their skills are negatively influenced. In order to look further into this topic, research questionnaires were given to social work professionals who using their experience in family service settings shared information in regards to their professional experiences with the target population. The findings conclude that parents who suffer from depressive disorders are affected in their abilities to properly care for their children but are able to improve their skills when proper services are introduced. Implications for this research would encourage more comprehensive outreach programs to be formed in order to provide better assistance to those seeking help. Also more easily available services need to be formed in order to better meet the demand of need of this population

Improving outcomes for children living in poverty through home-school partnerships in the early years: final report

This project was commissioned by Save the Children to inform the planning of a long termprogramme of activities in West Dunbartonshire Council. Save the Children has identified in2008 the improvement of the educational experiences and life chances of children andyoung people living in severe poverty as one of its main objectives. As part of this initiative,this study was commissioned in March 2009, to identify the priority areas in relation to Savethe Children's future contribution in West Dunbartonshire to inform future interventions in thefield of home-school partnership that will improve educational outcomes for children living insevere and persistent poverty.This research was designed as a qualitative study aimed toreport on current initiatives and practice in relation to home-school partnerships and servicedelivery for the poorest families and to identify programming opportunities that could formpart of a long term collaborative programme of activities between West Dunbartonshire Council and Save the Children

Volume 5 #2 Full Issue

Volume 5 #2 Full Issu

Turnover intention among relationship managers in selected local banks in Malaysia

Employee turnover is a topic that generates much interest in the academia and the industry alike. Since employee turnover is a costly problem for any organisation, it needs to be addressed. This study investigated this issue by considering the turnover intention and not the actual turnover because the former is argued to be a precursor to the latter. Hence, to address turnover, the management needs to understand why employees develop turnover intention. This study was conducted on the Relationship Managers (RMs) of selected local banks in Malaysia. To investigate the turnover intention of the RMs, the push-pull model was used. The push factors included role conflict, work overload and licensing status while the pull factors included career advancement and salary. Both an online and an offline survey were carried out to collect the data. A total of four hundred and fifty-two survey questionnaires were distributed, but only 136 valid questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 33.2%. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Of the push factors, only workload was found to be positively associated with turnover intention. Career advancement, one of the pull factors, was shown to be negatively related to turnover intention. Of the overall factors, work overload was found to be the best predictor of the RMs’ turnover intention to leave. The study recommends that the bank management revisit the current practices of establishing workload and implement effective career paths for RMs. The limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed