The voice of birth families to improve visits in foster care

In foster care, contact visits with birth families play an important role in relation to the child’s wellbeing, and they may impact on placement outcomes. However, the views of birth parents with respect to such visits have largely been unexplored. This research is part of a project financed by the regional government of Andalusia (SEJ-7106) regarding contact visits in foster care. This study aims to give voice to parents and gather their views about contact visits, including how they might be improved. Participants were 23 birth families who had contact visits with 35 children in non-kinship foster care. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted in order to explore two key aspects: the parents’ opinions regarding the contact visits and the main areas they felt needed improving. The interviews were transcribed and the transcripts were examined using an inductive method of open coding to identify themes among participants’ responses. The main themes to emerge concerned their general view of contact visits and the organization of visits. The paper discusses the study’s implications of the findings for practice.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Aproximación cualitativa del escudriño en Psicología educativa

It was difficult for the interpretive opposing approach to fight the previous exclusive current with its ideographic approach to the study of a now subjective reality, which was consolidated and applied to practice with the transformative intention of the complementary socio-critical approach2, and through some of the qualitative methods: a) in the first approach, through the participant or non-participant ethnographic observation, instrumental, institutional, individual or collective study cases that provide understanding rather than previous description; b) in the second one, through the research-action or research based on the design that reverts the situation studied to free and improve it.El enfoque funcionalista tradicional en la representación y abordaje de la Ciencia ha dejado una férrea herencia metodológica de investigación de objetos y fenómenos objetivos con intención puramente nomotética de describirlos avanzado hacia principios y leyes generales, atemporales y universales, bajo métodos cuantitativos. Métodos cuantitativos tanto experimentales y/o cuasiexperimentales, de evaluación pretest-postest con un tratamiento intermedio, como no experimentales de tipo descriptivo, relacional, comparativo, predictivo, factorial y de meta-análisis, donde no existe manipulación o tratamiento por parte del investigador

Proposals for improving the employment status of care workers at children’s schools in La Paz (Bolivia)

El presente estudio analiza la situación del servicio educativo infantil, que ofrece el Municipio de La Paz, a las familias más desfavorecidas social, económica y culturalmente. Los principales objetivos son: obtener un perfil familiar, académico y socio profesional de las educadoras, analizar sus condiciones laborales y elaborar propuestas para mejorar tanto su formación como su situación laboral. La muestra del estudio está formada por 83 educadoras que trabajan en 18 Centros. Los datos se recogieron mediante entrevistas personales semiestructuradas. Los resultados muestran importantes diferencias en el sueldo y las condiciones laborales de las educadoras en función del tipo de contrato que tienen. A partir del análisis de los resultados se elaboraron las siguientes propuestas para mejorar la situación de las educadoras: a) reconocer y valorar el trabajo realizado por estas profesionales, b) pasar a todas las educadoras al tipo de contrato A, para que posean seguro médico, cotización al fondo de pensiones, dos pagas extras al año, baja por maternidad, y todos los derechos como trabajadoras, c) contabilizar dentro de la jornada laboral no solo el tiempo de trabajo con los niños, sino también el tiempo dedicado a todas las tareas que realizan en el CIM, d) elaborar un plan de promoción de las educadoras con criterios claros, públicos y consensuados, e) aprovechar la formación y experiencia de las educadoras que hayan demostrado buenas prácticas educativas para añadir, a la formación impartida por expertos, la de sus paresThis study examines aspects of the children’s services that the city council of La Paz (Bolivia) currently offers to socially, economically and culturally disadvantaged families. Specifically, the aims were to describe the family, academic, social and professional profile of care workers at these centres, to examine their employment conditions, and to put forward proposals for improving both their training and status at work. The sample comprised 83 female care workers employed across 18 children’s centres. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. Results showed notable differences in terms of salary and employment conditions, depending on the type of contract these women had. Based on the analysis of results the following proposals are put forward with the aim of improving the employment conditions of these care workers: a) formal recognition and appreciation of the work they do; b) switch them all to class A contracts so that they have health insurance, a pension scheme, two additional monthly payments a year, the right to maternity leave, and full employment rights; c) calculate their working hours according to the time spent on all tasks performed at the children’s centre, not merely their contact time with children; d) draw up a career development plan for these care workers that is based on clear, transparent and agreed criteria; e) take advantage of the training and experience of those care workers who have demonstrated good practice so that peer-based training can be offered alongside courses run by external expert

Analysis of Sociodemographic and Psychological Variables Involved in Sleep Quality in Nurses

Background: Sleep quality is related to health and quality of life and can lead to the development of related disorders. This study analyzed the sociodemographic and psychological factors related to sleep quality in nurses. Methods: The sample comprised 1094 nurses who were assessed according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Questionnaire, the Goal Content for Exercise Questionnaire, the Brief Emotional Intelligence Inventory, and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. Results: The results confirm the impacts of diet, motivation for physical exercise, emotional intelligence, and overall self-esteem on sleep quality in nurses. Conclusions: Sleep quality in healthcare professionals is vitally important for performance at work; therefore, appropriate strategies should be applied to improve it

New Burnout Evaluation Model Based on the Brief Burnout Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties for Nursing

Health care personnel are considered one of the worker sectors most exposed to heavier workloads and work stress. One of the consequences associated with the exposure to chronic stress is the development of burnout syndrome. Given that evaluating this syndrome requires addressing the context in which they are to be used, the purpose of this work was to analyze the psychometric properties and structure of the Burnout Brief Questionnaire (CBB), and to propose a more suitable version for its application to health professionals, and more specifically nurses. The final study sample was made up of 1236 working nursing professionals. An exploratory factorial analysis was carried out and a new model was proposed through a confirmatory factorial analysis. Thus, validation of the CBB questionnaire for nursing health care personnel showed an adequate discrimination of the items and a high internal consistency of the scale. With respect to the factorial analysis, four factors were extracted from the revised model. Specifically, these new factors, called job dissatisfaction, social climate, personal impact, and motivational abandonment, showed an adequate index of adjustment. Thus, the Brief Burnout Questionnaire Revised for nursing staff has favorable psychometric properties, and this model can be applied to all health care professionals

Analysis of the Risk and Protective Roles of Work-Related and Individual Variables in Burnout Syndrome in Nurses

Aims: Burnout syndrome is a phenomenon that is becoming ever more widespread, especially in workers such as nurses who have heavy workloads and time pressures. The progression of burnout syndrome has been shown to be related to both individual and work-related variables. The objective of this study is to examine the risk and protective roles played by work-related and personal variables, both sociodemographic and psychological, in the development of burnout in nurses. Method: The sample was composed of 1236 nurses aged between 21 and 57 years, with a mean age of 31.50 years (SD = 6.18). Women accounted for 84.5% (n = 1044), and the remaining 15.5% (n = 192) were men. Exploratory tests were performed to understand the relationships between burnout and other variables, and a binary logistic regression was conducted to understand the roles of these variables in the incidence of this syndrome. Lastly, a regression tree was constructed. Results: The results show that the sociodemographic variables examined are not related to the level of burnout in nurses. However, certain work-related variables, such as spending more time with colleagues and patients and reporting good-quality relationships, exhibit a negative relationship with the occurrence of burnout. Of the psychological variables, the stress factors conflict-social acceptance and irritability-tension-fatigue, as well as informative communication, are shown to be risk factors for the appearance of burnout in nurses. In contrast, the communication skills factor, empathy, and energy-joy exert a protective function. Conclusion: Identifying the variables that influence the occurrence of burnout syndrome and understanding the manner in which they exert their influence are key elements in the development of effective prevention and intervention of burnout in nursing

Analysis of professionals and family foster care on advantages and difficulties of visits between foster children and their biological families

Contact between a foster child and birth parents play an important role in relation to the foster child’s wellbeing. The main aim of this study is to give voice to social workers and foster families about contact visits. This research is part of a project financed by the regional government of Andalusia (Spain) (SEJ-7106) regarding contact visits in foster care. Two focus groups were organized, one with 8 social workers from four foster care agencies and another with 8 foster carers (4 were recruited through the Association of Foster Families in Andalusia and 4 through fostering agencies). Access to foster care agencies and foster families was obtained through the official Andalusian Child Protective Services (SPM). The focal groups were audio-recorded. Transcripts (of the two focus groups gave rise to primary documents for the hermeneutic unit under study. All this information was exported from an Excel database to the ATLAS.ti v7.0 software. The transcripts were examined using an inductive method of open coding in order to identify themes among participants’ responses. Results show that both groups agreed on the utility of visits to maintain the children’s attachment to their birth family, to bring a greater sense of continuity to the children’s life story, to enhance the psychological wellbeing of the foster children and to know the real situation of their birth family. In relation to the difficulties remarked in the course of the visits, one of the issues mentioned by both groups refers to a lack in the coordination among the social workers, the SPM and the foster families involved. The other issue brings together several complaints to the SPM, such as the fact of not providing information about taking decisions regarding the future of the child; the lack of support and preparation of the foster carers, the children and the birth families about visits; as well as the shortage of social workers and economic aids provided by the SPM. The conclusions of this study highlight the need to improve contact visits by developing intervention strategies targeted at all those involved (foster children, family foster care, birth family and social workers). These findings have important implications for practice.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Evaluación de los cambios en la situación profesional de las educadoras de los Centros Infantiles de La Paz (Bolivia)

Este estudio analiza los cambios que se han producido en los últimos 2 años en la situación laboral de las educadoras de los Centros Infantiles Municipales (CIM) de La Paz (Bolivia). En 2013 se analizaron las condiciones laborales de las educadoras y en 2015 se volvió a valorar su situación, comparándola con la anterior. Las participantes en el estudio fueron 22 educadoras-responsables de 22 CIM. Se utilizó un cuestionario con preguntas semi-abiertas sobre las condiciones laborales de las educadoras. Los resultados mostraron que, después de 2 años, habían mejorado algunos temas, pero seguían existiendo importantes diferencias en el sueldo y en las condiciones laborales de las educadoras. Se proponen las siguientes medidas para mejorar la situación actual: a) reconocer y valorar el trabajo realizado por estas profesionales; b) mejorar el tipo de contrato de todas las educadoras para que posean seguro médico, cotización al fondo de pensiones, dos pagas extras al año, baja por maternidad, y todos los derechos como trabajadoras; c) contabilizar dentro de la jornada laboral no solo el tiempo de trabajo con los niños, sino también el dedicado a todas las tareas que realizan en el CIM; d) diseñar un plan de formación con la participación de las educadoras; e) aprovechar la experiencia de algunas educadoras que han demostrado buenas prácticas educativas para la formación por pares; y f) elaborar un plan de promoción profesional con criterios claros, públicos y consensuados.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Behavioral problems in adolescents raised by their grandparents

Este trabajo recoge, por primera vez en población española, la incidencia de los problemas de conducta presentados por los adolescentes acogidos por sus abuelos. Este estudio analiza a 68 adolescentes (31 chicos y 37 chicas, con una media de edad de 13,7 años) acogidos por 54 abuelos/as, con una media de edad de 65,9 años para los abuelos y de 63,6 años para las abuelas. El instrumento utilizado fue el Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL, Achenbach, 2001). Los resultados indican que tanto la mayoría de los chicos como de las chicas se encuentran en el rango de normalidad en las escalas de internalización, externalización y total en problemas de conducta. Al analizar las diferencias de sexo y edad, se encontró que los chicos presentan más problemas de conducta en incumplimiento de normas y en la escala de externalización, que las chicas, y que los adolescentes mayores presentan más problemas somáticos, y más problemas de conducta en la escala de internalización y en el total del CBCL, que los menores.This research analyzes, for the first time using a Spanish sample, the behavioral problems of adolescents in the custody of their grandparents. The sample consisted of 68 adolescents (31 boys and 37 girls, with a mean age of 13.7 years) in the custody of 54 grandparents with an average age of 65.9 years for the grandfathers, and 63.6 years for the grandmothers. The instrument employed was the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL;; Achenbach, 2001). The results indicate that the majority of both boys and girls can be classified within the normal range on scales of internal behavior, external behaviour and total behavioral problems. When gender and age differences were analyzed, it was found that boys had more behavioral problems than girls on scales of incompliance with rules and external behavior. Meanwhile, it was shown that older adolescents had more somatic problems, as well as more behavioral problems, as measured by both the internal scale and total scale of the CBCL, than the younger participants

Lo anómalo como materia estética y política: REALIDAD OBLICUA

La forma en que pensamos el cuerpo y la identidad va variando a lo largo de la historia. Percibimos el cuerpo a través de las normas que implanta la sociedad en relación con éste, a través de lo que se define como bueno o normal. La mujer ha sido siempre el receptáculo en el que más han recaído estereotipos de belleza y por lo tanto, limitaciones corporales y morales. El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo principal profundizar en el concepto de lo anómalo, no como condición de a-normalidad, término que designa todo aquello que no tiene regla o que contradice la regla, sino como anomalía, vocablo que designa lo desigual, lo rugoso, matiz que le quita el peso moral negativo y lo percibe como una forma distinta de apreciar el mundo, más específicamente el cuerpo y la identidad, es decir, una “Realidad Oblicua”. Siguiendo el pensamiento Deleuziano y Guattariano lo que consigue escapar del hábito mantiene un estilo de vida rizomático, es decir, una identidad nómada que no cesa de transformarse, que no depende de jerarquías y que consigue instaurar sus propias leyes que van cambiando, de ahí que el presente trabajo tenga como antecedente el proyecto: “identidad nómada”.ABSTRACT: The way that we think about corporeity and identity varies throughout history. We perceive the body through the norms that society sets in relation to it, through what is considered as good or normal. Women have always been the receptacle in which stereotypes of beauty fallen the most, and therefore, corporal and moral limitations. This research work seeks to delve into the concept of the anomalous, not as if it were a condition of ab-normality, a term that designates everything that does not have a rule or that contradicts the rule, but as an anomaly, a word that designates the uneven, the rough, a nuance that takes away the negative moral weight and perceives it as a different way of appreciating the world, more specifically the body and identity, that is, an “Oblique Reality” Following Deleuzian and Guattarian thought, what manages to escape the habit maintains a rhizomatic lifestyle, that is, a nomadic identity that does not stop transforming, that does not depend on hierarchies and that manages to establish its own flexible laws that can change, hence the present work is preceded by the “Nomadic Identity” proyect