The Effects of Poverty: Children and Education

At the Boys and Girls Club of Nacogdoches, it is obvious that poverty is well known to the children, as this program aims to help low-income families. The concept addressed in the following presentation is the affect poverty has on a child and their education. Through academic literature and personal experience, the author was able to explain how poverty can affect a child’s development, academic performance, and behavior. Lastly, recommendations will be made on how the Boys and Girls Club can improve parent and school involvement, as well as improve the volunteer experience

Educational Implications Following Idiopathic Encephalopathy and Prolonged Coma: A Longitudinal Case Study

This paper explores standard considerations of accommodations for paediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) survivors as illustrated through an intensive case study. Specifically, we explore methods by which school systems can enhance a middle school student’s learning environment after losing 30 points in his intellectual functioning (IQ) following a rare coma recovery. For the purpose of this paper, coma is defined as a period following neurological injury or illness during which an individual does not open his/her eyes and does not have sleep–wake cycles. This case emphasises the use of current behavioural evidence-based treatments in young ABI patients. Multiple comparisons are especially beneficial in delineating the strength of intervention modalities and specific challenges unique to this population. Current data are of particular interest because measures of both pre- and post-morbid functioning are available, because of earlier school testing for a pre-existing learning disability. Finally, implications for prognosis and treatment of young ABI patients are discussed

Family Interaction Styles of Children with Depressive Disorders, Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders, and Normal Controls

Family interaction processes during a problem-solving task were examined in children with depressive disorders, children with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and a normal control group of community children screened for the absence of psychiatric disorder. Major findings were: a) children with depressive disorders were more likely than children with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and children with no psychiatric disorder to direct guilt-inducing comments toward their parents; and b) parents of children with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were more likely to direct harsh critical comments toward the child than were parents of depressed children or parents of normal controls. In addition, children\u27s and mothers\u27 use of benign criticism was linked, while children\u27s harsh criticism was associated with intrusion from the father, and children\u27s self-denigrating comments were related to specific paternal criticism. Implications of these results for understanding transactional processes associated with childhood-onset depressive and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders are discussed

Maternal Interaction Style in Affective Disordered, Physically Ill, and Normal Women

Affective style (AS) and communication deviance (CD) have been suggested as markers of dysfunctional family environments that may be associated with psychiatric illness. Studies have focused mainly on parental responses during family interactions when an offspring is the identified patient. The present study is unique in examining AS and CD in mothers with unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, or chronic physical illness, and in normal controls. The sample consisted of 64 mothers with children ages 8 to 16. Unipolar mothers were more likely to show negative AS than were any other maternal group. There were no group differences for CD. Chronic stress, few positive life events, and single parenting were associated with AS. CD was associated solely with lower socioeconomic status. Results suggest that dysfunctional interactions are determined not only by maternal psychopathology, but also by an array of contextual factors that are related to the quality of the family environment

Voluntary Euthanasia for the Terminally Ill

A human comes into the world at birth. It is a natural beginning that progresses to a natural end. Human beings, unlike other animals, have intelligence and insight about their life cycle process. The human experience is an emotional, thought-provoking existence that is dictated by a person’s autonomy: humans have the power of free will and self-governance. There is an ingrained power of choice that each person experiences in life, and it is their undeniable right. However, there are still variables that plague human existence. Random things happen to random people which humans have little control over. These things may impact how one strives to live a healthy quality life. Illness may strike a person, and while medicine has been progressing rapidly, there is still so much unknown about the human body and needed life-saving treatments. Diseases, such as cancers or other genetic mutations, can cause terminal illness. In such cases, a person may experience an immense amount of pain and their body and quality of life deteriorate while their health continues to digress. Today’s medical interventions applied to these particular cases may not be able to solve the condition, but can prolong the person’s life beyond the bounds of expectations. Human life has an absolute dignity associated with it. Therefore, it makes sense that medicine aims to preserve that dignity. Yet, as a terminal illness progresses and the body and mechanical parts can persevere function, the person can lose quality of life, and from that, potentially the essence of being human. There is a difference between living life and prolonging it. The human experience is meant to be a meaningful journey, where a person is an active participant. In cases of a terminal illness where a person suffers through an immense amount of pain, the patient should have the option of voluntary euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide is a biologically ethical way to end a person’s pain and give them autonomous control at the end of their life

The Financial Impact of Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between gender diversity and firm financial performance, using a data set of 50 S&P 500 companies during 2015-2019. Gender diversity was measured through the percentage of women on the board and whether the board has a “critical mass” (of at least three women). In the results of the regression analyses, some significant relationships between variables were found. The regression between ROA and the percentage of women indicated a positive, significant relationship for ROA to the percentage of women. For the regression between ROA and the critical mass variable, no significant relationship was established. The results indicate that a critical mass may not be necessary for women to have a positive impact on a firm’s ROA. After trimming the data for outliers, a positive relationship was found between ROE and the percentage of women on the board. Consistent with other research, a positive relationship was also found between ROE and the critical mass variable

Communication Styles of Children of Mothers with Affective Disorders, Chronic Medical Illness, and Normal Controls: A Contextual Perspective

Research has demonstrated impaired parent-child relationships in families with affective disorders. The present study examines the association of children\u27s interactional style during a direct conflict-solving task to both the mother\u27s interactional style and the child\u27s diagnostic status. The sample includes 63 children, ages 8 to 16, of mothers with affective disorders, chronic medical illness, and normal controls. Children\u27s dominant coping style profile (CS) (autonomous, neutral, or critical) was related to their mother\u27s affective style (AS) (benign or negative). Affective disorder in the child at 6-month followup was associated with a critical CS profile at intake, while the child\u27s nonaffective symptomatology was unrelated to CS. Findings indicate that children\u27s affective disturbance is linked to interpersonal deficits in affectively charged situations. Results suggest that the child\u27s CS is more strongly predicted by maternal AS than by either the child\u27s or the mother\u27s diagnostic status

Longitudinal Study of Diagnoses in Children of Women With Unipolar and Bipolar Affective Disorder

School-age children of unipolar depressed, bipolar, chronically medically ill, or normal women were diagnosed every 6 months for up to 3 years. Offspring of unipolar women had the highest rates of disorder at all evaluations, but children of bipolar and medically ill mothers also experienced significant rates of disorder. Observing diagnoses from both past lifetime and prospective follow-up assessments, it appeared that most children who had diagnoses had onsets in preadolescence and continued a chronic or intermittent course of disorder. Thus, risk to offspring of ill mothers is not transitory and indicates a pernicious course that commonly includes affective disorders alone or in combination with behavior and anxiety disorders