Family as context of child development : main components to educational and social intervention

El presente artículo tiene por objeto proponer puntos de actuación para los profesionales que trabajan en el ámbito de la intervención educativa y social en el contexto familiar. Para ello, en primer lugar reflexiona sobre el importante papel de la familia en el desarrollo de los niños y niñas que crecen en su seno. Posteriormente entra a analizar las principales dimensiones del contexto familiar con influencia en el desarrollo infantil: las ideas de los padres sobre el desarrollo y la educación de sus hijos, las relaciones afectivas, los estilos de socialización familiar, los escenarios y las interacciones educativas familiares. Por último, y considerando las ideas y conductas paternas que se revelan más favorecedoras del desarrollo infantil en cada una de las dimensiones analizadas, se plantea la necesidad de que la intervención educativa y social con familias incida en la sustitución de cogniciones y prácticas poco estimulantes por otras con mayor capacidad para promover el desarrollo de niños y niñas.This essay proposes lines of action for professionals in the field of educational and social intervention with families. Firstly, we discuss the importance of the role of families for child development. We also analyse the main dimensions of family context and its relevance for child development: parents ́ ideas about the development and upbringing of their children, affective relations, family socialization, settings and educational interactions. Finally, we argue that social and educational intervention with families needs to replace little stimulating parental ideas and practices by others more stimulating for child developmen

Gender differences in HIV-related sexual behavior among college students from Spain and Portugal

Under the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior, the objective of this study was to know the gender differences in the variables involved in the use of effective preventive measures in sexual relations against HIV in a sample of university students from Spain and Portugal. Furthermore, it is examined whether these factors produce different predictions concerning the adoption of safe sexual behaviour for young man and women in each country. The sample consisted of 683 university students, 319 Portuguese (64% female and 36% male) from the University of Algarve and 364 Spanish students (51% female and 49% male) from the University of Huelva. Data were obtained by means of a questionnaire. The data revealed that there are gender differences which apply in both countries, highlighting that the young women have more positive attitudes, greater perceived behavioural control and intention of condom use than young men. However, they protect themselves less that their male counterparts: the percentage of females who say using condoms as a contraceptive method is less than the percentage of males, and especially with their steady partners. The results are discussed in relation to gender role norms, to have a steady partner or not, gender relations, the associated meaning to sexual relations for men and women and their implications for the design of sexual educational programmes for them

Características de los padres y madres de los menores acogidos en familia extensa: aspectos prioritarios para la prevención y la preservación familiar

Un dato que destaca en la investigación en acogimiento en familia extensa es que la mayoría de los estudios se han centrado prioritariamente en dos de los tres protagonistas de estos acogimientos –los menores y sus acogedores-, quedando los padres de los acogidos en un muy lejano segundo plano. El estudio que presentamos a través de este póster aspira a ampliar la información existente sobre las familias de origen de los menores, con el objeto no sólo de conocer las circunstancias vividas por los menores con anterioridad a su acogimiento, sino también de marcar posibles elementos de trabajo con los padres y madres que amplíen las posibilidades de preservación familiar. El análisis realizado se enmarca en una investigación más amplia sobre el contenido de los expedientes de una muestra de menores en acogimiento en familia extensa en la provincia de Sevilla. De sus principales hallazgos podemos destacar la extrema debilidad de las familias de origen de los menores para hacer frente a la crianza y educación de sus hijos e hijas. Entre los elementos que en mayor medida comprometen la vida familiar destaca la presencia de toxicomanía en uno o, con mayor frecuencia, en ambos progenitores, asociada a un estilo de vida marginal donde predominan la inestabilidad en las relaciones de pareja, los problemas económicos, las actividades delictivas y los problemas de salud. El elevado apoyo que los padres de los menores reciben de sus familias de origen supone un importante elemento de protección, aunque ello puede ser cuestionable para un buen número de padres y madres que han vivido a su vez una historia de desprotección en su propia infancia y cuyas familias de origen evidencian importantes elementos de riesgo. En nuestra opinión, los factores reseñados deben contemplarse como aspectos prioritarios de los programas de intervención con estas familias.Research in kinship foster care frequently has been focused on two of their protagonists, carers and children and adolescents cared for, while neglecting the knowledge about the parents of the minors. With the study presented in this poster, we try to go deeply into variables related to the birth families of children and adolescents in kinship foster care, to know the circumstances lived by minors previously to be foster and also to identify possible key factors to improve professional intervention with these families and increase the chances of family preservation. The analysis fits into a larger study carried out in Spain to know the kinship foster care files of children and adolescents existing in the archives of the Child Protection Service of the province of Seville. Our data underlines the weakness of the birth families to look after their children. Among the factors that most affect the family functioning highlights the presence of drug abuse in one or, more frequently, in both parents, associated to a marginal style of life where predominate the unsteadiness in the relations of couple, the economic problems, the illegal activities and the health problems. The great support that these parents receive of their birth families could be an important element of protection, although this can be questionable for a large number of parents and mothers that have lived a history of abuse or neglect in their own childhood and whose families of origin show important risk elements. We think that these variables are especially key in the interventions with the birth families of these children and adolescents in kinship foster care.peerReviewe

Fontes de informação, conhecimentos e uso do preservativo em estudantes universitários do Algarve e de Huelva

Embora os estudantes universitários tenham fácil acesso à informação sobre a transmissão do VIH e os comportamentos de risco associados à actividade sexual, esta informação nem sempre é correcta nem se baseia em fontes fiáveis ou conhecimentos científicos. Por outro lado, o nível de conhecimentos nem sempre se traduz numa utilização mais frequente do preservativo. Neste estudo analisaram-se as fontes de informação sobre os métodos contraceptivos e as doenças de transmissão sexual, os conhecimentos sobre a AIDS e o modo de transmissão do VIH e o uso do preservativo em 678 estudantes universitários portugueses e espanhóis. O nível de conhecimento é elevado em ambas as amostras, contudo os estudantes portugueses apresentam um melhor nível. Encontraram-se algumas diferenças no uso do preservativo e na utilização das fontes de informação entre países e sexo. Discutem-se as implicações para as actividades de promoção da saúde assim como o papel dos diferentes agentes educativos

Las interacciones educativas de padres con hijos con deficiencias auditivas. Una revisión desde la perspectiva del estatus auditivo de los padres

En el presente artículo se realiza una revisión de las características de las interacciones educativas de padres con hijos con defi ciencias auditivas. Para ello, se distingue entre las familias en las que los padres son oyentes de aquéllas en las que los padres también padecen pérdidas de audición. El análisis de las peculiaridades de las interacciones educativas en ambos tipos de familias arroja diferencias notables, principalmente relacionadas con la calidad de la estimulación del desarrollo que se proporciona a los hijos, en líneas generales más positiva en las familias en las que padres e hijos son sordos. El factor que explica las diferencias entre ambas familias es la diferencia o similitud de estatus auditivo entre padres e hijos. Las difi cultades derivadas de la diferencia de estatus auditivo se superan cuando padres e hijos disponen de un código de comunicación común que sirve como vehículo para sus interacciones.The aim of this article is to revise the characteristics of the educational interactions of parents with children with hearing loss. For it, we distinguish among the families in those that the parents are listeners of those in those that the parents also suffer audition losses. The analysis of the peculiarities of the educational interactions in both types of families throws remarkable differences, mainly related with the quality of the stimulation of the development that is provided to the children, more positive in general lines in the families in those that parents and children are deaf. The factor that explains the differences among both families is the difference or similarity of auditory status between parents and children. The diffi culties derived of the difference of auditory status are overcome when parents and children have a common code of communication that is good as vehicle for their interactions

A Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Critical Thinking in Social Education Degree Students

Critical thinking is present in the educational intentions in higher education with more or less programmatic development. In the training of social educators, such thinking is considered a fundamental pillar for a good performance of their functions in the social field. By means of qualitative and quantitative instruments, we set ourselves the objective of knowing the opinions of 72 Social Education degree students of the University of Huelva (Spain) about critical thinking, higher education, and their position on the subject. The results obtained showed that students have an approximate general knowledge of what critical thinking is, but a clear lack of knowledge of how it is developed. In addition, it is observed that there is a great contradiction between what they say and what they actually do, as, although they value its development in the degree and professional performance, they do not develop or commit themselves de facto to this competence. Moreover, they recognize that the university is a context that favors critical competence, but at the same time they are very critical about the teachings offered in this regard

Parents' characteristics of children in kinship foster care: Priority elements for prevention and family preservations programs

Un dato que destaca en la investigación en acogimiento en familia extensa es que la mayoría de los estudios se han centrado prioritariamente en dos de los tres protagonistas de estos acogimientos –los menores y sus acogedores-, quedando los padres de los acogidos en un muy lejano segundo plano. El estudio que presentamos a través de este póster aspira a ampliar la información existente sobre las familias de origen de los menores, con el objeto no sólo de conocer las circunstancias vividas por los menores con anterioridad a su acogimiento, sino también de marcar posibles elementos de trabajo con los padres y madres que amplíen las posibilidades de preservación familiar. El análisis realizado se enmarca en una investigación más amplia sobre el contenido de los expedientes de una muestra de menores en acogimiento en familia extensa en la provincia de Sevilla. De sus principales hallazgos podemos destacar la extrema debilidad de las familias de origen de los menores para hacer frente a la crianza y educación de sus hijos e hijas. Entre los elementos que en mayor medida comprometen la vida familiar destaca la presencia de toxicomanía en uno o, con mayor frecuencia, en ambos progenitores, asociada a un estilo de vida marginal donde predominan la inestabilidad en las relaciones de pareja, los problemas económicos, las actividades delictivas y los problemas de salud. El elevado apoyo que los padres de los menores reciben de sus familias de origen supone un importante elemento de protección, aunque ello puede ser cuestionable para un buen número de padres y madres que han vivido a su vez una historia de desprotección en su propia infancia y cuyas familias de origen evidencian importantes elementos de riesgo. En nuestra opinión, los factores reseñados deben contemplarse como aspectos prioritarios de los programas de intervención con estas familias.Research in kinship foster care frequently has been focused on two of their protagonists, carers and children and adolescents cared for, while neglecting the knowledge about the parents of the minors. With the study presented in this poster, we try to go deeply into variables related to the birth families of children and adolescents in kinship foster care, to know the circumstances lived by minors previously to be foster and also to identify possible key factors to improve professional intervention with these families and increase the chances of family preservation. The analysis fits into a larger study carried out in Spain to know the kinship foster care files of children and adolescents existing in the archives of the Child Protection Service of the province of Seville. Our data underlines the weakness of the birth families to look after their children. Among the factors that most affect the family functioning highlights the presence of drug abuse in one or, more frequently, in both parents, associated to a marginal style of life where predominate the unsteadiness in the relations of couple, the economic problems, the illegal activities and the health problems. The great support that these parents receive of their birth families could be an important element of protection, although this can be questionable for a large number of parents and mothers that have lived a history of abuse or neglect in their own childhood and whose families of origin show important risk elements. We think that these variables are especially key in the interventions with the birth families of these children and adolescents in kinship foster care.Asociación Andaluza de Ayuda a la Adopción y a la Infancia (LLAR)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación SEJ2007-6530

Anti-fat bias in secondary school teachers: Are physical education teachers more biased than mathematics teachers?

t has been suggested that physical education (PE) teachers hold strong anti-fat attitudes and thatthese can have an impact on the health of their students. In this study, we compare the attitudesand stereotypes towards obesity of PE teachers with those of their colleagues who teachmathematics. In addition, we evaluated the association between the teachers’ anti-fat biases andthe level of physical activity (PA) of their students. The sample consisted of 81 PE teachers and 75mathematics teachers. The adolescent sample consisted of 1792 secondary school students. Theassessment of attitudes and stereotypes was conducted with the Implicit Association Test and theAnti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire. The PA level of the adolescents was determined by a self-administered instrument. PE and mathematics teachers showed similar biases, except for theautomatic obesity–laziness association, which was stronger for PE teachers than for mathematicsteachers. These distinctive implicit stereotypes of PE teachers were also significant predictors ofthe lack of PA in adolescents. We recommend the use of interventions aimed at reducing non-traditional forms of prejudice in teachers