79 research outputs found
Disciplinary Problems and Modes of Punishment used against Transgressions of upper Primary Learners in Schools for the Hearing Impaired in Vihiga County, Kenya.
Academic achievement largely depends on the studentsâ discipline among other factors in any institution of learning. Studies show that indiscipline students perform poorly in both internal and external examinations including KCPE performance. Hearing impaired students, studies suggest, perform poorly because they display more behavior problems. For instance, there were poor examination results in both internal and national KCPE exams results for the yearâs 2007and 2008 in primary schools for the hearing impaired in Vihiga County. This was attributed to high indiscipline cases (over 60%) as reflected in the school internal discipline records. The present study investigated disciplinary problems that existed and modes of punishment used to manage discipline problems in schools for the hearing impaired in Vihiga County. The main objective and research question of this study was to find out the common disciplinary problems that existed and modes of punishment used in schools for the hearing impaired. It was assumed that hearing impaired learners had similar discipline problems to the hearing learners. Descriptive survey design method was used and four schools for the hearing impaired were selected with a study population of 215 learners and 45 teachers to participate in the study. Saturated sampling technique was used to select the study population cited. Six learners and 4 teachers participated in the pilot study while 60 learners and 41 teachers participated in the main study. Questionnaires for teachers and learners were used to collect data which was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study established that the most commonly displayed behavior problems included fighting, stealing, bullying, truancy among others while modes of punishment used included cleaning of rooms, withdrawal of privileges, digging, canning, reprimands and time-outs. The study concluded that teachers used both friendly and non physical punitive methods of punishment as well as non punitive strategies such as guidance, counseling and reinforcement to maintain discipline. These findings may be useful to the area of special Needs Education and the Ministry of Education in revising school discipline procedures. The researcher recommended that teachers should use those modes of punishment that are friendly and non punitive strategies. Alsothis study recommended that a study to be carried out to find out the impact of hearing impairments on behavior problems and poor academic performance among hearing impaired learners in Kenya. Key words: Behavior problems, Hearing impairments, Transgressions, special needs education
Boysâ and Girlsâ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries
Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; surprisingly, there were no significant gender differences in relational aggression. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). The countries differed significantly in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Despite mean level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross-country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression, as well as links between gender and aggression
Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a Function of Child Gender and Parent Gender
Background. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a global perspective on corporal punishment by examining differences between mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment with daughters and sons in nine countries. Methods. Interviews were conducted with 1398 mothers, 1146 fathers, and 1417 children (age range = 7 to 10 years) in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Results. Across the entire sample, 54% of girls and 58% of boys had experienced mild corporal punishment, and 13% of girls and 14% of boys had experienced severe corporal punishment by their parents or someone in their household in the last month. Seventeen percent of parents believed that the use of corporal punishment was necessary to rear the target child. Overall, boys were more frequently punished corporally than were girls, and mothers used corporal punishment more frequently than did fathers. There were significant differences across countries, with reports of corporal punishment use lowest in Sweden and highest in Kenya. Conclusion. This work establishes that the use of corporal punishment is widespread, and efforts to prevent corporal punishment from escalating into physical abuse should be commensurately widespread
Parenting, culture, and the development of externalizing behaviors from age 7 to 14 in nine countries
Using multilevel models, we examined mother-, father-, and child-reported (N = 1,336 families) externalizing behavior problem trajectories from age 7 to 14 in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). The intercept and slope of children\u27s externalizing behavior trajectories varied both across individuals within culture and across cultures, and the variance was larger at the individual level than at the culture level. Mothersâ and children\u27s endorsement of aggression as well as mothersâ authoritarian attitudes predicted higher age 8 intercepts of child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, prediction from individual-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes to more child externalizing behaviors was augmented by prediction from cultural-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes, respectively. Cultures in which father-reported endorsement of aggression was higher and both mother- and father-reported authoritarian attitudes were higher also reported more child externalizing behavior problems at age 8. Among fathers, greater attributions regarding uncontrollable success in caregiving situations were associated with steeper declines in externalizing over time. Understanding cultural-level as well as individual-level correlates of children\u27s externalizing behavior offers potential insights into prevention and intervention efforts that can be more effectively targeted at individual children and parents as well as targeted at changing cultural norms that increase the risk of children\u27s and adolescentsâ externalizing behavior
Mothers\u27, fathers\u27 and children\u27s perceptions of parents\u27 expectations about children\u27s family obligations in nine countries
Children\u27s family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children\u27s family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries
Culture and Social Change in Mothersâ and Fathersâ Individualism, Collectivism and Parenting Attitudes
Cultures and families are not static over time but evolve in response to social transformations, such as changing gender roles, urbanization, globalization, and technology uptake. Historically, individualism and collectivism have been widely used heuristics guiding cross-cultural comparisons, yet these orientations may evolve over time, and individuals within cultures and cultures themselves can have both individualist and collectivist orientations. Historical shifts in parentsâ attitudes also have occurred within families in several cultures. As a way of understanding mothersâ and fathersâ individualism, collectivism, and parenting attitudes at this point in history, we examined parents in nine countries that varied widely in country-level individualism rankings. Data included mothersâ and fathersâ reports (N = 1338 families) at three time points in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. More variance was accounted for by within-culture than between-culture factors for parentsâ individualism, collectivism, progressive parenting attitudes, and authoritarian parenting attitudes, which were predicted by a range of sociodemographic factors that were largely similar for mothers and fathers and across cultural groups. Social changes from the 20th to the 21st century may have contributed to some of the similarities between mothers and fathers and across the nine countries
Positive Youth Development: Parental Warmth, Values, and Prosocial Behavior in 11 Cultural Groups
The current cross-cultural study aimed to extend research on parenting and childrenâs prosocial behavior by examining relations among parental warmth, values related to family obligations (i.e., childrenâs support to and respect for their parents, siblings, and extended family), and prosocial behavior during the transition to adolescence (from ages 9 to 12). Mothers, fathers, and their children (N = 1107 families) from 8 countries including 11 cultural groups (Colombia; Rome and Naples, Italy; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; Sweden; Thailand; and African Americans, European Americans, and Latin Americans in the United States) provided data over 3 years in 3 waves (Mage of child in wave 1 = 9.34 years, SD = 0.75; 50.5% female). Overall, across all 11 cultural groups, multivariate change score analysis revealed positive associations among the change rates of parental warmth, values related to family obligations, and prosocial behavior during late childhood (from age 9 to 10) and early-adolescence (from age 10 to 12). In most cultural groups, more parental warmth at ages 9 and 10 predicted steeper mean-level increases in prosocial behavior in subsequent years. The findings highlight the prominent role of positive family context, characterized by warm relationships and shared prosocial values, in fostering childrenâs positive development in the transition to adolescence. The practical implications of these findings are discussed
How International Research on Parenting Advances Understanding of Child Development
International research on parenting and child development can advance our understanding of similarities and differences in how parenting is related to children\u27s development across countries. Challenges to conducting international research include operationalizing culture, disentangling effects within and between countries, and balancing emic and etic perspectives. Benefits of international research include testing whether findings regarding parenting and child development replicate across diverse samples, incorporating cultural and contextual diversity to foster more inclusive and representative research samples and investigators than has typically occurred, and understanding how children develop in proximal parenting and family and distal international contexts
Neighborhood Danger, Parental Monitoring, Harsh Parenting, and Child Aggression in Nine Countries
Exposure to neighborhood danger during childhood has negative effects that permeate multiple dimensions of childhood. The current study examined whether mothersâ, fathersâ, and childrenâs perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to child aggression, whether parental monitoring moderates this relation, and whether harsh parenting mediates this relation. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1293 children (age M = 10.68, SD = 0.66; 51% girls) and their mothers (n = 1282) and fathers (n = 1075) in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Perceptions of greater neighborhood danger were associated with more child aggression in all nine countries according to mothersâ and fathersâ reports and in five of the nine countries according to childrenâs reports. Parental monitoring did not moderate the relation between perception of neighborhood danger and child aggression. The mediating role of harsh parenting was inconsistent across countries and reporters. Implications for further research are discussed, and include examination of more specific aspects of parental monitoring as well as more objective measures of neighborhood danger
Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting and Behavior Problems From Age 8 to 13 in Nine Countries
This study used data from 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States; N = 1,298) to understand the crossâcultural generalizability of how parental warmth and control are bidirectionally related to externalizing and internalizing behaviors from childhood to early adolescence. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8â13. Multipleâgroup autoregressive, crossâlagged structural equation models revealed that child effects rather than parent effects may better characterize how warmth and control are related to child externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time, and that parent effects may be more characteristic of relations between parental warmth and control and child externalizing and internalizing behavior during childhood than early adolescence
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