Effects of Maternal Views and Support on Childhood Development Through Joint Play

Background: Playful interactions draw a mother and child toward each other in positive ways; therefore, time spent in playful interactions with a responsive mother may be a developmental asset for a child. It is critical to examine how mothers support their children in joint play as well as their views of joint play. Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of 32 mothers and their typically developing children. The Parent’s/Caregiver Support of Young Children’s Playfulness, the Test of Playfulness, the Environmental Supportiveness Assessment, and seven open-ended interviews were used to assess joint play and maternal perceptions of this experience. Results: Significant correlations were found between maternal support behaviors and a child’s playfulness manifestation. The more frequently the mother supported her child during joint play, the less playful a child was. However, the mothers who supported their children’s engagement in the process and promoted decision-making and creative play had children that were more playful. The theoretical framework explained maternal perceptions of joint play and what mothers thought was important for their children. Conclusions: The mothers perceived joint play as central to their lives and as an opportunity to teach and direct their children’s engagement. It appeared the children were more playful when their mothers supported their self-exploration, decision-making, and creative play

Child's Play? Children and Young People's Resistances to Domestic Violence and Abuse

Children and young people's (CYP) space to play can be constrained in families affected by domestic violence and abuse (DVA), potentially impacting their development. Play also has the potential to strengthen CYP's capacity to resist controlling and abusive dynamics in the family. Interviews were conducted with 107 CYP aged 8–18, and were analysed using interpretive interactionism. Three themes relevant to children's experiences of play were identified: Play and Coercive Control; Play Re‐makes the World and Play and Relationality. This article highlights the potential for play to enable children to retain a sense of relational connectedness and agency, despite violence and control; we argue for more opportunities for children to play away from the gaze of adults and advocate for more dedicated services for families who experience DVA

Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States Final Report

On April 9, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. issued Executive Order 14023 establishing this Commission, to consist of “individuals having experience with and knowledge of the Federal judiciary and the Supreme Court of the United States.” The Order charged the Commission with producing a report for the President that addresses three sets of questions. First, the Report should include “[a]n account of the contemporary commentary and debate about the role and operation of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system and about the functioning of the constitutional process by which the President nominates and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints Justices to the Supreme Court.” Second, the Report should consider the “historical background of other periods in the Nation’s history when the Supreme Court’s role and the nominations and advice-and-consent process were subject to critical assessment and prompted proposals for reform.” Third, the Report should provide an analysis of the principal arguments for and against particular proposals to reform the Supreme Court, “including an appraisal of [their] merits and legality,” and should be informed by “a broad spectrum of ideas.” The Report begins by explaining the genesis of today’s Court reform debate, including by identifying developments that gave rise to President Biden’s decision to issue the April 2021 Executive Order, particularly the debates surrounding the most recent nominations. This Introduction emphasizes that the Court’s composition and jurisprudence long have been subjects of public controversy and debate in the nation’s civic life: The Court serves as a crucial guardian of the rule of law and also plays a central role in major social and political conflicts. Its decisions have profound effects on the life of the nation. Though conflict surrounding the processes by which the President nominates and the Senate confirms Justices is not new, it has become more intensely partisan in recent years. The Introduction also articulates three common and interrelated ideas frequently invoked in reform debates and throughout the Chapters of the Report: the importance of protecting or enhancing the Court’s legitimacy; the role of judicial independence in our system of government; and the value of democracy and its relationship to the Supreme Court’s decisionmaking. These important ideas can mean different things to different people. The Introduction discusses the range of meanings ascribed to these terms, with the aim of clarifying how they are deployed in arguments for and against reform

Play in Middle Childhood: Everyday Play Behaviour and Associated Emotions

Children’s reports about their play in middle childhood and the emotions they associate with play have received limited research attention. Using focus groups, this study asked 38 children in the UK about what, where and with whom they played. They were also asked how play made them feel. Children reported a wide range of play behaviours, with outdoor and traditional games being just as prominently mentioned as play with electronic devices. The emotional importance of play in middle childhood was apparent, with children associating play with strong positive emotions, and not being able to play with negative emotions and anxiety

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission: Optical Telescope Element Design, Development, and Performance

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared space telescope that has recently started its science program which will enable breakthroughs in astrophysics and planetary science. Notably, JWST will provide the very first observations of the earliest luminous objects in the Universe and start a new era of exoplanet atmospheric characterization. This transformative science is enabled by a 6.6 m telescope that is passively cooled with a 5-layer sunshield. The primary mirror is comprised of 18 controllable, low areal density hexagonal segments, that were aligned and phased relative to each other in orbit using innovative image-based wavefront sensing and control algorithms. This revolutionary telescope took more than two decades to develop with a widely distributed team across engineering disciplines. We present an overview of the telescope requirements, architecture, development, superb on-orbit performance, and lessons learned. JWST successfully demonstrates a segmented aperture space telescope and establishes a path to building even larger space telescopes.Comment: accepted by PASP for JWST Overview Special Issue; 34 pages, 25 figure

Appendiciles I-IV

Inside This Place, Not of It reveals some of the most egregious human rights violations within women’s prisons in the United States. Here, in their own words, thirteen narrators recount their lives leading up to incarceration and their harrowing struggle for survival once inside. Among the narrators: Theresa, who spent years believing her health and life were in danger, being aggressively treated with a variety of medications for a disease she never had. Only on her release did she discover that an incompetent prison medical bureaucracy had misdiagnosed her with HIV. Anna, who repeatedly warned apathetic prison guards about a suicidal cellmate. When the woman killed herself, the guards punished Anna in an attempt to silence her and hide their own negligence. Teri, who was sentenced to up to fifty years for aiding and abetting a robbery when she was only seventeen. A prison guard raped Teri, who was still a teenager, and the assaults continued for years with the complicity of other staff.https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_bk_contributions/1326/thumbnail.jp

Father–Child Playfulness: A Secondary Analysis of a Multiple-Baseline Single-Subject Study of Three Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Importance: Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI) is commonly used with children on the autism spectrum to promote sensory processing and improved occupational performance, including play. To date, there has been no explicit effort to examine improvements in playfulness through ASI. Objective: To explore whether ASI, coupled with parent training, improves child playfulness and fathers’ support of child playfulness. Design: Single-subject A–B–BC design secondary analysis of a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline study. Setting: Occupational therapy clinic. Participants: Three father–child dyads; children were ages 3 to 6 yr, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and documented sensory processing concerns. Intervention: After a baseline phase, each child received at least 24 sessions of ASI, and fathers received parent training focusing on sensory processing issues and play via an online presentation. Outcomes and Measures: The Parent/Caregiver’s Support of Children’s Playfulness and the Test of Playfulness. Results: Visual analysis of the baseline phase, ASI phase, and ASI with parent training phase shows that all 3 fathers demonstrated an increase in the way they supported their child’s playfulness; however, this change was not maintained. Children’s playfulness fluctuated, reaching a peak after fathers received training, but none of the children maintained that change. Conclusions and Relevance: Additional support by the therapist is required for fathers to learn and use new strategies to promote consistent change in child playfulness during play. Pilot data can be used to inform future studies. What This Article Adds: Occupation- and family-centered frameworks may be useful in guiding practice when working with families of children with ASD