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The stigmatization of children with disabilities at school is a culturally widespread social justice challenge. The paper is the second of a two-part series. In the first paper (Haight, Kayama, Ku, Cho, & Lee, 2016), we described the problem of stigmatization from the perspectives of experienced elementary school educators in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US. In this paper, we focus on the solutions provided by these same educators; specifically, their perspectives on socialization practices to minimize stigmatization and support the development of self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. We conducted cross-cultural analyses of individual, semi-structured, audio recorded interviews with 26 Japanese, 43 South Korean, 16 Taiwanese and 18 US educators, including school social workers. Educators from all research sites described socialization practices to support children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. For children with disabilities, US educators focused on individualized support provided in private to minimize stigmatization. East Asian educators intentionally involved peers in supporting children with disabilities. For typically-developing peers, educators described cultivating empathy (Japan), providing formal disability awareness programs (South Korea), teaching moral values (Taiwan) and respecting individual differences (US). We discuss these socialization practices within educators' sociocultural-historical contexts. Educators' perspectives can be used to develop culture- and stigma-sensitive intervention programs for children with disabilities and their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stigmatization of individuals with disabilities is a widespread social justice issue. This paper introduces a study of disability, stigmatization and self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. It is the first of two companion papers. It examines the problem of stigmatization from the perspectives of experienced elementary school educators practicing in diverse cultural contexts. We conducted cross-cultural analyses of individual, audio recorded interviews with 26 Japanese, 43 Korean, 16 Taiwanese and 18 US educators, including school social workers. Educators from all four cultural groups described disability and stigma as challenging children's development of self: children with disabilities may experience the self as isolated and inadequate, and typically-developing peers may experience the self as lacking culturally expected values of empathy and respect. Educators' understandings of children's experiences also were culturally nuanced. Educators variously described children with disabilities as experiencing a sense of not belonging [Japan], loss of motivation [South Korea], too much shame [Taiwan], and low self-esteem [US]. They variously described typically-developing children as challenged to show empathy [Japan], include children with disabilities in their peer group [South Korea], develop benevolence [Taiwan], and show respect for individual differences [US]. We contextualize educators' perceptions within their specific sociocultural-historical contexts. Our second paper will focus on solutions; specifically, educators' perspectives on how to minimize stigmatization and support the development of self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. Together, these companion papers provide social workers with valuable perspectives for eliminating the stigmatization of children with disabilities in future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the multidimensional nature of poverty, this study analyzed child deprivation and social exclusion in Taiwan. First, a fuzzy set approach was used to construct an aggregate poverty index, to measure the levels of perceived necessity, deprivation, and social exclusion experienced by children. The study involved conducting a decomposition analysis to measure the poverty index according to certain dimensions. Second, this study involved analyzing possible determinants of perceived necessity, deprivation, and social exclusion, using seemingly unrelated regression models. We used cross-sectional data obtained from the Household Living Conditions Survey conducted in 2014. The results suggest that over two-thirds of the respondents identified all the items as necessary. Three highest levels of perceived necessity were housing, medical care, and clothing dimensions. Children faced high risks of deprivation and exclusion. The three highest levels of deprivation and exclusion were exhibited in the dimensions of environment, recreation, and education; the lowest two levels of deprivation and exclusion were exhibited in the dimensions of medical care and housing. The dimensions with higher levels of deprivation and exclusion exhibited higher relative contributions to facilitating poverty reduction. Moreover, evaluation of income and expenditure, family income, and family type were significantly related to the degree of perceived necessity and the levels of deprivation and exclusion. Those living in families with a large number of children exhibited a higher level of deprivation. Education of the caregivers was closely linked to social exclusion of children. This paper represents preliminary and small-scale research; however, several implications for methodology and policy can be derived from this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes advantage of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey data set to empirically evaluate whether a student's academic performance, measured by his or her test score, is affected by the body weight status of the student. We show that a student's weight status has no impact on his or her academic performance based on an OLS estimation; however, this result is likely to be incorrect due to the strong distributional and functional assumptions, and we further use the propensity score matching method to address this issue. If the entire sample is considered, we find that both overweight and underweight students perform worse than students of normal weight. If we separate the sample students into two groups according to their gender, we obtain different results for the different groups. While the male students tend to perform worse when they are either underweight or overweight, the adverse effect on the academic performance is larger for underweight students than for overweight students. By contrast, the academic performance of a female student will be affected only if she is overweight, but not if she is underweight. The policy implication that the government or the schools should have different plans for different gender groups can be drawn from our empirical finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cyber deviance among adolescents is prevalent in Taiwan. • Substance use and school bullying perpetration are associated with the presence of each form of cyber deviance. • Male gender, being senior, offline delinquency, and poor life satisfaction are associated with the presence of internet pornography and illegal website visits. • Females are more likely to engage in online flaming. • School bullying victimization is associated with the presence of internet pornography. Using a nationally representative dataset from Taiwan, this paper reports the prevalence of cyber deviance among adolescents and examines its association with gender, age, parental monitoring, substance use, offline delinquent behavior, school bullying and victimization, and life satisfaction. 1,928 students from junior high (grades 7–9) and senior high (grades 10–12) schools participated in this study. Students were given an anonymous questionnaire including items regarding basic demographics and deviant behaviors in cyber space. The results showed that cyber deviance is prevalent among Taiwanese adolescents. Of all forms, digital/media piracy was the most common, followed by illegal website visits and online flaming, and lastly, by internet pornography. Logistic regression analyses showed that substance use and school bullying perpetration are associated with the presence of all forms of cyber deviance. In addition, females were more likely to engage in online flaming. Male adolescents and seniors and those with offline delinquency history and a low level of life satisfaction were more likely to engage in internet pornography and visiting illegal websites. School bullying victimization was associated with the presence of internet pornography. However, the association between parental monitoring and each form of cyber deviance was non-significant. These findings implied that policy and intervention programs need to tackle cyber deviance at a national level. The potential policy and programs should target senior students and aim to promote adolescent life satisfaction and reduce student's risk of being bullied in school. To maximize their effectiveness, such programs should focus on tackling adolescents' problematic offline behaviors, including substance use, school bullying, and delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Capability approach gives a dynamic grasp of Taiwan's poor children's well-being. • Capability deprivation affects more poor children than other forms do. • Capability deprivation poses a persistent challenge for poor children. • Different factor mixes lead to diverse well-being dynamics of poor children. • The capability approach provides new insights for children's service providers. In this paper, the well-being dynamics of Taiwanese poor children are analyzed by utilizing the 'Taiwanese Panel Data of Poor Children and Young People'. Guided by the capability approach, children could be deprived in terms of the interplay of functionings and capabilities. Our findings show that capability deprivation affect more poor children than other forms of deprivation do. Also, compared to the transitions of the other deprivation categories, there is a persistent nature in capability deprivation among poor children and young people. Moreover, changes in some resource factors (e.g., computers and pocket money) and conversion factors (e.g., gender, school transfer, child relationship with teachers or classmates) are found to have a significant relationship with their well-being dynamics. Based on the research findings, a proactive approach is proposed to expand the capabilities and freedoms of poor children. In addition, the research limitations that need addressing in future studies are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]