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Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

From the 1920s, children in Switzerland were psychiatrically examined in observation wards. In many cases, these medical reports were linked to the placement of children in homes and foster families. Focusing on a specific case study of the observation institution Stephansburg in Zurich in 1944, this paper retraces the genesis of a child psychiatric report, identifying patterns by which the experts dealt with narratives of teachers, parents or school doctors. At a closer look, tests and medical examinations were not necessarily committed to a strictly scientific approach. The case study analysed in this paper indicates that experts in child psychiatry did not always apply expert knowledge when preparing their opinion. Rather, they resorted to a selection of aspects alien to psychiatry but suitable to satisfy the interests of the contracting authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma, Psychological Stress and Family Situation of Fathers who Experienced Child and Youth Welfare Services: Implications for Youth Welfare Interventions and Therapy This paper explores the current family situation and psychological stress of fathers who experienced trauma and different kinds of youth welfare services including out-of-home placement during their childhood. The main group consisted of n = 119 fathers and was compared to a group of n = 36 fathers whose families never received services from the child and youth welfare authority. In the main group, a high correlation was found between trauma and current psychological stress, albeit the out-of-home care intervention or intensive home-support by child and youth welfare services during childhood. The higher stress level in the main group of fathers in contrast to the comparison group effects their current family situation, especially concerning the contact between fathers and their children. Fathers with higher stress levels were less likely to be in contact with their children. Acting on the assumption that fathers are important for their children, the results implicate a heightened focus on earlier trauma-informed interventions in families with difficulties and out-of-home care settings, to reduce stress levels and prevent intergenerational transmission of problematic family experiences. Current child and youth welfare services, in particular out-of-home placements, should take these trauma-informed approaches and therapy into account.

Lists, Registers, and Inventories in the History of Child and Youth Residential Care. Artefacts of Social Power and their Value as Ego-Documents. In 2010 a public debate emerged on the correctional education of children and adolescents during the second half of the twentieth century. People who had spent some years of their childhood and youth in reformatories described frequent experiences of massive violence. Subsequently, both western Austrian countries, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, provided research funds and made the relevant documents (particularly administrative records of the Welfare Service) available for scientific research. A number of these documents are the result of inventorying processes. Using a child welfare case file (Zöglingsakte) as an example, this paper analyses how the inventorying processes aimed to document the children's bodies, their behaviour, and the objects with which they came into contact. These documentation processes were linked to the aims the welfare system tried to implement. In this sense, inventories appear as media of power discourses, which can be read as texts and narratives. Furthermore the lists, registers, and inventories included in the case files allow us to gain a deeper insight into the children's lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Discourse: Journal of Childhood & Adolescense Research / Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Gesnerus is the property of Schwabe Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Individualpsychologie is the property of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The German Competence Analysis Questionnaire (Kompetenzanalyseverfahren, KANN) is an external assessment tool used to determine observable personal resources (= competences) in children and adolescents. The present paper examines the validity of the KANN based on additionally collected data of behavior disorders as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/4-18). The main objective is to explore whether the KANN scales are able to differentiate between children and adolescents with or without internalizing and/or externalizing behavior disorders., Method: The sample consists of n = 450 young people (aged 6 to 22 years) under the care of child and youth welfare services assessed between 2010 and 2012 by their group careworkers using KANN and CBCL as part of the ongoing quality development system "moses.", Results: According to the discriminant analysis the KANN scale "Empathy & Fairness" differentiates very well between youths with or without behavior disorders, particularly those with externalizing problems. The KANN scale "Leisure Behavior & Peer Groups" contributes the highest rate of differentiation of internalizing problems. The hit ratios of the discriminant analyses reach values of up to 76.2 %., Conclusions: The ability of the KANN scales to differentiate behavior disorders underlines the validity of the KANN.

In 1987, in Cleveland County, United Kingdom, the pediatricians Marietta Higgs and Geoffrey Wyatt diagnosed 121 cases of child sexual abuse by using a hitherto little known diagnostic method. In large parts, this diagnosis proved wrong. This caused an ideological and political motivated media scandal, which framed British child care institutions as well as the relation of the public towards these institutions in the long-term. Historically, the intensity of this scandal can be traced to changes in the understanding of child care within the British system of child care. Using the method of historical discourse analysis, this paper will depict ideological structures of argumentation and locate them in ongoing processes of sociocultural change.

For many years, the HBSC-Study has provided important insight and information on the health situation and health behaviours of young people 11- through 15 years of age living in Germany. The papers in this supplement take a first look at the trends in selected indicators of health and health behaviour of this group and draw important conclusions about the association between prevention and health promotion measures and individual health across time. This short report gives an overview on the key results and findings of the 10 papers in the supplement., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Copyright of Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie is the property of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Pädagogik is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research on resilience and protective factors revolves around the question "What keeps people healthy?" Protective factors in the person, family and social surroundings contribute to resilient development of children and adolescents. The effects of these factors depend on risk constellations and environmental conditions. Although sufficient evidence is not yet available for all factors discussed in the literature, results suffice as starting points to develop preventive interventions meant to strengthen protective factors. This paper proposes a classification of interventions based on the age of the children and adolescents. In addition to personal factors it is important to target protective factors in the family and social surroundings. Successful prevention strategies begin early on and support children over the long term, in a systematic and development-oriented manner.

Child protection has become a political and social hot topic. Due to dramatic cases of child neglect and maltreatment federal and state governments as well as municipalities with their respective responsibilities are in public focus. The knowledge, that families and children, who must live under difficult conditions, need special attention, contact and support is the common aim of many activities. Under the impression of publicly discussed horrific violence against children and their death, the main federal and state decision-makers--the chancellor and the prime ministers of the states--have dealt with the protection of children. To be effective against neglect and maltreatment, in their conferences on 19th December 2007 and 12th June 2008, they have decided a package of concrete measures for an active child protection. This paper gives an overview of these agreed measures and reports on the status of implementation.

Physical health is an important dimension within even the broadest concept of health. However, comprehensive and representative data on the physical health of children and adolescents in Germany are so far lacking. In the Health Survey for Children and Adolescents information will be collected on various aspects of physical health: pregnancy, birth, child development, self-rated health, physical well-being, acute and chronic disorders, congenital malformations, injuries, symptoms and complaints, disability and pain. It will be possible to analyse various determinants and consequences of physical health of children in Germany since data will also be collected on health risks, nutrition, physical activity, preventive behavior, quality of life, mental health, environmental aspects, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and use of health services. This paper summarises the items on physical health assessed in the questionnaires and the medical interview, outlines the theoretical background for some methodological issues and reports conclusions from the survey pretest.

Quality management is in everybody's mouth. Actually there is only few evaluation research in child protection, and almost no evaluated practice. The paper takes a perspective of "errors", not of "effectiveness". It roughly assesses the frequency of secondary traumas maltreated children experience when they are in care of the helping system. Examples and statistics from the "Vienna Child Protection Center" are used. The client's risk of experiencing a secondary trauma is about 1:3. In about 10% of all cases, the traumas are important and enduring; they range from psychotic episode to massive suicidality and long-lasting feelings of guilt and anxiety. Comparatively, the risk of being traumatized by psychotherapy is about 1:6. Psychotherapy leads to important and positive changes in about one third of all clients; similar effectiveness is attributed to those helping maltreated children. Causes of secondary traumas are: Helpers act too quickly in the heat of affect; they lack specialized knowledge (e.g. self-experience, crisis management); they seldom consult with neutral experts; they have few insight in the effects of their ideological and ethical back-ground; they deal with clients in a distrust enhancing way. On the structural level, I discuss sensationalism and scandalism of massmedia; bureaucratic procedures and their slowness, unaccessibility, inconsistency and indifference to the single case; policy of damage control when errors of the helping system become public; parallelism of decreasing financial/personal support and increasing numbers of customers; badly organized practice in criminal justice. The paper ends by demanding (more) quality circles and supervision.

Peter Berger once said that children are our "hostages to history", we expect them to ensure continuity. At the same time we project our wishes on them, they are our vectors of the future. Public discourse on children in modern society--charged with historical traditions and diverse expectations--provides a seismographic reading of our hopes and fears as the 20th century draws to a close. Pessimistic attitudes, the sense of looming dangers, appear to be ever more widespread, the discourse about modern childhood takes on an apocalyptic tone, children are seen increasingly as victims or dangerous delinquents. There are complaints that childhood disappeared or would be extended more and more. The paper provides a critical review of present day attitudes to children, investigates the current situation, and discusses the dilemmas that have arisen in the conditions of life and relations between the generations in modern civilization. But a question is also asked: How can we create the conditions that will do children and adults good? Last but not least, what can the health and social services contribute to making childhood worth living?

Copyright of Discourse: Journal of Childhood & Adolescense Research / Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Pädagogik is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Discourse: Journal of Childhood & Adolescense Research / Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In a study conducted in Zurich, 1877 apprentices were asked to fill out one of two questionnaires on child custody, court hearings and visiting rights. The results reported in the present paper are based on the responses of the 338 youths (18%) whose parents were divorced. Of the youths included, 46.4% said the child's wishes should be the main criterion in custody decisions; 25.7% were in favor of joint custody and 39.1% opposed to it. The majority of the apprentices thought the child should be heard in court (lowest age recommended: 11 +/- 3.18 years). How often the subjects visited the parent who did not have custody depended on their age at the time of the divorce and whether their parents had remarried.