Developmental outcomes for children whose primary caregivers are misattuned but not considered abusive are unclear. This paper argues that if by the pre-school years, insecure patterns of attachment are evident then a continuing dysfunctional attachment relationship is indicated and the likelihood of later difficulties is increased. The current…

Considers the key elements of a permanence philosophy in child care and protection that has dominated thinking in the United Kingdom for 15 years. Highlights the fundamentally different stance taken in new children's legislation in New Zealand and argues that the preconditions have been more clearly established for collaboration and partnership…

This study investigated how 196 black South African 7- to 14-year olds living in rural, urban, and semi-urban areas perceived events surrounding the country's political transformation. Content analysis of interviews conducted shortly after the first general election revealed that perceptions and understanding of events increased in sophistication…

Nonretarded (NR) and educable mentally retarded (EMR) 6- to 19-year-old children in Istanbul, Turkey, completed conservation tasks. Found a similarity in the developmental progression of conservation concepts between the two groups and between these groups and groups of NR and EMR children in England as reported in previous studies. (BC)

Used projective techniques to examine trends in the psychic state of juvenile delinquents. Found that delinquents showed greater signs of psychopathology than a normal control group. Those tested in 1981-84 displayed depression and identity diffusion, in contrast to those tested in 1990-98, who showed dissolution anxiety, lack of attachment…

Investigates the extent of similarity in the sequence of development of concepts in children with Down's Syndrome, children with other forms of retardation, and nonretarded children. (Author/BB)

Studied adolescent reproductive health services in two Nigerian states. Found that adolescents use health facilities mostly for general health problems. Only 6.1% (south) and 31.8% (north) of cases involved reproductive health, the gap attributable to maternity cases of northern married women. Reproductive health problems such as abortion and…

Examined the subsequent life and development of teenagers under probation who abused alcohol and drugs. Suggests that regardless of the social environment in which they grow up, children, both boys and girls, are in a risk zone if they use alcohol and drugs, and there is an enormous gap in their social adjustment compared with children that do…