Recent studies have highlighted the progressively increasing number of children prescribed psychotropic medication, while findings have illustrated significantly greater usage among child welfare-involved children. These findings have raised serious concerns among mental health and child welfare professionals as well as the general public. To…

This article addresses the emerging use of parent mentors--parents who have successfully negotiated the child welfare system and provide support and advocacy to others. The theoretical justification, roles, and expected outcomes and benefits of parent mentors are explored. The organizational factors thought to be required for such programs are…

Examines the structure of families headed by an unmarried male with minor children. Single-father research literature is briefly reviewed. (Author/SE)

Identifies three styles of sibling rivalry and three parent leadership styles, discussing parental mediation of sibling disputes through contracting and providing examples of group discipline techniques that facilitate development of less negative forms of rivalry and that support positive sibling bonding. (RH)

This paper considers how parents are affected by and play a role in the lives of their young adult children. The years during which young people make the transition to adulthood has changed significantly in recent years--this transition now takes place over a longer period of time. We describe how young people experience these years; how they…

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether child protective services investigators apply a recognizable set of criteria to substantiate batterers and victims of battering for exposing their children to domestic violence. Although domestic violence occurred in 35% of the 1,248 substantiated incidents of child maltreatment, only 31…

Describes the pilot phase of an innovative program that uses a structured group format to orient parents to their expected roles and to educate and support them in the process of deciding their children's futures. (Author/MP)

An effective model for training foster parents, developed jointly by an early childhood program and a foster care agency, is briefly discussed. (Author/SE)

Historically, a shortage of skilled and dedicated foster parents has existed in America. Lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LBG) foster parents have received little attention in the published literature. This article documents the challenges and successes of a group of 60 LGB foster parents. All participants provided foster parenting for public (state or…

Describes an experimental group program developed to orient and educate parents of children accepted for diagnostic evaluation in a child guidance clinic. Results of the program indicate effectiveness in enhancing parental awareness of problems and the parent role as treatment participants. (Author/CS)

Describes a foster care agency set up and managed entirely by foster parents, and discusses the roles and relationships of the foster parents and social workers in the agency. (Author/SE)

Investigates the roles and problems of siblings of incest victims, describes the dynamics of the incestuous family, and identifies some behavior problems of children whose siblings were incest victims. Data from two siblings' lives are presented to illustrate points. (Author/DB)

Investigated fathers' involvement in planning permanent kinship foster care for their children, examining frequency of contact between fathers and caseworkers, content of these contacts, and fathers' participation in permanency planning. Found that most fathers had no contact with caseworkers and had never participated in planning. Paternal…

The number of U.S. children entering foster care is increasing faster than the number of available foster parents. Of particular concern are the growing number of African American children in foster care and the lack of African American foster parents to care for them. This study compares role perceptions of African American and white foster…

Parents have a complex task of guiding a specific child to maturity by using the opportunities offered by the environment, while avoiding its detrimental aspects. This article develops a theory of the parenting process that describes components of the parental role; situations where development and, thus, parenting occurs; the responsibility of…