Poverty and parental discipline

Mo Alloush, Emily Conover and Susan Godlonton

This study examines how the introduction of a conditional cash transfer program in Peru affects parental discipline practices. It finds that in districts receiving the program, reports of physical punishment by mothers and fathers among low-income families decrease by at least 2.7 percentage points (11%), suggesting the program may provide additional benefits by reducing harsh disciplinary practices.

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Leaving Care around the World: Policy, Practice, Research, and Youth Participation

Tehila Refaeli and Varda Mann-Feder

This book reflects two decades of work by the International Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care (INTRAC) to advance academic research and policy reform on leaving care globally. It includes thirty-two country chapters, each providing background information and key statistics on children in care and care leavers based on available national data.

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Navigating Parental Challenges in Child Welfare

James C. Wadley

This book chapter examines the child welfare system, parental challenges, and family resistance, presenting a theoretical framework for building family resilience. It highlights stressors such as financial instability and mental health issues, and emphasizes collaborative, dignity-centered strategies that combine social work, mental health, and community support to improve outcomes for parents and children.

Deconstructing the role of gender and power in restorative approaches to child protection: Reimagining justice for children

Decent Munzhelele, Hasandi Rannzida, Talifhani Trevor Ramatswi, et al.

This article examines how gendered power dynamics influence restorative approaches to child protection, showing that traditional practices can marginalize children, especially girls and gender-diverse individuals. It highlights the potential for restorative justice to be transformed into a more inclusive and equitable system that addresses harm while challenging systemic power imbalances.

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Children in War: Attachment, Trauma, Support and Recovery

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Dmytro Martsenkovskyi, and Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg

War negatively affects adults’ mental and physical health, which in turn impacts their parenting, exposing children to both direct and indirect stressors. This book examines these consequences, using evidence-based research and case studies from the Russian-Ukrainian war to highlight the importance of attachment, trauma-informed support, and interventions for families during and after conflict.

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Young people’s experiences of support, belonging, and freedom before and after leaving residential care institutions in Kenya

Sarah Elizabeth Neville, K. Megan Collier, Elizabeth K. Klein, Joanna Wakia, et. al

In Kenya, young people’s experiences of residential care and life after leaving care highlight trade-offs between material support, emotional guidance, and personal freedom. The study emphasizes that family strengthening and individualized case management are crucial to support children reunifying with families and successfully transitioning out of residential care.

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When the temporary becomes permanent: liminal parenthood in adoptions from foster care in Chile

Irene Salvo AgogliaI and Beatriz San Román Sobrino

This article critically analyzes the complex journey undertaken by foster families who decide to adopt the children or adolescents they initially cared for on a temporary basis. Through the study of four cases, it examines the experiences and perspectives of Chilean families who chose to transform their role from foster care to adoption, presenting narratives that highlight the controversies, inconsistencies, and tensions between the logics of temporary and permanent care within the Chilean child protection system.

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‘Caring for the carers’: Compassion fatigue and associated factors in foster and kinship carers

Christine Clark and Emily P. Taylor

This study examines the presence of compassion fatigue among foster and kinship carers in the United Kingdom and explores factors associated with it using survey data from 180 caregivers. Findings indicate that carers experience higher levels of compassion fatigue than helping professionals, with greater fatigue linked to lower parenting satisfaction, attachment avoidance, and unmet expectations of social support, highlighting important implications for social and clinical support systems.

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Protocol for preparing youths leaving child and youth care centres in South Africa: Insights from social workers

Fezeka Mbangula and Elzahne Simeon De Jager

There is still limited research on South African youths aging out of residential care, and there is no established protocol to guide social workers in preparing them for independent living. This study aimed to investigate what elements should be included in a protocol for social workers to effectively prepare youths leaving child and youth care centres (CYCCs).

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Youth “Aging Out” of Substitute Care in Canada: A Scoping Review of the Scientific Literature

Laurence Magnan-Tremblay, Varda Mann-Feder, Tristan Légaré & Ariane Montminy

This scoping review examined the scientific literature on youth aging out of substitute care in Canada to address challenges in estimating the country’s contribution to this growing global research field. The review identified key trends, research gaps, and future directions, emphasizing the need to better integrate existing findings to build a more cohesive Canadian evidence base.