Asher Ben-Arieh

Handbook of child well-being: Theories, methods and policies in global perspective, Vols. 1-5

HIV and AIDS remains a significant public health problem. Globally, an estimated 34 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2011 (UNAIDS 2012). Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the most severely affected region, accounting for 69 % of the people living with HIV worldwide, with nearly 1 in every 20 adults (4.9 %) infected (UNAIDS 2012). HIV incidence also remains unacceptably high: an estimated 2.5 million people (adults and children) acquired HIV infection in 2011 (UNAIDS 2012). Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 71 % of the adults and children newly infected in 2011 (UNAIDS 2012). Further, an estimated 1.7 million people died from AIDS-related causes worldwide in 2011, with SSA accounting for 70 % of all the people dying from AIDS (UNAIDS 2012). Children are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. An estimated 3.4 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2011, 91 % of them in sub-Saharan Africa (WHO/UNAIDS/UNICEF 2011). In 2010, an estimated 250,000 children died from AIDS-related causes. In addition, an estimated 14.9 million children in SSA have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Many more children live with HIV-infected parents or primary caregivers. These children are also vulnerable and greatly affected by HIV and AIDS (UNICEF 2007; Atwani-Akwaraa et al. 2010; Daniel 2011).markdownabstractIntro The World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven 2012) is findings archive, that is, a collection of observations that result from scientific empirical research. The database focuses on research findings on happiness in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. Its goal is to facilitate accumulation of knowledge on this subject. The database consists of several collections. It builds on a collection of all scientific publications about happiness, called the ‘Bibliography of Happiness’ (Veenhoven 2012a). To date this collection includes some 7000 books and articles, of which half report an empirical investigation that used an acceptable measure of happiness, listed in the collection ‘Measures of Happiness’ (Veenhoven 2012b). The findings yielded by some 3500 studies that past this test for adequate measurement of happiness are described on separate ‘finding pages’, using a standard format and a standard terminology. Two kinds of findings are discerned: distributional findings on how happy people are at a particular time and place and correlational findings about the things that go together with more of less happiness in these populations.

Taxonomy for child well-being indicators: A framework for the analysis of the well-being of children

Recent years have brought a dramatic rise in the number of efforts to measure and monitor the status of children. Yet, despite numerous efforts and reports with ‘Child indicators’ in the title, the field of social child indication is fragmented and lacking a unifying taxonomy. The more ambitious the analysis and the more elaborate the statistics, the stronger the need for a common language used by all. This article tries to suggest such a taxonomy.

Beyond the numbers: How do we monitor the state of our children?

Abstract Recent years have shown a growing interest and activity in measuring and monitoring the state of children. Evidently there is a great deal of activity on this topic around the globe. In part, as a result of this increased activity the field is going through major changes and is trying to redefine the concept of childrens well being and its measurements. Furthermore it is evident that the actual practice of measuring and monitoring the state of children is changing. This paper goal is too present before the reader a “state of the art” description of such efforts around the world. Based on an extensive literature review and an international network of informers more than 130 such reports were identified and analyzed. Based on the study findings a common language to be used in the field of measuring the state of children is suggested. Furthermore the paper presents an analysis of the various reports published around the world by their publisher, their framework and the concepts and themes they usually cover. Those are later used in order to present some conclusions as to the practice of measuring and monitoring the state of children and for suggesting some prospects for the future.

The incidence of Arab adolescents' exposure to violence in their families of origin and its sociodemographic correlates

OBJECTIVES To examine the incidence and sociodemographic correlates of witnessing and experiencing different patterns of abuse and violence in the family of origin among Arab adolescents from Israel. METHOD A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a sample of 1,640 Arab secondary school students in Israel. RESULTS About 17% of the participants had witnessed their fathers threatening to hit or throw something at their mothers, and 18% had witnessed their fathers attacking, grabbing, or shoving their mothers at least once during the 12 months preceding the survey. Regarding exposure to mother-to-father violence, the rates for the same acts were 4% and 3%, respectively. In addition, 39%, 40%, and 42% of the participants indicated that their fathers, mothers, and siblings, respectively, had yelled at them and/or done something to insult them at least once during the same period. Furthermore, 17%, 15%, and 20% of the participants revealed that their fathers, mothers, and siblings, respectively, had attacked them continuously for several minutes with a stick, club, or other harmful object at least once during the 12 months preceding the survey. CONCLUSIONS The results revealed evidence of psychological and physical violence against Arab adolescents of different ages, gender, places of residence, or religions. In addition, evidence was found of violence between parents of different ages, levels of education, levels of income, religious affiliation, occupation, and family size. These results emphasize the importance of exploring violence in the Arab family from an integrative, ecological perspective.

From Child Welfare to Children Well-Being: The Child Indicators Perspective

Al Khan was among the first to study children’s welfare in a comparative way and to monitor the status of children over time. As early as the 1940th Kahn was involved in one of the pioneering efforts to study the “state of children” in New York through his collaboration with the Citizen Committee for Children (Ben-Arieh, 2006). Similarly, some 40 years ago, Al and Sheila Kamerman were the first to examine child welfare across developed countries (Kamerman & Kahn, 1978).

Does the Importance of Parent and Peer Relationships for Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction Vary Across Cultures?

This study investigated whether the associations between (a) the quality of the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance and (b) early adolescents’ life satisfaction differed depending on the importance of family values in the respective culture. As part of the Value of Children Study, data from a subsample of N = 1,034 adolescents (58% female, M age = 13.62 years, SD = 0.60 years) from 11 cultures was analyzed. Multilevel analyses revealed a positive relation between parental admiration and adolescents’ life satisfaction independent of cultural membership. Further, the higher the importance of family values in a culture, the weaker was the positive effect of peer acceptance on adolescents’ life satisfaction. The results highlight the universal importance of parental warmth and support in adolescence and underline the effect of culturally shared family values on the role of peer acceptance for adolescent development.

Opinion, Dialogue, Review Time for (More) Time-Use Studies: Studying the Daily Activities of Children

Concerns about childrens time-use and daily activities are not new. Nevertheless it is evident that such studies are scarce and partial and that as of today the knowledge we have on the patterns of childrens everyday activities and the way in which different patterns of activity impact on childrens well-being is insufficient. This article makes a case for the importance of time-use studies of children: such studies that will provide a flexible resource for describing and analysing childrens social lives and well-being. Based on an extensive and rigorous literature review, the article analyses various studies on childrens time-use by their goals, target population and methods. An analysis that provides not only the basis for calling for more studies but suggests how childrens time-use could be studied on a larger scale and on a regular basis as a part of societys effort to study and monitor its childrens well-being.

Parent–Child Value Similarity Across and Within Cultures:

Normative socio-cultural influences may lead to parent–child value similarity over and above familial processes. Such influences, in which the mainstream position taken by people in a given culture leads to an average similarity between unrelated members of the culture, have been investigated for the most part by considering one country at a time. This has, however, left several questions open; among these is the question of whether parent–child value similarity is a matter of societal homogeneity in values. In an attempt to answer this query, the current study intends to examine the effect of the national and ethnic normative profiles, that is, groups’ average profiles, on parent–child value similarity, while assuming a cross-cultural perspective. It involves 212 mother–adolescent dyads from Northern Italy and 222 Jewish and Arab mother–adolescent dyads from Israel, all participants in the Value of Children (VOC) Study. In the more homogeneous value context of Italy, parent–child value similarity was strongly inflated by the broad socio-cultural context and can best be viewed as a general similarity to a national standard. On the contrary, in the less homogeneous context of Israel, when accounting for the effects of normative profiles, there was still similarity unique to a particular dyad: Mothers and children, especially from the Arab group, were similar to each other in those values which distinguish them from the other people in the country. All in all, the results help us to disentangle the origins and to interpret the actual meaning of detected parent–child value similarity.

Advances in Children's Rights and Children's Well-Being Measurement: Implications for School Psychologists.

Recent years have brought important changes to the profession of school psychology, influenced by larger social, scientific, and political trends. These trends include the emergence of childrens rights agenda and advances in childrens well-being measurement. During these years, a growing public attention and commitment to the notion of childrens rights has developed, which is best expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention outlines the conditions necessary to ensure and promote childrens well-being and calls for the ongoing monitoring of childrens well-being for accountability purposes. We articulate advances in childrens rights and childrens well-being measurement in the context of childrens schooling experiences in general and for school psychology in particular. We highlight implications for the assessment roles of school psychologists, who occupy a unique position at the intersection of multiple subsystems of childrens overall ecosystems. We argue that the synergy between a rights-based agenda and advances in childrens well-being assessment methodology can provide valuable opportunities for school psychology. This synergy can help school communities establish perspective and goals for childrens well-being in rights respecting ways, using the most promising well-being assessment strategies.

Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Children's Rights Among Middle School Students in Jerusalem: The Role of Family Values and Patterns, Nationality, and Religion

Childrens rights have become a cornerstone of discussions of human rights and human services around the world. However, the meaning of childrens rights and their significance for policies and programs vary across nations, cultures, religions, and families. Only recently has research begun to study the conceptualization of childrens rights in non-Western and non-Christian-dominated cultures and, thus, in more traditional and authoritarian families. This article reports on a cross-sectional survey among 810 Jewish and 582 Arab children (372 Muslims, 210 Christians), aged 12-14 from eastern and western Jerusalem to examine how children view their rights. Adolescents completed a structured, anonymous, self-report questionnaire. Results suggest that nationality/ethnicity is a major factor in explaining differences in childrens views of their rights, with religion playing a minor role. Results also suggest that family values and practices are significantly correlated with the approach to childrens rights, as is gender, although its explanatory power is weaker. These findings should guide practitioners and childrens rights advocates as they strive to enhance the support for childrens rights in the Middle East and develop appropriate policies.