Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz

Filling the Parenting Gap? Grandparent Involvement With U.K. Adolescents

With people living longer and more mothers working, there is some evidence that grandparents are more involved in rearing the next generation. Although there is research in the United Kingdom on kinship care, there is no national research on the extent of grandparent involvement from the perspective of young people. This, the first national survey of 1,478 adolescents in England and Wales, demonstrates the very considerable amount of informal care given by grandparents to adolescents.The findings showed that factors in the wider ecology of children, their parents, grandparents, and the community influenced grandparent—grandchild involvement. In particular, more regular contact and stronger grandparent/grandchild closeness, greater parental encouragement to visit grandparents, better health in grandparents, and less deprivation in the community were significantly associated with more active grandparent involvement. The article concludes that because grandparents may be filling the parenting gap for hard-working parents, there is a case for greater recognition of their role as family supporters.

Maltreatment by Staff in Residential Care Facilities: The Adolescents’ Perspectives

This study examines the prevalence and multilevel correlates of verbal and physical maltreatment of 1,324 Israeli adolescents by staff in 32 residential care settings. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to examine the relationships among adolescents’ maltreatment, individual-level characteristics (age, gender, adjustment difficulties, and perceived social climate and policy), and institution-level characteristics (setting care type, size, structure, and ethnic affiliation). The findings suggest that 29 percent of adolescents report being verbally maltreated and one-quarter report experiencing physical maltreatment. Vulnerability to maltreatment is found to be high for boys, adolescents with adjustment difficulties, youth who perceive staff as strict, and those who see staff as unsupportive. Maltreatment is positively associated with residence in Arab care settings, with the size of the institution, and with the concentration of vulnerable youth. The study emphasizes the need for the development of interventions and preventions tailored to the risk groups identified.

Adverse life events, area socio-economic disadvantage, and adolescent psychopathology: The role of closeness to grandparents in moderating the effect of contextual stress

The study, using data from 801 11–16-year-olds clustered in 68 schools across England and Wales, tested whether closeness to grandparents moderates the association between contextual stress and adolescent psychopathology and prosocial behavior, measured with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). Contextual stress was measured at both school area level (assessed with the index of multiple deprivation) and child level (assessed, as life stress, with the number of proximal and distal adverse life events experienced). At baseline, area stress (multiple deprivation) was unrelated to psychopathology (SDQ), and although both proximal (during the last 12 months) and distal (before the last 12 months) life stress was associated with broad and specific child psychopathology, the association with proximal life stress was stronger. Closeness to the most significant grandparent moderated both the effect of proximal life stress on hyperactivity and broad psychopathology, and the effect of the interaction between distal and proximal life stress on broad and externalizing psychopathology. These findings suggest that the role of grandparents deserves further attention in future investigations of the development of resilience in youth.

Experiences of Sexual Victimization by Peers among Adolescents in Residential Care Settings

This study explores the prevalence and multilevel risk factors of 1,309 Israeli Arab and Jewish adolescents’ experiences of unwelcome sexual behaviors by peers in residential care settings (RCSs) for at-risk children. I examine the links between adolescents’ reports of sexual victimization, adolescents’ individual characteristics, and RCS-level characteristics using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Approximately 40 percent of adolescents reported having been victims of at least one sexually violent act by peers in the month prior to the survey. Adolescents with more adjustment difficulties, those who experienced more physical maltreatment by staff, and those who perceived the institutional antiviolence policy as less clear, fair, and consistent were at higher risk for peer sexual victimization. Sexual victimization by peers is also positively associated with concentrations of males and adolescents with adjustment difficulties and with residence in Jewish and group settings. The link between staff maltreatment and sexual victimization by peers was stronger among adolescents from Jewish than Arab RCSs.

Adolescents’ Reports of Physical Violence by Peers in Residential Care Settings An Ecological Examination

Physical victimization by peers was examined among 1,324 Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 11 to 19, residing in 32 residential care settings (RCS) for children at-risk in Israel. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine the relationships between physical victimization and adolescents’ characteristics (age, gender, self-efficacy, adjustment difficulties, maltreatment by staff, and perceived social climate) as well as institution-level characteristics (care setting type, size, structure, and ethnic affiliation). For this study, we define physical violence as being grabbed, shoved, kicked, punched, hit with a hand, or hit with an object. Over 50% (56%) of the adolescents surveyed reported having experienced at least one form of physical violence by peers. Boys and younger adolescents were more likely to be victimized than girls and older adolescents. The results show that adolescents with adjustment difficulties or low social self-efficacy, and adolescents who perceive an institution’s staff as strict and/or had experienced maltreatment by staff, are vulnerable groups for peer victimization. Lower levels of victimization were found in RCS with a familial element than in traditional group settings. Institutions with high concentrations of young people with adjustment difficulties and violent staff behaviors had higher levels of violence among residents. Applying an ecological perspective to an investigation of peer victimization in RCS enables the identification of risk factors at adolescent and institution levels. This type of examination has implications for child welfare practice and policy that can help in the development of prevention and intervention methods designed to tackle the involvement in violence of youth in care.

Student Victimization by Peers: Comparison between Bedouin and Non-Bedouin Arab Students in Israel.

ABSTRACT School violence is a social phenomenon that has been a great source of concern for the educational system and for parents. The results of the current study are part of a comprehensive study conducted among a nationally representative sample of students in Israel (Benbenishty, 2003). This study examines the issue of peer victimization among Arab students as measured by self-report questionnaires. The sample of the current study consists of 10,441 students from 192 schools (6,329 non-Bedouin Arab students from 114 schools and 4,112 Bedouin students from 78 schools). We found that non-Bedouin Arab students reported slightly more verbal-social victimization than did Bedouin students. In contrast to these results, Bedouin students reported significantly higher levels of moderate physical victimization and severe physical victimization. Furthermore, the statistical interaction between gender, grade level, and national/cultural group, as well as reported victimization was examined. Several possible interpretations of the results will be presented. Additionally, the implications for the field of social work practice and policy will be discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

Gendered and Sexualized Bullying and Cyber Bullying: Spotlighting Girls and Making Boys Invisible

Drawing on semistructured interviews with Canadian Grade 4 to 12 students, this article uses a feminist lens to explore gendered and sexualized bullying and cyberbullying among children and youth. Our findings indicate that while boys’ roles and behaviors were frequently made invisible, girls were typically spotlighted, blamed, and criticized. Girls’ experiences were often minimized and normalized by peers and linked to gender norms and stereotypes that were largely invisible to participants. The central theme of invisibility emerged, which encompassed and interconnected the three subthemes: (a) gendered stereotyping, (b) spotlighting girls, and (c) gender surveillance and policing. Gendered and sexualized bullying and cyberbullying were found to be part of a socialization process wherein girls come to expect gender-based aggression, violence, and inequality in their lives. This article makes explicit how bullying and cyberbullying are linked to societal norms that put girls at risk of harassment, violence, abuse, and discrimination.

Grandfathering and Adolescent Adjustment Difficulties and Pro-social Behaviour Among Israeli Jewish and Arab Adolescents

This chapter examines adolescents’ reports on their relationships with their grandfathers and the contribution of these relationships to their adjustment, based on a survey conducted among approximately 2750 Israeli Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 12–17. Most of the analyses focused on the 736 adolescents identifying their grandfathers as their closest grandparents. The findings show that grandfathers are heavily involved in the lives of adolescents in Israel and that adolescents see them as close and significant figures in their lives. Adolescent gender, lineage of grandfather, and culture are associated with the adolescent–grandfather relationship. In addition, significant links were found between adolescents’ closeness to their closest grandfathers and reduced adjustment difficulties and increased pro-social behaviour, as well as between grandfather involvement and pro-social behaviour.

Grandparenting and adolescent well-being: evidence from the UK and Israel

ABSTRACT This article reviews the major findings of two large-scale studies on adolescent–grandparent relationship conducted in the UK and in Israel. The Israeli study followed the UK study, deepening the investigation of some of the major themes uncovered in the British study. Both studies reveal that grandmothers and grandfathers are highly involved in adolescents’ lives and that this involvement is associated with increased adolescent well-being. The studies focus on the role of grandparents in times of parental divorce and other stressful events, as well as the weaker status of the paternal grandparents in post-divorce families and the correlates of the adolescent’s relationship with the paternal grandmother. Both studies highlight the role of intergenerational relationships, including parent–grandparent and parent–adolescent bonds, in the adolescent–grandparent relationship, in line with the intergenerational solidarity model. The Israeli study deepens our understanding of the possible contributions of cultural affiliation to the child–grandparent relationship by comparing Arab and Jewish adolescents’ self-reports of their relationships with their grandparents. These studies bring to light the possible positive role of grandparent involvement. Family psychology should pay greater attention to this role and its contribution, especially in times of transition and distress in adolescents’ lives.

Father Support and Adjustment Difficulties Among Youth in Residential Care: The Moderating Role of Peer Victimization and Gender.

Father support of young people living in out-of-home settings is a neglected area of research. The study examines the moderating role of peer victimization in the association between father support and adjustment difficulties among male and female adolescents in residential care settings. Using random cluster sampling, the study includes the reports of 1,409 young people, in Grades 8 to 12, residing in 16 Israeli educational residential care settings designed for youth from underprivileged backgrounds. The findings show that, on average, fathers are highly involved in these young people’s lives. They also show that male adolescents, adolescents whose parents are married, Israeli-born adolescents, and those whose fathers have higher education levels have higher levels of father support. Father support is negatively associated with adjustment difficulties. A significant interaction was found between peer victimization, father support, and gender in predicting adjustment difficulties. Among boys who had experienced peer victimization at any point during their lives, the findings show a significant negative association between father support and adjustment difficulties. For boys who had never experienced peer victimization, the association was statistically insignificant. For girls, the picture revealed is different; for those who had experienced peer victimization, the level of father support was insignificantly linked with adjustment difficulties. For girls who had never experienced peer victimization, there was a significant association between increased father support and reduced adjustment difficulties. These findings shed light on ways in which father support is beneficial to young people in residential care, with implications for child welfare and education professionals.