Conference papers

Audit of Social Care Student Numbers and Programme Providers in Ireland

Kevin Lalor — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:19:56 PDT

Strategies in Working with Children Learning English as a Second Language

Maire Mhic Mhathuna et al. — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:01:39 PDT

This paper describes a study carried out in four early years’ centres in Dublin in 2007 with practitioners who were working with children learning English as an additional language. The aim of the study was to investigate the views and experiences of practitioners on a number of aspects of this work. Interviews were conducted with the practitioners regarding their views on the social and linguistic factors affecting the children, their understanding of the process of second language leaning, the strategies they used to assist second language learning, their classroom organisation, their contact with parents and the challenges and issues that they faced. The findings indicate that staff were drawing on and extending their existing interaction skills in working with second language children, that they were sensitive to the cultural differences they encountered and that they had formed close bonds with the newcomer families. The main difficulties they had were in relation to finding out about cultural practices and in accessing help for newcomer children with developmental or language problems. Access to translators for communication with parents was also a difficulty. Overall, the practitioners were extremely positive about their experiences of working with second language children and regarded their inclusion as an opportunity to learn about other cultures and languages.

The Childhood Development Initiative: Developing Quality Services

Geraldine French et al. — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:00:55 PST

The Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) has created a ten-year strategy to improve the health, safety and learning of the children of Tallaght West, and to strengthen their sense of belonging in their own communities. This paper portrays an overview of the strategy, the principles of freedom and prevention which underpin the project and outlines two of the eight activities, namely the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the Enhancing Quality through Integration and Training (EQIT) programme. These two activities seek to develop high quality services in accordance with international evidence on early childhood development, local quantitative and qualitative research, national policy developments and scientific service design and will be rigorously evaluated. We will argue that given the process adopted and positive evaluation results, these services should be replicated and mainstreamed.

The Life and Times of Young People on Remand: Recommendations for Future Policy in Ireland

Sinead Freeman — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 03:40:50 PDT

The remand population of children and young people continues to rise in Ireland. Despite this growth, little is known about their experiences on remand. This paper focuses on such experiences from the perspective of the young prisoners. It is based on 62 semi-structured interviews conducted with young males and females aged 16 to 21 years on remand in St. Patrick’s Institution, Cloverhill Remand Prison and the Dόchas Centre, Mountjoy Prison. The paper highlights how young people who have yet to be found guilty are frequently detained for long periods in prison and are exposed to punitive conditions. The findings have important implications for policy in Ireland particularly in light of the principles of the Children Act, 2001 which state that young people should only be detained in custody for the shortest amount of time possible and as a measure of last resort. The paper seeks to make an important contribution to the criminology field by providing a critical analysis of the provisions that regulate custodial remand for young people in Ireland.

Child Sexual Abuse: How Young People Tell

Rosaleen McElvaney — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:45:15 PDT

This paper explores the theme of disclosing sexual abuse experiences in adolescence. As children develop increasing autonomy and independence they also develop cognitive, social and emotional skills which facilitate the process of disclosing personal experiences they have struggled for in some cases many years to maintain secrecy. Decision making skills which enable the young person to consider alternative consequences to their behaviour, multiple outcomes and an appreciation of the diverse perspectives of others enables them to weigh up the relative advantages and disadvantages of disclosure. Increased empathy enables them to appreciate the vulnerability of other children to abuse yet also sensitises them to the distress inevitably caused when loved ones discover that the abuse has occurred. Emotional self-regulation is needed to contain the ‘pressure cooker’ of conflicting emotions which young people describe in struggling with protecting and seeking help. As young people turn toward their peers as sources of support and confidantes, it is crucial that they are met with appropriate information and guidance. It is suggested that the positive impact of peer relationships on young people’s development can perhaps be harnessed by ensuring that young people can respond appropriately to disclosures of sexual abuse.