Study overview Families represent the primary setting in which most children's lives are shaped and determined. Central to the process of the socialisation of children are the parenting behaviours and discipline responses which children experience within family settings. Within these family contexts, children gradually internalise social standards and expectations, which facilitate, in turn, greater selfregulation skills and responsibility. Knowledge of the range of disciplinary tactics used by parents and of parental beliefs and attitudes to discipline strategies is, therefore, essential in order to promote and support effective and constructive parental discipline responses with children and young people. The present study sought to investigate the parenting styles and parental use of disciplinary strategies with children in Ireland, with a particular focus on attitudes to and uses of physical punishment. A further aim of the research was to identify parental attitudes to the legislative position in relation to physical punishment and children. The study adopted a telephone survey methodology, involving interviews with 1,353 women and men, with at least one child younger than 18 years of age, living in private households. Specifically, the following questions were addressed: What parenting goals and expectations for their children do parents in Ireland have today? ■ ■ What are parents' perspectives on Irish society as a context for parenting and what pressures ■ ■ do parents experience? What parenting styles and discipline strategies do parents use? To what extent do parents use ■ ■ physical punishment as a method of discipline? Under what circumstances do parents employ certain approaches to discipline? ■ ■ What are parents' attitudes towards physical punishment? ■ ■ Are parents aware of the current legislative position on physical punishment? ■ ■ What are parents' perspectives on potential legislative change? ■ ■ How do child-rearing goals, parenting styles and approaches to discipline and attitudes ■ ■ towards physical punishment vary according to the age, gender and social class of parents and children? ■ ■ 1 Parents' Perspectives on Parenting Styles and Disciplining Children 2 parenting styles and discipline strategies adopted by parents with their children, including ■ ■ a focus on physical punishment; attitudes to and awareness of legislation on physical punishment of children in Ireland. ■ ■ Standardised measures of temperament, child behaviour and parenting style were adapted for use in the present study. key findings general views on parenting Most parents expressed the view that parenting had changed substantially when compared with ■ ■ parenting 20 years ago. Degrees of parental responsibility and pressure on parents were viewed as having increased, while a decrease in levels of parental control was highlighted. Key pressures for parents were concerns about the physical and psychological well-being of their ■ ■ children, concerns about their educational outcomes and worries about financial issues. O...

The article explores how homelessness may impact on the educational participation of children and young people in families living in emergency accommodation in Dublin. Many difficulties arise in terms of maintaining consistent schooling for children when they are part of a homeless family, including problems getting to and from school if living at a distance from their original schools, frequent changes in school and inadequate facilities and overcrowding in their temporary accommodation. Despite the many difficulties involved in maintaining children's regular school attendance, it is evident that school may represent the only stability for a child in an otherwise insecure and changing routine. Copyright © 2006 Children's Research Centre.

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Increasingly, children experience ongoing change in family formation and structure and such fluctuation may threaten or diminish children's feelings of security with regard to established family roles, relationships and routines. A number of studies have explored available support for children in the context of family transition, focusing in particular upon those organisations providing services to children and families. However, in order to gain more precise insight into the mechanisms through which children can best be supported, it is necessary to consult children themselves and to elicit their perspectives and responses to the changes in their family contexts. A primary aim of the present study, therefore, is to gain an understanding of children's strategies for coping with parental separation, and the sources of support that they find most helpful in order to adjust to these changes. Sixty children, in two age groups (8-11representing middle childhood and 14-17 representing adolescence) participated in the study.A qualitative approach was adopted with semi-structured interviews exploring children's perspectives on the role played by different types of support, both informal (family, friends) and formal (counselling/peer support services, school). Key findings in the present study highlight the importance for children of being selective about whom they seek and accept support from, with the family being the preferred source of support for the majority of children. The study also highlights the need to provide a broad range of services in outside agencies in a non-stigmatising way and at various stages throughout the separation process.