Caretaking behavior among siblings in children's shelters

Abstract

This study analyzed 742 events involving caretaking behavior among sheltered children with or without siblings in the same institution. Statistical tests were used for intergroup evaluation in comparison to focal subjects. Children with siblings showed a greater number of those behaviors and they were primarily directed to non-sibling peers (roommates) or adults (caretakers). The study also revealed that the caretaking behavior was more frequent in the group of children with siblings in the institution whereas those without siblings showed a more affective contact and behaviors directed more to adults than to peers. It was concluded that the caretaking behavior is present among siblings, but it assumes particular shapes because of the complex social dynamics that characterize the research environment. Keywords: Prosocial behavior, sheltered children, siblings. ResumoEste estudo analisou 742 eventos envolvendo comportamento de cuidado entre crianças abrigadas com e sem irmão na mesma instituição. Foram aplicados testes estatísticos para avaliação intergrupal na comparação entre os sujeitos focais. As crianças com irmão manifestaram a maior proporção desses comportamentos e foram dirigidos principalmente a parceiros não-Irmãos (companheiros de dormitório) ou adultos (cuidadores). O estudo revelou ainda que o comportamento Brincar de cuidar foi mais freqüente no grupo de crianças Com Irmão na instituição enquanto que entre os participantes Sem Irmão predominou Estabelecer contato afetuoso e comportamentos direcionados mais a adultos do que aos pares. Conclui-se que o comportamento de cuidado está presente entre irmãos, mas assume formas particulares em razão da complexa dinâmica social que caracteriza o ambiente pesquisado. Palavras-chave: Comportamento pró-social, crianças abrigadas, irmãos.Researches have showed that children develop according to the interactions they maintain. In this sense, the prosocial behavior has been investigated as an interaction pattern with a particular influence on the development for involving voluntary actions from which children seek to help or beneficiate another subject or social groups as Eisenberg and Musen (1989) explain. For these authors this specific shape of behavior is under the effect of some factors as: (a) the cultural group to which the child belongs; (b) the early socialization experiences, the cognitive processes, the personal variables linked to personality (sex, age, economic class origin, position in the family, and characteristics as assertiveness, sociability, and selfesteem); and (c) the social circumstances that mark its existence. Therefore, the authors cited above understand that the experiences related to social and cultural context in which the child is inserted and the factors from the immediate environment are associated to the basis of the prosocial behavior in the childhood.Studies have clearly demonstrated that the child is capable of expressing attitudes that denote care with their peers besides a true concern to their welfare when the dynami...

Análise Comparativa do Perfil de Crianças em Acolhimento Institucional nos Anos de 2004 e 2009

“…2014 Além disso, resultados desta pesquisa guardam relação com os motivos apontados para o acolhimento institucional encontrados em estudos sobre a realidade dos abrigos e dos abrigados no Brasil (Cavalcante, 2008;IPEA, 2004;Morais et al,2004;Serrano, 2008). No levantamento feito pelo IPEA (2004), em particular, fica claro que os motivos que justificam a institucionalização de crianças e adolescentes relacionam-se principalmente à condição de pobreza e vulnerabilidade social das famílias brasileiras (trabalho, escolaridade, renda, moradia, acesso a serviços básicos historicamente têm a marca da precariedade), como explicam Cavalcante et al (2012).…”

The Residential Care through the Children’s Perspective: Physical and Social Aspects of the Context

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“…For that reason, it is apprehended that residential care may constitute a context that promotes the development of children and adolescents, regardless of the time they stay in the institution, for they are people going through the process of development (Corrêa & Cavalcante, 2013;Siqueira & Dell'Aglio, 2006). Thus, the shelter, as part of the context where their development takes place (Rossetti-Ferreira, Serrano, & Costa, 2011), must value and respect the children's voice/opinion, according to the Technical Orientations for the Sheltering Services for Children and Adolescents (Orientações Técnicas para os Serviços de Acolhimento para Crianças e Adolescentes- Brazil, 2009), along with their individuality and subjectivity, even though the institution is an environment marked by collectivism (Cavalcante, Costa, & Magalhães, 2012;Corrêa, 2011).…”

Adoption of Children With Disabilities: A Study With Adoptive Parents

“…With regard to scientific production, a variety of possibilities for research and contemporary questioning about adoption can be found, such as: adoptive homosexual parenting (Amazonas, Veríssimo, & Lourenço, 2013;Cecílio, ScorsoliniComin, & Santos, 2013;Pereira, Torres, Falcão, & Pereira, 2013), the new National Adoption Law (Oliveira & Schwartz, 2013;Silva & Arpini, 2013), the institutionalization of children awaiting adoption (Cavalcante, Costa, & Magalhães, 2012), among others. Regarding the investigation on the condition of disability, there is currently tension between the different theoretical approaches, namely: the biomedical, social and biopsychosocial.…”