Stichting Kompaan en de Bocht (Kompaan) is een organisatie voor jeugdhulpverlening en biedt hulp bij problemen rondom opgroeien en opvoeden. Moslimpleegzorg staat hoog in het vaandel bij Kompaan,...Show moreStichting Kompaan en de Bocht (Kompaan) is een organisatie voor jeugdhulpverlening en biedt hulp bij problemen rondom opgroeien en opvoeden. Moslimpleegzorg staat hoog in het vaandel bij Kompaan, maar het idee is ontstaan dat er meer breakdowns plaatsvinden in desbetreffende groep dan in de reguliere pleegzorg. Daarom wil Kompaan een onderzoek dat zich richt op de moslimpleegzorg. Uit eerder onderzoek is gebleken dat pleegkindfactoren, pleeggezinfactoren en factoren die te maken hebben met de manier waarop de pleegzorg plaatsvindt worden geassocieerd met het plaatsingsverloop (Van Ooijen en Strijker (2010), Farmer, Moyers en Lipscombe, 2004, Van de Loo, 2008). Daarom worden deze factoren in onderstaand onderzoek geanalyseerd bij 46 moslimpleegkinderen en pleeggezinnen. Dit is de gehele moslimpopulatie van Kompaan. Bij iets meer dan de helft van deze kinderen heeft een breakdown plaatsgevonden. Doordat dit onderzoek zich specifiek op moslimpleegzorg richt, wordt de etniciteit, religie, opvoedingsstijl en manier van hulpverlening meegenomen. Uit onderzoek van de Graaf (1995) blijkt dat angst van de roddel in de Islamitsche gezinnen groot is. Ook wordt aangegeven dat er bij hulpverleneners kennis moet zijn van cultuur en tradities. Vrouwenzaken, zoals de opvoeding, worden met vrouwen besproken. Mannen hebben (nog) geen rol in de opvoedingsproblemen. Het is belangrijk dat de problemen die in een gezin spelen, binnen het gezin blijven en dus niet met buitenstaanders worden besproken. En het geloof speelt een rol in het dagelijks leven van veel moslims. In dit onderzoek worden vijf significante verschillen gevonden. De etniciteit van een pleegkind lijkt bepalend voor het verloop van een plaatsing. Daarnaast komt naar voren dat het contact met vader en het verloop van dit contact een rol speelt bij het verloop van een plaatsing. De etniciteit en het geslacht van de pleegzorgwerker maken ook een verschil wanneer het om moslimpleegzorgplaatsingen gaat. Het onderzoek geeft inzicht in de variabelen die mogelijk van invloed zijn op de moslimpleegzorgplaatsingen. Er dient rekening gehouden te worden met het lage aantal participanten en daardoor ook de beperkingen van de resultaten. Door de kleine onderzoeksgroep kan dit een vertekend beeld geven. De resultaten van dit onderzoek kunnen uitgangspunten zijn voor vervolgonderzoek. Daarnaast worden er aandachtspunten voor Kompaan beschreven.Show less
External support to security sector reform (SSR) has emerged as a crucial instrument in international peacebuilding and state-building operations and is widely considered as the sine qua non of...Show moreExternal support to security sector reform (SSR) has emerged as a crucial instrument in international peacebuilding and state-building operations and is widely considered as the sine qua non of contemporary post-conflict reconstruction efforts in post-conflict or fragile states. Although SSR is considered as a core instrument of state-building and as a precondition for achieving peace and development, its record of achievement is quite limited. This thesis seeks to explain how the conventional SSR focus on state security undermines post-conflict transition and fails to enable an environment for sustainable peace and development. Based on the transition processes in Afghanistan and Timor Leste, this thesis argues that a state-centric approach to SSR is likely to be less effective in hybrid states and can even destabilise state recovery by protecting state institutions that are not embedded within society.Show less
Baby’s worden al blootgesteld aan stress. Het stresssysteem van een kind, dat zich voor de geboorte en tijdens de eerste levensjaren ontwikkeld, kan door een teveel aan stress zich niet adequaat...Show moreBaby’s worden al blootgesteld aan stress. Het stresssysteem van een kind, dat zich voor de geboorte en tijdens de eerste levensjaren ontwikkeld, kan door een teveel aan stress zich niet adequaat ontwikkelen. Dit kan schadelijke gevolgen hebben op zowel psychisch als lichamelijk gebied. Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd om de invloed en de combinatie van risicovolle omstandigheden en de mate van sensitiviteit van moeder op de ontwikkeling van het stresssysteem van het kind vast te stellen. Het onderzoek is uitgevoerd onder 152 baby’s van circa zes maanden oud. De fysiologische reactiviteit van deze kinderen, waaronder de PEP, hartslag, RSA en huidgeleiding, is gemeten gedurende de Still Face Procedure. Er is onderscheid gemaakt in de stressrespons en de stressregulatie van het kind. De mate van sensitiviteit van moeder werd ook gemeten tijdens deze procedure. Met een vragenlijst zijn de risicovolle omstandigheden van het gezin in kaart gebracht. De resultaten tonen aan dat moeders met risicovolle omstandigheden minder sensitief zijn dan moeders zonder risicovolle omstandigheden. Tevens kwam naar voren dat kinderen waarbij sprake is van risicovolle omstandigheden meer baat hebben bij een sensitieve moeder dan kinderen zonder risicovolle omstandigheden. Deze kinderen weten namelijk beter hun PEP reactiviteit na een stressvolle situatie te reguleren dan kinderen met minder sensitieve moeders. Dit verschil werd niet gezien bij kinderen zonder risicovolle omstandigheden. Kortom het is van belang dat ouders waarbij sprake is van risicovolle omstandigheden zo vroeg mogelijk ondersteuning krijgen bij het opvoeden van hun kind, zodat ze sensitiever kunnen reageren. Behalve bij de PEP zijn er verder geen significante resultaten gevonden. Dit kan er op duiden dat het stresssysteem van een kind van een half jaar oud nog niet volledig is ontwikkeld, waardoor het nog niet adequaat met stress kan omgaan. Meer onderzoek is nodig om duidelijk vast te stellen hoe de ontwikkeling van het stresssysteem verloopt en welke invloeden daarbij een rol spelen.Show less
The ability to inhibit behavior is known to be an important predictor for future successes in life. Following up on Mischel’s marshmallow experiment in 1970, this study investigated how to improve...Show moreThe ability to inhibit behavior is known to be an important predictor for future successes in life. Following up on Mischel’s marshmallow experiment in 1970, this study investigated how to improve children’s self-control. An adaptation of the Standford marshmallow test was used in this research to measure delay of gratification (part of self-control). 228 families were selected to participate in this study. The Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting – Twins (VIPP-Twins) targeted 82 families with children from eight to twelve years old, to increase the children’s ability to delay gratification. This intervention targeting parents decreases the duration of intervention and would depend less on the intrinsic motivation of children than behavioral and attentional interventions targeting children often used in the past. It was hypothesized that children improve more in delaying gratification in the randomized VIPP-Twins intervention group than children in a randomized control group, in which parents did not receive an intervention. Also, because of ambiguous results in previous literature, it was investigated whether there was a gender difference in delay of gratification and the effectivity of the VIPP-Twins intervention. This study found no statistically significant effects. A methodological adaptation of the measurement of delay of gratification in this study could be adopted in future research. Multiple assessment methods of inhibition could be used to better highlight the gender differences in self-control present in previous literature.Show less
Depression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and...Show moreDepression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and/or anxiety symptoms and low scores on memory function. However, there is a scarcity of data on the effects of depression and/or anxiety on memory decline over time. Thus, Multilevel growth curve modelling was applied to assess associations between depression, anxiety and memory. We used nationally representative data from older adults in The Netherlands that participated in the LASA-study, that encompasses data on predictors and consequences of aging. The final sample included 4056 individuals, aged 55 – 86 and 51.3% female. Model B (main effects) showed a negative effect of depression on memory and a positive effect of anxiety on memory. Model C and D dealt with the rate of change and the acceleration of rate of change. Among the focal predictors, only depression and age significantly affected the staring rate of change in memory. The effect of anxiety on the initial rate of change in memory was non-significant and could not be generalized. The effect of measurement point (mp) on the starting rate of change, does not depend on the combination of values for depression and anxiety. Within model D, only age turned out to affect the (positive) starting rate of change and the de-acceleration of this starting rate of change. Relatively older people tend to start off with a somewhat lower positive rate of change in memory and are more likely to have a stronger decline of this rate of change over time. The effect of depression on the starting rate was still negative and had the same direction in model D as in model C, but depression lost its significance in model D. Also, it had a non-significant effect on the de acceleration of the rate of change. Anxiety, as in model C, did not contribute significantly to model D in any way. The interaction between depression and anxiety was non-significant and did not contribute. In conclusion, memory decline is not accelerated in people with high levels of depression and/or anxiety. Only older age and sex have effect on memory decline over time. Further research could take additional variables into account in predicting memory decline, such as dementia, since depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in patients with dementia and it is plausible that early AD is one of the most important factors in age-related memory decline. Further research could take other variables into account, such as dementia, other cognitive functions, education, lifestyle, health-risks, heart disease, diabetes. Moreover, further distinctions in the variables could be made, such as the difference in effects on memory decline between late-onset depression (LOD) and early-onset depression (EOD).Show less
The year 2010 inaugurated a tumultuous period for a range of countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Protests compelling for democratization culminated in violent clashes between rebels...Show moreThe year 2010 inaugurated a tumultuous period for a range of countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Protests compelling for democratization culminated in violent clashes between rebels and authoritarian regimes across the region. In response to the escalation of violence in Libya, an alliance of countries established a no-fly zone for halting the exorbitant regime violence against the rebels and the population. Shortly after, NATO took over command. A similar intervention in Syria did not occur, in spite of the widespread human rights violations and grave human suffering. A comparison between the cases of Libya and Syria sheds light on the factors that shaped the different international community responses to the conflicts and also contributes to the greater puzzle of why states intervene in some atrocities but not in others. This study found that a prime factor impacting humanitarian intervention occurrence in Libya and Syria is the UN Security Council’s task to provide authorization within a context of disputed legality of humanitarian interventions. In addition, it is concluded that UNSC member’s positions with respect to intervening were guided by their political interests and to a lesser extent by their economic interests. Finally, the anticipated outcomes of the two humanitarian intervention scenarios influenced intervention behavior, which explains why only one intervention was conducted. All these factors are indispensable components of an inclusive explanation for the different responses to the civil wars in Libya and Syria.Show less
There is still a lot unknown about the impact of complex trauma on parents and their young children, especially after interparental violence. When this knowledge is expanded, interventions can be...Show moreThere is still a lot unknown about the impact of complex trauma on parents and their young children, especially after interparental violence. When this knowledge is expanded, interventions can be designed accordingly to treat the effects and prevent impact of trauma for future generations. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of different trauma-related symptoms of mothers on a specific domain of problems their young children might be facing after interparental violence. The main question was: ‘How are symptoms from the four different posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters of mothers related to the attention and hyperactivity symptoms of their children after experiencing interparental violence?’ To answer this question, surveys were issued to fourteen women victimized by interparental violence living in Dutch women’s shelters. They reported on their PTSD symptoms and the attention and hyperactivity symptoms of their youngest child, aged between one and six years old (M = 3 years and 6 months, SD = 1 year and 9 months). Social workers of most of the children also completed questionnaires on the attention and hyperactivity symptoms of the child. It was found that the PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance and hyperarousal, as well as the overall severity of PTSD symptoms, were not significantly related to the attention and hyperactivity symptoms of the child. Small but unsignificant differences were found between the different PTSD symptom clusters. It is recommended to direct future research to the impact of the different trauma-related symptoms of parents after domestic violence on specific child outcomes. When these relations are understood more thoroughly, interventions can be deployed where help is needed most and intergenerational transmission of the effects of complex trauma will be challenged.Show less
The banning of religious dress, such as the burqa, has sparked much debate over the last two decades. While secularism is a concept most countries committed to liberal values engage with, at least...Show moreThe banning of religious dress, such as the burqa, has sparked much debate over the last two decades. While secularism is a concept most countries committed to liberal values engage with, at least on the perspective of religious freedom, only some countries have formally applied it. France has been legally bound to secularism since 1905 and strongly maintains this stance, issuing the broadest restrictions on religiosity in public under its laïcité model. Although secularism has historically been associated with the Christian tradition, having come out of Enlightenment thought, its modern use seems to affect other religious communities to a greater extent, which has come with much criticism from the affected communities. This paper examines how the application of secularism interplays with the theory of religious decolonisation, in the context of a single-case study analysis of France. Through the use of qualitative content analysis the French government’s exposition of their secularism, laïcité, this paper has found a negative or non-consequential interplay between both concepts.Show less
The present study investigates the effect that the level of cognitive empathy and moral development have on the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce externalising behaviour among at-risk...Show moreThe present study investigates the effect that the level of cognitive empathy and moral development have on the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce externalising behaviour among at-risk youth. All subjects (N = 135, 7;8–12;10 years old) engaged in pre-intervention diagnostic screening, measuring their level of moral development, cognitive empathy and externalising behaviour. Six months after the start of the intervention, each subject’s level of externalising behaviour was measured once again. No significant relationship was found between moral development and cognitive empathy, nor did the results show a significant relationship between moral development and cognitive empathy in relation to the reduction of externalising behaviour. Alternative explanations for this unexpected outcome include that moral development merely has a too small effect on externalising behaviour to detect with the current sample, that there are shortcomings in the validity and reliability of the used questionnaires, and that the intervention is already properly addressing the issues coming from low moral development and cognitive empathyShow less
