This section
includes research, programs, publications, general information
and links on parenting (including fathering, single parenting
step-parenting, and more), marriage and couple relationships,
work/life integration, divorce, family stress and other related
topics.
Parenting
General Parenting
Authoritative Parenting Involves Balance
A short paper describing four parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and unengaged. By retired Extension sociologist Ron Pitzer
Parental Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Punishment as a Means of Child Discipline
There is a popular conception in America that most people use only love and permissiveness in rearing children. Some outspoken speakers say that "permissiveness" has caused all sorts of irresponsibility and crime in this nation. The fact is that high proportions of parents believe in physical punishment and use force or the threat of force as the major approach to child rearing.
Growing Concerns
A weekly parenting column written by Dr. Marti Erickson, director of the University of Minnesota’s Children, Youth and Family Consortium. Covers a variety of parenting topics.
Parenting Education Resources
University of Minnesota Extension Service programs that foster the effective parenting of children and youth, with an emphasis on parenting, fathering, divorce issues, alternatives to physical punishment, violence prevention, and other information to help understand the complex social issues facing families today.
Positive Parenting
Website for the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s comprehensive Positive Parenting program.
MNCAVA
Parenting resources on a variety of issues from the (University of) Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse. Includes internet safety, media, bullying. Includes fact sheet, research and articles.
The Parenting Together Project
The Parenting Together Project is a study of the experiences of expectant mothers and fathers as they become parents for the first time. Faculty Bill Doherty and Marti Erickson are conducting the study.
Love and Limits: Parenting With Good Sense
A parenting curriculum designed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service to be used primarily with low income families.
Questions About Kids
Questions and answers about parenting issues, prepared by the Harris Center for Infant and Toddler Development in the University’s College of Education and Human Development. Available in several languages.
Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project
A research project focusing on the consequences of variations in openness in adoption for all members of the adoption triad: birthmothers, adoptive parents, and adopted children, and for the relationships within these family systems. Contains research, publications and links. The University’s Family Social Science Department is one of four higher education partners.
Shoulder to Shoulder
The University of Minnesota Extension Service was a partner, with several Twin Cities area health departments and agencies, in this research, educational and support effort geared toward parents of adolescents. Includes some resources in Spanish.
International Adoption Project
The International Adoption Project is a joint endeavor of the National Institute of Health, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, School of Public Health, Department of Family Social Science, and the International Adoption Clinic. The goal is to develop a clearer picture of the successes, challenges, and perhaps unmet needs of international adoptees and their families.
Unidos Para Los Niños
Unidos Para Los Niños is a coalition of individuals and organizations concerned about the welfare of Latino children and their families. The mission of the Unidos Coalition is to prevent child abuse and neglect in the Latino community by providing information to community members, by educating professionals that work with Latino families, and by advocating on behalf of Latino children and their families. Members include child protection workers, Latino social service organizations, parents, and day care providers.
In 2001-02, Unidos Para Los Ninos and CYFC joined forces to create a web resource for Latino families and the professionals who work with them. This Spanish/English database highlights curricula, fact sheets, and program materials that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and grounded in good research and practice.
Tucker
Center for research on girls & women in Sport
The first and only one of its kind in the world, the
Tucker Center is an interdisciplinary research center leading a pioneering
effort to examine how sport and physical activity affect the lives of
girls and women, their families, and communities.
Research has discovered important connections between
participation in sport and physical activity and healthy development,
yet most sports-related research has focused on men. The Tucker Center
is changing this by exploring how sport and exercise influence women’s
physical, psychological, and social development, as well as how social,
cultural, and economic factors influence girls’ and women’s
participation in sports, recreation, and physical activity.
Co-Parenting/Step Parenting
Ten Commandments of Co-Parenting
Former spouses place respect for child as top priority
With more than half of all marriages ending in divorce, it's surprising that there are so few models for parenting children when a couple no longer shares a marriage or a household.
When Parents Begin New Relationships
An article on stepparenting that is part of the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s Parents Forever divorce education program.
Co-Parenting through Separation and Divorce: Children First
Article – part of the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s Parents Forever divorce education program.
Co-Parenting through Separation and Divorce: Making It Work
Article – part of the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s Parents Forever divorce education program.
Child Care
Measuring Up: What is the quality of child care in Minnesota?
Commissioned by Resources for Child Caring and funded by The McKnight Foundation and the Otto Bremer Foundation, "Measuring Up" is an assessment of the quality of child care in Clay, Hennepin, Lyon, and Ramsey Counties. The executive summary looks at quality both quantitatively, from the counties' resource and referral statistics, and qualitatively, through parent focus groups in all four counties. This report is unique in that it focuses upon child care in Minnesota.
Minnesota Child Care Training Registry
Information about early childhood education and child development inservice and credit-based training offered in Minnesota.
Child Care: The Role of Higher Education in Policy and Practice
Early Report, a newsletter published quarterly by the Center for Early Education & Development, University of Minnesota. Focuses on Round Table 2001 on this topic.
Child Care Resources
A series of fact sheets on child care issues prepared by University of Minnesota Extension Service faculty.
High Quality Child Care Helps Strengthen Families
A “Fact Find” policy fact sheet prepared by the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), College of Education and Human Development.
Baby’s Space: A Place To Grow
An “educare” center for children ages birth – three, opened in the Summer of 2000 following completion of renovation of the local NELC (Neighborhood Early Learning Center), based in the heart of Minneapolis’s Native American community. The program incorporates Native American culture into its infant-toddler child care program and family support activities.
Minnesota Child Care Policy Research Partnership
A collaboration among several state agencies, counties, child care resource and referral agencies, and university researchers. The goal of this broadly based partnership is to foster sound research on child care issues of importance to policy-makers at the state, local, and national level.
What Does the NICHD Study on Outcomes of Child Care Really Say?
This fact sheet from the Center for Early Education and Development addresses some of the issues raised by the Preliminary results of the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Study of Early Care.
The Strange History of Employer-Sponsored Child Care: Interested Actors, Uncertainty, and the Transformation of Law in Organizational Fields (link is to a large PDF file)
This article examines the development and diffusion of two “family-friendly” employment benefits: dependent care expense accounts and employer-sponsored child care centers.
Consejos para cuidado del niño
Cuando usted pone a su niño al cuidado de otra persona, ya sea un familiar, un centro de cuidado (guardería infantil) o un amigo de familia, la clave para su tranquilidad mental es la confianza. Mientras más usted confíe en la persona que le va a cuidar a su hijo, más seguro se sentirá. Éstas son algunas preguntas que usted debe hacerse.
National Network for Child Care
Although not directly a program of the University of Minnesota, NNCC unites the expertise of many of the nation's leading universities through the outreach system of Cooperative Extension Service, of which the University of Minnesota is a part. The goal is to share knowledge about children and child care from the vast resources of the land grant universities with parents, professionals, practitioners, and the general public.
University of Minnesota Child Care Center - Minneapolis
The Child Care Center (UMCCC) is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs and is licensed by the state of Minnesota. It cares for 140 children, ages 3 months to pre-kindergarten, of University faculty, staff and students.
Early Childhood Development Center - Crookston
The Early Childhood Development Center is a program unique to the Crookston community. Its goal is to provide children with a rich and varied learning experience and to instill in your them a lifelong love of learning.
Community Child Care Center – St. Paul
Community Child Care Center's mission is to provide affordable, high
quality early childhood education, in a warm, nurturing environment
that encourages the development of the "whole child." CCCC provides
services for families of University of Minnesota students, faculty
and staff, and the surrounding communities.
U of M Student
Parent HELP Center
Room 24, Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. S.E. Minneapolis
The HELP Center provides many services that encourage and support
student parent success at the University. Although the Student Parent
HELP Center is housed and sponsored by General College, the majority
of student parents are enrolled in other colleges at the University.
The new facility has more space for the weekly parent education and
support group, a larger play area, and three computer stations and
a laptop for student-parent use.
The HELP Center offers a warm, academically oriented facility where
parents can study and develop community with other students facing
the challenges and rewards that parenting offers. Assistance can include
Post Secondary Child Care Grants, private grants for child care, and
an emergency funds, as well as counseling and advocacy for personal,
academic and family issues.
Fathering
Research on Father Involvement
There has been an upsurge of interest in fathering in recent years, both on the part of fathers themselves, many of whom are becoming increasingly involved with their children, and on the part of social scientists, many of whom have begun to take a closer look at the father's role, interactions, and effects on his children. In the past few years, several books and research articles on father's roles and relationships have appeared.
Seeds of Promise: Focusing in on fathers
Prepared by the Children, Youth and Family Consortium, this report makes a strong case for the importance of fathers in children's lives -- and for the transforming power of fatherhood in the lives of men. This is the third in our four-part series called "Seeds of Violence or Seeds of Promise."
Research on Father Involvement
A paper on Father Involvement by retired Extension Sociologist Ron Pitzer. Although it is slightly dated (1992) much of the information is still relevant.
Family
Issues
Child Welfare
Research Agenda for the State of Minnesota
The MN Child Welfare Research Agenda was prepared by the office of the Gamble-Skogmo
Land Grant Chair. It is a product of many discussions with Minnesota Department
of Human Services workers, supervisors and administrators; various Advisory Groups;
the U of M School of Social Work, Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare,
and Children, Youth and Families Consortium; child welfare service provider agencies;
advocates; researchers and experts in the field.
Research
related to Southeast Asian immigrant families, as of 1993
Minnesota
Families and Poverty
"Families
are the primary environment for nurturing children, but we
must remember it is the way a family functions, not the way
a family looks, that is important to children" (1).
Helping
Persons Cope With Change, Crisis, and Loss
It's natural
to feel more or less inadequate when someone-perhaps a friend
or relative-tells you their troubles. Actually, you often
can be of real assistance perhaps far more than you think.
Non-professionals (neighbors, friends, or relatives) who show
warmth and common sense can be a wonderful help in many instances.
What
We Have Learned Thus Far: Reflections on Human Oppression
Work at the University of Minnesota
If it were
possible to summarize in one sentence what we have learned
in two years of human oppression work at the University of
Minnesota, that sentence would read: "Equality in human
relationships is largely a utopian illusion."
Rural
Family Life
Focuses
on resources for rural families. Developed by the University’s
Family Social Science Department.
KDWB
Family Center
The Family
Resource Center, a partner with the University’s Department
of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, is a place families
and professionals can visit, call, or email to learn about
a child's chronic illness or disability or about psychological
and developmental issues and community resources.
Parents
Forever
A child-centered,
comprehensive divorce education curriculum for divorcing parents,
developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
The
Early Report: Children and Divorce
The Early
Report is a quarterly publication of the University’s
Center for Early Education and Development. Although this
issue is 13 years old and some of the statistics are dated,
it contains some very timeless and basic information.
Dollar
Works
DollarWorks
is an educational package that helps teach the basic elements
of economic literacy. DollarWorks is published by the University
of Minnesota Extension Service and is based on research by
Extension educators from around the the state.
HACER
Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research
(HACER) is a non-profit, community-based research and advocacy
organization dedicated to providing the Minnesota Latino community
the ability to create and control information about itself
in order to effect institutional decisions and public policy.
Individual
and Family Development
The Center for Child and Family Health Promotion Research (CCFHPR)
Located within the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing, the Center for Child and Family Health Promotion Research develops and disseminates community-based interventions that seek to improve the lives of children and families. Research topics range from home visiting programs to community-wide violence prevention, and from healthy births to youth development.
Articles
featured in Research/Practice, Spring 1997, published by the
Center For Applied Research and Educational Improvement at
the University of Minnesota:
Ambiguity:
A Factor in Family Stress Management
An article
by Pauline Boss, faculty member in the College of Human Ecology,
FamilySocial Science Department. Her recent work has focused
heavily on Ambiguous Loss.
Several
articles by retired Extension Family Sociologist Ron Pitzer
on family stress management.
