Children and Research

As I began thinking about research and children I couldn't help but to think back to my previous job and how research guided the inception of psychosocial rehabilitation for children and adults. As I began to research this I stumbled on the article, "Conducting Psychosocial Research With Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective". This article demonstrates how children have benefited from research over time. As the article mentions, children previously were not considered as individuals or where regarded as little adults, without taking into account the specific nature and unique characteristics of each child. Over time research has shown how children grow, learn, develop, and how each child is different with regard to these topics. Something as simple as the child centered approach is a great example of how research such as the study presented in this article benefits children. With this in mind the profession of Psychosocial Rehabilitation as succeeding in intervening for children to assist them with social and emotional development, and produced coping strategies that over time have proven to be beneficial for many children as well.

Murray, J.S. (2000). Conducting psychosocial research with children and adolescents: A developmental perspective.Applied Nursing Research 13(3), 151-156. Retrieved from: www.appliednursingresearch.org/article/S0897-1897(00)81258-6

Research, Where Do We Begin?

I have decided to focus on the subtopic, is there a difference in the social -emotional development of children from another country once they immigrate?  The vast amount of children that have immigrated from other countries to the United States and the variety of countries of origin make this an interesting topic for me. I have previously worked with children that have suffered severe traumatic experiences and seen the cognitive and psychosocial effects trauma has inflicted upon them. I am curious to know if this can be translated into a different type of traumatic experience such as immigration. Based on my research thus far there is an achievement gap for many children that are immigrants or minorities, I am curious to know if moving from one culture to a completely different one, leaving friends, family, and familiar surroundings can inflict severe trauma and be accounted for when considering the achievement gap. We have discussed how professional development and awareness for issues related to diversity can impact the achievement gap, but what if there is a different root cause that also contributes to this and is being neglected? I am glad that we have dissected our topic as we have. When I first began this I was thinking heavily about how different theories and approaches may affect children from different countries of origin. Thinking about this from a few different perspectives led me to a topic I actually feel very interested in and motivated to learn more about.