1  Today’s Child - Tomorrow’s Adult
Thorn Garfat

Abstract: This is a transcript of a keynote address given by the author to a child and youth care audience in South Africa. drawing from personal experience and perspectives, the author examines how the values of today's adults may influence today's children and, in turn, tomorrow's adults.

11 Abbott and Costello Meet the Multidisciplinary Team
Michael Demers and Christopher Gudgeon

Abstract: Many child and youth care workers are expected to work beside professionals from other disciplines. The nature of such relationships offers a mirror that reflects the status and role of child and youth care. The microcosm of this order is the multidisciplinary team. This article looks into the mirror and reveals what we expect to see-ourselves.

21 Professional Association Membership and Job Satisfaction: The Case of Child Care Workers
Marion Morley, Cathy Hiuchy and Luisa Maringola

Abstract: Membership to the Child Care Workers association of Ontario (C.C.W.A.O.) has been declining dramatically. Examining the factors which might explain the decline, it is hypothesized that decreasing job satisfaction may be associated with a decline in membership in the C.C.W.A.O. Questionnaires were received from 251 Child Care Workers in Ontario. The results indicate that there is no relationship between job satisfaction and professional membership. Since membership to the C.C.W.A.O. was limited, barriers to joining the association are discussed and the characteristics of a typical Child Care Worker described.

27 Children’s Ideas About Mother: Has There Been a Change Over Thirty Years
Karen Peterson and Karen Olson

Abstract: The purpose of the present investigation was the replication of an early study on children's concept of mother with preschool children. Using the same procedures, data revealed children (N=43) assessed thirty years after the original study hold a more diverse view of the role of mother (and father) and, consider individuals other than parents (siblings, sitters, relatives) as resources. the role of mother as the dominant figure for preschool aged children as evaluated for this study remained unchanged

EDITORIAL

SAYING HELLO

"Hello, Mrs. Smith, nice to see you. This must be Maria." Or,

"Hello, Maria. Hello, Mrs. Smith. We’ve been waiting for you. Hang your coat on the hook there and let’s go to the kitchen for tea."

Or,

"Hello Mrs. Smith. Maria. Bring your things into the office. We have a lot to do so let’s get started."

As soon as we have made the first move in opening up this new relationship with Maria we are faced with another decision. For no matter how we open, Maria will respond. Let’s imagine that we have invited her and her social worker to the kitchen for tea and she responds by pulling her coat a little tighter around her, grasping her garbage bag more firmly and moving back just an inch or two. She stares you straight in the eye, the scowl lines deepened on her forehead and she blurts out "I don’t want no tea."

What are the thoughts that ran through your mind as she does this? Defiant? Scared? Angry? Nervous? Threatened by intimacy? Looking for an argument? Testing you? Not wanting to appear friendly in front of her social worker? Doesn’t like tea and doesn’t have the skills to say so differently? Abused in the kitchen by a friendly uncle? Defining herself and her interpersonal territory? Doesn’t know if it is okay to be friendly with staff here and so not willing to take that risk until she sees how other residents behave? Afraid of losing her possessions? Tired? Wary? Needy? Controlling? Certainly, the thoughts that run through your head will depend on your perception of troubled children, your experience, your treatment philosophy, your sensitivity and the message you wish to convey to her. Do you respond with Very well, then, let’s go into the office and check your things," thereby inviting a possible power struggle over her possessions and perhaps confirming for her that this place is not about friendliness and your opening move was only a manipulative social ritual.

There is no ‘right way" to open up a relationship with a troubled child new to you and your program. There is only the "individual way"-the way based on your sensitivity to the child and your desire to encounter this child in a way that invites him or her to venture into a therapeutic relationship with you. For surely that is what we want to have with troubled children—a therapeutic relationship.

We do not want the relationship of parent to child, nor the relationship of friends, nor the relationship of warden to inmate, nor the relationship of mentor to student. Perhaps what we want is more like the relationship of teacher to student or that of guide to voyager or of child care worker to youth. Always, however, we must remember that the relationship we have with troubled children is not a goal in and of itself but is rather a tool to help the child reach other goals so that he or she might move on to other more normal and more satisfying relationships.

There is an old English saying that each new voyage begins with a single step. The voyage of the therapeutic child care relationship begins with that first step of "saying hello." How you take that step may well determine how the journey goes.

Do you have a story you would like to tell about an experience you had with a troubled child? Do you have a piece of poetry hidden in your bottom drawer that tells how you have been affected by your work? Do you have a technique you have discovered that may help others in similar situations? Have you and your colleagues invented a new game? Do you have an article or piece of research looking for a home? Do you have an insight to share? a warning for new workers? a piece of advice for the seasoned pro? a laugh or a tear? a cherished memory?

We have been waiting for you. Why don’t you step into the kitchen, brew a pot of tea and send us your submission? It might be scary but it may also be the foundation of a new beginning. Take the step.

THOM GARFAT

We begin this issue with an editorial of historical significance. After many years of active commitment to our publication, Thom Garfat is now fully on board as co-editor and offers his initial ‘hello" in typical fashion-through the window of the profession that has been so much of his life. His insights, energy and creativity will be invaluable as we attempt to guide our publication through its next critical developmental phases. Welcome to the fold, our friend.

In celebrating the appointment we wanted this issue to have something of a personal Garfat stamp about it. Hence, we have broken one of our few rules in inviting him to follow up his editorial with an article that captures some of his current thoughts. This is the transcript of a keynote address presented during a recent visit to South Africa. We, his fellow editors, believe that these words reflect the thoughtful and human dimensions of this multi-dimensional character.

Our sincere thanks to Michael Demers and Christopher Gudgeon for helping us to maintain the humor that must always be nurtured in our lives. When we laugh at ourselves we give ourselves permission to examine our imperfections without grinding guilt or mortifying morality. From here we become "free" to change or, in the words of these authors, to "turn the logic of everyday life on its ear."

Somewhere there is a link between the article by Demers and Gudgeon and the analyses of Marion Morley, Cathy Hluchy and Luisa Maringola. Not many years ago the term "professionalism" meant the creation of associations to represent the collective interest of child and youth care. On the surface, their review of the declining support in the province of Ontario would seem to challenge the relevance of that particular association in the new order. On the other hand, we believe that the article raises many questions for the serious professional practitioner to consider.

Karen Peterson and Karen Olson touch on a topic that is as farreaching as any in our profession and our culture Hi Mom!" In this tantalizing little study there are some indications that things may be changing in the human nest but the basic issues continue to be very basic. More than anything else this article tentatively peeks into a domain that contains stirring material for those of us who work with children. More please....

Dale Ruttan and Carey Denholm offer a relatively non-threatening framework from which to examine a very threatening area of our experience. "What happens if the kid asks me about...?" is one of those generalized anxieties that percolate in the psyche of the child and youth care worker to spring to the surface at the most "inappropriate" times. At the broadest level the issue is one of how we come to understand our own experience and how we share that experience with the world.

Children’s play, adolescent games and adult pastime reflect and influence the attitudes and beliefs of the participants. From this perspective these activities are not "harmless" but serve to mould and ritualize the experiences of life. Why, then, has so little attention been given to the role of contemporary "games" in the lives of young people?" Linda Thompson’s article on fantasy role-playing games is the first submission that we have ever received on this topic. Hopefully her work will encourage others to dig into this arena or "arcade."

The article by Thomas Latus is interesting from at least two inter-related perspectives. In the first place, it offers a fascinating perspective on the formal and informal social "systems" that are constructed by those who participate in the exercise known as "residential treatment." It is always fascinating to look beyond the obvious and this glimpse is no exception. Equally important is the methodology used by the author to construct this particular picture. From all sides we hear child and youth care workers screaming about their inability or about the inability of traditional methodologies to capture the essence of the interaction. In our opinion ethnographic methodologies can be harnessed by child and youth care workers and they offer relevant and revealing perspectives in the accumulation of empirical knowledge.

For well over ten years the organization now known as The Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families has been pioneering the articulation, establishment and monitoring of standards for agencies working in this field. Throughout this period many agencies and jurisdictions across North America have benefitted directly or indirectly from these efforts. We are pleased to be able to celebrate some of the achievements through the article by Judy Krysik, Steve Killip, Lou Zaganelli and Gary Bemfeld. We would encourage interested readers to contact this association for more information.

Whenever we can offer a poem in an issue we experience a particular kind of satisfaction. We have the utmost respect for people who can transcend the words and images of everyday reality to reach for the more universal experiences through metaphor. Beth Goobie is concerned with alienation, deviance and identity. As we read her poem, we became concerned about ourselves and others.

Finally, Child Care Commentary returns with a few thoughts from Mark Krueger. As always Mark is very capable of expressing his own perspectives and requires little help from us.