Co-sleeping versus sleep training: publications with advice for parents / Colecho versus entrenamiento del sueño: publicaciones con consejos para padres

Abstract Introduction: Sleep patterns in infants is one of the main issues regarding children upbringing and has different positions in publications. Objective: To analyze 63 publications with parenting advice on sleep in infants to subsequently characterize them in terms of their position on co-sleeping and sleep training. Materials and methods: Publications issued in the past two decades, available for purchase and/or reference in Chile. 63 publications, including parenting advice books and 32 web sites, were identified. Results: 65% of the analyzed publications favored some form co-sleeping; 76% mentioned sleep training, expressing a tendency to defend and/or accept the strategy known as 'positive routines' rather than 'cry it out methods'. Conclusions: Chilean parents are confronted with contradictory information. The current debate on the regulation of infant sleep is also seen in Ibero-America, although expert opinion differs from that found in Anglo-Saxon samples.

Resumen Introducción. Uno de los temas centrales en la crianza de los hijos, y que se sabe tiene muchas posiciones diferentes en las publicaciones, es el sueño en los bebés. Objetivo. Describir las diferentes posiciones de las publicaciones que ofrecen asesoramiento a los padres chilenos sobre el sueño en bebés durante las últimas dos décadas. Materiales y métodos. Se seleccionaron 63 publicaciones disponibles para su compra o de referencia en Chile de las dos últimas décadas, las cuales dan consejos a los padres en relación al sueño de los bebés. Estas publicaciones se analizaron para luego caracterizarlas en relación a las posiciones de colecho y entrenamiento del sueño. Resultados. Se encontró que el 65% de las publicaciones analizadas aconseja, de alguna forma, el colecho y el 76% menciona el entrenamiento del sueño, expresando una tendencia a defender o aceptar la estrategia conocida como "rutinas positivas" en lugar del "dejar llorar". Conclusiones. Los padres chilenos se enfrentan con información contradictoria: existe un debate sobre la regulación del sueño infantil en Iberoamérica y la opinión de los expertos difiere de la encontrada en muestras anglosajonas.

School violence: Subjective theories of academic advisory board members from six chilean schools

Se estudiaron las teorías subjetivas acerca de la violencia escolar de seis docentes directivos de seis establecimientos educacionales de la comuna de Coquimbo (Chile), tres de escuelas municipales (públicas) y tres de colegios particulares. El estudio fue de tipo cualitativo y la estrategia de recolección de datos utilizó una entrevista semi-estructurada de aplicación individual, seguida por un instrumento de auto-reporte. Los resultados fueron analizados, organizados e interpretados en base a la teoría fundamentada, lo que permitió reconstruir las explicaciones que los directivos han construido acerca de la violencia escolar. Los resultados indican que todos los participantes conciben la violencia escolar como un problema social importante pero poco común en sus instituciones educativas. Además, asumen que la violencia se origina fundamentalmente por influencias externas que provienen de la sociedad en su conjunto, tales como el tipo de estructura familiar y los procesos de socialización en el hogar, la calidad de la educación recibida y la influencia de los medios de comunicación. Cuando piensan en variables del propio sujeto, usualmente atribuyen la violencia a una baja autoestima. En esta concepción, al dejar de lado la participación del individuo como un agente racional que discierne y elabora juicios morales para guiar la acción, los directivos asumen una visión pasiva del sujeto como meramente respondiente a las influencias ambientales. Los hallazgos del estudio se discuten principalmente enfatizando sus implicaciones para la educación, específicamente para la educación moral y la prevención de la violencia.

This study analyzes the subjective theories regarding school violence held by six school officials of the city of Coquimbo (Chile). School violence is action carried out by a member of a school community that intends to cause harm against any member of that community. The study's main objective is to identify and interpre tthe various subjective theories regarding school violence held by the school officials as well as to explore whether there is a moral dimension to their subjective theories. We are interested in the moral dimension of the problem because research has shown that processes such as moral reasoning, moral identity, or moral motivation are linked to students' behavior in schools. Furthermore, social interactions are critical for the development of more advanced levels of moral reasoning. The study focuses on six members of the academic advisory board from six different schools, three municipal (public) schools and three subsidized private schools in the region of Coquimbo (Chile). Because the role of the administrative team is becoming increasingly important in the proper functioning of educational institutions, characteristics of school officials such as their leadership skills, negotiation skills, or abilities solve conflicts, have a direct impact on the success or failure of any educational program. Due to the qualitative approach of this study, each participant was interviewed using an individual semi-structured interview followed by a self-report questionnaire. Results were analyzed, organized, and interpreted based on grounded theory, which has been shown to be useful in analyzing subjective theories. Participants' explanations regarding school violence were reconstructed using the semantic categories that emerged in their interview responses. Results indicate that participants view school violence as an important social problem that should be contested; however, at the same time participants feel that it is not prevalent at their own educational institutions. Moreover, all participants believe that school violence takes place because of social influences, such as socialization processes at home, family values, quality of education, and influence of mass media, among others. This shows that participants hold a concept of the individual as merely respondent to environmental forces, lacking rational process and agency to discern and make moral judgments as a base for their actions. This is problematic because school violence has a moral dimension, as it involves issues of fairness, cooperation, conflict, negotiation with others, justice, and welfare. Results show that none of the participants understand violence as related to morality. Consequently, participants support traditional approaches to combat school violence aimed either at making students behave as it is prescribed by school norms or at enhancing students' social skills. However, such approaches disregard any moral education or moral discernment, even though research has identified moral values, the main variable in the study of social behaviour (Delfino & Zubieta, 2011), and moral development as factors related to violence. In general, school officials regard violence as externally originated, caused mainly by social forces and cultural factors. They also have subjective theories that hold the causes of school violence to be external and un manageable, minimizing their responsibility and their sense of efficacy in dealing with the problem. Assuming that a major role of education is to facilitate a better understanding of the world and knowing that teachers' beliefs are very important into explain teachers' behavior, the results of this study are discussed regarding its implications for education, particularly moral education and the prevention of violence.