Núria Fuentes-Peláez

Bio: Núria Fuentes-Peláez is an academic researcher from University of Barcelona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Foster care & Child protection. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 39 publications receiving 472 citations.

The social support in kinship foster care: a way to enhance resilience

Abstract: This paper analyses how social support enhances family resilience inkinship foster families by involving the families in an educationalgroup programme. Sixty-two kinship foster families from Spain par-ticipated in the research. The data were collected before the pro-gramme (interviews) and after the programme (interviews and focusgroups), and it was analysed by content analysis with the programAtlas.ti. The results show that the factors that contribute most to thedevelopment of family resilience are (i) feeling able to look forsolutions when faced with problems; (ii) an increase of their networkof formal support; (iii) being able to offer support to other fosterfamilies; and (iv) feeling that the support they give to parents’ fosterchildren is socially recognized

Good professional practices for promoting positive parenting and child participation in reunification processes

Abstract: Professional support of families that are under temporary protection, with the goal of reunification, is necessary for helping families re-establish their family dynamics. Without this support, the conditions that contributed to child abuse and neglect will likely persist. In this context, the attitude of professionals towards positive parenting and child participation is a decisive factor. The quantitative study presented here contributes knowledge regarding these 2 variables. The study was conducted with 106 professionals who work in the child protection system. The results show a high degree of consensus among professionals regarding the following practices: (a) incorporating positive parenting into family reunification processes; (b) training the biological parents in parenting skills; and (c) promoting the active participation of children in foster care and reunification. Regarding the latter point, the study found that older and more experienced professionals are more open and inclined to promote participation in family reunification processes. The practical implications of the results invite us to review attitudinal competencies training for professionals working in child protection services, focusing on encouraging a positive attitude towards the parental competencies of the biological family and the active participation of children in foster care and reunification. These professionals' attitudes are a key factor in mediating the process of family reunification.

On the nature of cultural transmission networks: evidence from Fijian villages for adaptive learning biases

Abstract: Unlike other animals, humans are heavily dependent on cumulative bodies of culturally learned information. Selective processes operating on this socially learned information can produce complex, functionally integrated, behavioural repertoires—cultural adaptations. To understand such non-genetic adaptations, evolutionary theorists propose that (i) natural selection has favoured the emergence of psychological biases for learning from those individuals most likely to possess adaptive information, and (ii) when these psychological learning biases operate in populations, over generations, they can generate cultural adaptations. Many laboratory experiments now provide evidence for these psychological biases. Here, we bridge from the laboratory to the field by examining if and how these biases emerge in a small-scale society. Data from three cultural domains—fishing, growing yams and using medicinal plants—show that Fijian villagers (ages 10 and up) are biased to learn from others perceived as more successful/knowledgeable, both within and across domains (prestige effects). We also find biases for sex and age, as well as proximity effects. These selective and centralized oblique transmission networks set up the conditions for adaptive cultural evolution.

Personal networks: a tool for gaining insight into the transmission of knowledge about food and medicinal plants among Tyrolean (Austrian) migrants in Australia, Brazil and Peru

Abstract: Investigations into knowledge about food and medicinal plants in a certain geographic area or within a specific group are an important element of ethnobotanical research. This knowledge is context specific and dynamic due to changing ecological, social and economic circumstances. Migration processes affect food habits and the knowledge and use of medicinal plants as a result of adaptations that have to be made to new surroundings and changing environments. This study analyses and compares the different dynamics in the transmission of knowledge about food and medicinal plants among Tyrolean migrants in Australia, Brazil and Peru. A social network approach was used to collect data on personal networks of knowledge about food and medicinal plants among Tyroleans who have migrated to Australia, Brazil and Peru and their descendants. A statistical analysis of the personal network maps and a qualitative analysis of the narratives were combined to provide insight into the process of transmitting knowledge about food and medicinal plants. 56 personal networks were identified in all (food: 30; medicinal plants: 26) across all the field sites studied here. In both sets of networks, the main source of knowledge is individual people (food: 71%; medicinal plants: 68%). The other sources mentioned are print and audiovisual media, organisations and institutions. Personal networks of food knowledge are larger than personal networks of medicinal plant knowledge in all areas of investigation. Relatives play a major role as transmitters of knowledge in both domains. Human sources, especially relatives, play an important role in knowledge transmission in both domains. Reference was made to other sources as well, such as books, television, the internet, schools and restaurants. By taking a personal network approach, this study reveals the mode of transmission of knowledge about food and medicinal plants within a migrational context.

Cultural Evolution: A Review of Theory, Findings and Controversies

Abstract: The last two decades have seen an explosion in research analysing cultural change as a Darwinian evolutionary process. Here I provide an overview of the theory of cultural evolution, including its intellectual history, major theoretical tenets and methods, key findings, and prominent criticisms and controversies. ‘Culture’ is defined as socially transmitted information. Cultural evolution is the theory that this socially transmitted information evolves in the manner laid out by Darwin in The Origin of Species, i.e. it comprises a system of variation, differential fitness and inheritance. Cultural evolution is not, however, neo-Darwinian, in that many of the details of genetic evolution may not apply, such as particulate inheritance and random mutation. Following a brief history of this idea, I review theoretical and empirical studies of cultural microevolution, which entails both selection-like processes wherein some cultural variants are more likely to be acquired and transmitted than others, plus transformative processes that alter cultural information during transmission. I also review how phylogenetic methods have been used to reconstruct cultural macroevolution, including the evolution of languages, technology and social organisation. Finally, I discuss recent controversies and debates, including the extent to which culture is proximate or ultimate, the relative role of selective and transformative processes in cultural evolution, the basis of cumulative cultural evolution, the evolution of large-scale human cooperation, and whether social learning is learned or innate. I conclude by highlighting the value of using evolutionary methods to study culture for both the social and biological sciences.