Synergy and Healing

Summary

There is a crisis in health care resulting from the scarcity of resources and the inequitable distribution of those resources toward those most able to pay. Two paradigms for the generation and distribution of resources are discussed. The scarcity paradigm, in which individuals must compete for scarce resources, dominates Western care and expresses and supports that crisis. The synergy paradigm, in which individuals share resources which are renewable and expanding, is rare in the West but could help alleviate that crisis. Three case studies of synergy in Western health care are presented, illustrating the nature and functioning of “synergistic community.” Dilemmas remaining in the introduction and maintenance of synergy within Western care are discussed.     

The Effect of Peer Victimization on Learning

Abstract

Incidents of school violence have prompted calls for school communities to create environments that encourage student by-standers to act responsibly and proactively when they confront a range of violent incidents, from bullying and fights to weapon carrying and other serious threats to school safety. It is not always clear, however, what bystanders would—or should—do when faced with violent or potentially violent situations. This article describes findings from focus groups conducted with 54 middle school students and 97 staff in an urban, predominantly African American school district with relatively high levels of community violence. Discussions addressed bystander norms, attitudes, and behaviors, and identified barriers that prevent youth as well as adult bystanders from taking positive action. Findings inform violence prevention strategies for building consensus and supporting positive bystander responses.     

Clinical Application of the Service-Learning Model in Psychology

SUMMARY

Students in Abnormal Psychology who pursued a service-learning opportunity worked with troubled youth in the juvenile justice system. Consistent with an a priori hypothesis, results revealed the following pattern: (a) service-learning students and traditional students exhibited similar levels of academic performance early in the semester; and (b) as the semester progressed, and service-learning students became more involved in course-related service, they showed increasingly superior academic performance relative to traditional students. As hypothesized, service-learning students were more likely than traditional students to perceive themselves as: (a) achieving personal development in the area of social responsibility and (b) learning to apply course concepts to new situations. Preliminary evidence that the project made clinically significant contributions to the service agency is also presented. Innovations to be implemented in this ongoing project are discussed, and recommendations for research are noted.     

Responding to Gendered Violence Among College Students: The Impact of Participant Characteristics on Direct Bystander Intervention Behavior

ABSTRACT

Bystander intervention has been an effective strategy for crime prevention and has been successful in the context of campus sexual assault. Less is known about the extent to which individual-level factors correlate with intervention behavior in situations of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual harassment. The present study used a sample of 377 undergraduate student surveys on a campus without a bystander intervention program to examine the impact of individual-level participant factors on direct intervention across sexual assault, IPV, and sexual harassment scenarios. Findings demonstrated statistically significant differences where positive bystander attitudes and violence prevention efficacy correlated with direct intervention for sexual assault; positive bystander attitudes, personality extroversion, and exposure to a victim increased intervention behavior in an IPV scenario, and positive bystander attitudes and violence prevention efficacy increased direct intervention and lifetime experience of IPV decreased direct intervention in a sexual harassment scenario. Research and policy implications are discussed.     

Alcohol and Other Drug Problems in Older Adults

SUMMARY

While there is considerable awareness and knowledge on the part of the health and human service community on the problems of the misuse and abuse of alcohol and other drugs in the general population, this unfortunately often does not extend to older adults, those who are 60+. Problems with alcohol and other drugs in older persons is in itself not a sudden crisis or new problem. However, as with any health problem affecting a specific demographic group, when the problem is not recognized and appropriately dealt with the repercussions pose greater risks for the individuals with the problem as well as for the larger community. This is particularly true in regard to older adults where natural physical changes and increased age related health risks can only be exacerbated by the misuse and abuse of substances.     

“I was prepared for the worst I guess”: stayers’ and leavers’ perceptions of their Title IV-E education

ABSTRACT

Child welfare workforces across the nation are experiencing high turnover and have for decades. The chronic cost of turnover makes efforts to increase retention crucial. The Title IV-E education stipend program is one way that many states employ to improve their child welfare worker tenure. Through qualitative interviews, this study examines Title IV-E graduates’ experiences and perceptions of preparedness for working in child welfare agencies. Examining how the responses of stayers and leavers differ and assessing similarities collectively can inform educational and agency enhancements to improve services, as well as worker competence and retention.     

Empowerment and Synergy

Abstract

This paper suggests an alternative to the commonly-held “scarcity paradigm” of thinking about valued human resources, which assumes individuals must compete because resources are scarce. The alternative-the “synergy paradigm”-is empitomized in “synergistic community,” where valued human resources are renewable and expanding, and distributed equitably to members, so that what is good for one is good for all and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Three field studies present cross-cultural evidence for the functioning of empowerment within a synergistic paradigm. Empowerment is considered as access to and control of valued resources; the specific valued resource focused upon is community healing. The studies suggest that community healing resources can become renewable and expanding, as can the process of empowerment which accesses them. Community members share these resources, combining conflicting resources into unexpectedly effective treatment packages. Given present inequities in resource distribution, transformative education is offered as one means to support a shift in thinking toward synergy.     

The primary mental health project: Thirty years after

Summary

This article summarizes the 30‐year history of the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP), a school‐based program for early detection and prevention of young children's school adjustment problems. The article first describes PMHP's rationale and basic practices, gives examples of how the project has grown and evolved over the years, and summarizes some of its important research findings. The report also reviews several more recent PMHP emphases including its systematic work in program dissemination and its active efforts to develop effective primary prevention program modules. PMHP's approach offers a bona fide alternative to mental health's established, after the fact, restorative ways.     

性别互动论:基于“做性别”视角的探讨

自从坎迪斯·韦斯特和唐·齐默尔曼的《做性别》一文发表以来,性别研究领域出现了新的范式革命,即社会性别从一种"结构性规定"转变成"互动式达成"。"做性别"视角强调性别的互动性、情境性等特征,性别成为不断进行过程中的社会互动的产物。近些年来,西方学术界在反思"做性别"视角的基础上形成了另外两种性别研究范式,即"消解性别"和"再做性别"。这三种性别研究范式可被统称为"性别互动论",它们都强调性别的达成、解构或重构是在情境性的社会互动过程中实现的。性别互动论的意义在于重新将性别斗争权力归还给个体,使每一次日常互动成为潜在的重要赋权机会。该理论有助于我们重新理解传统的性别阶序及其运作机制,并促成不平等的性别关系发生根本性改变。     

Home as a Locus of Work and Career

SUMMARY

In response to contemporary work environments and the increased availability of technologies, individuals and organizations are experimenting with alternate forms of work located in the home. This article examines the complex and creative intersection of “home” and “work.” From 1990-1997, the number of individuals classified as home-based workers nearly tripled, reaching 9.3 million. Areas explored in the present study include emerging patterns in the work-at-home arena, the critical success factors that facilitate development of work and career in the home, and the opportunities afforded to individuals, families and communities when home is the locus of work. Directions for future research and debate in this area are presented.     

Is procrastination all that “bad”? A qualitative study of academic procrastination and self-worth in postgraduate university students

ABSTRACT

Most of the existing literature investigated the construct of procrastination using quantitative paradigms—primarily self-administered questionnaires. However, such approaches seem to limit insight, elaboration, and deeper understanding of central facets that might influence procrastination. The present qualitative study explored how a sample of postgraduate students from Cambridge University represented academic procrastination framed within their personal perspectives and context using semistructured interviews. This study extends the existing quantitative literature by adding students’ personal narratives and voices. Ten postgraduate students were interviewed and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The preponderance of the literature on academic procrastination has described it as a maladaptive and detrimental behavior. However, the present study found evidence which supports the existence of a positive form of procrastination as well which suggests that procrastination can sometimes be worthwhile and allow further thinking time, allowing students to do a task and enable them to give more attention to detail which suggests a reconsideration of the negative image commonly associated with procrastination.     

Learning Science for Social Good

SUMMARY

This conceptual case study explores two dynamic tensions, substantive and pedagogical, fundamental to teaching research in community psychology from a service learning perspective. The substantive dynamic tension is seen in traditional versus adventuresome approaches to community research; the pedagogical dynamic tension occurs in classroom instruction versus field work. To address the substantive tension, students were introduced to the epistemology and methods of adventuresome community research and then used both adventuresome and traditional elements in conducting a community research project. To address the pedagogical tension, class and field sessions were used to complement one another for student preparation, action, and reflection. Four guidelines for designing community research courses from a service learning perspective are articulated.     

Reconstructing the “Monsters” and the “Failures”

SUMMARY

“Monsters” and “Failures” are becoming the words of choice by many teachers, parents, administrators, and other adults when describing children and their behaviors. Ascribing the label can be constricting to the child and does very little to promote solutions to situations. Adults working with children can develop ways to look past the behavior and see the child and the child's needs, and acquire expectations of children that are in line with their development. This article explores the notion that family therapists, specializing in systems theory and parent education, are professionals, who are suited to help parents and school personnel interact with children in constructive and meaningful ways that promote development and minimize negative labeling. Family therapists can help the parent/teacher/administrator view the interactions among the components of the child's support system as dynamically interacting with one another and the child, and thus, strengthen the school-parent-community triad. Therapists, working col-laboratively with early childhood developmental education professionals, can assist adults in aligning their assessment and expectations of children with developmental understandings, thereby modifying the behaviors on the part of the adults, and ultimately eliciting more appropriate responses on the part of the children. A family systems approach to the rearing and teaching of children allows adults to reinforce the constructive behaviors of the child in a supportive and positive manner, leading to the social and cognitive growth of the child. The case material offered in this article presents ways in which family therapists can collaborate with education professionals and families in fostering the strength of the family-school-community relationship, and ensuring situations that are more child-friendly and developmentally appropriate.     

Involving Students in School Violence Prevention

Abstract

Why are some students not willing to tell adults about a possibly violent situation in their school? In this study, 1,100 students in the Mid-South were surveyed on their knowledge of, and willingness to tell about, a possibly violent situation, their involvement in behaviors that are related to school violence, and their school's climate. About 1/3 of students knew of a potentially violent situation, and about 3/4 were willing to tell an adult. However, students who were involved in antecedents to violence and/or who had an unfavorable view of their school were much less likely to tell an adult about such situations. Efforts to prevent school violence should be designed with these factors in mind.     

Schizophrenia,AIDS and the Decision to Prescribe HAART

SUMMARY

Individuals with schizophrenia are at risk of developing HIV and are known to experience barriers to optimal medical care. Our goal was to determine, among a cohort of HIV clinicians, whether or not the diagnosis of schizophrenia affected the clinical decision to offer highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to AIDS patients.

This is a cross-sectional study of a random, national sample of HIV experts drawn from the membership of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Participants were mailed a self-administered questionnaire with a case vignette of a new onset AIDS patient and were specifically asked whether or not they would recommend HAART treatment. Vignettes were randomly assigned to include a diagnosis of schizophrenia or not. We located 649 clinicians (93%); 347 responded (53.4%). Responders and non-responders did not differ in demographics or work characteristics. Recommendation of antiretroviral treatment did not differ between those who received a case vignette with schizophrenia versus those who did not (95.8% vs. 96.6%, p = 0.69). Compared to those who received a case vignette without schizophrenia, those who received vignettes with schizophrenia were more likely to avoid prescribing efavirenz, a medication with known neuropsychiatric side effects (17.7% vs. 45.5%, p < 0.01), more likely to agree to be helped by a specialist (34.5% vs. 12.9%, p < 0.01), and more likely to recommend directly observed therapy (20% vs.10%, p = 0.01). HIV clinicians recognize the importance of recommending HAART treatment to individuals with schizophrenia and AIDS and avoid using antiretroviral medication with known neuropsychiatric side effects.     

Conclusion

Abstract

Corporate restructuring activities in American corporations during the 1980s have created a variety of dilemmas for individuals in the mid-career years. This article proposes a two dimensional framework for understanding the experience of those facing these mid-career restructuring dilemmas. One dimension is whether the individual leaves the organization or remains in the organization. The other dimension is whether the decision is voluntary or involuntary. Interviews indicate that those most successful in managing the transitions of this career period are flexible in response to changing circumstances, have a high level of awareness, are characterized by information seeking behavior, and have the capacity to venture beyond previous boundaries and known ground.     

Stress containment through meditation

Summary

After demonstrating the effectiveness of meditation training for stress reduction in an occupational setting, the Medical Department at New York Telephone adopted a semi‐automated training program in this technique as part of the company's regular Employee Health Maintenance Program. The meditation training program has been implemented in all company branches throughout the state of New York and is presently available to all employees within the company who, in the opinion of the medical staff, are suffering from stress and are suitable candidates for meditation training. Over 3,500 individuals have been through the program.     

Constructing Better Futures via Video

Abstract

Some individuals can rise above disadvantaged environments by cognitively constructing better ones. One way to go beyond limited environments is by creating video futures. This article describes applications of video-based futures planning, in which teenagers find meaning in their current educational setting to prepare them for adulthood. We also describe the systematic training of school-based personnel to support the skills and positive attitudes of their students with carefully planned and edited videos that show future capability of the individual (self modeling and feedforward). We report diverse case studies to illustrate the methodologies, the range of applications, and typical outcomes. Follow-up of dissemination (especially the Video Futures Start-Up Kit) indicates successful replications, particularly in Kentucky and Aotearoa New Zealand.