Changes in staff confidence and attributions for challenging behaviour after training in positive behavioural support,within a forensic mental health setting: a replication study with follow-up

Positive behavioural support (PBS) is a proactive approach to managing challenging behaviour. Staff in a forensic mental health service were provided training in PBS. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of training by measuring changes to staff confidence and attributions for challenging behaviour before training, post training and at six-month follow-up. Qualified and unqualified staff were compared, as were male and female staff. Confidence was measured using an adapted version of the Confidence in Coping with Patient Aggression Instrument. The Challenging Behaviour Attributions Scale and the Causal Dimension Scale II assessed staff attributions. Staff confidence levels in working with challenging behaviour increased following PBS training, and this increase was maintained at six-month follow-up, for unqualified, qualified, male and female staff. Changes in attributions for challenging behaviour were observed post training; however changes were not maintained at follow-up. Limitations and clinical implications were outlined.     

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec : Je me souviens …

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec was created during the Quiet Revolution (la Révolution tranquille), which began on 22 June 1960 following the election of the Liberal Party whose leader, Jean Lesage, called for francophone Quebeckers to reclaim control of their destiny. Thus, promoting the economic development of Quebec was not only the Caisse's raison d'être, but also its primary mandate. This noble mission was defended by successive governments until the early 2000s. In 2008, when seemingly invincible financial institutions such as the American Lehman Brothers investment bank went bankrupt, the Caisse recorded losses of $40 billion. We argue that the collapse of the Caisse was precipitated by revolutionary actions, in the sense described by Kahn (2006), taken by the executive directors of the Caisse and the Charest government during the years prior to its downfall. In 2008, the Caisse had become, first and foremost, an investment fund manager designed to yield profits for its depositors. The downfall of the Caisse eloquently illustrates a drawback of market logic when shamelessly applied to the administration of public funds.     

Book Reviews: South East Asia

The best Lapis lazuli in the world comes from Afghanistan, from Badakhshan, where it has been mined for over 6,000 years.

Merchants carried lapis to cities all over Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, where distinctive ornaments have subsequently been excavated. More recently emerged a quite different use of lapis-the grinding of the stone to produce pigment for painting (ultramarine) This technique travelled as much as the stone itself from caves in Asia through wall paintings of the early Middle Ages to the Italian Renaissance and, finally to Titian