An evaluation of the effectiveness of positive behavioural support within a medium secure mental health forensic service

A number of recent influential reports recommend the use of proactive and preventative approaches such as Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) in the management of challenging behaviours. Although evidence supporting the use of PBS is mainly drawn from studies of learning disability and child populations, it is recognised that PBS could have a much wider utility. In this study, PBS was implemented in a medium secure forensic mental health service, a novel context. Impact was evaluated using an adapted version of the Checklist of Challenging Behaviour at baseline and then at 3 monthly intervals for a year. Significant reductions were observed in aggression frequency, management difficulty and severity and other challenging behaviour frequency and management difficulty. Reductions in challenging behaviour were still evident after six months for the full group and twelve months for the sub-group with the exception of other challenging behaviour management difficulty. In contrast, no such significant differences were found for a control group. This study indicated that PBS was an effective intervention in the management of challenging behaviour in this forensic mental health context.     

High-conflict divorce involving children: parents’ meaning-making and agency

Most research, policy discussion and intervention is based on outsider-expert understandings that categorise divorces as well as parents enmeshed in ‘high-conflict’ disputes in polarised and individualised terms. Little, however, is known about parents’ experiences of these disputes, or how they fare in the longer term. This article draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 25 mothers and fathers in British Columbia, Canada, who experienced a high-conflict divorce and later came to see the experience as having been transformative despite the many difficulties they faced. Overall, the research found that positive change occurs over time when parents are supported with resources that address their particular needs and challenges. Parents change, make meaning and respond to their circumstances across the life course, thereby exercising agency. This process also occurs in a social, political and legal context that changes over time and across generations.     

20世纪社会主义国家处理民族问题的基本经验

文章认为,20世纪社会主义国家处理民族问题的基本经验是要认清民族问题具有长期性,复杂性,国际性,敏感性和重要性特征;要十分重视少数民族和民族地区经济的发展,不断提高民族地区的人民物质生活水平和各民族的发展能力;要正确处理中央集权,民族地区分权,国家统一与民族自治的关系;要坚持民族语言平等,保障少数民族使用和发展本民族语言文字的权利;要重视宗教长期性,群众性,民族性,国际性和复杂性特征,保障各民族宗教信仰自由的权利;要高度重视培养使用民族干部,坚持高标准,严要求和关心爱护,放手使用相结合;要坚持既反对大民族主义,又反对地方民族主义的方针;要不断完善民族法制,通过民族法制保障各民族平等权利的实现.     

我国少数民族基础教育课程、教材建设:回顾与反思

我国少数民族基础教育课程教材建设在新中国成立以后经历四个阶段的发展 ,在三个层面上取得了一定成绩 ,对我国民族教育事业的发展发挥了重要作用。与此同时 ,少数民族基础教育课程、教材建设又深受课程与教材内容脱离民族文化和地区特色 ,不适应少数民族学生认知发展水平与特点等问题的长期困扰 ,严重影响了少数民族基础教育质量的提高。因而 ,克服这些问题 ,在新一轮基础教育课程改革背景下寻找少数民族基础教育课程与教材建设的突破口 ,是推进我国少数民族基础教育发展的重要任务。。     

从心理健康的角度谈快乐童年的塑造

每个人都从童年开始他的精彩人生,每个人的童年经历将会是精彩人生中心理健康的基点.家庭教育、学校教育和社会教育都应该承担让儿童快乐成长的责任,让儿童体验快乐,创造快乐,使儿童在快乐中成长为拥有良好心理素质的个体,以健康的心理去生活和工作.     

Exploring Child Welfare Workers’ Experiences with Neglect Cases: A Qualitative Study

Child neglect continues to be a pressing concern in American society. However, child neglect is often found to be more difficult to assess than other forms of child maltreatment. This study explores how child welfare workers experience their day-to-day work with children and families, when neglect is the presenting concern. Convenience sampling was used to recruit former and current child welfare workers (N = 20). Three focus groups were conducted. The analyses identified four themes inherent in case workers' experiences in neglect cases: a dirty house isn't just a dirty house, dilemmas and professional judgment, different values, and ambivalence: compassion and frustration. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

积极心理品质的培养--论新民警的心理素质强化训练

我国公安民警的心理素质相对来说处于一个薄弱环节,亟待改进.新民警的初任培训是进行心理素质训练的最好时期.对新民警的心理素质训练应当以积极心理品质的培养为主,其核心是积极认知图式的构建.积极心理品质培养的方法除了必要的理论教学之外,更重要的是采用行为训练的方式进行体验式教学,而且应与其它公安学科的学习与训练相结合.     

计量经济分析能够“发现”理论吗？——兼论实证主义或证伪主义的逻辑缺陷

基于逻辑实证主义来构建经济理论会遇到严重的“休谟问题”：一方面,当检验结果与理论一致时,不能简单地认定理论被证实了,因为还有更多的事实并没有得到检验;另一方面,当检验结果与理论发生差错时,也不能简单地以为原先的理论错了．因为经济理论所基于的条件根本是不可重复的。其实,经济学理论的发展并不是建立在一次性证实或证伪的基础之上,而是随着大量新事实的出现而导致原范式或纲领被不断修正,或者以原纲领“退化”为标志的,经济理论的发展体现在两个方面：逻辑的完善性和问题的解决度。     

Exploring the Deep Antecedent of Public Service Motivation

Contrarily to most studies of the antecedents of public service motivation (PSM) focusing on the proximal work environment or personal characteristics, we seek to explore plausibly important deep antecedents of PSM that lie in the formative years of a person’s upbringing. Using an online survey of public service professionals that asked detailed background questions, we find that three deep antecedents are associated with lower overall PSM and its constitutive elements: growing up in a religious family, growing up in a family with a conservative point of view, and (surprisingly) being raised by a parent who served in the military.     

Participation in Extracurricular Activities in the Middle School Years: Are There Developmental Benefits for African American and European American Youth?

In this study, we examined the associations between organized activity participation during early adolescence and adjustment in a large and economically diverse sample of African American and European American youth. The sample included 1,047 youth (51% female and 49% male and 67% African American and 33% European American). We used analysis of covariance techniques to examine links between participation in 8th grade school clubs, school sports teams, and out of school recreational activities and adjustment at 8th and 11th grade, controlling for a set of self-selection factors measured at 7th grade prior to activity involvement. Organized activity participation was associated with higher than expected grades, school value (i.e. perception of importance of school for the future), self-esteem, resiliency, and prosocial peers, and lower than expected risky behavior, though the pattern of findings differed by activity context, outcome, and time point. In a few of the models, the relation between activity participation and adjustment varied by gender, race, and socioeconomic status.