‘Removing the chaos from the narrative’: preparing clinical leaders for practice development

This article explores the work of a group of ward leaders who worked in a large acute NHS Trust in London in identifying the need for practice development in their clinical settings and their own leadership development needs. The ward leaders worked with a facilitator over a period of 6 months to develop knowledge, skills and experience in leading practice developments. The project was deliberately focused on helping the ward leaders become aware of the need for change and increase their potential as leaders of changes arising from the project. The ward leaders worked with the facilitator (the lead author) over a 7-month period, utilising a variety of integrated developmental and data collection techniques. The methods employed included reflection on practice, observation of practice, discussions with practitioners, 360-degree feedback and the use of a variety of creative arts. The project was based on the narrative framework of Frank (1995), and this framework was utilised to shape the interpretation of the processes and outcomes of the project. This article thus presents the combined narrative journey of the facilitator and the participants.     

Couples sharing stories

Some ways in which shared stories are begun and told are described using conversation analysis. Tellings shared by two persons who participated together in the events to be narrated display how coparticipants encounter and resolve the problems of having two potential tellers, and a “knowing” recipient present. The stories examined are begun with a three‐part series of turns: a “remote” approach, a forwarding, and a ratification of the forwarding. The body of the telling includes techniques which involve the knowing recipient in the telling without necessarily challenging the current teller's role as teller. Implications are drawn for the study of how pairs of persons “do” their relationship in public.     

A comparison of conversations among and between domestic culture groups: How intra‐ and intercultural competencies vary

This study identified intercultural conversational competencies for Mexican Americans, Black Americans and White Americans which were compared and contrasted with previously identified intracultural competencies. Members of each culture group described behaviors which were appropriate inappropriate as well as cognitive and behavioral consequences in recalled conversations with acquaintances. Members of each culture group were found to share general rules with other groups, such as concerns for politeness and role fulfillment, but many more differences emerged. Mexican Americans emphasized relational climate more frequently than the other groups, Black Americans emphasized individuality in politeness and expression and White Americans showed a marked emphasis on verbal content. For the most part, rules for conversing with members of one's own group were different from rules for intercultural conversations with the general exception of Mexican Americans, who perceived similar rules in intracultural and intercultural conversations.     

Couples' affective orientations and their verbal abusiveness

Four measures of affective orientation: awareness of affect as information, posses‐sion of positive feelings, and expression of positive and negative emotions were employed to examine the relationships between functional males’ and females’ affective orientations and the level of verbal abuse reported in their relationships. Females reported having higher levels of affective awareness on all four measures of affective orientation. Contrary to expectations, males’ and females’ awareness of affect as information to guide interactions and positive feelings were not associated with reported verbal abuse. Males’ and females’ expressions of negative emotions, however, were significantly negatively associated with verbal abuse in the relationships. Males’ positive emotional expressiveness was significantly negatively associated with self‐reported verbal abuse in the relationship. Functional males and females reported experiencing similar levels of verbal abuse within their relationships.     

Computer‐mediated support groups: An examination of relationships among social support,perceived stress,and coping strategies

This study examined social support, perceived stress, and coping strategies among participants (N = 148) within twenty‐four computer‐mediated support groups. The results indicated that the amount of time a person reported spending communicating with others in on‐line support groups was positively related to the size of his or her support group network and satisfaction with the support he or she received in online support groups. Satisfaction with both on‐line supportive relationships and face‐to‐face supportive relationships was correlated with degree of reduction in perceived life stress. Satisfaction with on‐line social support was predictive of the types of coping strategies used by participants.     

Dialectical tensions in marital partners’ accounts of their relationships

This study identifies contradictions in married partners’ accounts of their relationship and assesses the importance of the tensions at beginning, middle, and present relational turning points. Overall, autonomy‐connection was the most frequently experienced contradiction, however openness‐closedness was perceived as the most important tension. When looking at gender differences, results showed that internal tensions were equally important for both husbands and wives, however external tensions of inclusion‐seclusion and revealment‐concealment were more important for wives than husbands.     

Learning about Peers: A Missed Opportunity for Educational Psychology

The author reviews four factors that contribute to the reduction of the authority and power of teachers: the Far Right, the Christian Right, the standards movement, and the decline in the use of collective bargaining. As a result of these initiatives, teachers are forced to abandon many progressive educational practices and embrace educational philosophies alien to them; stand by while useful courses such as music, art, physical education, and creative writing are eliminated; adopt drill and grill activities rather than open-ended discussion with students; and forsake any sense of a unique individual school identity and philosophy. Therefore, teaching is fast becoming an unattractive, if not demeaning, profession.     

Approaching Parental Guilt,Shame, and Blame in a Helping Relationship: Multiple Methods for Teaching and Learning

ABSTRACT

Social workers often feel ill-prepared to effectively engage parents in conversations about guilt, shame, and blame related to their children’s mental health or substance use challenges. To address that problem, we suggest that specific content should be integrated into social work courses to teach students how to acknowledge and sensitively manage these issues in their practice with families across cultures and family forms. Content, activities, and assignments are offered, built around three learning strategies (enhanced lecture, case-based learning, and experiential learning) to help students build therapeutic relationships based on a deep appreciation of parents’ emotional experiences.     

The College Selection Process:

A recent trend among universities shifts from traditional MBA programs to specialized MBA offerings. Specialized programs are believed to cultivate stronger relationships with students, which lead to stronger alumni relationships and increased donations. This research tests this empirically by examining relationship perceptions and donation behavior among alumni of both traditional and specialized MBA programs from a university. The findings suggest that graduates of specialized programs are more likely to perceive relationships with their MBA programs than their traditional program counterparts. These graduates are also more likely to donate to their universities and to direct their donations toward their specialized MBA programs.