“Her Anger Frightens Me!” Using Group-Work Practice Principles and Feature Films in Teaching Clinical Practice in Mental Health

ABSTRACT

Combining group-work practice principles and the arts (feature films) can contribute to more effective teaching and enhance student clinical practice competency. By treating teaching as a form of group work and introducing a feature film into the classroom group, an instructor can reduce student-learning anxieties, teach core clinical concepts and skills, and enhance the classroom’s socioemotional climate. Vignettes demonstrate how this approach to teaching enriched students’ learning in an introductory clinical social work class on adult mental health.     

Dare to Care: Exploring the Relationships between Socio-Moral Climate,Perceived Stress,and Work Engagement in a Social Service Agency

Abstract

Human service professionals working in an interpersonal violence social service agency are at increased risk of experiencing emotional burnout, compassion fatigue, and high levels of stress, which may reduce work engagement, increase turnover, and ultimately negatively affect client outcomes. However, a positive organizational climate has the potential to buffer the negative effects of perceived stress on work engagement. Socio-moral climate is a behavioral-based organizational construct that assumes that workplace practices and procedures can impact employees’ attitudes and behaviors. This exploratory study (N?=?41) investigates the relationships between perceived stress, work engagement, and socio-moral climate in a social service agency serving survivors of interpersonal violence, comparing employees with direct interactions with clients in a shelter to those with indirect contact at a different location. Results of moderation analyses show that socio-moral climate significantly predicts higher work engagement, while perceived stress is negatively associated with work engagement; however, the interaction effect was not significant and there were no differences in perceived stress between both employees. Further research should continue to investigate the role of socio-moral climate on employee work engagement in social service agencies, which could improve the quality of services for their clients.     

What you say,and how you say it: Preschoolers' growth in vocabulary and communication skills differentially predict kindergarten academic achievement and self‐regulation

The idea that language skills support school readiness, predicting later self‐regulation and academic success, is widely accepted. Although vocabulary is often emphasized in the developmental literature, the ability to use language appropriately in the classroom, or social communication skills, may also be critical. This article examined longitudinal contributions of children's vocabulary and social communication skills, from preschool to kindergarten, to kindergarten academic achievement (reading and math) and self‐regulation (executive functions and learning behaviors). Participants were 164 children (14% Latinx, 30% Black, 56% White; 57% girls) enrolled in Head Start programs. Results revealed that initial levels and growth in vocabulary and communication skills predicted better academic achievement. Social communication skills uniquely predicted self‐regulation, after accounting for vocabulary. We discuss potential mechanisms for these links and recommend that strategies to build social communication skills be incorporated in preschool interventions promoting school readiness.     

Can a Self-Regulation Skills and Cultural Arts Program Promote Positive Outcomes in Mental Health Symptoms and Academic Achievement for At-Risk Youth?

ABSTRACT

Self-regulation skills programs focusing on emotional regulation and executive functioning and arts programs have separately demonstrated reductions in internalizing and externalizing disorders and academic difficulties and have shown improvement in self-regulation skills. This study sought to evaluate participants in Prodigy (a program synthesizing arts and self-regulation skills) regarding changes in mental health symptoms and academic performance. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest was conducted with 108 at-risk adolescents and their parents. Significant reductions in internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms and increases in academic self-efficacy with positive trends in improved academic achievement were noted. Future research regarding the potential of these two modalities is discussed.     

Development of Two Measures of Climate for Scientific Organizations

The aim of this article is to describe the development of two measures of ethical climate for scientific organizations. The first measure utilizes a traditional climate measurement approach and was developed in order to understand the various ethical and creative aspects of organizational climate, or academic departmental climate in university settings, in organizations where scientific and academic research is conducted. The second measure utilizes a biodata measurement approach, a set of career event scales applicable in university and research settings. Such a measure is intended to identify those experiences unique to scientific work that may influence research climate at the individual, group, and organizational levels. Specifically, these measures will be used to predict integrity in the early part of a scientist's career based on various situational influences that occur in scientific organizations.     

Psychosocial Environmental Relationships Among MSW Students in Distance Learning and Traditional Classrooms

ABSTRACT

A Midwestern university assessed 108 graduate social work students. Student preferences were examined regarding their perceptions and satisfaction with distance education versus traditional classroom settings. With a standardized measurement scale and 6 qualitative interviews being utilized, results identified several interpersonal and environmental characteristics influencing positive preference. Using an independent sample t-test, significant differences were found between the two types of learning environments. Results showed a preference for the standard, face-to-face format, and the results identified several variables that contribute to significant advantages and disadvantages of using distance education technology. Recommendations are provided for future research and explication of factors contributing to satisfaction with the learning environment.     

Teachers' Perceptions of Conflict with Young Students: Looking beyond Problem Behaviors

Teachers' judgments of relational conflict are unique indicators of children's academic and social adjustment. Using a large, hierarchically nested sample of preschoolers (N = 2282) and teachers (N = 597) this study examines the individual and classroom factors associated with teachers' ratings of conflict, both before and after adjusting for problem behaviors ratings. Over half of the variance in teachers' reports of conflict with children was explained by ratings of children's problem behaviors. However, many children had more (or less) conflict than predicted based on teacher‐rated problem behavior. Older children were more likely to have conflictual relationships with teachers than expected based on their level of problem behavior. Furthermore, teachers who reported more depression and lower self‐efficacy and teachers who were observed to provide less emotional support in the classroom tended to report more conflict with students in their classroom than expected based on levels of problem behaviors.     

Community-led initiatives for climate adaptation and mitigation

ABSTRACT

Planning for climate change is complex. There is some uncertainty about how quickly the climate will change and what the anticipated localised effects will be. There are also governance questions, for instance, who has the mandate to make decisions around the management of collective resources (like council infrastructure) and private property. Underlying these questions are issues of justice, equity and agency – who pays for the costs of adaptation and mitigation, and how do decision-makers engage with communities when what is ultimately needed is transformational socio-economic change? We use a case study in Te Awa Kairangi – Lower Hutt, Wellington, to show how a community initiative called Common Unity Project Aotearoa (CUPA) is fostering everyday practices of adaptation and mitigation amongst people who have traditionally had limited participation in more formal planning processes. We use the example of CUPA to demonstrate the significance of local community-led development initiatives for adapting to a changing climate. We argue that local government engagement with people around climate change cannot be separated from broader community development and wellbeing initiatives, and needs to be understood as longer term processes, rather than one-off project consultations.     

A Good Death for Residents of Long-Term Care

Abstract

Little research has been done on the topic of end-of-life care in long-term care settings to identify important themes regarding end-of-life care structures, processes, and outcomes. This study utilized data gathered in a stratified, random sample of 437 family members of residents who died in 31 nursing homes (NHs) and 199 residential care/assisted living facilities. Structural components of care including staffing adequacy, training, and consistence as well as facility environment and size were important factors for family members interviewed. “Being there” and manner of care delivery (e.g., staff attitudes/empathy) were major elements in the process of care. These factors were mentioned more than direct care, Hospice, or resident preferences. Family members identified themes of [dying at] home and being comfortable and clean as important outcomes of care. These identified structural components, processes, and outcomes have implications for the role of social workers in these settings despite that social work support is notably absent in these findings.     

Does It Matter if Preschool Children and Mothers Discuss Positive vs. Negative Events During Reminiscing? Links with Mother‐reported Attachment,Family Emotional Climate,and Socioemotional Development

The purpose of the study was to examine the differential relations between mother–child reminiscing about a positive emotional event vs. a negative emotional event and attachment security, family climate, and young children's socioemotional development. Fifty preschool children (M age = 50.69 months, SD = 4.64) and their mothers completed two reminiscing conversations at the laboratory, which were coded for emotion‐laden discourse, affect, and elaboration, and children completed measures of emotional understanding and representations of relationships. At their homes, mothers completed the attachment Q‐sort and the self‐report family inventory. Both attachment security and family climate were related to the quality of mother–child affect and maternal elaboration during both positive and negative reminiscing conversations. Attachment security and family climate, however, were principally related to discussion of emotion during the negative event discussions. In addition, it was mother–child reminiscing about the negative emotional event that was associated with high levels of children's socioemotional development.     

Social Work Students' Perceived Knowledge of and Preparation for Group-Work Practice

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify factors relevant to social work students' perceived knowledge of and preparation for group-work practice. In addition, the experiences of students in the classroom and in the field are discussed in relationship to these variables. Although classroom and field experiences were significant, exposure to group in the field placement was a much stronger predictor of group-work knowledge. Students reported feeling most knowledgeable about the concepts of mutual aid, diversity, group culture, and group phases. Reported gaps in learning were related to research and legal issues associated with group work.     

The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation

This article reviews current literature examining associations between components of the family context and children and adolescents' emotion regulation (ER). The review is organized around a tripartite model of familial influence. Firstly, it is posited that children learn about ER through observational learning, modeling and social referencing. Secondly, parenting practices specifically related to emotion and emotion management affect ER. Thirdly, ER is affected by the emotional climate of the family via parenting style, the attachment relationship, family expressiveness and the marital relationship. The review ends with discussions regarding the ways in which child characteristics such as negative emotionality and gender affect ER, how socialization practices change as children develop into adolescents, and how parent characteristics such as mental health affect the socialization of ER.     

“What Could Happen and What Couldn't Happen”: A Poetry Club for Kids

SUMMARY

This essay describes the development of a classroom-based poetry club for young children attending an alternative school, a school-based mental health program, for elementary school students identified as having serious emotional disturbances. The essay emphasizes the importance of pre-group planning, contracting, and negotiating values and norms with teachers; demystifying mutual aid; integrating group purpose and academic goals; and tapping in to children's strengths to develop creative activities.     

How socialization goals and peer social climate predict young children's concern for others: Evidence for a development shift between 2 and 4 years of age

Children's concern for others is shaped through socialization, but current theories make different predictions as to how and when in development this socializing occurs. Here we found that mothers' prosocial socialization goals (SGs) predicted concern for others in 2‐year‐old (n = 804) and 4‐year‐old (n = 714) children. In contrast, preschool teachers' SGs predicted concern for others only for 4‐year‐old children. In addition, a positive social climate among classroom peers predicted 4‐year‐olds' prosociality. These results suggest that the nuclear family environment impacts toddlers' concern for others before the broader social environment shapes their prosociality at preschool age.     

Mindfulness in parenting adolescents:love breeds love,hate breeds hate

ABSTRACT

After several years of intensive parental skills training for parents of adolescents, extra topics were arising that were not covered in the program’s curriculum. Stress, uncertainness, and strong emotions in dealing with adolescents and how to make positive contact were important issues that parents were still concerned about when leaving the group. This article describes the experiences of how extramindful parenting group training was used after the formal parenting skills training group ended. Parents were then learning to listen to the child with full attention, emotional awareness of the self and child, self-regulation in the parenting relationship, and self-compassion.     

Social Group Work for Young Offenders with Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Despite the high incidence of learning disabilities among young offenders, research suggests that young offenders with learning disabilities do not receive interventions that address their learning disabilities. Group treatment approaches for young offenders typically utilize a cognitive-behavioral orientation. Cognitive behavioral techniques have been found to be effective with the young offender population by targeting their faulty thinking. However, cognitive behavioral treatment is less effective with youth who have academic delays. Individuals with learning disabilities may have difficulties with the cognitive tasks used in cognitive behavioral treatment. This paper describes a treatment group, with illustrations, adapted for young offenders with learning disabilities, combining cognitive-behavioral and mutual-aid principles.     

The Social Sharing of Emotion as an Interface Between Individual and Collective Processes in the Construction of Emotional Climates

The study of private emotional experiences reveals that an emotion is typically followed by social sharing. Additionally, the target's responses stimulate the sharing person's emotional expression. The reciprocal stimulation of interactants favors empathy and emotional communion. Consequences are two-fold: (1) the sharing process reactivates emotional arousal in both agent and target, and (2) it strengthens social bonds. Sharing targets also share what they heard with others, who then experience a similar need. Social sharing also develops when an emotional event strikes collectively. In this case, however, the propagation consequences are geared up in a spectacular manner both because there are as many sharing sources as there are members in the community and because every sharing reactivates felt emotions among interactants, thus reloading the propagation flow. It is argued that such chain reactions contribute to construct an emotional climate in the concerned community. It is predicted that emotion sharing would impact (1) on emotional climate in general; (2) on group cohesion and solidarity, with positive consequences for emotional climate; and (3) on collective memory, with potential consequences for emotional climate in the long run. Each of these predictions is detailed and illustrated with available empirical evidence.     

Land of Forgetfulness

Abstract

The personal circumstances of dementia caregiving are sometimes experienced as so severely demanding as to be overwhelming. While sustenance within, and recovery from these experiences are increasingly addressed in helpful ways from psychological, emotional, and practical life planning frames of reference, we are still learning how to speak with one another about the spiritual dimensions of this peculiar journey. From a spiritual perspective, the caregiver initially, and frequently perpetually, finds her/himself in a state of spiritual exhaustion. Oddly enough, there are ample resources at hand to address this existential state with wisdom and grace, allowing for the possibility that the caregiver might move from spiritual weariness to enhanced spiritual formation.     

Coping With Interracial Stress in Ethnically Diverse Classrooms: How Important Are Allport's Contact Conditions?

This study examined desegregated classrooms with an emphasis on how students' perceptions of Allport's (1954) contact dimensions influence the frequency and effectiveness of their coping strategies for interracial stress, their self-esteem, and their self-reported academic performance. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from two ethnically diverse middle schools in Los Angeles, California, participated. Results indicated that students' perceptions of a more positive interracial classroom climate were associated with less frequent and more effective coping strategies, specifically as related to the frequency and effectiveness of positive/approach coping strategies. Positive classroom climate also was related to higher self-esteem and better academic performance. This research highlights the importance of the presence of contact criteria when desegregation is to be a positive experience both academically and socially and of the integration of coping strategies as a means of reducing interracial stress.     

Halo and association effects: Cognitive biases in teacher attunement to peer‐nominated bullies,victims, and prosocial students

This study examined whether teachers’ perceptions of students’ behavior (referring to halo effects) and the behavior of teacher‐perceived friends (referring to association effects) influenced teachers’ ability to recognize students identified as bullies, victims, and prosocial by their peers. Data came from 1,458 children (M_age = 10.5, 47.5% girls) and 56 teachers (M_age = 40.8, 66.1% females). Perceived likeability was associated with decreased odds and teachers’ perceptions of popularity and externalizing behavior were associated with increased odds for teacher attunement to bullying. Perceived likeability and affiliation were associated with decreased odds for teacher attunement to victimized students. Teachers’ perceptions of externalizing behavior were associated with decreased odds, whereas teachers’ perceptions of affiliation and academic competence were associated with increased odds for attunement to prosociality. Finally, a positive association was found between teacher attunement and the average behavior of teacher‐perceived friends for bullying, victimization, and prosociality.