Conceptualising ‘The Relationship’ in Intensive Key Worker Support as a Therapeutic Medium

Across various welfare and justice systems, intensive key worker support is a model of working considered effective for individuals and families identified as having multiple and complex needs. The high profile ‘troubled families’ programme in England is the most recent prominent example of such a model. The key worker role is to assess an individual’s needs, carry out support planning, provide and/or co-ordinate the delivery of supportive interventions and complete care plan reviews. This requires the key worker to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals which, in turn, demands the ability to form effective relationships. In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change. I also explore the notion that the key worker-service user relationship is itself a ‘therapeutic’ medium and is therefore a productive practice in its own right. The paper suggests that while key workers might not be trained therapists or counsellors, they might be equipped to address some emotional challenges that individuals with complex needs face and build therapeutic relationships with them.     

Parent Marital Quality and the Parent–Adolescent Relationship: Profiles of Relationship Quality

Rigorous studies repeatedly have demonstrated the negative effects of parental divorce on outcomes for families. However, very few studies have examined the quality of the marital relationship within intact families or how the quality of the marital relationship interacts with the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship. The present study examines how aspects of parent marital quality, such as marital support and conflict between the couple, existed within married families and examines how patterns of mother–adolescent and father–adolescent relationships quality varied longitudinally from 1997 to 1999. The study uses data from the NLSY97 cohort, a nationally representative sample of adolescents who are being followed into adulthood. Four profiles of parent marital quality were developed using latent class analyses. Four growth profiles for the mother–adolescent relationship and for the father–adolescent relationship were created using latent growth class analysis in Mplus. To examine how the parent marital quality profiles and the parent–adolescent relationship quality interact, we examined how they overlapped. Six distinct groups were evident from this examination: (1) high marital quality and good relationships with both parents, (2) high marital quality and a good relationship with only one parent, (3) high support and high conflict marital quality and a good relationship with at least one parent, (4) low marital quality and a good relationship with at least one parent, (5) high marital quality and bad relationships with both parents, and (6) low marital quality and bad relationships with both parents.     

Ich und Du, a “Two-Person” Therapeutic Relationship: A Discussion of Herbert Strean's “Resolving Some Therapeutic Impasses by Disclosing Countertransference”

This article discusses the essential features of a two-person or relational approach to dynamic psychotherapy. An historical perspective on the development of the relational model, based on the theories of Martin Buber and Otto Rank, is offered and integrated with modern and post-modern interpersonal and relational theories. The relational model is compared with what Herbert Strean labels a two-person psychology in his article Resolving some therapeutic impasses by disclosing countertransference.     

Baby with the Bathwater? Examining the Relationship between Video Game Use and Relationship Outcomes and the Moderating Effects of Attachment Behaviors among Married Casual Gamers

We examined whether time together as a problem mediates the link between frequency of video game use and relational outcomes (relationship quality, relational aggression, physical aggression) among 431 married couples. We also examined the moderating effect of couple attachment behaviors on the association between time together as a problem and outcomes. There was no support for a direct or indirect relationship between gaming and outcomes; however, time together as a problem was consistently related to outcomes. Additionally, husband's and wife's attachment behaviors moderated the association between women's reports of time together as a problem and men's relational aggression. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Testing the Linkages Among the Organization–Public Relationship and Attitude and Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

This research tested a model that posits the linkages among perceptions of the organization–public relationships, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward an organization among members of a key public. Among the 6 relationship indexes proposed by Hon and J. E. Grunig (1999), perceptions of satisfaction and control mutuality were the best predictors of a positive attitude toward the organization. In this study we also found that positive attitude was a precursor to supportive behavioral intentions toward the organization.     

Great Expectations? A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between the School-to-Higher Education Transition and Social Mobility

Abstract

Education has always been considered as a means for social mobility, leveling off inequalities among individuals and enabling them to realize their potential. Against a backdrop dominated by political discourses on employability, flexibility and performance, there are growing concerns that students’ career decisions may be affected by individual and structural factors undermining the fairness of the transition from school to higher education (HE). To address this issue, this article seeks to unpack the enablers and barriers affecting the school-to-HE transition. To do so, we undertook a systematic review of papers published in psychology, sociology, education and public policy from 1985 to date, a period where major employment and education reforms in advanced and emerging economies were implemented. The findings show that socio-economic, cultural and institutional factors affect students’ access to HE. By taking stock of research on the school-to-HE transition, this article contributes to broaden the debate on the topic and reflects upon the relation between education and social mobility.     

Variation in the Relationship Between Education and Marriage: Marriage Market Mismatch?

Educational expansion has led to greater diversity in the social backgrounds of college students. We ask how schooling interacts with this diversity to influence marriage formation among men and women. Relying on data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3208), we use a propensity score approach to group men and women into social strata and multilevel event history models to test differences in the effects of college attendance across strata. We find a statistically significant, positive trend in the effects of college attendance across strata, with the largest effects of college on first marriage among the more advantaged and the smallest-indeed, negative-effects among the least advantaged men and women. These findings appear consistent with a mismatch in the marriage market between individuals' education and their social backgrounds.     

The Father–Daughter Relationship and Intimacy in the Marriages of Daughters of Divorce

This article examines how being the daughter of divorce affects one's marital relationship. We examined this issue by studying the role of the father–daughter relationship in a sample of 90 women, all of whom were currently married and had parents who were divorced, with a Web-based survey. Specifically, this study investigated whether there was a relationship between the strength of these women's relationships with their fathers and the level of commitment, intimacy, and communication in their current marriages. This study produced evidence that the strength of the father–daughter relationship corresponded with current marital intimacy. However, the level of commitment and communication in their own marriages was not linked to the strength of their relationships with their fathers. This study has important implications regarding the work clinicians do to protect and strengthen the father–daughter relationship when working with families who have experienced parental divorce.     

Retaining the Benefits of Government–Nonprofit Contracting Relationship: Opposites Attract or Clash?

The benefits and negative consequences of government–nonprofit contracting are well documented. From the literature, we know that government and nonprofits can demonstrate contradictory organization-level characteristics. Some argue that these contradictions make government and nonprofits complementary partners, but empirical evidence reveals the potential loss of nonprofit voluntariness. How does one harvest the alleged benefits of the government–nonprofit relationship while minimizing the potential loss of nonprofit voluntariness? Through the qualitative investigation of one nonprofit, this study identifies seven types of organizational-level differences between the government and the nonprofit. These conflicts are manifested by three forms of power struggle. This illuminates that power struggles are the root cause of the potential loss of nonprofits’ voluntariness. The author argues that as long as nonprofits depend on the government for resources, power struggles will persist and voluntariness will be at risk; hence, addressing resource dependence is the key to answering our research question.     

How Can You Tell when a Goldfish Cries? Finding the Words in Therapeutic Stories with Children

Stories provide one way to say the unspeakable. Drawing on systemic, constructionist and narrative ideas, this paper offers a commentary upon the development of a therapeutic story for a seven year old child and her mother.     

Child‐Care Instability and Behavior Problems: Does Parenting Stress Mediate the Relationship?

Child‐care instability is associated with more behavior problems in young children, but the mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Theoretically, this relationship is likely to emerge, at least in part, because care instability leads to increased parenting stress. Moreover, low socioeconomic status and single‐mother families may be more vulnerable to the effects of instability. This study tested these hypotheses using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (N = 1,675) and structural equation modeling. Three types of child‐care instability were examined: long‐term instability, multiplicity, and needing to use back‐up arrangements. Overall, findings showed little evidence that parenting stress mediated the associations between care instability and child behavior problems among the full sample. Among single‐mother and low‐income families, however, needing to use back‐up arrangements had small positive associations with parenting stress, which partially mediated the relationship between that type of care instability and child externalizing behavior problems.     

Examining the Relationship between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder: Does Social Support Matter?

The relationship between childhood sexual abuse and borderline personality disorder is a prominent issue in the etiological research on borderline personality disorder. This study further explored the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and the development of borderline personality features while evaluating the moderating role of a primary social support source in a sample of 290 female undergraduate students enrolled at a major southeastern university. Consistent with previous research, retrospective self-reports of childhood sexual abuse and low social support were both positively correlated with current borderline personality features. It was hypothesized that the presence of a supportive relationship at the time the childhood sexual abuse occurred would moderate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and borderline personality features. This moderation hypothesis was not supported in the current study, but post-hoc analyses reveal the need to further examine how we define social support following childhood sexual abuse. This research is a stepping stone toward the prevention of borderline personality disorder following childhood sexual abuse.     

Engaged or Disengaged? Examining the Relationship Between Electoral Ambivalence and Indicators of Political Engagement in the 2012 U.S. Election

This study uses uncertainty theories to examine the relationship between presidential electoral ambivalence and three political belief variables: internal efficacy, skepticism, and apathy. We propose that the relationship between ambivalence, which is an indicator of uncertainty, and information-seeking intentions should be mediated by our political belief variables. Our proposed model suggests that presidential electoral ambivalence is characteristic of a disengaged citizenry, with ambivalence correlating with lower levels of internal efficacy and skepticism in a cross-sectional analysis. We also found ambivalence associated with higher levels of apathy in this same analysis. Moreover, we found an over-time indirect effect of ambivalence on information seeking through internal efficacy.     

Who Needs the Experts? The Politics and Practices of Alternative Humanitarianism and Its Relationship to NGOs

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Drawing on fieldwork in Greece, we examine the politics and practices of autonomous volunteering in the context of the...     

Women Contribute to Post War Sino-Japanese Relationship

Before the 1995 World Conference on Women is held in Beijing, I'd like to introduce four women who played active roles in promoting SinoJapanese relationships after World War II. They are Bing Xin and Li Dequan from China, and Koya Tomi and Matsuyama Kiko from Japan.     

Parent Marital Quality and the Parent–Adolescent Relationship: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Health Outcomes

Although a number of studies examined the implications of marital disruption for adolescent well-being, few studied the implications of marital relationship quality on health outcomes for children in married-couple families. The present study examines how parent marital quality among intact families interacts with the quality of parent–adolescent relationships to predict physical health, mental health, and substance use in middle adolescence and early adulthood. The study uses data from the NLSY97 cohort, a nationally representative sample of adolescents who are being followed into adulthood. Predictors include the quality of the parent marital relationship, the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship, marital structure, and a number of contextual covariates and control variables. Combined parent marital quality and parent–adolescent relationship groups were developed using latent class analyses and were used to predict positive and negative health behaviors during the teen and early adult years. Results indicate that adolescents in families experiencing poor marital quality fared worse on physical health, mental health, and substance use outcomes. In addition, adolescents who reported poor relationships with at least one of their parents fared worse on outcomes. Adolescents whose parents have low-quality relationships and also have poor parent–adolescent relationships tended to fare least well across health measures. Adolescents whose parents have a high-quality relationship and who have a good parent–adolescent relationship with both parents consistently had the best outcomes. Overall, poor relationships consistently undermine mental health, physical health, and substance use. Family religious activities also consistently predict better health outcomes.     

Can’t We Just Live Together? New Evidence on the Effect of Relationship Status on Health

There has been a large empirical literature on the effect of marriage on health, but scant empirical evidence on the effect of cohabitation on health, although cohabitation is increasingly common. We contributed to this literature in three ways. First we explicitly modeled cohabitation distinct from marriage. Second, we included lagged health in our models to address the dynamic process of health and health-related selection into relationships. Extant literature has failed to control for lagged health risking omitted variable bias. Rather, it has controlled for general unobservable heterogeneity using fixed effects models that have relied on limited variation in relationship status over time to identify the effect of relationship status on health. Third, we employed a continuous health index that aids in estimation and inference of dynamic models. Using the Blundell and Bond dynamic panel data estimator and 18 years of the British Household Panel Survey of nearly 18,000 adults, we found that being in a relationship is good for health, but the benefits are not unique to marriage. Our finding that cohabitation is as beneficial as marriage for health was good news for health policy as changing social norms and economic instability have delayed or impaired family formation.