Kurt Lewin Address: Influence, Power, Religion, and the Mechanisms of Social Control

A power/interaction model of interpersonal influence is applied to the analysis of religions as mechanisms of social control. The original six bases of power presented by French and Raven (1959)—coercion, reward, legitimate position, expert, referent, and informational—are expanded to include variants of these bases: personal reward and coercion and legitimacy of equity, reciprocity, and responsibility (Raven, 1992). Over centuries, certain sages, seers, and chieftains, feeling that they knew what was best for their people individually and collectively, have attempted to utilize these power resources (e.g., to counter tendencies toward murder, theft, adultery, mayhem, or harmful dietary practices). To implement power strategies, various preparatory devices were developed, which include the establishment of a Deity, whose ultimate reward and coercive power is enhanced by omnipotence; whose omnipresence establishes necessary continual surveillance; and whose ultimate expertise follows from omniscience. Much of what has been developed in holy works, and in supportive art and literature, can then be seen as further preparing the bases of power for social control. Tensions result when a populace that is educated to expect informational power is faced with a religion that emphasizes extreme coercion, reward, ultimate legitimate and expert power.     

Factorial Validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) in a Sample of Spanish Social Workers

Burnout has been considered important to understanding the well-being of social workers and the quality of the services they render. Despite the ample international usage of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, its psychometric properties have come into question and alternative models of measuring the inventory have been suggested. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and the applicability of a Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) in an incidental sample of 947 social workers. Three alternative models of the MBI-HSS were tested for the purpose of identifying the most suitable model for measuring burnout in Spain. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the theory that the model of three correlated factors was superior to alternative models of one and two factors. The structure of three factors (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) and 19 items showed the best adjustment and a suitable internal consistency of the dimensions of the MBI-HSS. These findings demonstrate that the MBI-HSS has validity and reliability acceptable for measuring burnout in social workers, providing valuable information to the managers of social services in order to reduce burnout among social workers. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future investigation are emphasized.     

Predicting Burnout Syndrome in Greek Mental Health Professionals

The aim of the study was to explore predictors of burnout in clinicians working across different mental health settings in Greece. The Maslach & Jackson Inventory (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI; Maslach & Jackson, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 1981, 2(2), 99–113) was used to evaluate burnout syndrome and assess the relationship between demographic factors (age, children, education, and job experience) and each sub-factor (emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA)) of the MBI. Results revealed that out of three burnout factors, EE and PA demonstrated one significant predictor each whereas DP showed no significant predictors. In addition, job experience (years in the job) was found to be a significant predictor of EE in clinical staff. Further analysis showed no significant differences across job type for EE, DP, and PA. The findings are discussed with a focus on prevention and coping strategies for clinicians working in mental health settings.     

The Social Power of Health-Care Practitioners as Agents of Change

This paper examines dominant sources of social power and influence that affect the degree to which patients adhere to recommended regimens for prevention or treatment and their rate of recovery. Referent power of health-care practitioners, as contrasted with their expert, coercive, reward and legitimate power, is expected to be most effective when internalization of medical recommendations by the patients is essential. The paper explores specific ways that a health-care professional can gain referent power, using weight control treatment as an example. It presents a conceptual framework that provides a rationale for a number of relationship-building techniques and offers evidence that referent power is effective in promoting adherence to treatment and more healthful behavior, and in influencing critical outcome measures such as weight loss. Analysis of the relative efficacy of various methods of building and using referent power and the possible limiting conditions on its effectiveness are also discussed.     

Gender, Interpersonal Power, and Social Influence

This article reviews research on gender differences in power and their effect on social influence. Evidence indicates that men generally possess higher levels of expert and legitimate power than women do and that women possess higher levels of referent power than men do. These differences are reflected, to some extent, in the influence strategies used by men and women and, more clearly, in gender differences in social influence. Women generally have greater difficulty exerting influence than men do, particularly when they use influence that conveys competence and authority. These findings indicate that gender differences in influence are mediated by gender differences in power.     

Burnout and Death Anxiety in Hospice Social Workers

Hospice work has been regarded as particularly stressful due to the complexity inherent in the provision of end-of-life care. Burnout and death anxiety are especially relevant to hospice social workers because they regularly function in a high-stress, high-loss environment. The purpose of this study was threefold: to determine the prevalence of burnout and death anxiety among hospice social workers; to examine associations between burnout and death anxiety; and to explore the factors which may contribute to the development of death anxiety and burnout. Participants completed four items: the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), the Death Anxiety Questionnaire (DAQ), a demographic questionnaire, and a set of open-ended questions. Findings indicate that mean scores on the subscales of the MBI-HSS ranged from the low to moderate range and that a strong positive correlation existed between death anxiety and the depersonalization subscale of the MBI. Three key themes emerged from the qualitative data: (a) personal interest in hospice social work developed through a variety of ways; (b) although death anxiety decreased from exposure and understanding of the death process, there was increased death anxiety surrounding working with certain patients; and (c) burnout was primarily related to workload or difficult cases.     

Power in Sibling Conflict during Early and Middle Childhood

Sources of power children use in sibling conflict during early and middle childhood were examined according to French and Raven's typology of power. Participants included 66 dyads with an older (M = 81.8 months, SD = 14.48 months) and younger (M = 56.2 months, SD = 13.03 months) sibling. Data based upon naturalistic observations were coded for conflict issues (object, procedure, and information), power types (coercive, information, and legitimate), power effectiveness (attempts and successes), and resolutions (win/lose and compromise). Siblings used coercive power in object issues and information power in procedural issues. Whereas younger siblings used legitimate power in procedural and object issues including win/lose and compromise outcomes, older siblings used coercive power in win/lose resolutions. Siblings did not differ in their effectiveness of power, but they were most effective when coercive power was employed. Findings are discussed in light of power theory and the development of conflict management skills.     

Burnout in Chinese social work: Differential predictability of the components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory

Burnout is a worldwide phenomenon among social welfare workers. This study examined how burnout affects student social workers and professional social workers. It first examined the construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory‐General Survey (MBI‐GS) scale, using data from two Chinese samples (848 student social workers and 748 professional social workers). The original three‐factor model was regarded as superior to other competing models. Investigation of the second‐order factor model indicated that exhaustion and cynicism are core components but that personal efficacy is not. The research also revealed the differential predictability of the three subscales of the MBI‐GS. Our expectation that differential patterns of effects could be predicted was largely supported. Professional efficacy plays a key mediating role in the relationship between student social workers’ professional identity and their satisfaction with fieldwork, while social workers’ cynicism is the main mediator in the relationship between their professional identity and turnover intention. Therefore, identifying at‐risk students and professional social workers to undertake appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both their professional identity and different dimensions of burnout may be an effective way to prevent students’ dissatisfaction and reduce social worker turnover.     

Gender, Self-Esteem, and Focus of Interest in the Use of Power Strategies by Adolescents in Conflict Situations Schwarzwald and Koslowsky

Considerable evidence indicates that an individual's preference of power strategies for gaining compliance is associated with personal and social variables that may affect the quality of the relationship between the parties involved. This study examined how adolescents manage conflict situations and tested the importance of personal and situational characteristics in choosing power strategies for influencing others. Using Raven's (1992, 1993) power interaction model of interpersonal influence, hypotheses regarding the relationship between gender, self-esteem, and focus of interest (self versus group), on the one hand, and power choice, on the other hand, were formulated. Eighth graders (N = 356) were given scenarios of conflict situations and were asked to indicate the extent to which they would resort to each of the power strategies listed in the questionnaire to influence the other party in the scenario. Gender and focus of interest explained most of the observed variance. Boys, as compared to girls, indicated greater influence attempts regardless of strategy type. Adolescents with a self-interest focus, as compared to those with a group interest focus, resorted more to coercion and less to dependence. Low-self-esteem adolescents preferred reciprocity when compared with high-self-esteem ones. Because gender differences explained the bulk of the variance, the discussion emphasized social ramifications concerning cross-cultural differences and gender role development as they relate to power strategy preferences.     

Quality of experience in residential care programmes: Retrospective perspectives of former youth participants

This exploratory study examined perceptions of care quality within parent‐pay youth treatment programmes such as therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centres, wilderness therapy programmes, and intensive outpatient programmes. Reflecting on their personal experiences as youths, 214 adults reported on a total of 75 different treatment settings. Two indices developed for this study measured participants' perceptions of quality of experience and the totalistic programme characteristics of their care settings. Regression analyses and ANOVA tests of means indicated a negative relationship between totalistic programme characteristics and quality of experience index scores. Significant relationships were not found between quality of experience and forcible transport, intake decade, or the amount of time in treatment.     

SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT HIV/AIDS,TRUST OF SOURCES AND PERCEIVED RISK OF INFECTION

The relationship between sources of information about AIDS/HIV, trust of the sources, how informed about AIDS people thought they were, and perceived risk to self and others were examined using three samples. One included young heterosexual students (113 females and 91 males), while the others included slightly older heterosexuals (74 females and 73 males) and homosexuals (82 males) from the general community. Homosexual men were the only group who trusted the same sources from which they received the most information (eg gay publications and AIDS organisations). Heterosexuals trusted expert sources the most, but the students received most information from magazines aimed at their peer groups and the heterosexuals in the community sample received most information from the print media. For the students, perceived personal risk was influenced most by perceived risk to male friends and people with the same sexual practices, whereas for the community samples it was influenced most by perceived risk to people with the same practices. The results suggest a strong peer influence on perceptions of personal risk of HIV infection.     

Social Status,Perceived Social Reputations,and Perceived Dyadic Relationships in Early Adolescence

This investigation examined social acceptance and popularity as correlates of perceived social reputations and perceived dyadic relationships in a cross‐sectional sample of 418 6th and 7th grade students (approximate average age of 12 years). We assessed early adolescents' social status using peer nominations and measured their perceptions of their social status, behavioral reputations, and friendships from a combination of self‐ratings and peer nominations. Social acceptance was positively related to perceptions of social acceptance and friendships and negatively related to perceptions of rejection and a victimized reputation. Popularity was positively associated with perceptions of popularity, rejection, and an aggressive reputation and negatively associated with perceptions of unpopularity and a socially withdrawn reputation. Our results were, in general, consistent with the suggestion that social acceptance is related to perceiving facets of reputations and relationships relevant to forming and maintaining friendships whereas popularity is related to perceiving facets pertinent to gaining social power.     

Perceptions of power and the management of environmental conflict: Forest politics in British Columbia

Political actors' perceptions of the contexts in which they act influence their strategies and behavior. A key element of political contexts is the configuration of power with respect to a conflict. We interviewed 28 individuals involved in British Columbia forest politics to determine their perceptions of the configuration of power, the nature of their political behavior, their dispositions with respect to institutionalized conflict resolution processes, and their policy goals. Our analysis generated two sets of conclusions. First, the B.C. government's efforts to address forest conflict will be hindered by the inconsistency between the conflict management strategy they have chosen and the mental models of politics held by key political actors. Second, the subjective realities of political actors can be used to explain variation in political behavior.     

The Role of Child Emotional Responsiveness and Maternal Negative Emotion Expression in Children's Coping Strategy Use

This study examined the additive and interactive effects of children's trait vicarious emotional responsiveness and maternal negative emotion expression on children's use of coping strategies. Ninety‐five children (mean age = 5.87 years) and their mothers and teachers participated in the study. The mothers reported on their own negative emotion expression and the children's empathic concern and personal distress tendencies. The mothers and teachers reported on the children's use of avoidant, support‐seeking, and aggressive‐venting coping strategies. Empathic concern was positively associated with the children's use of support seeking and negatively associated with the children's use of aggressive venting, whereas personal distress showed the opposite pattern of associations. Maternal negative emotion expression moderated some associations between the children's emotional responsiveness and coping. These findings support the hypothesis that children's tendencies to experience empathic concern or personal distress indicate functionally distinct styles of emotional arousal that may have broader consequences for socially competent behavior in response to normative stressors.     

A longitudinal examination of power in sibling and friend conflict

This study examined use of power resources and power effectiveness during the process and outcome of focal children's disputes with their sibling and friend across early and middle childhood. Participants included 35/46 families; focal children (15 males, 20 females) were observed at the age of four (T1) and 3 years later at the age of seven (T2) at home. Sibling and friend conflict sequences were coded for power resources (coercive physical, coercive verbal, simple information, elaborated information, legitimate), immediate power effectiveness (attempt, success), and conflict outcome. Relationship effects indicated focal children employed coercive physical and legitimate power more with siblings whereas they used simple information power more with friends during the conflict process. Focal children were more effective using legitimate power with siblings than friends in the conflict process whereas information power was used more when focal children won conflicts with friends. Regarding developmental effects, focal children employed more coercive physical power at T1 than T2 and elaborated information power at T2 than T1. In contrast, focal children were more effective using information power and coercion when winning conflicts with friends at T2 than T1. Results highlight variability in children's use of power based on relationship partner and development.     

Child welfare workers who are exhausted yet satisfied with their jobs: how do they do it?

In response to a study of Canadian child welfare workers that unexpectedly found participants scoring high on a measure of emotional exhaustion (burnout) and, at the same time, high on overall job satisfaction, this paper reviews research that has investigated these constructs in the social work literature as well as in selected studies from sociology, social psychology, management and women’s studies. The review reveals that some previous studies also report the coexistence of high levels of emotional exhaustion and strong job satisfaction in child welfare and social worker samples. Several studies have suggested that individual characteristics, including finding reward in helping others, having a commitment to the mandate of child welfare and believing that one’s labour is ‘making a difference’, contribute to satisfaction with child welfare work in spite of work overload and emotional exhaustion. Attributions regarding causes of exhaustion, coping strategies and goal orientation may also attenuate the expected negative effects of emotional exhaustion. Considerable evidence supports the positive influence of variables organizational managers can control, including job autonomy, supportive supervisors, workload, promotional opportunities and perception of personal safety. The degree to which this phenomenon is associated with female socialization and the ‘ethic of care’ underlying social work is discussed. Implications for child welfare research, practice and policy are offered.     

Association of Personal Distress With Burnout,Compassion Fatigue,and Compassion Satisfaction Among Clinical Social Workers

ABSTRACT

Studies of empathy and empathy-related responding show that while some people respond to observing the suffering of another with a prosocial concern and urge to help the suffering person, others have an aversive, avoidant response that is primarily self-focused and aimed toward relieving their own distress rather than helping the other person. This self-focused response, labeled personal distress, is associated with various social and psychological problems. This article discusses the concept of personal distress and describes a study of licensed clinical social workers (n = 171) that examines the relationship of personal distress and three other aspects of the empathy construct with compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. Results of ordinary least squares multiple regression analyses indicate that the model of empathy components and control variables explain 20% to 23% of the variance in the dependent variables. Personal distress is the only component of the empathy construct with significant associations with the dependent variables. Higher personal distress is associated with higher compassion fatigue and burnout and lower compassion satisfaction among clinical social workers. Implications for future research and for social work education are discussed.     

Issues in understanding quality volunteering in human services

Organisations providing human services are under increasing pressure to demonstrate quality from a range of sources such as new legislation and new requirements for government funding. Four dimensions for examining quality, derived from program evaluation theory, illustrated some of the contradictions surrounding these expectations. The research used a qualitative and grounded approach to exploring clients', volunteers' and coordinators' notions of quality service. The clients' and volunteers' perceptions of quality were highly experiential, related to the specific context and focussed on strong trusting personal relationships. Clients were also very conscious of their lack of power. Coordinators used a combination of approaches to try to satisfy the demands of clients, volunteers and bureaucracy.     

Substance use and decision‐making in adolescent best friendship dyads: The role of popularity

In adolescent best friendship dyads, we examined: (a) similarity in substance use and decision‐making; (b) associations between participants' decision‐making and their own and best friend's substance use, (c) the influence of relative popularity within the dyad on these associations. Participants (n = 172; 12–18 years) named their best friend, completed popularity ratings, and a substance use questionnaire. Computer tasks were administered to assess risk‐taking and immediate reward preferences. Reciprocated same‐sex best friendship dyads (n = 49) were distinguished on their popularity, and we controlled for age differences between dyads in the analyses. Best friends were similar in substance use and risk‐taking preferences. More popular friends' risk‐taking preferences were positively associated with alcohol use of less popular friends. These findings underscore best friendship similarity in risky behaviors, and the influence of popular friends.