Third award: A follow‐up study of patients discharged as “improved” 1

In this study, the author researched his clinical practice in a community mental health center with six parental couples whose latency-aged children suffered from prevalent separation anxiety disorder symptoms. Through thematic analysis of the anamnestic process recordings of 53 parent sessions, the author's speculation on the effectiveness of the supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy techniques to psychodynamic clinical social work practice with parents was confirmed. Nine of thirteen supportive psychodynamically grounded therapy techniques were highlighted, whereas the clinical practice produced three more. The techniques permeated and shaped the author's clinical social work intervention, and a follow-up confirmed the reduction in mental health symptoms for the children and also increased parental satisfaction in response to the interventions.     

A resilience perspective on family adjustment to cross‐border work arrangements of Hong Kong residents

With the close economic relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland, cross‐border commutes for work have become an increasingly common work‐family arrangement for Hong Kong residents. Due to the special social context of Mainland China, the impact of the cross‐border work arrangement is mostly understood in terms of the cost or its negative impact on the families involved. However, this overlooks positive adjustment and its protective factors, which are present in many families. A clear conceptual framework is also lacking in previous studies. The different perspectives on work‐related mobility and family adjustment are reviewed. The resiliency perspective helps to provide a more inclusive understanding of the phenomenon. Based on the findings of in‐depth interviews with 20 families, this paper discusses the protective factors of family adjustment in relation to the cross‐border arrangements of Hong Kong residents.

随着香港与内地密切经济关系的建立,跨境工作已成为一种越来越常见于香港居民的工作与家庭安排。由于中国大陆特殊的社会环境,多数对跨境工作的理解都集中于这种工作安排对家庭的负面影响而忽略了其积极的调整和保护因素。同时,以往的研究也往往缺乏清晰的概念框架。本文回顾了不同角度讨论与就业相关的人口流动和家庭适应的研究,希望有助于提供一个更全面的理解。本文根据与二十个家庭深度访谈的结果,讨论了家庭适应的保护因素与香港居民跨境工作安排的关系。     

What do children think about their social worker? A Q‐method study of children's services

Understanding how children experience social work interventions is an important part of gauging whether what is provided is genuinely helpful. In this paper, we describe the findings from a research project using Q‐method, aimed at understanding what children involved with statutory services think about their social workers and how they experience the time they spend together. Using a pre‐existing practice framework, we explored skills including empathy, collaboration, and purposefulness from the point of view of children and young people. The participants in our study (n = 22) were insightful observers of social work practice, able to describe not only how they experienced time spent with their workers but also inferring differences in motivation and approach. In addition, workers who were described in similar terms by different young people were nevertheless experienced differently. This suggests not an archetypal “good social worker”—instead, there are skills that are good for specific children at specific times within the context of specific relationships.     

Was pet relinquishment related to foreclosure?: A spatial research note from California during the height of foreclosure

Media reports asserted that the 2008 foreclosure crisis unleashed a rash of pet relinquishments, especially in California's central valley, an area that had the highest U.S. foreclosure rates that year. However, reports on the foreclosure/relinquishment association relied on anecdotal evidence provided by animal shelters, which is known to be flawed since many people do not give a reason for relinquishment, or give a false reason. This study compares separate data sources for the central valley city of Turlock, 2008: foreclosure data from the Stanislaus County Recorder's Office (N = 235) and relinquishment data from the Turlock Animal Shelter (N = 248). Contrary to shelter driven data, these separate data sources reported only one shared address. However, spatial analyses show that foreclosures and relinquishments were concentrated in similar areas. Analyses also show that unaltered (non-spayed/neutered) dogs are more likely to be concentrated in lower socioeconomic (SES) areas. While our initial finding contradicts recent media reports, spatial analyses verify other research on the social problems associated with concentrated foreclosures, and lend support for policies designed to reduce breeding during heighted periods of foreclosure and other economic crises.     

Military Veterans Sharing First‐Person Stories of War and Homecoming: A Pathway to Social Engagement,Personal Healing,and Public Understanding of Veterans' Issues

What power, meaning and value may exist within a soldier's first‐person war story? Former Marine captain Tyler Boudreau, quoted below, suggests that constructing a personal narrative of the traumas of war and homecoming, then “asking questions” of the story, can provide a veteran with a “chart.” If this is so, can that chart help one along the road to healing from those traumas, especially when that story is shared with others? Could there be dangerous turns or pitfalls on the journey? How can a public sharing of narratives of wartime experiences help audiences to better respond to those veterans and families who must cope with a difficult transition from the battlefield to home? What guidelines can be used effectively to train and prepare storytellers for their role? In this collaborative article, strengthened by the clinical wisdom of various consulting clinicians, we examine these questions through the lenses of two programs that provide veterans opportunities to share their war stories publicly. They include the Veterans Education Project (VEP) and the “100 Faces of War Experience” project (100 Faces).     

“The chug is coming through!” “There's two chuggas!”: A longitudinal study of the social function of imitation in children's play with siblings and friends

Imitation is argued to have an important affiliative function in social relationships. However, children's tendency to imitate different play partners during naturalistic play and associations with social understanding have been overlooked. We investigated the frequency and context of imitation in a longitudinal study of 65 focal children (T1: M age = 56.4 months, SD = 5.71) during play with their older or younger sibling and a friend in two separate play sessions. Children were observed again approximately 3 years later (T2: n = 46, M age = 94.6 months; SD = 6.6). We coded focal children's verbal and nonverbal imitation of their play partner, their partner's response to being imitated, the context in which imitation occurred (e.g., pretense), and the focal child's social understanding (i.e., mental state references). Verbal imitation occurred more often than nonverbal imitation and was used most often during the contexts of play negotiations and pretense. Although focal children's imitation of both their siblings and friends increased significantly over time, children imitated friends more than siblings at T1. All play partners responded positively (i.e., smiling, laughing) most often to being imitated. Associations between focal child imitation and mental state talk with friends at T2 approached significance. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the nature of imitation during children's play interactions and support assertions that imitation is a process whereby children build affiliation, mutuality, and shared meanings in their relationships.     

Current practices in intake and service in family welfare organizations 1 : A study of the experience of eight agencies in 1934–35

Autism spectrum disorders include difficulties with social interaction, repetitive behavior, sensory sensitivity, and, often, concomitant language deficits. Psychodynamic theory is a powerful tool in explaining and treating the behavioral symptoms of autism. Specifically, the object relations theories of Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion explicate the meanings and developmental challenges associated with autism. The epistemology of heuristics, with the use of triangulation, supports psychodynamic theory as one of multiple ways of interpreting phenomena. In this particular situation, the symptoms and presenting issues associated with autism evident in this composite clinical case are drawn from one of the author’s practice. This report illustrates the use of psychodynamic formulations and treatment in the psychotherapeutic work with a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with autism whom we call Austin.     

The Time‐related Underemployment of Lone Parents during Welfare Reform,Recession and Austerity: A Challenge to In‐work Conditionality?

Reforms to UK social security benefits introduced between 2008 and 2012 that increased lone parent obligations to enter employment coincided with economic crisis and government austerity. Increases in underemployment in the broader population during this period both in terms of unemployment and time‐related underemployment raise questions regarding the extent to which lone parents not only managed to enter paid work but obtain a sufficient number of employment hours. Activation policies have increased labour market exposure at a time of greater underemployment. At the same time, high levels of economic hardship, in the context of stagnant real wage growth and benefit cuts linked to broader austerity policy, could place additional pressures on lone parent time‐related underemployment where a desire for greater employment hours to improve household income is not met by availability. We present findings showing disproportionately high growth in time‐related underemployment among lone mothers with, at peak, around one in five employed lone mothers with a youngest dependent child aged over five experiencing such underemployment. The implications to in‐work conditionality policies and the roll out of the UK's new working age benefit Universal Credit are highlighted.