A self psychological approach to the cult phenomenon

The vulnerability of certain people to cult induction and retention is an important issue in the professional psychotherapeutic community. The psychohistorical climate, interacting with personal vulnerabilities, may culminate in substantial risk. This article identifies aspects of the twinship transference that cults may exploit and suggests how clinicians may alert themselves to the possibility of otherwise unidentified cult involvement in the client's history.This article is dedicated to the author's father and to the memory of her mother.     

The true citizens of the city of God: the cult of saints, the Catholic social order, and the urban Reformation in Germany

Historical scholarship suggests that a robust cult of the saints may have helped some European regions to resist inroads by Protestantism. Based on a neo-Durkheimian theory of rituals and social order, I propose that locally based cults of the saints that included public veneration lowered the odds that Protestantism would displace Catholicism in sixteenth-century German cities. To evaluate this proposition, I first turn to historical and theoretical reflection on the role of the cult of the saints in late medieval history. I then test the hypothesis with a data set of sixteenth-century German cities. Statistical analysis provides additional support for the ritual and social order thesis because even when several important variables identified by materialist accounts of the Reformation in the social scientific literature the presence of shrines as an indicator for the cult of the saints remains large and significant. Although large-scale social change is usually assumed to have politico-economic sources, this analysis suggests that cultural factors may be of equal or greater importance.     

‘The brainy ones are leaving’: the subtlety of (un)cool places through the eyes of rural youth

The aim of this paper is to study place dynamics in relationships between academically-oriented young people and their local rural places. With point of departure in rural settings with less obvious flagship attractions and cultural assets compared to urban high amenity settings, the paper contributes to the limited literature on the perception of place among academically-oriented youth, who in future potentially belong to the professional category of knowledge workers. Addressing identity, place and the concept of cool in relation to rural youth, we analyse the ?ndings from 23 qualitative, in-depth interviews conducted with 49 young people in secondary education in two rural regions of Denmark to identify place dynamics in the relationships between these young people and their local places. The paper adds to the youth literature by demonstrating how rural youth produce, articulate and maintain identities and visions for desired futures with aspirations for urban lifestyles. Findings show that the interviewed youth's relationships to their local rural place are characterised by con?icting feelings of attachment, detachment, pride and entrapment, and that such feelings reflect on identity construction and seem to play an important role for future migration intentions.     

Natural mentoring among older youth in and aging out of foster care: A systematic review

Due to their histories of caregiver maltreatment, living instability, and potential attachment challenges associated with out-of-home care, older foster youth represent a particularly vulnerable group of adolescents at increased risk for a number of poor well-being outcomes. However, research supports the notion that a relationship with a competent, caring adult, such as a mentor, may serve protectively for vulnerable youth, and a nascent yet growing body of literature suggests that naturally occurring mentoring relationships from within youth's social networks are associated with improved outcomes among young people in foster care during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. This systematic review is the first to comprehensively identify, synthesize, and summarize what we currently know from nearly a decade of theories, concepts, and research findings pertaining to natural mentoring among adolescent youth in foster care. A bibliographic search of seven databases and personal outreach to mentoring researchers and practitioners through a national listserv yielded 38 English-language documents from academic sources and the gray literature pertaining to natural mentoring among older foster youth. We identified quantitative studies that have been conducted to test the theories and hypotheses that have emerged from the qualitative studies of natural mentoring among youth in foster care. Together, this literature suggests that natural mentoring is a promising practice for youth in foster care. Based on our findings from the systematic review, we make practice recommendations to encourage the facilitation of natural mentoring within child welfare contexts and outline an agenda for future research that more rigorously investigates natural mentoring among older youth in foster care.     

The Multiple Relationships Between Neutrality And Therapeutic Influence

The term ‘neutrality’ has multiple meanings within the literature and practice of family therapy. The first section of this paper identifies and discusses these uses. A second and more heuristic section developes linkages between neutrality and what is seen to possess professional authority. We believe these linkages tend to be obscure, only becoming accessible if the multiple, interlacing contexts within which therapists participate are examined. These contexts include:

• (i) the place given to neutrality in Western culture
• (ii) the organisations employing therapists and how these bodies view professional neutrality, and
• (iii) the expectations and experience of clients in relation to professional neutrality.

Because neutrality is so entwined with questions of professional effectiveness and power, the authors believe it is not possible to declare neutrality good or bad, possible or impossible. Rather the question should be: within what local circumstances, and in what particular senses of the term, can neutrality be effectively and ethically employed?     

Family support: A review of the literature on families of adolescents with disabilities

ABSTRACT

For all youth, adolescence is a time of great change, marked by multiple transitions. For those with disabilities, these transitions can be especially challenging for the youth and their families. Although families of adolescents with disabilities often require support, it is unclear what types of assistance are most helpful. To understand the responsibilities of and, correspondingly, supports needed for parents and siblings, the authors conducted a comprehensive literature review. Specifically, the authors examined the literature to identify the supports that families provide to their adolescent relatives with disabilities, the impacts of caring for an adolescent relative with a disability, and the assistance that families receive. The authors conclude by discussing implications for future research about family support.     

Cults and the Family

In recent years an increasing number of therapists have come into contact with ex‐cult members. Consequently there has been a renewed interest in various facets of intervention with this population. However, the effects of cult affiliation and disaffiliation on the cult member's family are not as well documented, particularly in Australia. This paper offers an overview of cult dynamics as well as some of the difficulties experienced by families whose loved one has had cult involvement.     

USE OF SELF: A PRIMER REVISITED

Use of self is a concept that is universally accepted yet equally ambiguous. Melding the professional self of what one knows (training, knowledge, techniques) with the personal self of who one is (personality traits, belief systems, and life experience) is a hallmark of skilled practice. This paper synthesizes seminal works regarding the concept of use of self and suggests a five-category typology for defining and describing use of self in social work practice. Drawing from the literature and practice wisdom gleaned from the author’s clinical, teaching, and supervisory observations, the article proposes that use of self can be operationally defined as: use of personality; use of belief system; use of relational dynamics; use of anxiety; and use of self-disclosure.     

Social work direct practice with women prisoners

Abstract

A general awareness of destructive cults is increasing with a number of groups self-destructing in recent years. What is generally less well known is the phenomenon of smaller, but no less destructive groups that are found in society. From the author's experience, few health professionals are knowledgable about cult dynamics and the variegated approach needed to address the therapeutic concerns of those who leave such groups. This paper will highlight some of the difficulties for the individual who leaves an abusive group, and will offer guidelines for the social worker who attempts to understand the needs of the ex-cultist. It will briefly outline some of the thought reforming processes that an individual can undergo in certain groups, and explore various facets of assessment and intervention.     

Strengthening youth citizenship and social inclusion practice — The Australian case: Towards rights based and inclusive practice in services for marginalized young people

This article provides a framework for understanding disadvantaged young people from a youth citizenship perspective that includes social inclusion principles and a rights based approach to service delivery. This paper will argue that a rights based and inclusive practice approach can help to enable the self-confidence, resilience and capacities of marginal youth in efforts to counter social exclusion. A social inclusion strategy that is derived from the European Union helps frame inclusive practice and is explicitly linked to an emerging national human rights and inclusive agenda for marginalized youth in Australia. Elements of inclusive service practice include youth participation in services, issues of access and equity, service responsiveness, joined-up services and user-led accountability. These elements provide a basis for bringing a citizenship framework into services, and for professional learning and education in work with marginal youth. A framework is suggested that seeks to recognise and respond to highly disadvantaged youth that includes the marginalizing ‘intersections’ of gender, racial and disability identities. Brief excerpts of secondary qualitative data on two highly vulnerable youth populations-homeless youth and Aboriginal youth-are used to highlight the need for a citizenship approach that listens and responds to these vulnerable young people in both research and practice.     

Disclosure Stress,Social Support,and Depressive Symptoms Among Cisgender Bisexual Youth

Bisexual youth are at elevated risk for depression when compared with lesbians and gay men. Research on bisexual stigma suggests that these youth are uniquely vulnerable to stress related to sexual identity disclosure. Depression associated with this stress may be buffered by social support from parents and friends. We examined the differential influence of social support from parents and friends (Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale) on the relation between disclosure stress (LGBTQ Coming Out Stress Scale) and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory) and differences by gender in a sample of cisgender bisexual youth (N = 383) using structural equation modeling. Parental support buffered the association between stressful disclosure to family and depressive symptoms, especially for bisexual men; bisexual women seemed not to benefit from such support when disclosure stress was high. This nuanced examination elucidates the ways family members and clinicians can best support bisexual youth sexual identity disclosure.     

Adolescent Violence: A Systemic and Feminist Perspective

In writing this paper I want to locate adolescent violence toward family members firmly within the spectrum of family violence, including spouse abuse, child abuse, and elder abuse. To call violence of this sort ‘challenging behaviour’, or to see it as ‘delinquency’ is to locate it outside this spectrum, where it is less subject to scrutiny from a systemic and feminist perspective. This paper looks at the relevant literature on adolescent violence, and attempts to develop family therapy theory in this difficult area. It is a companion piece to Marni Sheehan's more practice-focused paper in this issue.     

Heterogeneous relationships between family private education spending and youth academic performance in Korea

Private education in Korea, a country with one of the largest private education systems in the world, is a double-edged sword: it is culturally and socioeconomically indispensable to the youth, but financially onerous to the family. An in-depth examination of this topic is warranted due to inconsistency in the relationship between informal education and youth academic outcomes. The current exploratory study attempted to clarify this ambiguous relationship between family spending on private education and self-reported academic performance scores using quantile regression techniques and a nationally representative sample of Korean youth (N = 2,120). The methodological advantage of using quantile regression is that it allows exploration of whether the magnitude of the association between family spending on private education and academic scores differs across quantiles of academic performance. The concave representation of relationship sizes across the distribution of academic scores indicated that the magnitude is greatest around the median of the academic performance distribution, whereas the size of the coefficient is smallest at the extreme ends. In other words, reliance on mean-based results may have masked the full picture of the heterogeneous association between family spending in private education and youth academic performance. Our findings may help direct targeted strategies for improving youth academic outcomes.     

‘Befriend them but not be their friend’: Negotiations of youth practice in a digital age

ABSTRACT

‘You’ve gotta befriend them but not be their friend’ is how one youth worker thoughtfully described the secret to successful youth practice. This paper draws on experiences of youth workers in the United Kingdom to consider how the growth of digital technologies comes to be negotiated and articulated in professional practice. Situating these experiences alongside young people’s accounts, this article highlights a distinction between young people’s relationship with the digital and adult perceptions of youth and technology. The aim of this paper is to consider what factors contribute towards this divide and where adult perceptions come from, if not from the experiences of young people themselves. The article then goes on to discuss the potential consequences of the presence of technology and discourses surrounding the digital for youth worker’s engagements with young people in professional practice. Overall, this article argues for the enduring relevance of youth workers and physical youth centres in a digital age and joins several scholars in critiquing the chronic under-investment in youth workers and provision in the UK and beyond.     

Sociology and Youth

While a variety of social structural factors do influence all youth, it is critical to note that American youth are not a monolithic entity. Obviously, differences in age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status will play a part in what youth think, feel, and believe. Still, as this review of youth-oriented research indicates, the empirical focus, for the most part, has been upon white, middle-class, college students. One result of this research bias has been a tendency to generalize for all youth from data collected from a relatively small, select, youth population.
A second obvious outcome is that sociologists have largely ignored the study of poor youth; non-students; blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, American Indians; youth in the work world; youth in the military; and females.
Generally, this review of the social science research suggests that there is consensus among students of youth behavior as to the factors which influence the attitudes and behavior of contemporary youth. At the same time, it must be noted that much of what is pronounced is based on little in the way of empirical research and derived primarily from observations of a limited segment of American youth.
Finally, this review of the literature would certainly support the observation that social scientists have provided little in the way of knowledge that would be of value to policy planners, program developers, or those involved in the day to day business of youth socialization.     

Spirituality as a Form of Functional Diversity: Activating Unconventional Family Strengths

SUMMARY

Increasing attention is being given to the role of spirituality in understanding family process. Concerns often focus on the type of clientele for whom spirituality may be of importance, the role of spiritual beliefs in helping to sustain family problems and the sometimes conflicting dynamics between religious identification and spiritual awareness. Assumptions about “what needs to change” dominate literature regarding interventions within spiritual belief systems. This article suggests that consideration for what needs to stay the same also has significant implications for effective practice. If “what needs to stay the same” is inherent in unconventional family strengths we are called to see what may not otherwise be apparent when using traditional ways of knowing. Spirituality emerges from a well-spring of deep culture that is reflected in roles, rules and patterns integral to family life and family survival.     

Self-identified strengths among youth offenders charged with assault against a non-intimate family member

Youth involved in the criminal justice system are particularly vulnerable to increased risk for continuing offending behaviors since aggressive and/or violent behavior compromise developmental growth. The present study seeks to build on the current literature related to youth offenders by using an exploratory qualitative approach to analyze strength-based asset interviews completed by youth referred to a diversion program. Results revealed four distinctive themes: 1) hardiness, 2) grit, 3) social competence, and 4) empathy. Broadening the scope of research focusing on youth offenders, the present study offers a number of implications for social work practice.     

Vital tasks and roles of frontline workers facilitating job inclusion of vulnerable youth

Researchers and others are worried about the marginalization of vulnerable youth who drop out of school and work. Frontline workers are key support givers for vulnerable youth, but they have been described as professionals who lack a recognized body of knowledge they can rely on. This article investigates vital frontline roles and tasks related to job inclusion of vulnerable youth. Qualitative data are drawn from 16 Norwegian pilot projects aimed at developing social work approaches among vulnerable youth. The challenges and the support provided resemble those in other European countries. Cross-case analysis suggests four main support roles: (1) administration and securing of basic needs, (2) connection and relationship building, (3) job enabling, and (4) job customisation. Combining roles 1 and 2 with roles 3 or 4 seems to improve the outcomes, meaning that they improve the capabilities of vulnerable youth to find and master a job when that is something they have reason to value. Since this topic has been little explored for vulnerable youth, this article contributes to further developing job inclusion support for this target group in particular.     

Family support in late life: A review of the literature on aging,disability, and family caregiving

ABSTRACT

For older adults and people with disabilities in the United States, family caregiving is an important part of remaining at home and in the community. As care recipients and caregivers age, family dynamics change, and the health, social, and financial impacts of this (largely unremunerated) work have implications for individuals, families, and social policy. In this review, the authors map the literature across multiple fields related to disability and aging to understand caregiving in late life, what it means to be an older caregiver and/or to care for older people. The authors summarize the findings of 97 articles to address the care, services, and supports family caregivers provide for older adults; negative and positive impacts for caregivers serving in this role; supports that family members use or need; and societal impact of family caregiving. Much of the literature describes the work family caregivers provide and negative impacts of caregiving. Less attention is devoted to caregiving benefits, supports used by family caregivers, and societal impacts. The authors conclude with an agenda for future research that attends to the need for research that includes: more diverse samples, new types of caregivers, longitudinal data, qualitative data and analysis, and comparative research.     

The Role of Social Support in the Transition From Foster Care to Emerging Adulthood

Many youth leave foster care with disrupted relationships with their family and others in their social networks. Previous research has documented the severe adversity that former foster youth face in the transition to young adulthood. Perhaps some difficulties are at least partially related to a lack of social support that results from frayed relationships. This article reviews the literature on social support, particularly as it relates to foster youth, for the purpose of examining the role that formal and informal supports play in the transition to adulthood. The implications of this literature for successful transitions for former foster youth are discussed, as well as ways child welfare workers can engage youth and their families, and help them develop supportive social networks.