Profiles of the parents of adolescent CSA perpetrators attending a voluntary outpatient treatment programme in Ireland

A group of 22 parents of adolescent sexual offenders (PASO) was compared with a group of 19 normal controls (NC) and 10 clinical controls (CC) on demographic, developmental, personal adjustment and family environment variables. The assessment protocol included the General Health Questionnaire‐12, the Culture‐Free Self‐Esteem Inventory, the Child Behaviour Checklist, the Family Assessment Device, the Parent Satisfaction Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Compared with clinical and normal controls, more parents in the PASO group reported that they had been arrested or charged for a criminal offence; had personally experienced child abuse; and more of their adolescents had experienced child abuse, with emotional abuse being the most common form of abuse for both parents and adolescents. Compared with clinical and normal controls, more adolescents of parents in the PASO group had witnessed parental drug or alcohol abuse and had been placed in care outside their home. While parents in the PASO group did not differ from clinical or normal controls in terms of personal adjustment, their adolescents had significantly more internalizing behaviour problems than normal controls, whereas adolescents of parents in the clinical control group had significantly more externalizing behaviour problems than normal controls. Compared with normal controls, parents in both the PASO and clinical control groups reported more difficulties with general family functioning, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement and behaviour control and lower levels of parental satisfaction. However, the groups did not differ significantly in their levels of perceived social support. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Learning web analytics: A tool for strategic communication

This essay discusses the usefulness of analytical software for public relations and communication professionals. Using data from four organizations (academic, professional, governmental, and activist), the authors unpack web analytic tools and their potential for improving the strategic communication skills of students.     

‘Like walking on eggshells’: service user views and expectations of the child protection system

This paper reports on a study of service users' views on Irish child protection services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 67 service users, including young people between 13 and 23. The findings showed that despite refocusing and public service management reforms, service users still experience involvement with the services as intimidating and stressful and while they acknowledged opportunities to participate in the child protection process, they found the experience to be very difficult. Their definition of ‘needs’ was somewhat at odds with that suggested in official documentation, and they viewed the execution of a child protection plan more as a coercive requirement to comply with ‘tasks’ set by workers than a conjoint effort to enhance their children's welfare. As in previous studies, the data showed how the development of good relationships between workers and service users could compensate for the harsher aspects of involvement with child protection. In addition, this study demonstrated a high level of discernment on the part of service users, highlighting their expectation of quality standards in respect of courtesy, respect, accountability, transparency and practitioner expertise.     

The Access/Impact Problem and the Green and Gold Roads to Open Access

Abstract

The research access/impact problem arises because journal articles are not accessible to all of their would-be users; hence, they are losing potential research impact. The solution is to make all articles Open Access (OA; i.e., accessible online, free for all). OA articles have significantly higher citation impact than non-OA articles. There are two roads to OA: the “golden” road (publish your article in an OA journal) and the “green” road (publish your article in a non-OA journal but also self-archive it in an OA archive). Only 5% of journals are gold, but over 90% are already green (i.e., they have given their authors the green light to self-archive); yet only about 10–20% of articles have been self-archived. To reach 100% OA, self-archiving needs to be mandated by researchers' employers and funders, as the United Kingdom and the United States have recently recommended, and universities need to implement that mandate.     

From Gratitude to Lamentation: On the Moral and Psychological Economy of Gift,Gain and Loss

The passing of Nelson Mandela and other figures of (diverse) contemporary importance may prompt the interesting question of how we might or should understand the psychological, social and moral function of lamentation in human life. This paper aims to show that such responses are not just of emotional and interpersonal significance, but also of serious moral import. To this end, the paper proceeds via exploration of conceptually and morally suggestive correspondences or resonances between the logical grammar of lamentation—which, to be sure, has received almost no latter day analytical attention—and that of gratitude or thankfulness in which there has been an enormous explosion of academic interest in recent years. The paper argues that there is no less case for a moral virtue of lamentation, than for a virtue of gratitude.     

A Formulation Model for Use in Family Therapy

A model for simplifying complex information about a given presenting problem and integrating it into a formulation is described in this paper. The model contains three columns. In the right hand column, the cycle of interaction containing the symptom or presenting problem in which the identified patient and members of the network are caught up, is set out. In the left hand column, factors which predispose participants in this cycle to persist in this repetitive sequence of interactions are noted. In the central column (where pertinent) cognitive factors which mediate the influence of predisposing factors upon the present cycle of activity are listed. A sample formulation is first given to demonstrate the way in which the model may be used to simplify and integrate information. The implications of the model, from a clinical perspective, for assessment, treatment planning and the management of resistance, are then illustrated with a detailed case example.     

A study of live supervisory phone-ins in collaborative family therapy: correlates of client cooperation

The behavior of five supervisors, 19 trainee family therapists, and 20 clients before, during, and after 88 live supervisory phone-in events was examined in this study to determine the correlates of client cooperation. Following supervisory phone-in conversations, client cooperation was associated exclusively with the presence and quality of the collaborative behavior shown by the therapist. Isomorphism between the behavior of the supervisor and therapist was not associated with subsequent client cooperation, nor was any particular category of supervisor behavior. Surprisingly, isomorphism between the quality of supervisor and therapist behavior preceded those events where client resistance occurred.