ONE PERSPECTIVE ON THE MILAN SYSTEMIC APPROACH: PART II. DESCRIPTION OF SESSION FORMAT,INTERVIEWING STYLE AND INTERVENTIONS*

The Milan method of working with families includes a number of unique innovations. Among these are a pattern of creative teamwork that clearly separates the cognitive constructions of the therapist in contrast to the belief systems of the family, a style of interviewing that releases information latent in the family, and some novel interventions that facilitate the family's capacity to discover its own non-symptomatic solutions.     

Strangers meet: Laughter and nonverbal signs of interest in opposite-sex encounters

When strangers of the opposite-sex meet for the first time, both sexes are in a difficult situation. In this high risk situation, neither person knows the intention of the other, and consequently non-verbal signalling becomes the major channel for communication. Because of their higher biological risk, females should prefer less obvious tactics in order to communicate interest in a potential partner than males. The tactical task of signalling clearly, but at the same time subtly, is solved by the use of multifunctional or metacommunicative signals. In this study we propose that there is not one single meaning for any given signal. In laughing loudly we find a signal which consists of acoustical, mimical and postural information. In this way either laughter can send a this is play message or its meaning can be modified by other signals. Thus laughter, together with its accompanying body postures and movements, conveys messages that range from sexual solicitation to aversion, depending on which and how many different signals are present. Males seem to communicate interest for the female during laughter with only a few signals, such as body orientation and dominance signals. In contrast, females communicate interest via numerous signals which function as signals of bodily self-presentation and submission. In both sexes, a lack of interest is communicated through closed postures.Polly Wiessner, Jay Feierman and John Dittami have significantly helped with their ideas and have corrected what the author thought was the English language.     

A Systems Perspective on Forgiveness in Organizations

Despite the widespread interest in forgiveness across a diversity of disciplines, the study of forgiveness has been strongly influenced by a psychological (i.e. individual-level) approach. Although this has provided many fruitful insights, it has also resulted in a fragmented literature that has underemphasized the multilevel and contextual nature of this phenomenon. Drawing upon a broad multidisciplinary approach, we provide a singular definition of forgiveness and integrate research on forgiveness into a multilevel systems approach. In doing so, we demonstrate that a deeper understanding can be realized by conceptualizing forgiveness as a part of a system of interconnecting psychological, social, structural, and cultural relations. By embedding forgiveness into context, our systems perspective provides novel insights into the factors that facilitate and constrain forgiveness at multiple levels of analysis, how the interplay between contextual levels can shape forgiveness at lower levels (e.g. individual level), and how examining forgiveness in organizational contexts can highlight the importance of examining other outcomes (e.g. reconciliation, peaceful co-existence, and détente) as well as facilitate the development of actionable theory.     

The distinction between work pace and working hours in the measurement of quantitative demands at work

During recent years many researchers have criticized the widely used scales on psychological job demands. For instance, they comment that in most cases different types of demand seem to be mixed in one measure. In this paper we analyse the scale on quantitative job demands in the recently developed Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), with special emphasis on Differential Item Functioning (DIF). DIF refers to basic differences between groups of respondents, which may affect how they respond to questionnaire items. The data material for our study comprised a representative sample of Danish employees. The respondents were categorized into 32 specific jobs according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 1968). We analysed DIF with respect to the respondents’ jobs with logistic regression analyses. These analyses showed that the items used in the original demand scale functioned very differently for different jobs in the population. The conclusion is that scales on quantitative demands are very sensitive to the choice of specific items. If many items on fast work pace and tempo are included in a scale, a number of blue-collar jobs will be identified as high-demand jobs. If, on the other hand, many questions on long working hours and overtime are included, the use of the scale will result in an entirely different picture. This issue has so far received little attention in occupational health psychology. The results have wide theoretical and methodological implications for research on quantitative job demands.     

Is Eradication of the Pinewood Nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) Likely? An Evaluation of Current Contingency Plans

The pinewood nematode (PWN) is one of the worst tree‐killing exotic pests in East‐Asian countries. The first European record of establishment in Portugal in 1999 triggered extensive surveys and contingency plans for eradication in European countries, including immediate removal of large areas of conifer host trees. Using Norway as an example, we applied a simulation model to evaluate the chance of successful eradication of a hypothetical introduction by the current contingency plan in a northern area where wilting symptoms are not expected to occur. Despite a highly variable spread of nematode infestations in space and time, the probability of successful eradication in 20 years was consistently low (mean 0.035, SE 0.02). The low success did not change significantly by varying the biological parameters in sensitivity analyses (SA), probably due to the late detection of infestations by the survey (mean 14.3 years). SA revealed a strong influence of management parameters. However, a high probability of eradication required unrealistic measures: achieving an eradication probability of 0.99 in 20 years required 10,000 survey samples per year and a host tree removal radius of 8,000 m around each detection point.