Helping parents by working with their children in individual child therapy

The paper describes a small scale pilot process and outcome study that was undertaken at the University of York. The study is based on accounts of treatment interventions with children conducted by trainee play therapists studying on the University's programme in non‐directive play therapy. These are being used to develop a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of non‐directive play therapy as an intervention for distressed and maltreated children. The focus of this paper is on one finding of the study, namely that play therapy undertaken with individual children, in addition to bringing about improvements in the children's problems, may improve their parents’ parenting behaviour if they are appropriately involved in the therapy. The paper describes the cases and their outcomes at a 6‐month follow‐up. It illustrates the finding of changes in parenting behaviour through three case studies, and discusses the kinds of changes, possible reasons for them, and necessary practice requirements if these changes are to take place. The paper concludes that engaging parents in a broadly collaborative effort may be facilitated by a primary initial focus on their children.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Contextual Exposure to Peers with College Educated Parents and Students' College Enrollment

Students with college educated parents are more likely to attain higher levels of education than students of parents with lower levels of education. Past research has explained this favorable outcome as the result of advantageous placement and greater availability of educational resources. Using data from Add Health and AHAA, we find evidence that exposure to students of college educated parents at the school level and within courses increase the likelihood of four year college enrollment even after controlling for family background, achievement, and placement. We also found that exposure to students of college educated parents has especially strong positive effects on college enrollment for students whose own parents do not have a college degree. These findings suggest that greater exposure to students of highly educated parents at the school level and within courses partially explains the favorable educational attainment of students with college educated parents.     

Green grey hairs: A life course perspective on environmental engagement

ABSTRACT

Older adults provide a long view of understanding environmental engagement from their early beginnings to their current community activities. This study draws on interviews with self-described environmentalists and follows a life course analysis that employs social work values and practice skills as they work towards environmental justice in their Midwestern communities. We conclude that the older adults of this second generation of environmentalists offer valuable lessons for social workers with regard to environmental justice, while at the same time contributing insights into older adult volunteering and addressing the challenge of a generational gap in participation in their community organizations.     

Practice What You Preach: An Exploration of DBT Therapists Personal Skill Utilization in Burnout Prevention

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between DBT therapists personal skill use on burnout and stress levels. The study was exploratory in nature and used a mixed methods convenience sample that surveyed DBT practitioners through an international list serve. Burnout and stress were measured, along with skill use and demographic information in a sample of 135 participants. The main findings suggest that DBT practitioners use DBT skills on their own and report benefits of doing so in their personal lives; perceived stress in the workplace is a predictor of burnout; and DBT skill use was a significant predictor of decreased burnout for DBT practitioners. On a whole, the sample of respondents had very low burnout scores with only 3.7% of those surveyed scoring above the burnout threshold. Implications for general mental health practitioners and future research were also explored.     

From the Cradle to the Grave: Funeral Welfare from an International Perspective

This article reports on a pilot study examining funeral welfare for citizens from low income backgrounds. Through a review of funeral welfare provision in 12 capitalist democratic countries it seeks to inform the current system of state support in Britain, arguing that insufficient attention has been given to funeral costs as a policy issue. Mindful of the British welfare state's original ‘cradle to grave’ ethos, such attention is ever more pressing in light of rising funeral costs, an ageing population and projected increases in the death rate. Arguing that funeral costs are an issue of income support, the article draws on Esping‐Andersen's threefold welfare‐regime typology to situate the British system within a comparative study of funeral welfare that identifies similarities and differences both within and between the three welfare‐regime types. On the basis of an empirical example, the article further argues that systems of funeral welfare reflect the relationship between culture, politics and local practice. The findings indicate that the British system is hampered by a discourse of welfare dependency rather than entitlement, which stigmatises those who need support with funeral costs at a time when they are under pressure to ensure that the deceased person receives a ‘dignified’ send‐off.     

The role of organizational leaders in employee emotion management: A theoretical model

The actions of organizational leaders are important determinants of the emergence, management, and consequences of employee emotional experience. However, the nature and dimensionality of leader emotion management and the behaviors that constitute such management are largely unknown. The authors present a comprehensive, theoretically-derived model of leader emotion management which clarifies the nature of emotion management and its role in leadership. This model also delineates the knowledge and skill-based antecedents of emotion management and the consequences of such management. Specifically, we propose linkages between particular KSAOs and specific emotion management dimensions and between those dimensions and particular individual and organizational outcomes. The model is meant to serve as a framework to guide empirical efforts in investigating the nature and correlates of leader emotion management.     

Opposition‐Defiance in the Second Year of Life: A Population‐Based Cohort Study

Recent epidemiological evidence suggests that even in the midst of the “terrible twos,” frequent/severe oppositional‐defiant behaviors (ODBs) are not common among toddlers and hence may be indicative of a significant opposition‐defiance problem. The main objective of this study was to obtain a maximum likelihood estimate of the proportion of toddlers in the general population who are reported to exhibit ODBs on a frequent basis, and to test for gender differences therein. Data came from The Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a survey of a representative birth cohort of children from the Canadian province of Québec. Multigroup latent class analysis was used to distinguish between toddlers who exhibit ODBs on a frequent basis and those who do so only occasionally or not at all. The results show that 12.4% of 17‐month‐old boys and girls exhibit ODBs on a frequent basis. Further, the results show a strong positive association between opposition‐defiance and physical aggression early in life, with a great majority of physically aggressive toddlers exhibiting ODBs on a frequent basis. In contrast, the results show that only a minority of toddlers who may be experiencing a significant opposition‐defiance problem exhibit physically aggressive behaviors on a frequent basis.