Conflict and Creativity in Groups

Consultants and researchers have long recognized the debilitating effects that conflict between group members can have on both group and individual outcomes . Yet less attention has been paid to the important role that conflict may play in helping generate innovative solutions to ill-structured problems . Furthermore , conflict (properly managed) is critical to the avoidance of groupthink (i . e ., the tendency to sacrifice quality decision making and problem solving for the sake of consensus and conflict avoidance) . What strategies can group members use to incorporate conflict , or more specifically , dissent in group problem solving? We argue that the delivery of dissenting opinions (negative evaluations) affects the extent to which dissent fosters creativity . We report the results of an experiment in which the target of negative evaluations was varied (e . g ., source of an idea vs . idea itself ) and compared to a condition in which no negative evaluations were incorporated . The results show that (1) creativity is higher in the conditions involving idea-targeted negative evaluations than source-targeted or no negative evaluations; (2) negative evaluations from others increase in conditions in which there are source-targeted negative evaluations and idea-targeted negative evaluations , compared to no negative evaluations; and (3) group members report higher levels of satisfaction when working under conditions involving idea-targeted negative evaluations , compared to source-targeted or no negative evaluations . We discuss the implications of this research for organizational settings , with particular attention to how they might inform the design of group decision support systems .     

Alternative to incarceration for low‐income non‐custodial parents

Increasingly, low‐income non‐custodial parents in the USA, primarily fathers, are at risk of incarceration for failure to make child support payments, clogging the prison system, preventing already at‐risk fathers from holding a job and removing them from relationships with their children. This paper examines an innovative programme in one south‐eastern state that provides an alternative to incarceration for non‐compliant parents, also allowing fathers an opportunity to find gainful employment; to learn valuable life skills; and to establish healthier relationships with their children. Data analysis from 3 years of programme implementation suggests that low‐income non‐custodial fathers enrolled in the Alternative to Incarceration programme have a much greater chance to fulfil their obligations, both as wage earners and as parents, when they are in a programme that provides life skills, helps them find employment and provides other supports to help them improve their life situation rather than incarcerating them for non‐payment of child support. Furthermore, this programme represents a substantial cost savings to the state, as hundreds of fathers have remained outside of the prison system. To date, this alternative to incarceration is a promising solution to a previously intractable problem.     

Can a Self-Regulation Skills and Cultural Arts Program Promote Positive Outcomes in Mental Health Symptoms and Academic Achievement for At-Risk Youth?

ABSTRACT

Self-regulation skills programs focusing on emotional regulation and executive functioning and arts programs have separately demonstrated reductions in internalizing and externalizing disorders and academic difficulties and have shown improvement in self-regulation skills. This study sought to evaluate participants in Prodigy (a program synthesizing arts and self-regulation skills) regarding changes in mental health symptoms and academic performance. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest was conducted with 108 at-risk adolescents and their parents. Significant reductions in internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms and increases in academic self-efficacy with positive trends in improved academic achievement were noted. Future research regarding the potential of these two modalities is discussed.     

Electile Dysfunction

This essay combines Burke's burlesque frame and Jamieson's double binds to create a hybrid gendered theory for rhetorically analyzing the aggressive sexualization of 2008 United States vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The essay develops our theory titled the “burlesque binds” and explicates a specific form of a burlesque bind: the “MILF frame.” Palin's aggressively sexualized representation was united under the crass acronym MILF, which stands for “Mom I'd Like to Fuck.” The MILF frame emphasized Palin's feminine qualities, positioning her as a “trophy vice” with no political acumen, and highlighted her masculine behaviors, but deflated them through sexual objectification. The unification of the binds and burlesque theories reveals how Palin's role as a social actor was not simply circumscribed but shut down: she was deemed unfit by both masculine and feminine standards, by both public and private sphere conventions. Although Sarah Palin has arguably been the most prevalent subject of the political MILF frame, our essay catalogues other instances of female political leaders experiencing this type of symbolic degradation, suggesting the MILF frame's vast influence.     

Conflicts of interest in academic research: policies, processes, and attitudes

Few studies have examined academic researchers' understandings or attitudes toward conflict of interest policies even though these understandings and attitudes represent a crucial component of both compliance and educational efforts. This study reports the results of a large-scale, cross-sectional survey of research faculty at the nine campuses of the University of California regarding their understandings of and attitudes toward campus conflict of interest policies. We gathered information on their general assessments of investigators with financial ties to industry sponsors and reactions to the process of implementing conflict of interest policies at their respective campuses. We surveyed 1,971 faculty members from the nine-campus University of California system and had 779 responses (39% response rate). The sampled faculty were in the ten departments with the most number of financial disclosures at each campus. We utilized the WebSurveyor software to create a secure, online, 21-item survey. Our study reveals faculty with complex, sometimes contradictory, feelings about academic-industry relationships and highlights perceived gaps in policy and process. Most respondents were concerned about unlimited financial relationships, but a sizable number also viewed campus policies as irrelevant. Some expressed considerable anger over the process of policy implementation, rejecting the policies on the basis of professional and individual self-determination and moral integrity. Our study suggests the need for renewed efforts to encourage awareness of the relevance of conflict of interest policies for all faculty, new efforts to increase understanding of the situational nature of conflicts of interest, and reexamination of the processes of policy implementation at the campus level.     

Evaluating risk: global fees and episodic care

In 1999, two articles in The Physician Executive -- "Part I: Global Theory and the Nature of Risk (July-August)." and "Part II: Towards a Choice-Based Model of Managed Care (October-November)" -- outlined the flaws of orthodox managed care theory and highlighted the unique advantages of moving to a genuinely market-based model, which included the concept of direct contracting for integrated episodes of care. This follow-up focuses on comparing an episode contracting system to a traditional capitated program and outlines the features that make this approach much more attractive to physicians, payers, and most importantly patients.     

Stalking and other forms of intrusive contact after the dissolution of adolescent dating or romantic relationships

Social science research has recently begun to focus on stalking and other forms of intrusive contact occurring among adolescents and young adults. This article presents results from a survey of 681 undergraduates about their experiences with stalking or other forms of intrusive contact occurring after the end of a dating or romantic relationship. Twenty percent of the respondents had been the target of intrusive contact, 8% had initiated intrusive contact, and 1% had been the target of intrusive contact after one relationship and had initiated intrusive contact after another. More females than males were the target of intrusive contact; however, there were no sex differences associated with initiating intrusive contact. About 20% of the respondents had feared for their safety during the intrusive contact. Thirty-one percent of the respondents described the intrusive contact as having a decidedly negative influence on either their subsequent dating relationships or their lives in general.     

Drinking Game Participation Among Undergraduate Students Attending National Alcohol Screening Day

Abstract

Objectives, Participants, Methods: Drinking game participation has increased in popularity among college students and is associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. The current study investigated drinking game participation among 133 undergraduates attending National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) in April of 2007. Results: A large percentage of the sample reported lifetime (77%) and recent (52%) drinking game participation. Males were more likely to report recent participation and reported higher levels of consumption while playing drinking games. Drinking game participants were more likely to experience a range of alcohol-related problems, and the relationship between drinking game participation and alcohol-related problems was mediated by weekly alcohol consumption. Conclusions: These results suggest that drinking game participation is a risk factor for elevated levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Programs should be developed to educate students about the risks of drinking game participation, and prevention programs like NASD should address drinking games.