Reconsidering Volunteering: Individual Change as a Result of Doing Good for Others

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Volunteerism is an important asset for the society, but also for the beneficiaries and the volunteers themselves....     

Economic Performance and Value Creation in the Lending Activities of Italian Banking Groups

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationships between income performance and the creation of value in the loan disbursement activities of leading listed Italian banking groups with reference to the period 2001–2004. In order to assess the topic a number of simple profitability ratios regarding lending activity are introduced. Subsequently, a basic model for the definition of the economic value of the loan portfolio is suggested.      

A Structural Approach to a Family with an Encopretic Child*

This article describes brief therapy using a structural approach. During the course of therapy the encopretic behavior of a pre-adolescent boy was observed in relation to the interactionand structure of the family system. The presenting problem was analyzed as a sign of family dysfunction and of the stress consequent to the parents separation. The success of the therapy didnot consist only of the disappearance of the encopretic behavior, but also in the discovery of different modalities of relating which produced a liberating effect on the identified patient and on other members of the family.     

TOWARD CONSTRUCTING THE THERAPEUTIC SYSTEM*

The authors revise some of the concepts presented in their previous publications (Andolfi & Angelo, 1981; Andolfi, Nicolò-Corigliano & Menghi, 1983) and develop them further in light of their recent clinical experience. They emphasize that the therapist is not an outside neutral observer, but an active participant in the construction of the therapeutic system. The therapist can, at different times, be caring, detached, supportive, or provocative. In the fantasy of his clients he is a person who knows how to enter into a relationship and how to move out. By entering as the third pole in various triangles and activating new dimensions of rapport, he constructs complex relationships within the evolving therapeutic process. The authors also reevaluate the importance of the individual in the family as an agent of change and as a mediator of triangular relational messages.     

Suicide risk and exposure to mobbing

The aim of this study was to study suicide risk in subjects exposed to mobbing, that is, systematic psychological harassment in the workplace. Such psychological harassment, unique to the workplace, threatens both the emotional well-being and professional ability of its victims. The items of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) that assess suicide risk were studied in 102 individuals who were exposed to mobbing. The results indicated that individuals exposed to mobbing had clear differences on the MMPI-2 from normative samples. In addition, those who appeared to be at risk for suicide differed in their scores from those not at risk. Implications for psychopathology and suicide preventions are discussed.     

Impact of performance indicators on organisations: a proposal for an evaluation model

This work aims at giving some guidelines to assess the impact of performance indicators on organisations. Performance measurement systems are usually introduced into organisations in order to monitor goal achievement, to allocate resources and to implement a strategy. However, the implementation of performance indicators may generate an alteration in the rational behaviour of the monitored structure. The risk of this impact is always present, and must be considered very carefully in order to preserve the organisation from a counter-productive effect. In the present analytical work, a reference model is proposed as a first step. This model considers all the organisational dimensions on which an indicator may exert its influence. The method makes use of the four Kaplan and Norton’s balanced scorecard perspectives in order to identify the dimensions on which an indicator may exert its impact. Previous works reported in scientific literature do not provide operational models for impact analysis, whereas, the proposed model is linked to an operative procedure in order to support management to make this analysis. The aim is to make the impact analysis less complex by structuring it in a sequence of predefined steps. The proposal is supported by some practical examples.     

The Easterlin paradox and the decline of social capital: An integrated explanation

During the most recent decades people in the US have reported both a stagnant or even declining subjective well-being, as Easterlin (Easterlin, R.A., 1974. Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In: David, P.A., Melvin, W.R. (Eds.), Nations and Households in Economic Growth. Academic Press, New York, pp. 89–125) originally observed, and deterioration in their social and family ties, as Putnam (Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone. Simon&Schuster, New York) has claimed. The paper proposes an integrated explanation of these two stylised facts by extending the analysis of the relative income explanation of the Easterlin paradox to social relationships as enjoyable ends of choice. Drawing on the evidence-based results of psychology, the paper constructs a model whose premises are (i) that individuals produce social relationships by means of relational ability, (ii) that this ability is primarily shaped during infancy, and (iii) that commercial pressure on children to consume in competition with others may displace the enjoyment of social relationships. The model is thus also able to explain the case of rich countries, like Sweden, that devote relatively more human and material resources than the US to children and adolescents, and that experience both increasing subjective well-being and improving social capital.     

Assessment for and response to adverse childhood experiences

Literature strongly suggests that early exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) disrupts crucial normal stages of childhood development and predisposes these individuals to subsequent psychiatric sequelae. Even with these data, little is found in nursing literature that discusses ACEs and their impact on adult mental health. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address how nurses approach communication with clients about and assess for traumatic life experiences. In addition, screening measures for ACEs will be presented, along with discussion about ethical responsibilities of health professionals and researchers in asking about abuse.