Staying well. Factors contributing to successful community adaptation

1. Friends were rated as the most important factor in assisting former psychiatric patients to avoid rehospitalization. 2. When respondents were asked to comment on rehospitalization in their own words, the most frequent responses dealt with factors related to keeping active, developing a healthy lifestyle and positive self-image, and accepting their illness. 3. Self-help groups, community health workers, and community nurses were rated as the least beneficial in preventing rehospitalization.     

The Family Life Cycle and Clinical Intervention*

With an aim toward encouraging more precise identification and treatment of familial dysfunction, the authors suggest combining the principles of first and second order change (Watzlawick, Weakland, and Fisch, 1974) with the concept of the family life cycle (Duvall, 1971). A theoretical discussion is followed by clinical case examples.     

Abstracts in French,German, and Spanish

Abstract List

Abstracts in French, German, and Spanish     

Eliciting Metaphor through Clean Language: An Innovation in Qualitative Research

This paper shows how an innovative method of questioning called Clean Language can enhance the authenticity and rigour of interview‐based qualitative research. We investigate the specific potential of Clean Language as a method for eliciting naturally occurring metaphors in order to provide in‐depth understanding of a person's symbolic world; despite substantial interest in metaphors in the field of organizational and management research there is a lack of explicit, systematic methods for eliciting naturally occurring metaphors. We also demonstrate how Clean Language can improve qualitative research more widely by addressing the propensity for researchers inadvertently to introduce extraneous metaphors into an interviewee's account at both data collection and interpretation stages. Data are presented from a collaborative academic–practitioner project in which Clean Language was used as a method of interviewing to elicit the metaphors of six mid‐career managers, relating to the way they experienced work–life balance. The first contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of Clean Language for eliciting naturally occurring metaphors in order to provide in‐depth understanding of a person's symbolic world. The second contribution is to show how Clean Language can enhance the rigour and authenticity of interview‐based qualitative research more widely.     

The Relationship Between Maternal Education and Children's Academic Outcomes: A Theoretical Framework

The importance of maternal education for children's academic outcomes is widely recognized, and yet the multiple potential mechanisms that explain this relationship are underexplored. The authors integrate theories of human, cultural, and social capital with 2 developmental psychology theories—bioecological theory and developmental niche theory—to draw attention to how maternal education may influence children's academic outcomes through a range of parenting mechanisms, some of which have been largely neglected in research. This framework provides a more complete picture of how maternal education shapes proximal and distal influences on children's academic outcomes and the ways in which these mechanisms interact and reinforce one another across time and context. The implications of this framework for future family research are then discussed.     

Women's economic inequality and domestic violence: exploring the links and empowering women

Economic empowerment of poor households is a key entry point for development organisations concerned with economic inequality. Over the decades, gender inequality has emerged as a key concern, and the result has been women's economic empowerment (WEE) programming. This article is a study of the impact of WEE programming on domestic violence (DV) against women. While this link has received some attention in gender and development literature, evaluations and impact assessments in development organisations have not consistently focused on the possibility of increased or decreased DV as a result of the challenge WEE represents to gender power relations. Drawing on the experience of Oxfam and other development organisations, we offer recommendations for practitioners aimed at better programme integration and more holistic empowerment. Aiming to challenge economic inequality between households involves better understanding of the impact of WEE programming on intra-household gender inequality, including rates of DV. This requires planning to anticipate these possible impacts and ensure women are able to gain from programming without placing themselves at risk.