Das Feuer kleiner Gruppen: Analyse der Entwicklungslogik und -dynamik eines Beratungsprozesses

The spark of small groups: An analysis of the developmental logic and dynamics of a consultancy process In the recent past large group interventions have gained increased attention in the systemic consulting literature. In contrast to this tendency, this paper focuses on the significance and effectiveness of small group interventions in business consultancy.Based on a qualitative analysis of a consultancy process, the effectiveness of small group change processes is documented here: Unlike large groups, small groups not only are far more likely to succeed in developing structures which differ from the existing organizational structures, they moreover are much more likely to develop a strong identity which helps them generate the power necessary for change. Especially in conflict situations and in situations where the pressures that are being put on an organization are increasing, small groups are more likely to maintain their identity, another crucial prerequisite for the initiation of a change process.The paper shows that consultancy systems, which differ in structure from the customer organization, are apt to serve as incubators for the development of strong groups within an organization. These small groups are able to push for organizational changes using conflicts process.     

Introduction: making the case for qualitative interviews

ABSTRACT

We introduce four papers comprising a Themed Section for this issue of the International Journal of Social Research Methodology, which together ‘Make the Case for Qualitative Interviews’. Here our aim is to show how this collection provides a timely contribution to key debates concerning the value of qualitative interviews, particularly as these are employed and analysed in much recent social scientific thinking. We explore ways to move beyond recent, sometimes constraining and occasionally dismissive, approaches to interviews in the social sciences through reframing and reconfiguring central questions germane to these debates. We also seek to challenge a broader neo-liberal trend towards valuing quantitative over depth qualitative research. Through this Introduction, and the collection of papers that follows, we seek to re-establish the value of qualitative interviews by shifting the focus from a preoccupation with what interviews can be said to do, towards questions centring on what can be done with interviews.     

Change agent's contribution to recipients' resistance to change: A two-sided story

In the change management literature, most studies on recipients' resistance to change include only the views of agents or of recipients, thereby ignoring that these parties may have different perceptions. In this quantitative study, we include the perceptions of both parties in studying the recipients' resistance and the impact of the agent's leadership behavior. In a sample of 117 agent-recipients groupings, covering 110 different change projects in 90 organizations, we found that agents perceive higher levels of recipients' resistance than do the recipients themselves. Additionally, we found that agents who create space to enable recipients to think and act differently (by employing creating behavior) report higher levels of recipients' resistance, whereas recipients perceive their resistance to be lowered when agents facilitate an emotional connection to the change (framing behavior). The depth of the change appeared to moderate the relationship between agent's leadership behavior and recipients' resistance, indicating that agents and recipients differ in which change leadership behaviors they perceive as increasing or decreasing resistance at different levels of change depth. These findings imply to reconsider the relationship between agent and recipients and we propose some promising avenues for future studies in resistance research.     

Adopting children with attachment problems.

This article describes children with significant attachment problems and summarizes the actions needed to increase the probability that such children can be successfully adopted. Healthy and disordered attachment patterns are detailed, as well as the principles and strategies that are important in parenting such children and the parenting characteristics that should be sought in selecting families for children with attachment disorder. Psychological treatment and other postadoption services necessary to support the adoption and the child's ability to successfully form a secure attachment with the adoptive parents are also highlighted.     

A Method for Computing the Fraction of Attributable Risk Related to Climate Damages

The recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on the regulation of CO₂ emissions from new motor vehicles^{( 1 )} shows the need for a robust methodology to evaluate the fraction of attributable risk from such emissions. The methodology must enable decisionmakers to reach practically relevant conclusions on the basis of expert assessments the decisionmakers see as an expression of research in progress, rather than as knowledge consolidated beyond any reasonable doubt.^{( 2,3,4 )} This article presents such a methodology and demonstrates its use for the Alpine heat wave of 2003. In a Bayesian setting, different expert assessments on temperature trends and volatility can be formalized as probability distributions, with initial weights (priors) attached to them. By Bayesian learning, these weights can be adjusted in the light of data. The fraction of heat wave risk attributable to anthropogenic climate change can then be computed from the posterior distribution. We show that very different priors consistently lead to the result that anthropogenic climate change has contributed more than 90% to the probability of the Alpine summer heat wave in 2003. The present method can be extended to a wide range of applications where conclusions must be drawn from divergent assessments under uncertainty.     

Unmet home care service needs of rural older adults with Alzheimer's disease: a perspective of informal caregivers

This study assessed unmet service needs of rural older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and identified factors that were related to these needs. Data were collected from 109 informal caregivers of AD patients. Over half of the patients experienced unmet service needs in 1 or more areas of activities of daily functioning. Informal caregiver burden and patient's gender and functional status were significantly related to patients' unmet service needs. Patients' use of formal services was marginally related to their unmet service needs. To better address patients' service needs, a comprehensive needs assessment should be conducted with both patients and their caregivers.     

COMMUNITY COHESION,ASYLUM SEEKING AND THE QUESTION OF THE ‘STRANGER’

This paper addresses the changing governance of the social through the conjunction of international, national and local strategies where attempts to regulate migration and promote community safety meet. Migration has been increasingly subjected to processes of ‘securitization’ and ‘criminalization’ that encounter and align with new pressures in ‘domestic’ crime and safety policies. The paper offers a critical evaluation of the sociological grand narratives that frame these events, arguing instead for a more nuanced analysis of the instabilities and volatilities of governance strategies and practices – and the normative issues that they bring into view.