Characteristics of effective providers of marital and family therapy in rural mental health settings

Characteristics of effective providers of marital and family therapy (MFT) in rural mental health settings were investigated. The survey sample included 74 members of the National Association for Rural Mental Health who, through a modified Delphi process, created a composite picture of effective MFT providers. The findings yielded six major rank-ordered characteristics of effective MFT providers in rural mental health settings, with effective skills in MFT ranked first. Rural community understanding, appreciation and participation ranked second. Specific competencies contributing to each major characteristic were also identified and are discussed. Recommendations for use of this information are provided.     

A theory of recovery

1. Mental illness generally involves a loss of self--the meaning and purpose that once defined life are gone. 2. People respond to loss of self by asking "why." 3. Whether or not people find answers to "why" questions, they need to move on to asking, "How do I proceed?" 4. Action based on answers to "how" questions provides new meaning and purpose.     

Civil Society Research Funding from a Global Perspective: A Case for Redressing Bias,Asymmetry, and Bifurcation

This paper adopts a global perspective to review the current situation with respect to the systematic study of civil society. It locates the analysis in a geohistorical framework, arguing that, as a distinct area of scholarship, contemporary civil society research is a two-track post-Cold War phenomenon exhibiting major shortcomings. A new type of dedicated research financing and process of allocation could redress today's research limitations in ways that will beneficially cross-fertilize parallel approaches and epistemological traditions while increasing the spread of centers dedicated to such knowledge generation. The analysis leads to suggestions for a civil society research agenda and investment principles.     

“Something More”: The Meanings of Marriage for Religious Couples in America

This study focused on how couples’ beliefs about marriage and religion shape the meanings they find in their marriage. Interviews about connections between religion and marriage were conducted with 57 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim couples in New England and northern California. Qualitative analyses found the major theme, common across faith traditions, was that marriage is a sacred union that is “something more": more than the self, more than the couple, and more than the family unit. To these couples marriage is divine and institutional and a vital support for their relationship. Our findings raise an interesting counterpoint to the current scholarly discourse about the deinstitutionalization and individualization of contemporary marriage. Institutionalized features of marriage may retain their strength in contemporary society as many religious couples, and perhaps many other couples as well, believe marriage is something more than the deinstitutionalized, private relationship that many scholars now see.     

Being Judged,Being Assessed: Young People’s Perspective of Assessment in Youth Justice and Education

Research from the Economic and Social Research Council programme on Pathways Into and Out of Crime prioritised young people’s ‘voices’ in exploring experiences of crime and a range of intervention services. Drawing on data from interviews with 110 young people, this paper explores their perspectives of professional assessment. Embedded within neo‐liberal youth welfare policies are a number of contradictions. Policies encourage ‘individualisation’, ‘responsiblisation’ and ‘self‐realisation’ while also needing to maintain control and regulation of ‘risky’ populations. This paper explores the implication of these contradictions through examining the experiences of young people being assessed in youth justice and education. The impact on their identities as neo‐liberal citizens is discussed in the conclusion.     

Project Success: A Multidimensional Strategic Concept

This article presents projects as powerful strategic weapons, initiated to create economic value and competitive advantage. It suggests that project managers are the new strategic leaders, who must take on total responsibility for project business results. Defining and assessing project success is therefore a strategic management concept, which should help align project efforts with the short- and long-term goals of the organization. While this concept seems simple and intuitive, there is very little agreement in previous studies as to what really constitutes project success. Traditionally, projects were perceived as successful when they met time, budget, and performance goals. However, many would agree that there is more to project success than meeting time and budget. The object of this study was to develop a multidimensional framework for assessing project success, showing how different dimensions mean different things to different stakeholders at different times and for different projects. Given the complexity of this question, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and two data sets were used. The analysis identified four major distinct success dimensions: (1) project efficiency, (2) impact on the customer, (3) direct business and organizational success, and (4) preparing for the future. The importance of the dimensions varies according to time and the level of technological uncertainty involved in the project. The article demonstrates how these dimensions should be addressed during the project’s definition, planning, and execution phases, and provides a set of guidelines for project managers and senior managers, as well as suggestions for further research.     

Improving Weight of Evidence Approaches to Chemical Evaluations

Federal and other regulatory agencies often use or claim to use a weight of evidence (WoE) approach in chemical evaluation. Their approaches to the use of WoE, however, differ significantly, rely heavily on subjective professional judgment, and merit improvement. We review uses of WoE approaches in key articles in the peer‐reviewed scientific literature, and find significant variations. We find that a hypothesis‐based WoE approach, developed by Lorenz Rhomberg et al., can provide a stronger scientific basis for chemical assessment while improving transparency and preserving the appropriate scope of professional judgment. Their approach, while still evolving, relies on the explicit specification of the hypothesized basis for using the information at hand to infer the ability of an agent to cause human health impacts or, more broadly, affect other endpoints of concern. We describe and endorse such a hypothesis‐based WoE approach to chemical evaluation.     

Reducing Bushfire Risk by Planning and Design: A Professional Focus

While links between planning and resilience are increasingly touted as fundamental to managing urban settlements, there are limited practical examples. This paper provides an example via regulatory processes, in parallel with the exercise of professional discretion. Using analysis of diverse urban planning proposals in bushfire prone areas of Victoria Australia, a systematic and site-specific approach for bushfire risk assessment is set out. A three-step process is proposed as a basis for delivery of design solutions to manage bushfire risks. The paper concludes by arguing that professional judgement is a fundamental part of bushfire risk reduction within a regulatory framework.     

The strategic role of Human Resource Development in managing core competencies

The Resource-Based View (R-BV) of strategy emphasizes the importance of core competencies as the critical basis for sustainable competitive advantage. Yet, discussions of strategy typically ignore the role of the Human Resource Development (HRD) function in core competency development and management. The literature on strategic HRD is reviewed to locate the R-BV as a basis for redefining HRD's role in organizational strategy. Three strategic roles for the HRD function in core competency management are proposed and discussed: participating in strategic planning, developing core competencies, and protecting them. Specific tasks for each role are proposed. The final section identifies needs for further research as well as the practical implications from this discussion.     

Does the Stock Market Gender Stereotype Corporate Boards? Evidence from the Market's Reaction to Directors' Trades

Attitudes towards male and female managers within organizations are well documented, but how the stock market perceives their relative capabilities is less studied. Recent evidence documents a negative short‐run market reaction to the appointment of female chief executive officers and suggests that female executives are less informed than their male counterparts about future corporate performance. These results appear to dispute the stock market value of having women on corporate boards. However, such short‐run market reactions may retain a ‘gender bias’, reflecting the prevalence of negative stereotypes, where the market reacts to ‘beliefs’ rather than ‘performance’. This study tests for such bias by examining the stock market reaction to directors' trades in their own companies' shares, by measuring both the short‐run and longer‐term returns after the directors' trades. Allowing for firm and trade effects, some evidence is found that, in the longer term, markets recognize that female executives' trades are informative about future corporate performance, although initially markets underestimate these effects. This has important implications for research that has attempted to assess the value of board diversity by examining only short‐run stock market responses.