‘It's just like another home,just another family,so it's nae different’ Children's voices in kinship care: a research study about the experience of children in kinship care in Scotland

Growing acknowledgement of the importance of the role of kinship carers in caring and supporting children and young people in Scotland has led to a burgeoning of research on this topic. However, most research has tended to focus on the role of kinship carers. A significant gap has been direct studies into the views and experiences of children and young people living with relatives or friends. This paper seeks to address this by drawing on the findings from a small‐scale qualitative collaborative research project with 12 children and young people living in informal and formal kinship care in the Northeast of Scotland. The literature on foster and kinship care is reviewed and key themes identified. The qualitative research data is outlined employing a thematic analysis approach. The key findings are analysed with a view to the potential implications for policy and practice. The paper concludes with proposals for potential future research.     

Media,Risk, and Absence of Blame for “Acts of God”: Attenuation of the European Volcanic Ash Cloud of 2010

This article analyzes the character, extent, and patterns of media coverage of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, comparing it with coverage of other major natural hazards, such as Deepwater Horizon. It does so drawing upon sociological themes and concludes that the ash cloud was reported largely in its own terms rather than being amplified as a wider, uncertain threat. As well as the absence of major incident and casualties two interrelated factors are highlighted to explain this result. Emphasizing the importance of hazard duration, the unexpected arrival and short‐lived character of the ash cloud was one important factor that limited the potential for sustained media amplification. More broadly, this was an “act of God” with no clear responsible agents. This preliminary study suggests that contemporary media risk narrative requires a focus for institutional blame attribution, and without a plausible candidate amplification may not acquire momentum.     

Family group conferences: context,process and ways forward

This is the first part of a two‐part review of the literature, policy and practice relating to family group conferences (FGCs). This first paper explores the background, the global policy context, the theoretical foundations and the process of undertaking FGCs. The literature is extensive in relation to these elements of FGCs, unlike the limited literature relating to outcomes, which is examined in the second part of this review. In the subsequent review, we examine the issue of outcomes, research findings and explore future challenges in implementing FGCs.     

Organizational values,job experiences and satisfactions among female and male psychologists1

This study examined the relationship of managerial and professional women's and men's perceptions of organizational values supportive of work–personal life integration and their job experiences, work and non-work satisfactions and psychological well-being. Data were collected from 324 women and 128 men psychologists in Australia using anonymous questionnaires. Both women and men reported benefits from such values. Women psychologists reporting organizational values more supportive of work–personal life integration also reported working fewer hours and extra-hours worked per week, greater job and career satisfaction, more optimistic career prospects, less time to job and less work stress, greater friends satisfaction, and more positive emotional and physical well-being. Men psychologists reporting organizational values more supportive of work–personal life integration also reported less job stress, greater joy in work, lower intentions to quit, greater job and career satisfaction, more optimistic career prospects, fewer psychosomatic symptoms and more positive emotional and physical well-being. Multiple regression analyses indicated more independent and significant correlates of organizational values supporting work–personal life integration among women than among men. Possible explanations for why women might benefit more from such organizational values are offered.     

Building evaluation capacity: definitional and practical implications from an Australian case study

Internationally, evaluation capacity-building activities have mushroomed as demands have increased for government-funded programs to demonstrate that they are effective and efficient. Despite this, there is a lack of clarity in the way in which evaluation capacity-building is defined and conceptualized. The current paper presents a case study of a national evaluation capacity building exercise that we are in the midst of conducting in Australia, and discusses the findings in relation to definitional, conceptual and practical issues. Specifically, we describe an evaluation capacity building exercise involving over 100 mental health projects, detailing the methods that we employ, some of the challenges that we have faced, and the benefits we feel we are achieving. Our key message is that definitions of evaluation capacity-building should not only make reference to equipping organizations to routinely conduct evaluations, but should also stress the varied uses to which evaluation findings can be put. In addition, such definitions should acknowledge some of the valuable by-products of evaluation capacity building activities, such as the development of shared understandings of the program or project being evaluated.     

African American Therapists Working With African American Families: An Exploration of the Strengths Perspective in Treatment

With the exception of Hill's (1971, 1999) work, historically much of the literature on African American families has focused more on pathology than strengths. This study used interviews with 30 African American psychotherapists, self-identified as employing a strengths perspective with African American families, to investigate which strengths they identified in the families and how they use those strengths in therapy. Themes emerging from data analysis confirmed the continued importance of the five strengths Hill noted. In addition, two new strengths were identified by the participants: a willingness of a greater number of families to seek therapy, and the importance of family structure. Strategies used in engaging the families in therapy and practice implications for family therapists are discussed.     

Maternal Sensitivity and the Learning‐Promoting Effects of Depressed and Nondepressed Mothers' Infant‐Directed Speech

The hypothesis that aspects of current mother‐infant interactions predict an infant's response to maternal infant‐directed speech (IDS) was tested. Relative to infants of nondepressed mothers, those of depressed mothers acquired weaker voice‐face associations in response to their own mothers' IDS in a conditioned‐attention paradigm, although this was partially attributable to demographic differences between the 2 groups. The extent of fundamental frequency modulation (ΔF₀) in maternal IDS was smaller for infants of depressed than nondepressed mothers, but did not predict infant learning. However, Emotional Availability Scale ratings of maternal sensitivity, coded from videotapes of mothers and infants engaged in a brief play interaction, were significant predictors of infant learning, even after maternal depression, its demographic correlates, and antidepressant medication use had been taken into account. These findings are consistent with a role for experience‐dependent processes in determining the effects of IDS on infant learning.     

Two‐Year Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: An Investigation of Relationship Satisfaction and Attachment Trajectories

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT; The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection. New York, NY: Brunner‐Routledge) is an evidence‐based couple therapy that aims to create lasting change for couples (Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6(1), 67–79). Although studies have demonstrated strong results in follow‐up (Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 28(4), 391–398), less is known about relationship functioning across time after therapy has ended. We modelled change in relationship satisfaction and attachment from pre‐therapy through 24 months follow‐up in 32 couples. HLM results confirmed a significant growth pattern demonstrating increases in relationship satisfaction and secure base behaviour and decreases in relationship specific attachment anxiety over the course of therapy and across follow‐up at a decelerated rate. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples engaged in therapy create lasting relationship satisfaction and attachment change.