Resident interaction and social well-being in an oil boomtown in western North Dakota

Previous studies on the social well-being of residents living in energy boomtowns focus primarily on demographic characteristics of residents. These studies do not consider that there could be a relationship between residents’ social well-being and whether they interact with new residents moving into their community. The current study includes a measure of interaction with new residents as it examines five dimensions of the social well-being of residents living in an oil boomtown in western North Dakota. Surveys were distributed door-to-door to residents living in Williston North Dakota during the fall of 2015. Research findings show that people who reported that they interact with new residents moving into their community felt safe from crime and violence in their community; felt more socially integrated in their community; had high levels of community trust and community satisfaction, and believed that they could count on their neighbors. These findings are important because they highlight the significance of social interaction in communities that experience rapid population growth resulting from increased energy production.     

Mindfulness in Patients With Gambling Disorders

This study explored facets of mindfulness between patients diagnosed with a gambling disorder (n = 26) and a community sample of non-gambling-disordered individuals (n = 33). Multivariate statistics comparing group differences showed the gambling-disordered patients exhibited significantly lower levels of mindfulness, emotional regulation, stress coping, and impulse control compared to the non-gambling-disordered group. Overall, gambling severity was negatively associated with higher levels of mindfulness and positively linked to indices of emotional dysregulation, stress proneness, and impulsivity. Correlations between mindfulness and emotional dysregulation and impulsivity were much stronger than those between mindfulness and the severity of disordered gambling behaviors as measured by the National Opinion Research Center DSM Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS). These findings are discussed in the context of possible implications for future directions in exploring mindfulness-based interventions as a plausible intervention among those with gambling disorders.     

Unequal Conditions of Care and the Implications for Social Policies on Young Carers

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Young carers are the subject of public policies in the UK, which aim to address their needs as a group experiencing disadvantage relating to their caring...     

Reflective Practice: An Exercise in Exploring Inner Dialogue and Vertical Polyphony

The dialogical notion of vertical polyphony, referring to multiple internal voices, is explored in relation to clinicians’ professional and personal selves. We describe an experiential training exercise developed to enhance clinicians’ awareness and understanding of their inner dialogue, and create space to practice what Schön terms ‘reflecting‐in‐action’ and ‘knowing‐in‐action.’ The exercise involves stages of personal reflection, discussion in groups of two or three, and shared learning by the group. A number of variations of the exercise are described. The invited commentaries following the article provide a sense of participants’ reactions to the exercises. Readers are invited to adapt the exercise to suit their own setting and to enhance reflective practice.     

Is There a Place for Biopsychosocial Formulation in a Systemic Practice?

There is a long history of literature concerning integrative practice and how a systemic practice can fit with other models of therapy Much of this literature has focused on establishing a space for systemic therapy within the dominant medical paradigm, and exploring how the medical model can be enhanced by systemic ideas. The outcome has been better practice, especially in child and adolescent mental health. Interestingly, however, there has been less discussion of the converse: the family therapy literature has rarely considered whether or not systemic practice itself can be enhanced by ideas from the dominant medical model. This article proposes that a biopsychosocial formulation can enhance systemic practice by: (I) holding clinicians accountable for their thinking; (2) facilitating a rigour and attention to detail that may prove useful when therapy falters; (3) opening up other possibilities for intervention; and (4) providing a way to engage with the dominant medical paradigm and support clients in negotiating their way through this system. Potential problems nevertheless arise when integrating a biopsychosocial formulation into a systemic framework. This article identifies these problems and presents ideas for how they can be managed in practice.