Marriage and family therapist interns' experiences of growth

Few studies have investigated therapist interns' growth experiences, both personal and professional, and the interplay between them. This qualitative study explored the reciprocal process of growth during clinical training: the personal life experiences that affect professional growth and the professional/clinical experiences that affect personal growth. Thirteen marriage and family therapist interns, using Internet discussion formats, identified numerous personal, clinical, and professional growth experiences. Implications of this study, illustrating the recursive and interactive flow between therapists' personal and professional growth, are presented.     

Review essay

This paper describes the use of a new teaching method that was developed to encourage students in their first years of study in social work at the Department of Social Work in Athens/Greece to improve their empathy and understanding toward vulnerable populations. The so called ‘diversity dolls’ method is a powerful as well as creative multiapproach that uses dolls (hand crafted dolls and/or readymade commercial dolls) as a basic means for helping students acquire knowledge about more complex or unfamiliar concepts like vulnerable populations and empathy. Dolls appear in all cultures and have a fascinating influence on people all around the world; they look like human beings and as such, can represent different characters. Thus, they are deemed suitable for teaching subjects like vulnerable populations. The ‘diversity dolls’ method proved to be a creative teaching approach for transferring and retaining valuable knowledge so that it can be used by students to achieve their learning goals. This paper looks into both the benefits and implications of using this creative teaching method in social work education.     

Flexible Work and Turnover: an Empirical Investigation across Cultures

We explored the relationship between three bundles of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and turnover for two of GLOBE's societal clusters, namely Anglo and Nordic. We collected data through a large‐scale international survey and found significant differences in the FWA–turnover relationship between the two clusters. Specifically, as unsocial hours (overtime, shift work, weekend work) and part‐time arrangements (part‐time and job‐sharing) increase in the Anglo cluster, so does turnover. Further, as schedule flexibility (telework, work from home and flexi‐time) increases in the Nordic cluster, turnover decreases. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of FWA policies and practices among nationally and internationally operating organizations.     

Social capital,disability, and usefulness of the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health for the development and monitoring of policy interventions

This paper provides theoretical links between the model of health and disability based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the complex notion of ‘social capital’. In practice, social capital mechanisms could contribute to better health through their use in health-promotion actions, and, in general, through their integration in inclusive policies and systems for facilitating the biopsychosocial model of disability. The present paper shows how ICF could offer an informational platform for conceptualizing and potentially measuring the causal linkages between social capital and health and disability.     

Self-reported ageism in students and academic staff—the case of the Social Work Department in Crete,Greece

This study focuses on self-reported ageism among social work students and academic staff in the Social Work Department of Crete, Greece; the 20-item questionnaire Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) was used to measure negative and positive ageist behaviours that respondents engage in during everyday life. Positive ways of relating to old people were reported much more often than the negative ways; no significant differences in mean endorsement scores between academic staff and undergraduate students in either the positive or the negative dimensions were found. Women endorsed positive ageism items more often than men did, but the two genders did not differ in their endorsement of negative ageism items. This association was observed both for the students and academic staff. For students, no relationship between how many years they had spent studying and endorsement score was observed for either the positive or the negative behaviour items. Social work students and academic staff should be aware that positive ageism may turn into paternalism; it is important that social work education prepares students in order to approach clients with a non-prejudiced attitude and to provide them with quality services.     

Burnout in Greek teachers: Main findings and validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory

Abstract

The factorial structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach and Jackson 1986) was investigated in a sample of 220 Greek teachers and was found to be similar to that reported by Maslach and Jackson. A job satisfaction measure was employed for the investigation of the discriminant validity of the burnout measure. Correlations between job satisfaction and the three burnout dimensions were found to be low to moderate. It is suggested that the relationship and the degree of overlap between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction require further examination. Greek teachers reported lower levels of burnout on the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scales than teachers in other countries. Finally, younger teachers experienced more emotional exhaustion than older ones and primary education teachers experienced more personal accomplishment and less depersonalization than their counterparts in secondary education.     

Correlation between the geometrical characteristics of streets and morphological features of trees for the formation of tree lines in the urban design of the city of Orestiada,Greece

This paper classifies the streets of the city of Orestiada, Greece, and examines the correlation between the geometric characteristics of streets and the appropriate height of trees that form the street tree lines so that the microclimate in each street may be improved. The rows of trees improve the aesthetic quality of the urban spaces, and also strengthen the sense of enclosure through tree planting, especially in monotonous urban landscapes. Our main aim is to augment the vegetation in urban areas to achieve the greatest shading of streets in order to contribute to the improvement of the urban environment in terms of bioclimatic conditions. The methodology used in this paper aims to promote the use of trees in urban design, and to evaluate the effects of shading at the city scale with regard to microclimate and energy saving, and to develop tree selection and design guidelines for recommended planting programs. It is expected that the results of the study will be useful to Urban Planners, Urban Arboriculturists, Urban Foresters and Landscape Architects that are engaged in the design and construction of streetscapes in Mediterranean region.     

Changes in the Living Arrangements of Elderly People in Greece: 1974–1999

During the period 1974–1999 two contrasting trends were observed with respect to the living arrangements of older people in Greece. On the one hand the proportion of older people living with their unmarried children had been slightly rising while on the other hand the proportion of older people living with their married children declined substantially. As a result of the declining trend in the incidence of co-residence with married children the percentage of older people living with their children or other members of their extended family fell by 25% points (from a 58% in 1974 to about 33% in 1999). Our analysis suggests that the main driving force behind the decrease in co-residence between older people and their married children was the rise in the incomes of older people (which resulted from some important exogenous policy changes which increased substantially pension incomes). On the other hand, the main driving force behind the slight increase in the co-residence with unmarried children was the increase in the percentage of unmarried younger people (which is associated with the postponement in the age of marriage) and the high and in some cases increasing needs of children’s generation.