“Koe wai hoki koe?!”, or “Who are you?!”: Issues of trust in cross‐cultural collaborative research

Abstract

Cross‐cultural research designs are increasingly employed in the New Zealand context to investigate a range of complex social and environmental issues. However, there is little guidance for researchers who work for mainstream organisations and hapū (subtribe(s)) and iwi (tribe(s)) on how to undertake cross‐cultural collaborative research. Trust is a key issue that makes cross‐cultural research possible and it is surprising that issues relating to trust have not featured widely in the literature. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences working cross‐culturally and collaboratively with a hapū in Northland, New Zealand. We discuss how a mainstream research organisation worked with a community health trust and developed a working relationship with a hapū, forming the basis of a community‐driven collaborative evaluation of a central government‐funded project. Key findings were the establishment of a tuākana‐tēina relationship (where teacher and learner are interchangeable) between the members of the collaborative research team and the employment of appropriate research methods to develop a research agenda that ensured everyone would benefit from the research.     

Book review

Enhancing Psychodynamic Theory with Cognitive Behavioral Techniques, Terry Brumley Northcut and Nina Rovinelli Heller

Complex Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Developmental Approach to Clinical Practice, Vivian Shapiro, PhD, Janet Shapiro, PhD, and Isabel Paret, PhD     

On the utility of population forecasts

Many customers demand population forecasts, particularly for small areas. Although the forecast evaluation literature is extensive, it is dominated by a focus on accuracy. We go beyond accuracy by examining the concept of forecast utility in an evaluation of a sample of 2,709 counties and census tracts. Wefind that forecasters provide “value-added” knowledge for areas experiencing rapid change or areas with relatively large populations. For other areas, reduced value is more common than added value. Our results suggest that new forecasting strategies and methods such as composite modeling may substantially improve forecast utility.     

Party control, policy reforms, and the impact on health insurance coverage in the U.S. states

Objectives. One of the major policy concerns at the federal and state level is the rising number of individuals without health insurance. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether party control of government and various state reforms impact the percentage of the state population without health insurance.Methods. Using data from 1987–2007, I empirically examine whether party control and five state policy reforms reduce the uninsured population.Results. The results show that Republicans are more effective than Democrats at the state level at reducing insurance gaps and that three of five policy reforms explored appear to significantly expand insurance coverage.Conclusions. The results provide valuable insight into which components of health-care reform at the national level may help address the health insurance problem.     

Development and correlates of alcohol use from ages 13-20

This study examined alcohol use development from ages 13-20 years. The sample comprised 256 youth (50.4% female; 51.2% White, 48.8% African American) assessed annually for 6 years. A cohort-sequential latent growth model was used to model categorical alcohol use (non-use vs. use). Covariates included gender, race, income, parent marital status, risk taking, spiritual beliefs, parent alcohol use, family alcohol problems, family cohesion, friends' alcohol use, and normative peer use. The alcohol use trajectory increased steadily with age. Risk taking, friends' alcohol use, and normative peer use were positively associated with higher initial rates of alcohol use. Initial parent alcohol use and positive change in parents' and friends' alcohol use over time were related to an increase in alcohol use from ages 13-20 years.     

Universal screening for intimate partner violence: a systematic review

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to be prevalent among therapy-seeking populations. Yet, despite a growing understanding of the dynamics of IPV and of the acceptability of screening, universal screening practices have not been systematically adopted in family therapy settings. A rapidly growing body of research data-almost entirely conducted in medical settings-has investigated attitudes and practices regarding universal screening for IPV. This article is a systematic review of the IPV universal screening research literature. The review summarizes literature related to IPV screening rates and practices, factors associated with provider screening practice, the role of training and institutional support on screening practice, impact of screening on disclosure rates, client beliefs and preferences for screening, and key safety considerations and screening competencies. Implications for family therapy and recommendations for further inquiry and screening model development are provided.     

Re-conceptualising talent management and development within the context of the low paid

Those working in organisations have choices to make associated with not only the goods and services they produce but also their wider social and economic impact. The number of employees in low-skilled/low-paid jobs and the high proportion of companies adopting business strategies based on low-specification goods and services are a concern for many developed and developing economies. Addressing this problem is not traditionally the concern of Human Resource Development; however, we argue that through exploring the role that a wider, more balanced approach to Sustainable Talent Management and Development (S-TMD) may play within the context of the low skilled in the UK provides a crucial link to enhancing an organisation’s performance and responsibility to society. At the heart of this approach lies a shift to appreciate the collective endeavour of work practices, an enhanced role for stakeholders and identification of, and participation in skills ecosystems to support sustainable development. The paper identifies the opportunity for S-TMD to move from a predominantly individualist, managerial and unitarist understanding to one grounded in the value of tacit and embedded development processes undertaken to reflect a pluralist, multi-voiced approach to understanding of a skills ecosystem.     

How We Can Promote Behavior That Serves All of Us in the Future

The health and vitality of relationships, groups, and society at large is strongly challenged by social dilemmas or conflicts between short-term self-interest and long-term collective interest. Pollution, depletion of natural resources, and intergroup conflict can be characterized as examples of urgent social dilemmas. This article advances a conceptual framework in which we analyze social dilemmas in terms of social and temporal concerns relevant to the social (individual vs. collective) and temporal (short-term vs. long-term) conflicts underlying social dilemmas. We discuss the plasticity of social orientations (altruism, cooperation, egalitarianism, individualism, competition, aggression) and temporal orientations (short-term orientation, future orientation), and illustrate their "logical effects" and "paradoxical effects" on behavior that supports collectively desired outcomes. This analysis enables us to suggest a set of novel recommendations for policy and intervention to help solve various social dilemmas in contemporary society.