Factors affecting mother-child visiting identified by women with histories of substance abuse and child custody loss

The influence of maternal substance abuse upon the placement of children in out-of-home care increased significantly in the 1980s and 1990s, affecting mother-child visiting in numerous ways. Content analysis of interview data from 15 mothers with histories of illegal drug use and child custody loss provides insight into five major factors that can promote or inhibit visiting: (1) mother's drug use and health status, (2) effects of visits on the child, (3) transportation, (4) scheduling/ visit settings, and (5) support of others.     

Evaluating skill acquisition in motivational interviewing: the development of an instrument to measure practice skills

Social work education has long emphasized the need to provide competence-based education. However, little work has been done to identify, validate and evaluate competencies in specific fields such as addictions. The purpose of this study was to isolate a set of substance abuse intervention competencies using Motivational Interviewing that could be used to teach and evaluate students. The research proceeded in three stages. First, a modified Delphi approach involving social work practitioners was used to discern a set of positive and dysfunctional skills related to Motivational Interviewing. The primary researcher taught a graduate social work class aimed at teaching students theory and skills related to this model. Students demonstrated these skills with simulated clients through videotaped interviews. Finally, three observers rated the student interviews using this developed instrument. While inter-observer agreement was lower than anticipated, this study does provide early support for the development of competencies related to specific theoretical frameworks.     

Congenial public, contrary press, and biased estimates of the climate of opinion

This field experiment focused on perceived public opinion about the use of primates in laboratory research. We used this contentious issue to examine the simultaneous effects of three hypothetical ideas-the hostile media perception, the persuasive press inference, and the projection bias-on partisan perceptions of public opinion. Our data supported the projection hypothesis but also confirmed that partisans on each side of the issue judged news articles to be biased in a disagreeable direction relative to judgments of those on the other side. The perception of relatively disagreeable media bias, in turn, influenced perceptions of public opinion. Results supported the hypothesis that people make inferences about the climate of opinion based on their reading of the news, especially the perceived slant of that news.     

Recruitment & retention. A successful model in forensic psychiatric nursing

1. The recruitment and retention of forensic psychiatric nurses in this highly competitive environment has been identified as a critical issue. 2. In response to the need to expand services, the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative model that has demonstrated success in the recruitment and retention of nurses for this highly specialized area of practice are described. 3. The successful recruitment and retention of forensic psychiatric nurses may be facilitated by developing and implementing strategies that integrate the goals and objectives of the organization with the needs of individual nurses.     

Framing nursing practice within a forensic outpatient service

The role of the outpatient forensic nurse is evolving as a specialized area of nursing practice in the community. Nurses must have comprehensive knowledge of the patients, keen intuition, and sound judgment in the continuous clinical assessment of the criminogenic factors that help determine the patients' level of risk. In addition, it is crucial to know and understand the court system, the process of the ORB, and the implications of the disposition order. The comprehensive, client-centered care provided by the Forensic Outpatient Service encompasses multifunctional and complex roles and responsibilities and clearly demonstrates the importance of the forensic outpatient nurse in working with this group of patients.     

DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND? AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FOR TRAINING FAMILY THERAPISTS

This paper presents an experiential exercise for training beginning marriage and family therapists, as well as several adaptations of the format. The basic exercise consists of role playing a therapy session in which the people playing the clients speak a language that is not understood by the therapist-in-training. Although the therapist cannot understand the clients, the clients can understand the therapist. This exercise assists students to become more cognizant of the need to be cautious and curious in the cocreation of meaning in therapy. In addition, this exercise builds confidence and clinical skills, such as learning about nonverbal communication while observing process.     

Reiki. A complementary therapy for nursing practice

1. Reiki is an ancient healing art involving the gentle laying on of hands. It can be practiced anytime and anywhere. 2. Reiki can be used as a complementary treatment to medical protocols. 3. Hand positions customarily correspond to the body's endocrine and lymphatic systems and major organs, focusing on seven main chakras. 4. More research investigating the effects of Reiki on persons with psychiatric and medical disorders is necessary.     

The program effect of batterer programs in three cities

Recent meta-analyses and experimental designs of batterer program evaluations suggest little or no program effect. This finding may be compromised by a variety of analytical issues. Instrumental variable analysis addresses some of these issues, especially the relationship of program dropout to batterer reassault. This method of analysis was, therefore, used to test for program effect in a multi-site evaluation. The sites were three well-established batterer programs using a gender-based, cognitive-behavioral approach (n = 640). Completing a batterer program reduced the likelihood of reassault by 44% to 64%, depending on the specification used. Completing a 3-month program appeared to be as effective as completing a 5 1/2- or 9-month program. This moderate effect is an accomplishment considering the problems associated with the program participants and the inconsistency in the criminal justice system at the research sites. The findings remain tentative because of weak instrumental variables for reassault, but do confirm the need for more complex analyses of program effect.     

Effects of alcoholic beverage, instigation, and inhibition on expectancies of aggressive behavior

To investigate the role of alcohol expectancy, situational factors, and personality variables in predicting postdrinking aggression, two questionnaire studies were conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to imagine themselves and their responses in a scenario situation, which was a combination of different beverages (soda vs. alcohol), instigation, and inhibition conditions. Both studies found significant 3-way interactions of personality aggression proneness (Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory Assault scale) by beverage condition and by situational cue condition on subjects' reported likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior. Expected aggression was strongly associated with greater aggression proneness in the nonalcoholic condition when there was a situational cue (low inhibition in Study 1, high instigation in Study 2) invoking aggression, but not when the situational cue was absent. This relationship between aggression proneness and expected aggression, however, was attenuated in the alcoholic drink conditions in both studies. In general, it was found that the effect of alcohol on expected aggression was minor relative to the large and significant effects of aggression proneness, instigation, and inhibition.