A crash course in conflict resolution

Knowing how to resolve conflict with finality establishes positive changes in coworker relations, prevents drops in productivity, and frees a manager's time for more important issues. Conflict arises from four sources: (1) Real or imagined differences in values, (2) dissimilar goals, (3) poor communication, and (4) personalizing generic or organizational issues. Right now health care is full of the latter. It's possible--and useful--to make conflict productive rather than disruptive. The secret is using a process that produces a solution acceptable to everyone. This requires three steps: (1) Value differences must be addressed, (2) communication styles must be established, and (3) everyone must commit to mutually satisfactory resolution of the issues.     

Are you ready for virtual organizations?

Success, and maybe even survival, in the future will go to those health care organizations that can respond to constant and rapid change in a timely fashion. And timely doesn't mean what it once did. Years and months may no longer be a satisfactory response time. Even weeks may not always do. Opportunities will have to be seized quickly, or they will disappear forever. One possible answer to the leaden nature of most bureaucratic, hierarchical organizations may be a new kid on the block--the virtual organization. Formed solely to work on a single opportunity, these organizations can be used to position the parent organizations for almost any conceivable change.     

Managing the new technical employee

We live in an age of information. Almost every element of society is dominated by information and the need for information. No person can expect to thrive in the future unless he or she knows and understands information processing, particularly computerized information processing. The growth of medical informatics in the health care field is a further indication of the pervasiveness of the information age. With this technology, however, comes a new and very different cadre of employees. Physician executives who desire to succeed in this new and changing world will have to understand how these employees are different and how management must change to accommodate them. Marilyn Kennedy begins the understanding process in this column.     

Christianity and child sexual abuse — the survivors' voice leading to change

The Children Act 1989 states that due consideration should be given ‘to the child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background'. Children who have been sexually abused and who grow up in families with strong Christian beliefs have additional concerns not readily identified by the child protection worker or therapist. Drawing upon 10 years' work experience, this paper aims to present the views and struggles of adult Christian women and men who have been sexually abused. Much of what is presented can be applied to other faith communities, since the difficulties lie sometimes with patriarchal communities, with male deities and with tenets of belief which can hinder the child from disclosing. Beliefs such as ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’, no sex before marriage and forgiveness of all had significant impact on survivors. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conversations for Connection: An Outcome Assessment of the Hold‐Me‐Tight Relationship‐Education Program,and Recommendations for Improving Future Research Methodology in Relationship Education

The Hold Me Tight (HMT) program is a new approach to relationship education based on Emotionally‐Focused Therapy (Johnson, 2004), an evidence‐based approach to couple therapy. In this exploratory longitudinal research, we examined individual growth in relationship satisfaction and trust for partners in 95 couples in 16 HMT groups across four occasions of measurement: Baseline, Pre‐Program, Post‐Program and at either 3‐ or 6‐month Follow‐Up. We found that relationship satisfaction and trust increased during program participation, and declined during follow‐up. We believe our findings provide support for the short‐term effectiveness of the HMT program, and suggest a longer period of program delivery may result in improved retention of gains. Finally, we present recommendations for improving the design of future longitudinal research in relationship education.     

Efficacy of interventions targeting alcohol,drug and smoking behaviors in university and college students: A review of randomized controlled trials

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting alcohol consumption, drug use and smoking for college/university students.Participants: College/University students.Methods: Studies were eligible if: (1)included students attending universities/colleges; (2)implemented in a university/college setting; (3)aimed to improve at least one of the following behaviors: alcohol and/or drug use and/or smoking; (4)were RCTs. The effect of the interventions on behaviors was determined by the percentage of studies that reported an effect. Due to the heterogeneity of outcomes meta-analysis was not conducted.Results: 88 studies met criteria. University-based interventions were effective for reducing alcohol-related outcomes (drinking patterns, BAC, consequences, problem drinking). Inconsistent findings for drug and smoking were observed.Conclusions: University-based interventions have the potential to improve health for students. While there is a breadth of research examining the efficacy of interventions to reduce alcohol consumption, further research is needed to determine the best approach for addressing smoking and drug use among students.     

Creation of culturally responsive classrooms: teachers’ conceptualization of a new rationale for cultural responsiveness and management of diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools

Presently, there are a growing number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong schools. This article examines teachers’ views of the cross-cultural experience of ethnic minority students, their influence on the performance of these students, and how the diverse learning needs of these students are being addressed. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 32 teachers from three secondary schools. This study shows that teachers struggle to conceptualize a new rationale for responding to cultural diversity. They develop a sense of intercultural sensitivity, promote cultural responsiveness to diversity, and strengthen the home–school connection. This article argues that, like students, teachers simultaneously engage in a cross-cultural process through which they learn the culture of ethnic minority students, relearn their own culture and reexamine the relevant rationale underlying cultural responsiveness. Finally, a framework for the creation of culturally responsive classrooms, based upon the teachers’ new rationale of cultural responsiveness, is proposed.     

Mining for Conflict and Staking Claims: Contested Illness at the Tar Creek Superfund Site

Drawing from extensive fieldwork and document analysis, we examine environmental illness claims in Oklahoma's Tar Creek basin, one of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) premier Superfund sites. Our findings indicate that contested illness in the Tar Creek Superfund site differed from typical cases in that the links between high lead exposures and permanent neurological damage were thoroughly and unequivocally documented. But, despite the certainty of these linkages, residents remained embroiled in controversy and they encountered obstacles in obtaining diagnoses, treatment, and compensation. The resultant environmental dispute took two forms: conflict between residents and EPA officials over the adequacy of the agency's remediation project and conflict among residents over ultimate responsibility for children's lead exposures and consequent learning disabilities.