Self awareness of the supervisor in supervision

Teaching self awareness is an important and sensitive task in the supervision of the clinical casework student. However, lack of self awareness on the part of the supervisor may lead to a serious impaction of this learning process, and unfortunately, there is no institutionalized process for reviewing lack of supervisory self awareness as there is for students. Some occasions in which problems in supervisory self awareness are likely to occur are: the supervisor who has difficulty in responding appropriately to the student's dependency demands in supervision, responding either by withdrawing from the student or being overprotective of him; the supervisor who is threatened by students whose character styles are very different from his own; and the supervisor who views client behavior from the perspective of a value system very different from the student's.     

Assessing Capacity Within a Context of Abuse or Neglect

In 2000, with the implementation of Part III of the Adult Guardianship Act: Support and Assistance for Abused and Neglected Adults, British Columbia formally recognized the need to examine issues of decisional capacity of older adults within a context of abuse or neglect. Interestingly, however, although the test of capacity was clearly laid out under this piece of legislation, the potential influence that living in a situation of abuse or neglect may have on how the person makes decisions is not explicitly addressed. Similarly, this is a missing link throughout the literature discussing decisional capacity in older adults. This gap exists despite the fact that determining the “protection” needs of someone who is being abused and/or neglected often hinges directly on that person's decisional capacity. The purpose of this article is to examine the unique aspects associated with assessing and determining capacity for older adults who are living in a situation of abuse or neglect. The specific objectives are to: (a) examine how living in a situation of abuse or neglect may influence the determination of capacity and (b) explore the implications of conducting an assessment within a potentially abusive context. The legal notion of undue influence and the psychological concept of relational connection are introduced as potentially important for considering decision making within this context.     

Personality Characteristics and Value Stances of Students in Two Areas of Graduate Study

This study demonstrates that the attempt to rectify the problem of screening out the mavericks and the assertive individuals by ceasing to screen out almost anyone on grounds of personality has attracted to graduate social work programs an unduly large number of individuals with qualities not desirable for effective functioning in social work. Furthermore, further self-selection into organizing and planning practice versus therapeutically oriented types of practice results in two groups with identifiable personality differences.     

Naming sexual body parts: Preliminary patterns and implications

A Consultation on partner notification for preventing HIV infection was convened by the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programme (VDT) from 11–13 January 1989 in Geneva. A total of 27 participants from 20 countries attended the Consultation, including experts in public health, law, epidemiology, biomédical and social science aspects of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).     

Evaluating Group Work within a Summer Camp Intervention for Children and Adolescents with Asthma

Findings suggest that residential camps and group work within camps are highly valued by children and their parents. Children predominantly valued recreational and educational aspects of camp programming whereas parents emphasized appreciation for the safety that a condition-specific camp can offer a child with illness. Within the camp program, group work and peer support were integrally provided along with clinical monitoring and health teaching. A psychoeducational approach was implemented in which group participants engaged in sessions addressing self-care strategies and constructive ways to integrate childhood asthma in daily life. Participants identified the residential camp setting as a promising environment for group work among children and adolescents with asthma. Implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Associations between Family Communication Patterns, Sibling Closeness, and Adoptive Status

Previous research has demonstrated the protective effect of family and sibling closeness on child adjustment, but fewer studies have investigated how closeness is promoted within families. Guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory, we tested the association between family communication and sibling emotional and behavioral closeness, and whether adoptive status moderated this relationship. Participating families included 616 adoptive and non-adoptive families with two adolescent children. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Sibling closeness was highest in families that emphasized both conversation and conformity and lowest in families that emphasized only conversation or neither conversation nor conformity. Emotional and behavioral closeness were differentially associated with adoption status, sibling age, and sibling gender. Few moderating effects of adoption status were found. Post hoc analyses showed moderating effects of sibling gender composition.