Does questionnaire format impact reported partner violence rates?: An experimental study

Researchers assess partner violence using numerous formats, but whether questionnaire format affects obtained rates has rarely been examined. We compared paper-and-pencil versus computer administrations, and standard Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) categories versus dichotomous (yes/no) response categories, in a 2 x 2 experiment with 160 undergraduate students. Differential validity was also examined for gender. Results provide some support for the use of all formats, although sexual coercion rates showed more measurement variability than reports of psychological aggression, physical assault, or injury. Sexual coercion effects also differed by gender. The standard CTS2 categories resulted in more disclosures than dichotomous categories for some variables. Differences between computer and paper-and-pencil formats were generally minimal. More attention to the effects of questionnaire design on disclosures of violence is urgently needed.     

"A sound track of your life": music in contemporary UK funerals

This article considers the role that music plays in contemporary UK funerals and the meaning that the funeral music has for bereaved families. It is based on findings from a recently completed study of 46 funerals funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. Music contributes to the public ceremony and the personal existential quest of the bereaved. It is important to both the content and process of the contemporary funeral, an event of deep cultural significance in our response as individuals and communities to death and the loss of a significant relationship. There is evidence that for many people, the music chosen and used also evokes and conveys their spirituality. Spirituality may not be intrinsic to the music but spiritual experience may result from the meaning that the music has for that particular person.     

Unsexed and Ungendered Bodies The Violated Self

I propose that rape/incest potentiates a dual rendering of its history. There is a narrative cast in gendered and sexual states and enactments. And there is a thing narrative told by an unsexed and ungendered self (or “thing-self”). This splitting of trauma narratives ensues because the perpetrator is engaged simply not in humanized malignance, but also in an it-it encounter devoid of all desire. In the wake of sexual violation, there are traumatized sexed and gendered human selves. And there are traumatized unsexed, ungendered thing selves. The former seek an audience with a human recipient. But the latter are in search of a form of disembodied witnessing located in the thing dimension of the analyst's consciousness. My speculation about the thing-self originated with a female patient who had endured childhood incest. I begin with an extensive clinical presentation of that treatment, with an emphasis on a persecuted disembodied thing-self. That self was revealed through a peculiar form of analytic theater and an attendant hallucinatory process in the countertransference.     

Gender,financial literacy,and preretirement planning in the UK

This study uses a two-stage logistic regression model to explore the determinants of retirement planning behavior. A survey of 516 UK women and men of prestate retirement age was used to establish interrelationships between gender, retirement planning, and financial literacy, taking account of attitudinal and expectational variables. Findings confirm lower levels of planning among women, but contrary to previous studies, this study reveals that financial literacy is not significantly related to planning. Furthermore, when attitudinal and expectational variables are incorporated as independent variables, gender becomes statistically insignificant as a determinant of planning.     

Anxiety,burnout and coping styles in general hospital staff exposed to workplace aggression: A cyclical model of burnout and vulnerability to aggression

Although an increasing problem, the aggression ( physical assault, threatening behaviour and verbal aggression) directed toward general hospital staff rather than staff in psychiatric institutions has not been widely investigated. The present study first compared anxiety, coping styles and burnout according to the frequency of aggressive experiences. Second, a sub-sample was examined to determine any immediate after-effects from aggressive encounters. Healthcare staff ( n = 375) across professions completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Coping Responses Inventory, which were analysed according to the type and frequency of aggression experienced within the preceding year. There were no significant differences in levels of anxiety or in coping styles. However, significant differences were determined in levels of burnout. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were significantly higher in those staff more frequently victimized suggesting that aggressive encounters might lead to an increase in burnout. Equally, the converse might be true. Therefore, a cyclical model is put forward in which we propose that elevated levels of burnout from all sources might increase vulnerability to victimization. Increases in emotional exhaustion lead directly to an increase in depersonalization as a coping mechanism, which subsequently manifests as a negative behavioural change toward patients, thus rendering staff more vulnerable to further aggression.     

Women and technology: A review of training initiatives

Abstract

This paper considers the entry of women into technological areas of work, their subsequent career progression and return to work after a career break. It considers the development of those training programmes and related initiatives which have attempted to encourage girls and young women to enter non-traditional areas of work, and others which help women return to work after a career break. It emphasizes that such training needs to address the psychological and social issues which arise, as well as provide for new technical knowledge and skills. In doing so it reviews some of the courses which are currently available and comments on their apparent success. In its concluding problems it refers to the on-going problem of funding such training and of providing a supportive database.     

'The land of smiles': people issues in Thailand

This paper explores Indonesia's Javanese culture and the way to develop closer relationship between expatriates and the host country nationals. Previous research determined that strong social relationship is a major factor in enhancing expatriate adjustment and the overall business operations in Indonesia. This article examines two factors underlining the Javanese culture: (1) the concept of social status and (2) the Javanese business values. The article also suggests three human resource development interventions that may enhance expatriates' understanding of the Javanese culture and that may assist them in building strong relationships with the locals: (1) cross-cultural training, (2) storytelling technique and (3) boundary spanning activities.     

A scale to assess board member motivations in nonprofit organizations

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for identifying the motivations of board members in nonprofit organizations. Building on previous work of board member motivations (Searle, 1989; Inglis, 1994) and motivations of direct service volunteers (Clary and others, 1998), the results of the current study support a framework consisting of six components: Enhancement of Self‐Worth, Learning Through Community, Helping the Community, Developing Individual Relationships, Unique Contributions to the Board, and Self‐Healing. We discuss contributions by the panel of experts who reviewed the instrument and by the respondents who offered additional reasons for joining the board in view of how they can add validity to scale development. Frameworks such as the one reported in this article are valuable for understanding the complex involvement of attitudes and motivations as they relate to individuals' decisions to join boards. These insights may be applied in areas such as board member recruitment, training and development, and retention.