Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder (Conversion Disorder) from an Interactional Approach: A Composite Case Study

Functional neurological symptom disorder, alternatively termed conversion disorder (FNSD-CD) (Although the DSM-5 utilises the term 'conversion disorder', practitioners and consumers consider this to be an outdated, unsubstantiated and often stigmatising term. In accordance with this, the current terminology used in the field is 'functional neurological symptom disorder'), involves symptoms of altered voluntary motor or sensory functions without identifiable nervous system disease or pathology. It is considered a psychiatric disorder and is, thus, listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Ed.; DSM-5). As per the nosology of the DSM-5, the discrete behavioural or psychological syndrome or pattern observed in FNSD-CD is assumed to be a function of a problem of, or a disorder within, the individual. Accordingly, the psychiatric approach to FNSD-CD, as set out in the DSM-5, invokes an assumption common to the medical model which is that of lineal (i.e., straight-line) causality, namely, causal events are arranged in a lineal sequence. The interactional approach, however, which is a development of general system theory in the field of family therapy, offers an alternative approach to understanding psychiatric disorders. Specifically, this approach places the emphasis on the relationships between individuals and their reciprocal influences on – including their psychological and emotional wellbeing with – one another. It draws on the assumption of nonlineal (i.e., circular) causality, namely, causal events are arranged in a circular sequence. From an interactional approach, therefore, FNSD-CD is thought to be a function of a problem of, or a deficit within, the individuals’ relationship/s, rather than within an individual, per se. This article utilises a composite case study to investigate FNSD-CD from an interactional approach.     

Social workers' attitudes towards family group conferences in Sweden and the UK

The New Zealand family group conference (FGC) approach to decision making in child welfare and protection has attracted strong interest among policy makers and professionals all over the world. While New Zealand’s legislation makes use of FGCs more or less mandatory in child protection, other countries permit social workers to refer families to an FGC at their own discretion. Knowledge about social workers’ attitudes towards the model is thus paramount if we want to understand implementation and evaluations of FGCs outside New Zealand. This study looks at attitudes towards and actual referrals to FGCs amongst 219 social workers from 18 local authorities in Sweden and the UK. Results reveal an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards FGCs in both countries. Given these attitudes it was striking that only 42% of the social workers had initiated at least one FGC over an 18‐month period. The number of implemented FGCs was almost exactly the same in Sweden and the UK, after adjusting for time and number of social workers. Possible explanations for this paradox are discussed, using data from the survey and child welfare literature.     

MOVING OUT TO MOVE UP: DUAL‐CAREER MIGRATION AND WORK–FAMILY TRADEOFFS

Using data from a survey of new entrants to the junior PhD job market in economics, this paper shows that dual‐career location problems compromise the personal and professional lives of early‐career PhDs. Contrary to the common assumption that couples who do not live together break up, we find that living apart is a viable solution to location problems in the first year after graduate school. Surprisingly, PhDs facing moderate location problems are more likely than those facing severe location problems to make career sacrifices on behalf of their relationship; PhDs facing severe location problems are more likely to live apart. (JEL, J12, J44, A11)     

My Life in Huddersfield: Supporting Young Asylum Seekers and Refugees to Record Their Experiences of Living in Huddersfield

A project was undertaken with the aim of developing resources that would improve service delivery to asylum seeker children and young people by improving social worker training within the new social work degree. Funding was acquired to work with a group of children and young people. The workers engaged with them in a range of activities, designed to enable the expression of feelings in relation to immigration and asylum seeking. Participants were told they would be working towards producing resources for the training of health and social care staff. This became a strong motivating factor in the engagement of the young people and resulted in the production of teaching resources and a number of changes to the degree curriculum at the University of Huddersfield.     

A longitudinal study of family size expectations among young blacks and whites

Despite past research, there are gaps in our knowledge on the stability of family size expectations and the direction of change in expectations among different groups. In the present study, 437 low‐income respondents, both black and white, male and female, answered a question on expected family size both at high school age and four years later. Respondents varied in their consistency with 78% of those first naming one or two children, but only 9% of those expecting no children, naming the same number at the second interview. Consistency was also found to vary by sex and race. Support was found for the hypothesis that change in expectations is related to the proximity of parenthood decision.     

The National Health Act

Abstract

While increasing enrolments of international fee-paying students are a feature of the current Australian tertiary system, little research has been undertaken relating to international students studying social work. A national survey of all accredited BSW programs within Australia was undertaken in 1997 with regard to the demographic profile of international students, current provisions for them and perceptions of educators about relevant issues for consideration. The findings of this survey are presented here. Fee-paying international students represented a small proportion of total enrolments within Australian BSW programs in 1997. While educators perceived that these students did have particular educational and social challenges within Australian social work programs, few special considerations were afforded to them, although the literature would encourage us to consider this. Issues relating to the social and cultural construction of Western social work education are discussed, as well as the cultural relevance of Australian social work education for international students intending to practise social work in their countries of origin.     

Perceptions of Board Chair Leadership Effectiveness in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Organizations

This article reports on the results of a multi-year, multi-phase international quantitative research investigation into perceptions of board chair leadership impact in nonprofit and voluntary organizations in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Specifically, this research tests four hypotheses and a hypothesized model derived from theoretical perspectives on chair leadership effectiveness that emerged when the results of a prior grounded theory research investigation were reviewed ex post facto through the lens of leadership literature (see Harrison and Murray, NPML, accepted). The purpose of this phase of the research is to determine: (a) whether there is empirical support for the theoretical perspectives advanced; and (b) which perspective offers the best explanation for why some board chairs are perceived as having more impact in the role than others. The results suggest chair leadership effectiveness is best understood as a multi-dimensional theoretical construct explained by more than one leadership theory. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings and directions for further research.     

Hidden Markov chains in generalized linear models

We show how the concept of hidden Markov model may be accommodated in a setting involving multiple sequences of observations. The resulting class of models allows for both interrelationships between different sequences and serial dependence within sequences. Missing values in the observation sequences may be handled in a straightforward manner. We also examine a group of methods, based upon the observed Fisher Information matrix, for estimating the covariance matrix of the parameter estimates. We illustrate the methods with both real and simulated data sets.