Listening to the Otherness of the Other: Envisioning Listening Based on a Hermeneutical Reading of Lévinas

The aim of this article is to elucidate the essence of listening through a hermeneutical reading of the works of philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. This research is grounded in the human scientific caring tradition that is founded on an ethical order and explicitly theoretical framework. Listening as an ethical bearing is interpreted as a desire to follow the inner essential decision to take human responsibility seriously, to put oneself at risk, and as a promise to serve the vulnerable and unique Other in his or her otherness. Listening invites the individual to see and to respond to the Other's address and thereby to welcome the holy and the infinite in a world where all human beings are tied together into a common humanity.     

Comparing results from different styles of cognitive interviewing: ‘verbal probing’ vs. ‘thinking aloud’

Two styles of cognitive interviewing exist, thinking aloud (TA) and verbal probing (VP), but there have been few studies undertaken which compare the two. This paper reports on such a comparison, which was undertaken in order to understand the merits and drawbacks of each approach. VP finds more problems than TA. TA appears to be better at examining respondents’ understandings of the underlying concepts behind each question; VP is better for exploring specific terms in each question. TA interviews appeared to generate more information about how respondents used information from their past experiences to select codes in closed‐ended questions. However, in terms of the eventual redrafting of the questions respondents were asked about, there was very little difference between the VP and TA interviews.     

Research approaches to networked employment services: A systematic review

Research on networked services aimed at the (re)employment of groups marginalised from the labour market has gained momentum in different scholarly traditions (e.g., public administration, healthcare and social policy), but the topic remains somewhat fragmented. In this paper, we systematise and synthesise this research with the aim of outlining distinct research approaches, facilitating increased cross-disciplinary understandings and promoting interdisciplinary research. Based on a systematic review of the literature (1990–2018, n = 273), we highlight four dominant research approaches: rehabilitation, disability, welfare and governance. We show that these research approaches involve distinct conceptualisations of labour market inclusion, networked services and the target groups. Nevertheless, the research approaches also apply similar terms and concepts (e.g., partnership, collaboration) but with different (more or less implicit) connotations, which lead to fragmentation. We do not suggest that there be a unified use of concepts across traditions; however, we argue for the necessity of increased awareness of the similarities and differences between these research traditions in order to increase understanding of the networked employment services available to marginalised groups.     

Significant Conversations or Reduced Relational Capacity? Exploring Couple and Family Therapists' Expectations for Including a Client Feedback Procedure

Little information exists on the specific reflective processes that precede therapists' choice of including or not including a structured feedback procedure in their established practice. In the present study, we aim to describe and explore experienced couple and family therapists' expectations for how the comprehensive therapy feedback procedure Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change might influence their practices. Through a thematic analysis of six focus group interviews, two main themes were elicited. The first main theme involved values embedded in current practice, with the following subthemes: (1) balance between the therapist's expert knowledge and the client's experience‐based knowledge; and (2) making time to build alliances. The second main theme concerned the presumed influence on current practice, with the following subthemes: (1) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will disturb the therapist's capacity to stay present’; (2) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will shape conversations’; and (3) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will contribute to increased qualitative depth’. We discuss these results in relation to the notion of Systemic Therapy Invention of Change as a ‘third party in the room’. We also discuss the results in relation to implications for collaborative practices, and for client and therapist autonomy.     

Ethno-Linguistic Affiliation and Income Poverty in Native Households with Children: Finland 1987–2011

The child poverty rate has increased noticeably in Finland since the mid-1990s, and there are numerous studies in this area. However, little is known about child poverty in the two native and equal population groups, Finnish speakers and Swedish speakers. Using detailed register-based data that cover the period 1987–2011, we analyze how child poverty depends on parental ethno-linguistic affiliation, and whether there is variation in income poverty across these households over time. The poverty measure is relative and based on equalized taxable household income of households with children. Odds of poverty are estimated with logistic regression models using generalized estimating equations to account for repeated observations at the household level. The analyses are restricted to areas with both Swedish- and Finnish-speaking settlement. Single-parent and two-parent households are analyzed separately. Poverty rates increased in all major types of households during the study period, but variation by ethno-linguistic affiliation was fairly modest. Swedish-speaking single-parent and two-parent households experienced a smaller increase in the poverty rate than Finnish-speaking ones, while patterns observed for exogamous households were less clear. The contribution of control variables on the ethno-linguistic poverty differences was modest. Considering that the ethno-linguistic groups studied are indigenous and equal, the small differences in poverty rates between Finnish speakers and Swedish speakers are evidence of a democratic and well-functioning welfare state, although the increasing overall poverty rates over time require future scrutiny by both policy makers and researchers.

     

Diversity and social cohesion

The issue of diversity, in its broadest sense, is discussed here in its relation to social cohesion, cross-cultural relations, ingroup–outgroup relations and educational interventions. The main thesis of the paper is that real social cohesion in an ingroup rests on the acknowledgment of and the dialog with the diversities of the members of the ingroup itself. And that diversity relating to the outgroup and to the various members of the outgroup is understood and accepted, given that diversity among the members of the ingroup is also understood and accepted. This way, cross-cultural relations within an ingroup and between the ingroup and outgroups are fostered, which partly contradicts some traditional assumptions in social psychology research, according to which social cohesion in the ingroup is accompanied by hostility toward the outgroup. A study we conducted in Italian schools on youths’ attitudes toward multiculturalism with the use of focus groups indicated that most participants have lost or have never experienced a feeling of general social cohesion. It also indicated that lack of social cohesion creates fear and that fear can provoke aggression. Some considerations are presented aiming to help teachers foster social cohesion and positive cross-cultural contact in their classes.     

Legal gambling availability and youth gambling behaviour: A qualitative longitudinal study

In many countries, gambling has gained status as a socially accepted form of entertainment. Studies of how and to what extent young people are influenced by changes in gambling availability are relatively inconclusive, and knowledge of why youth gambling behaviours increase or decrease under changing conditions is sparse. This study addressed this situation by examining qualitatively how young people experience and respond to changes in gambling opportunities. The research presented in the article is part of a large longitudinal study of gambling behaviours among Danish adolescents. Data were collected over a period of 3 years with three waves of interviews with a 10- to12-month frequency. A number of issues were identified and these were integrated into four overarching analytical themes: legislation, conditions of entry, proximity and technological innovations. Implications for further research and policy are considered.     

"You are weeping for that which has been your delight": to experience and recover from grief

To explore how people experience grief and what factors are perceived as facilitating successful grief work, a survey was distributed to people who had completed a grief recovery course. The results showed that emotions, cognitions, physical expressions, and behaviors all characterize grief, but that emotions are the most central component. The course brought relief and was regarded most favorably by those having at least 1 year between the grief trigger event and participation in the course. Writing a letter in which course participants express their feelings to the loss object was perceived as the most successful aspect of the course. The letter might help with grief recovery by bringing aspects that have not been dealt with into conscious awareness.     

The value of improved road safety

We report the results of a contingent valuation study for finding a conservative estimate of the value-of-statistical-life in an urban road safety context in Sweden. We estimate the value of both a private-good device and a public-good safety program. The reduction of risk is communicated with a “community analogy” representation of the “Vision Zero” target of the national traffic-safety policy. According to this target, the road-traffic system should be designed so as to prevent accidents when they happen to lead to fatalities or severe injuries. We use the “certainty approach” for ex-post correction of results to remove or mitigate hypothetical bias of responses. As expected we find insensitivity of responses in the full sample to the size of the risk reduction being valued. By our approach we can compute a conservative estimate, based on answers from fully confident respondents, of the value of the largest possible safety enhancement (i.e. fulfilment of the “Vision Zero”). This lower bound estimate indicates a higher average willingness-to-pay for public safety-improving measures than currently assumed in benefit-cost assessments. We also find that the willingness to pay is considerably lower within a public-good than a private-good framework and a weak indication of sensitivity to scale among the most confident respondents. JEL Codes H43 · I18 · Q51     

Children's Intent Participation in a Pediatric Community of Practice

This study analyzes informal learning, drawing on video recordings of staff-child interaction in a pediatric unit. It is shown that even very young patients engage in intent community participation, carefully noting fine variations in examination and treatment practices. They orient to everyday routines in successively more complex ways, gradually acquiring novel repertoires of practices; advancing from nonverbal uptake to an active use of medical terminology, and to actively assisting staff members. Ultimately, the children themselves assume almost full responsibility for routine procedures. The unit had adopted partnership-oriented routines, and the doctors and nurses spent much time in securing the children's consent and participation in their own treatment. In contrast to much earlier work in pediatric settings which has shown children to be marginal participants; even the youngest patients were engaged, and they successively acquired a set of novel practices related to treatment procedures. Together with doctors and nurses, the children could be seen to form a community of practice. But community is not something fixed; instead it is seen as an emergent phenomenon, dependent on staff members' and children's mutual alignments and collaborative action. Learning is thus analyzed as a social and relational phenomenon.