A Structural Approach to a Family with an Encopretic Child*

This article describes brief therapy using a structural approach. During the course of therapy the encopretic behavior of a pre-adolescent boy was observed in relation to the interactionand structure of the family system. The presenting problem was analyzed as a sign of family dysfunction and of the stress consequent to the parents separation. The success of the therapy didnot consist only of the disappearance of the encopretic behavior, but also in the discovery of different modalities of relating which produced a liberating effect on the identified patient and on other members of the family.     

TOWARD CONSTRUCTING THE THERAPEUTIC SYSTEM*

The authors revise some of the concepts presented in their previous publications (Andolfi & Angelo, 1981; Andolfi, Nicolò-Corigliano & Menghi, 1983) and develop them further in light of their recent clinical experience. They emphasize that the therapist is not an outside neutral observer, but an active participant in the construction of the therapeutic system. The therapist can, at different times, be caring, detached, supportive, or provocative. In the fantasy of his clients he is a person who knows how to enter into a relationship and how to move out. By entering as the third pole in various triangles and activating new dimensions of rapport, he constructs complex relationships within the evolving therapeutic process. The authors also reevaluate the importance of the individual in the family as an agent of change and as a mediator of triangular relational messages.     

Female management,overconfidence and debt maturity: European evidence

Journal of Management and Governance - This paper investigates how female involvement in management shapes the nature of the firm’s financial decisions in terms of debt maturity. It is...     

Suicide risk and exposure to mobbing

The aim of this study was to study suicide risk in subjects exposed to mobbing, that is, systematic psychological harassment in the workplace. Such psychological harassment, unique to the workplace, threatens both the emotional well-being and professional ability of its victims. The items of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) that assess suicide risk were studied in 102 individuals who were exposed to mobbing. The results indicated that individuals exposed to mobbing had clear differences on the MMPI-2 from normative samples. In addition, those who appeared to be at risk for suicide differed in their scores from those not at risk. Implications for psychopathology and suicide preventions are discussed.     

Multidimensional Pigou–Dalton transfers and social evaluation functions

We axiomatize, in the multidimensional case, a social evaluation function that can accommodate a natural Pigou–Dalton principle and correlation increasing majorization. This is performed by building upon a simple class of inframodular functions proposed by Müller and Scarsini under risk.     

TESTING COMMITMENT COST THEORY IN CHOICE EXPERIMENTS

In choice experiments, it is commonly assumed that individuals make choices in static and certainty decision‐making conditions. Real‐world choices, however, are usually made in a dynamic setting. Committing a purchase decision under conditions of uncertainty might have a “Commitment Cost” (CC). In this study, we test CC theory using a nonhypothetical choice experiment. Specifically, we test whether choice behavior and willingness to pay estimates differ when individuals have the option to gain present or delayed information or reverse the transaction. Our results suggest that the construction of a dynamic decision context can be relevant in the design of choice experiments. (JEL C90, C93, Q18)     

Migrants' entrepreneurship in transnational social fields: research in the Italian context

The aim of the article is to analyse the development of transnational economic activities run by migrants in Northern Italy. It is based on qualitative empirical research conducted in the three most important cities in northern Italy: Milan, Genoa, and Turin.

The article describes different kinds of transnational economic activity, identifying the subject of transnational transactions; the main clients (immigrant population or native population); the goods or services exchanged and their transnational impact; the expected social effects; and their positioning on a scale of transnational involvement.

The empirical cases considered are overland courier services on routes from Milan to Eastern Europe, shops owned by immigrants who offer ‘ethnic’ products in Milan and Genoa, and phone centres run by immigrants in Turin.

In the conclusion, the reactions of the receiving society and the question of public regulation are examined.     

Surviving underground: Irregular migrants,Italian families,invisible welfare

Ambrosini M. Surviving underground: irregular migrants, Italian families, invisible welfare The aim of this article, which focuses on the Italian case and its domestic and care sector, is to highlight two aspects. The first concerns the interaction among unauthorised migrants, the demand of their labour on the one hand and the other social actors they meet during their settling process on the other hand. The second concerns the nature of the irregularity of their condition, which is dynamic and often transient. Despite the increasingly fierce declarations, the reality does not correspond to the claims regarding control of the migration flows. Recognised or disguised forms of tolerance with only occasional implementation of severe measures – such as deportation – and regularisation processes of different kinds and with different purposes seem to be more the rule than the exception in Italy, as in other developed countries.     

Migration,Religion, and Residential Segregation at the Urban Level: The Case of Muslim Migrants in Rome and Milan

This article investigates residential segregation at the intraurban level of migrants in two Italian cities, Rome and Milan, considering religion as a point of reference in light of its pivotal role in terms of identity references for many migrants. The article focuses in particular on Muslim migrants—due to both the magnitude of their presence and complex issues related to their settlement in Italian cities. The analysis shows a low level of intraurban residential segregation of Muslim migrants in both cities, with some relevant differences related to national subgroups (e.g., a higher concentration for people coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan), so that religion seems not yet to be a main driver of residential choice for Muslim migrants. In light of both the low level of segregation of Muslim migrants and some features of Italian urban policies on migration and religion, we argue that residential concentration can currently play a beneficial role in terms of the insertion of migrants in Italian cities and fulfillment of some of their needs (e.g., availability of minority places of worship).