Career Counseling With Black Men: Applying Principles of Existential Psychotherapy

Counselors may benefit from applying principles of existential psychotherapy to career counseling with Black men. Existential psychotherapy asserts that there are 4 issues that all people experience: death, freedom, isolation, and meaning. The life experiences of Black men, including difficulty with their careers, suggest that they may struggle with these existential concerns, particularly finding meaning in their lives. Because work and issues in other domains of life (e.g., family, community) often intersect, an existentially based career counseling approach may prove useful. An overview of existential psychotherapy is presented, followed by a discussion of its applicability to career counseling with Black men. In addition to suggestions for career counselors, recommendations for training and professional development are offered.     

The Influence of Career Planning on Career Thoughts in STEM‐Interested Undergraduates

Undergraduate career planning courses have shown efficacy in decreasing students’ negative career thoughts; however, universities have minimally applied these courses to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) populations. This study compared the influence of a STEM‐focused career planning course for undecided STEM students with a seminar course for decided STEM majors. An analysis of covariance with covariate adjustment revealed that undecided career planning students had lower adjusted mean scores on a measure of negative career thinking than the decided STEM majors after the first semester of college. The results provide support for the efficacy of STEM‐focused career planning courses and measuring negative career thoughts with STEM undergraduates.     

美国大学的学生成长服务及启示

以在美国大学培训考察获得的材料为基础,对美国大学全程化、全员化的学生成才服务进行了多角度分析,针对我国高校在学生成才服务方面存在的问题,提出从实现育人根本任务与具体的工作目标相统一,坚持“以学生为中心”的教育理念与服务学生成才措施相统一,强调学术自由与道德自律相统一,实现个性独立与自我负责相统一,力求社会规范与学校要求相统一等方面构建我国高校学生成才服务体系。     

The Organizational Connection: Social Capital and the Career Expansion of Directors of Business Groups in Israel

This article studies which directors of the largest corporations forming part of the Israeli business groups accumulated directorships within the groups between the years 1974 and 1988. A comparison is made between directors within business groups who accumulate directorships and those who do not, and in addition, the research focuses on directors who joined additional boards, questioning who gets ahead in terms of three components of social capital: organizational positions, elite positions, and social networks. The study uses logistic regression to discern which variables increase the likelihood of being invited onto an additional board within the business groups and the likelihood of getting ahead. The findings strongly support the hypothesis that the organizational position of directors, more than their elite position ties and social networks, is the most significant determinant of who will join additional boards and who will get ahead. The article is concluded with a discussion of several factors contributing to relative impact of organizational positions.     

发达市场地区中小企业融资渠道借鉴

2009年爆发经济危机以来,全球失业率大幅增长,中小企业在提供就业机会、复苏经济方面发挥着不可小觑的作用。中小企业的发展是世界焦点,融资缺口更是全球亟待解决的难题。通过比较发达和发展中国家的融资历史,解析了发达国家地区中小企业融资的渠道类型,为解决中国中小企业融资难题提出了一点建议。     

Critically assessing digital documents: materiality and the interpretative role of software

As a contribution to the ongoing tradition of critically assessing documents for research, this paper aims to highlight materiality as a key factor in the co-shaping of knowledge derived from digital documents. The paper first builds upon prior debates in document studies with work from the fields of Science and Technology Studies, and Communication Studies, to establish the role of document materiality in the interpretative process. By first establishing digital documents’ material reality as electrical signal, the paper then discusses the interpretative role of software, in both the representation of that signal for human interpretation and the production of the document through software tools. Finally, the paper considers the implications for persistence and access to digital documents posed by their material reality and the private archival contexts in which they often reside.     

Psychometric properties of the “parent-child relationship inventory” (PCRI) in a portuguese forensic sample

In Portugal, there is a gap regarding psychological tests validated for forensic contexts, particularly those related to child custody issues. The Parent–Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) is one of the most used instruments in child custody contexts. This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of PCRI in a Portuguese forensic sample. PCRI factorial structure and psychometric properties were analyzed in a sample of 144 parents involved in child custody assessments. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency, except for the parental support, autonomy, and role orientation scales. It also showed good discriminant capacity. The confirmatory factor analysis did not replicate the 7-factor model proposed by Gerard. The results were discussed based on the use of PCRI in the context of child custody assessment.     

Racial/ethnic and socio‐economic biases in child maltreatment severity assessment in Spanish child protection services caseworkers

Evidence from several countries has shown the over‐representation of racial/ethnic minority groups in child protection services (CPS). The objective of the present study was to explore whether racial/ethnic and socio‐economic biases influence Spanish CPS caseworkers' judgements of the severity of child maltreatment. Moreover, the study attempted to explore the influence on these judgements of the use of structured instruments and professional experience. Two case vignettes of child maltreatment were presented to 405 CPS caseworkers and 169 students of social work and psychology. Family ethnic origin and income were manipulated in the vignettes. The findings showed no statistical evidence of biases related to family ethnic origin or socio‐economic status (SES) in Spanish CPS caseworkers' judgements of maltreatment severity. Biases related to family SES were found for students for the vignettes of physical abuse. CPS caseworkers and students who did not use a structured instrument to assess maltreatment severity tended to underestimate the severity for the vignettes of parental incapacity to control child/adolescent behaviour and to overestimate it for the vignettes of physical abuse. CPS caseworkers who used a structured instrument showed higher percentages of accuracy and inter‐rater agreement, supporting the relevance of structured tools in reducing potential caseworkers' biases.     

Family engagement within the context of assessment in child protection practice: The case of Estonia

Engagement in the context of child protection is of significant international interest, as the participation of family is a central notion in child and family social work. Drawing on in‐depth, semistructured interviews with a sample of 26 child protection workers in 1 region in Estonia, this article reports the findings of the participants' perspectives on family engagement in the context of child protection assessment. Child protection workers perceive the engagement related to 3 aspects: first, it is associated to the acts of the worker; second, it is associated to parental part of actions—depending on parents themselves; and third, engagement was seen as “doing together” with the family, referring to partnership. The aim of the engagement was mainly considered in the terms of empowerment—empowering family to cope on their own and to take charge of their lives. The negative image of child protection was recognised as one of the main barriers to the family engagement. Understanding the family and their situation was seen as the basis for a trusting relationship, being the most crucial factor to promoting family engagement.