Islam,immigrants and the state: Religion and cultural politics in Australia

This paper explores the relationship between religious practice and the cultural marginality of Islam in the West. Its focus is the religious organization and practice of Muslim immigrant communities in Australia. It interprets immigrant religious culture as a dimension of the process of incorporation of migrants in class cultures. Its theoretical approach derives from Bourdieu's analysis of the social world as both a symbolic system and system of power relations. It argues that the process of incorporation of immigrants structures the reconstitution of religious culture in migration selectively, creating a distinctive Islamic culture linked to new social movements in the Islamic world.     

Storymaking: In-between anthropological enquiry and Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy

The author discusses the relationship between anthropological enquiry and Transactional Analysis (TA) counselling and psychotherapy practice. Both disciplines of anthropology and TA offer an exploration of the individual's story. The concept of in-between-ness can add an extra dimension to working with clients in acknowledging the place of the client's story and the psychotherapist's role in witnessing as a way of making meaning of the whole. Ethnographical extracts are examined to illuminate how the application of anthropological insights and concepts can enhance TA psychotherapy practice.     

Testing for a four‐dimensional structure of occupational commitment

Using three samples, 230 medical technologists, 412 working adults and 227 Executive MBA students, this study found support for a revised four‐dimension measure of occupational commitment consisting of affective, normative, accumulated costs and limited alternatives dimensions. This four‐dimension structure is based on expanding Meyer, Allen, and Smith's (1993) three‐dimension, i.e. affective, normative and continuance, occupational commitment conceptualization. Continuance occupational commitment was operationalized as two separate dimensions, accumulated costs and limited alternatives occupational commitment, based on Carson, Carson, and Bedeian's (1995) career (occupational) entrenchment measure.     

Does theoretical background influence therapists' attitudes to therapist self‐disclosure? A qualitative study

Aims: This study investigated therapists' attitudes towards therapist self‐disclosure over different theoretical orientations and to establish how classical theoretical background and training effected and informed practice. Classical theoretical background was intended to refer to traditional Psychodynamic understanding. Method: Participants were experienced therapists drawn from four groups by a recruitment screening measure. Three groups were from the students’ cohort within a university Masters programme in Psychological Therapies. Participants were practicing from CBT, Systemic and Psychodynamic orientations. A further group was drawn from Person‐Centred therapist/trainers at a further education College. Data was gathered using focus groups and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Three major and one lesser theme emerged. These revealed that there was a spectrum of willingness to disclose throughout all groups, classical training influenced all participants; total restriction of TSD was impracticable and attitudes were affected by concerns for the therapeutic relationship. Implications for practice: TSD needs to be more thoroughly explored within therapy training and supervision. A structured framework could help inform practice. Conclusions: The study supported the idea that Classical Training influenced TSD.     

Cross‐Cultural Integrity Testing as a Marker of Regional Corruption Rates

Despite the extensive research on integrity testing in personnel psychology, very little cross‐cultural evidence is currently available. The present study compares mean integrity test scores across 27 countries, based on data collected from 60,952 job applicants, and examines the relationship between these scores and a comparative index of country‐level corruption as a broad measure of cross‐cultural validity. G. S. Hofstede's cultural dimension indices are then used to explain these findings. The results indicate significant variance between cross‐cultural integrity test scores overall, and that this variance is significantly related to country levels of corruption (r=?.48), as well as Hofstede's power distance and collectivism dimensions, as hypothesized. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Rogers Redux: Relevance and Outcomes of Motivational Interviewing Across Behavioral Problems

Very little work regarding C. Rogers's (1961) client‐centered counseling has been published in the counseling discipline's journals over the last 20 years. However, during this time there has been an impressive output of empirical research using motivational interviewing (MI) in which C. Rogers's theory and approach are foundational. A review of MI's basic theoretical premises and applications for a multitude of behavioral problems are presented. Justification for integrating MI into counseling practice, training, and research is offered.     

Integrating the Spiritual Dimension Into Traditional Counselor Education Programs

The author explores the issues involved in integrating the spiritual dimension into traditional counselor education by creating a joint community and addictions counseling master's program based on a hybrid of the wounded healer and wellness models. Such a hybrid encompasses both the skills and knowledge approaches to counselor education advocated by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and the spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous's 12 steps. After a theoretical discussion of this hybrid model, an experimental master's program based on the model is described.     

Learning from within: Therapists' actions in daily clinical practice

The integration of theories and techniques is part of family therapists' daily practice, raising the need to understand which resources are used in this professional's clinical actions. Our aim is to reflect on the use of theoretical and technical resources by family therapists in their daily practice. We developed an inquiry process inspired by collaborative action research and social constructionism. Couple and family therapy sessions were conducted by two family therapists, and we developed subsequent dialogs with them focused on describing theoretical and technical inspirations for their actions. Next, we named four categories of actions in this process: exploratory actions, actions for the construction of relational visions, actions for the construction of communication, and actions for family orientation. The therapists-participants referred to many theoretical and technical resources that inspired their practice. For them, the choice of using one or another resource was based on the demands of the interactive moment, which involves their relational and embodied responses to what was experienced in the sessions. We argue that epistemological coherence is not something that guides the therapist's practice a priori, but something that can be achieved by talking about and reflecting on their actions. This article can contribute to clinical practice and training in family therapy by presenting an interesting reflexive process that can be useful to enhance practice in couple and family therapy (FAPESP, Process n. 2015/21316–1).     

Mission of the Church Under Pressure—An Orthodox Perspective

Mission always has focused on the constituent elements of the church, which are an intrinsic part of the church's very existence. Mission therefore is defined directly in relation to evangelism. This study aims to present briefly two of the today's missionary challenges from an Orthodox perspective. The first is how to preserve cultural and religious identity in a polymorphic society in all aspects, and how to eliminate the risk of confusing it with an ideology. The second refers to the missionary dimension of monasticism and the efficiency of the professional practice of the spiritual competences.     

Towards reflexive practice: Engaging participants as co-researchers or co-analysts in psychological inquiry

This paper considers some of the implications of reflexivity for the practice of psychological research. After a brief consideration of the theoretical background to a concern with reflexivity, the paper goes on to examine how various researchers have attempted to incorporate components of reflexivity in their research practice. While a group of sociologists of science have operationalized reflexivity by self-conscious concern for their own role in the construction of social—scientific knowledge, new paradigm co-operative inquirers interpret a need for reflexivity by including their participants as fully self-reflexive co-researchers. Mulkay's suggestion for a dialogic analytical exchange with one's participants is also considered. The second half of the paper illustrates an attempt at reflexive practice in the authors' own research. This was a project concerned with identity change during the transition to motherhood, and aimed to allow the women a strong hand in helping to shape the project's direction. Preliminary analysis of a woman's data was taken back to her for her comments, and her reflections on the data were incorporated in the final case study. A detailed example of the investigator and participant's discussion of a piece of data is provided.     

On the Problems of Eclecticism: A Call for Epistemologic Clarification and Human-Scale Theories

This paper addresses several contemporary theoretical issues in the family therapy field: clinicians' and students' selection of a theoretical orientation in light of the political struggles of competing schools of thought; problems of eclecticism for the practicing family therapist; the role of theory in clinical practice; and size and scope issues in theory-building. Finally, the paper suggests a periodic activity, termed an Epistemologic Declaration, designed to help therapists clarify and refine their basic therapeutic beliefs.     

The bodily complexity of truth‐telling in qualitative research: Some implications of Gendlin's theory

Abstract

Gendlin's philosophy of the body is used as an approach to the “truth values” of qualitative research. In this view, our bodily participation in life provides a grounded quality to understanding, a shared reference point for an experientially‐grounded language that can “'work.” This understanding is a bodily‐informed practice and involves the body's access to “more than words can say.” As such, the body is intimate to understanding and such bodily‐informed sense‐making adds a dimension to the ways we have access to and present truth. Implications of this approach for qualitative methodology will be discussed, in particular the implications for the informant's task, the interviewer's task, the task of analysis and the task of the reader.     

Knowledge as a formative construct: A good alpha is not always better

Measurements of domain knowledge very often use and report Cronbach's alpha or similar indicators of internal consistency for test construction. In this short article, we argue that this approach is often at odds with the theoretical conception of knowledge underlying the measure. While domain knowledge is usually described as a formative construct (formed by the manifest observations) theoretically, the use of Cronbach's alpha to construct and evaluate an empirical measure implies a reflective model (the construct reflects in manifest behaviors). After illustrating the difference between reflective and formative models, we illustrate how this mismatch between theoretical conception and empirical operationalization can have substantial implications for the assessment and modeling of domain knowledge. Specifically, the construct may be operationalized too narrowly or even be misinterpreted by applying criteria for item selection that focus on homogeneity such as Cronbach's alpha. Rather than maximizing items internal consistency, researchers constructing measures of domain knowledge should, therefore, make strong arguments for the theoretical merit of their items even if they are not correlated to each other.     

Attribution in sport psychology: seeking congruence between theory,research and practice

ObjectivesThis paper urges revision of the way attributions are conceptualised, investigated, and applied in sport psychology. There has been a recent decline in attribution research in sport psychology, despite the generally accepted relevance of attributions in applied settings. In seeking closer links between attribution theory, research, and practice, we argue that there is a mismatch between research and practice in sport psychology.MethodsRelevant literature is reviewed and theoretical arguments offered within seven sub-headings: attribution theory in practice; linking consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to attribution dimensions; controllability as the primary attribution dimension; the generalisability of controllability; assessing attributions; implications for practice; and the social context.Results and conclusionsResearch within sport psychology should focus on the central issue of how controllability attributions generalise across time, situations, and people. Measurement should reflect this approach to research within the field of attributions and, to this end, researchers might consider using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry. Practitioners should use consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to challenge clients' attributional thinking and help them attain adaptive perceptions of controllability. Practitioners should also help clients to be their own psychologist. Future research and practice should include a consideration of the social context in which attributions are shaped.     

The relationship of moral maturity and ethical attitude1

Two issues related to Hogan's Survey of Ethical Attitudes (SEA) were investigated. First, the adequacy of Hogan's theoretical characterizations of the two poles of the SEA was tested. The results supported his characterization of the ethics of conscience, but only partially supported his characterization of the ethics of responsibility. Our second focus was on Hogan's prediction that “moral maturity” should be curvilinearly related to the SEA. As predicted, when moral maturity was measured in Hogan's sense, subjects scoring in the middle of the SEA dimension showed higher levels of moral maturity than those at either the ethics of conscience end or the ethics of responsibility end. In contrast, moral maturity in Kohlberg's sense was linearly related to the SEA with the most mature individuals scoring at the ethics of conscience end of the dimension. The total pattern of results highlights the importance of conceptual clarity and conceptual pluralism in research on morality.     

A Spiritual Dimension to Sex Education?

This article engages in a preliminary exploration from a broadly philosophical perspective of the notion of a 'spiritual dimension' to sex education. An inescapable 'value' dimension to sex education is recognized, and the possibility that this might include a 'spiritual' dimension is pursued in the light of a consideration of the nature of the spiritual domain. A distinction is drawn between 'religiously tethered' and 'religiously untethered' conceptions of spirituality and four strands characteristic of the spiritual domain are outlined. Possibilities relating to a 'spiritual' dimension in sex education are identified in relation to each of the strands and their value and justification are discussed in relation to common school and separate religious schools, respectively.     

Convergent,Discriminant, and Incremental Validities of Person–Environment Fit Scale for Creativity in Predicting Innovative Behavior

This study examined the validity of a 14-item two-factor person–environment fit scale for creativity (PEFSC) to measure the personal and environmental components of creativity. A sample of 2,475 participants completed the PEFSC for evaluating the factor structure. For convergent, discriminant, and incremental validities, a subsample (N = 362) completed the creative self-efficacy scale, support for innovation subscale of the team climate inventory, and innovative behavior measure. Results indicated the two-factor correlated model showed a better goodness of fit than the one-factor model. Measurement invariance of PEFSC was observed across different genders and educational groups. Internal consistency reliabilities were satisfactory (α  ≥  .87). The personal dimension indicated stronger associations with creative self-efficacy than with support for innovation, whereas the environmental dimension was related more closely to support for innovation than to creative self-efficacy. Incremental validity was confirmed by significant and additional explanations from PEFSC in predicting innovative behavior. These results consolidated the application of person–environment fit theoretical framework in creativity research.     

The judgment comes with healing in its wings: A call for rational detachment

The necessity to criticize Pellegrino and Thomasma's ‘A philosophical basis of medical practice’ on all methodological levels of scientific practice is defended; a transcendental critique such as their approach is inconsistent with the possibility of science, a theoretical refutation of their work which is internally inconsistent due to its phenomenological/pragmatic stand, an empirical critique of their readings of historical and sociological findings, and a rejection of the possible application of their approach as its social effects sustain or enhance ideological notions about health, healing and the medical practice. Due to the scope of the work under criticism and the breadth of our critique, we cannot give a detailed account on every issue mentioned here.     

Sources of “relational homes”: a qualitative study of cancer survivors’ perceptions of emotional support

The aim of this article is to shed light on the different ways in which a group of Danish cancer survivors fulfil their need of emotional support. The study comprised participant observation at a Danish cancer rehabilitation centre, individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with course participants. The analytical process combined the inductive approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis with a deductive theoretical strategy. Key concepts from Robert D. Stolorow's existential-phenomenological trauma theory were used as interpretative framework. Findings suggest that cancer survivors’ perception of emotional support is captured by the theoretical concept a “relational home,” understood here as a supportive and caring environment. A relational home may include different dimensions in various situations and contexts, including an existential and metaphysical dimension in which God/a higher power may provide emotional support similar to that obtained in human relationships.     

A “Primer” in Conceptual Metaphor for Counselors

Conceptual metaphor provides a potentially powerful counseling framework, generalizable across theoretical orientations. According to the conceptual perspective, metaphor is not merely a matter of language, but is an indispensable dimension of human understanding and experience whereby more abstract ideas (like relationships) are understood in terms of more concrete experiences (like journeys). Consequently, when a couple in counseling says, “we're just spinning our wheels,” they are not only using a common colloquial expression, but also giving information about how they conceptualize their relationship. This article provides a theoretical foundation for use of conceptual metaphor and offers examples of its potential for counseling.