Explanatory models for mental illness endorsed by Christian clergymen: The development and use of an instrument in Singapore

Researchers have attempted to elicit the explanatory models used by different populations to understand mental illness, since these models can influence how populations use mental-health treatment. However, little effort has been made to understand the explanatory models used by Christian clergymen. This is despite their important role as providers of mental-health care in many Asian and Western societies. Neither are there suitable instruments to conduct such investigations. This study attempts to present a suitable instrument for such research and explore the belief structure of this population by administering a modified version of the Opinions about Psychological Problems to a representative sample of Singaporean Christian clergymen. Factor-analytic techniques revealed five factors which were explained as (1) a Traditional Christian and (2) a Deliverance etiology, both models implicating religious causes for mental illness, (3) a Poor Coping and (4) Internal Conflicts etiology, essentially being psychological explanations and an (5) Organic etiology model. The Traditional Christian model received the greatest endorsement, followed by the Poor Coping model, while the Organic model had the least acceptance. The belief structure used by nearly half of the respondents was noted to be complex, involving a combination of religious, psychological, and organic explanations.     

The self-help clearinghouse concept: An evaluation of one program and its implications for policy and practice

Many clearinghouses have been organized within the last decade to promote mutual aid and to provide referral information about self-help groups to potential members. Few of the assumptions that underpin the operation of these programs have been evaluated, however. This paper presents an evaluation of the Self-Help Information Service, a clearinghouse integrated with a generic information and referral service. The results were generally positive with respect to operator and consumer satisfaction, community responsiveness, and the system's capacity to undertake numerous service and research functions. They also pointed up several changes that might be made to improve the system's impact. It is concluded that a new practice specialty might be developed within a clearinghouse context, and that the clearinghouse concept might serve as one cornerstone of a funding policy that supports the self-help approach.     

创意实施——创新研究未来走向

创新一直是学术界关注和探讨的热点。过去40多年里, 有关创新的研究层出不穷, 取得了丰富的成果。然而, 这些研究主要集中在如何激发员工的创新行为上, 即创意产生这一环节。至于创意产生之后能否转化以及如何转化的问题没有引起足够的重视。创意是开端, 但需要把创意转变为现实, 否则创新难以转化为价值。研究创意实施的条件及其作用机制是推动创新研究深化的重要任务。目前已有的创意实施研究在研究层次和研究视角上都存在不足, 未来有必要在方法上把量化研究与质化研究结合起来, 从不同的层次和视角, 进一步拓展研究的范围, 揭示创意从产生到实施的条件和作用机制。     

The violence of prediction: The uneasy relationship between social science and social policy

Neither the suggestion that certain categories of people be prevented from childbearing nor the suggestion that involuntary commitment of mental patients be made easier is justified by scientific analysis. Assertion that the high rate of violence in the United States is “caused by” inadequate socialization of biologically susceptible children raised by single parents is unjustified by available data. Similarly, results of recent studies predicting violence among the mentally ill provide only minimal implications for social policy. The problem of false positives continues, in both domains, to be a serious one, and the values, biases, and social constructions of “experts” will continue to influence their interpretation and presentation of available facts.     

Evaluating municipal policy: an analysis of a refuse packaging program

The effect of a municipal enforcement program to improve residents' packaging of refuse was analyzed in a multiple-baseline design across two areas of a city. The enforcement program involved instruction concerning refuse-packaging regulations, collection only of appropriately packaged refuse, and feedback notices to residents concerning the reasons for noncollection of their inadequately packaged refuse. Both the number of violations and the percentage of residences violating each day were markedly reduced during the enforcement program. Furthermore, sanitation workers considered that the packaging of refuse and the safety and efficiency of refuse collection had improved. This study served as a pilot evaluation of a policy change in the city sanitation department, and was functional in determining the direction of that policy.     

The evaluation of an intervention program for young schoolchildren with acting-out problems

The rationale and nature of a program to train nonprofessional child-aides for helping interactions with young acting-out school children are described. Pre/ post teacher measures of children's problems and competencies, aide measures of problem behavior, and school mental health professionals' change in behavior estimates were used to evaluate the program's effectiveness. Children seen by trained aides showed significantly greater reductions both in acting-out problems and in overall maladjustment than did similar children seen by comparable aides who did not have additional training, or by themselves before training. Implications were considered for optimizing outcomes both in the specific school intervention project in question and in other, broader types of clinical interventions.This study was supported by a grant from the NIMH Experimental and Special Training Branch (MH 14547-02), which the authors acknowledge with gratitude. Our thanks also go to Bruce Rapkin and Mary Boike, who assisted in the data analyses.     

From field experiments to program implementation: Assessing the potential outcomes of an experimental intervention program for unemployed persons

Demonstrated a procedure suggested by Bloom (1984) to provide estimates for the effects of an intervention on its actual participants compared to global effects on study participants in the intervention group, whether or not they showed up. Analyses were based on data collected in a field experiment that tested a preventive intervention for unemployed persons (Caplan, Vinokur, Price & van Ryn, 1989). Effect size estimates were two to three times larger for the actual participant group than for the entire experimental group on employment outcomes (e.g., earnings) and mental health (anxiety and depression). Further analyses produced results showing that compared to participants, the nonparticipants achieved significantly higher levels of reemployment at posttests and did not differ significantly from participants on all other outcomes. The results suggest that persons who most needed the intervention and benefited from it were drawn into it through self-selection processes.     

The Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (Islam): introducing an instrument originated in Turkish for international use

This study reports the content and psychometric properties of the Ok Religious Attitude Scale (in an Islamic tradition). Among two samples of university students (N = 934 and 388), high alpha coefficients were recorded (ranges between .81 and .91). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirm that the scale with its four subscales (cognitive, emotional, behavioural and relational) form an ideal (first-order) or acceptable (higher-order) model. The scale revealed powerful criterion validity through its comparison with adapted versions of Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Christianity [FSAC] and Intrinsic Religiosity scale. In its final form the scale can be commended as a reliable, valid and viable instrument to be used in social science research.     

The measurement of self-esteem for program evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to examine the area of self-esteem in the professional literature, its relationship to educational programs, its measurement problems, and one approach to program evaluation in terms of students' self-esteem. Self-esteem has been an important topic in the educational literature in recent years. There have been many important contributions by investigators on the relationship between self-esteem and educational achievement. Until recently, the results of self-esteem investigations have yielded a somewhat negative appraisal from reviewers, but there is optimism for the future possibilities of assessing this elusive construct. The investigator focusing upon program evaluation has advantages over his predecessors. He can utilize different measurement strategies. The strengths and criticisms of Q methodology are discussed. The L-L Q-Sort is presented as one approach to the evaluation of self-esteem in educational program evaluation.     

Marriage in transition: Implications for social policy

The current marriage crisis in our culture is the result of a major transition from the institutional to the companionship marriage. Our failure to support and guide this transition by providing couples with training in interpersonal competence is due to our total lack of a formulated social policy concerning marriage. New understanding of the situation, together with new approaches and new resources, may now enable us to provide more effective services and to develop an appropriate policy.In addition, he has recently joined the staff of the Department of Pastoral Care, Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, as Director of Marriage Enrichment Training in the Division of Human Enrichment and Development.     

Teen internet use: relating social perceptions and cognitive models to behavior.

In order to provide Internet researchers with a better understanding of how and why individuals adopt some online behaviors and not others, this study targets teenage Internet users to examine the relationships among social influence and self-regulatory models as mechanisms to the behavior of Internet use. Information, entertainment, and social online activities are presented as three distinct uses of the Internet so corresponding behavioral models of adoption could be tested. Results from 173 high school students indicate that direct and vicarious social perceptions significantly influence self-regulation, which subsequently has an effect on use. Using path analyses to test the direct and indirect theoretical relationships among these constructs, the data indicates that while clearly fitting two of the three models tested, three unique processes to adoption are evident.     

Influence of social models on alcohol use among adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and that of their close model figures. The sample was made up of 536 secondary students from rural areas. Predictive models of alcohol consumption were established by means of logistic regression analysis and the criterion used was the consumption by parents, siblings, and the adolescent's best friend. It was observed that alcohol use of these models conditioned the adolescents' consumption; their attitude towards the drug, their intention to consume, their normative perception and perception of risk. The analysis revealed that the main predictor of alcohol use is the consumption by the best friend (OR = 13.04, IC 95% = 8.14-20.91), followed by the consumption by siblings (OR = 1.85, IC 95% = 1.12-3.04). The intention of consumption increases when the father is an alcohol user (OR = 2.70, IC 95% = 1.68-4.36), sibling (OR = 2.83, IC 95% = 1.56-5.15), and mainly best friend (OR = 4.33, IC 95% = 2.55-7.36).     

Stem cell research: an ethical evaluation of policy options

In February 2004, South Korean researchers became the first in the world to successfully harvest stem cells and establish a stem cell line from a cloned human embryo. This is just one of eight possible policy options concerning human embryonic stem cell research. In practice, every kind of stem cell research can be done in one country or another. This paper evaluates the eight policy options concerning human embryonic stem cell research in light of the arguments and decisions behind them.     

The California drought: A quasi-experimental analysis of social policy

The effect of fines for failure to conserve water during the California drought of 1976 to 1978 was evaluated in a retrospectively arranged multiple-baseline design across three San Francisco Bay area cities. The data indicated that, on a community level, significant savings of water occurred regardless of whether fines were introduced or not. However, on an individual level, fines appeared to have an effect on private, as opposed to commercial or industrial, consumers who had received at least one fine. The limitations imposed on these conclusions by the quasi-experimental nature of the design were highlighted. Possible reasons for water conservation in the absence of fines were discussed within the framework of stimulus control. It was suggested that an area for future research should be the delineation of stimulus parameters involved in producing behavior change in entire communities.