From the child to one's own child: Social dynamics and identities at work

The present research considers how mothers explain the development of characteristics in different targets, namely their own children, children in general and pupils. This study also examines the role played by mothers' occupation in shaping their expressed views. A questionnaire was completed by 415 mothers in different occupations, housewives, office workers and teachers, and with children between four and eight years of age. The questionnaire presented six types of explanation (from intra-individual to societal) regarding the development of four characteristics, autonomy, intelligence, order and obedience. Results indicate that when talking about development mothers use different kinds of explanation depending on the target child. Moreover, mothers' professional role is relevant in shaping explanations of children's development.     

Job aspects in the School Psychology Service: Empirically distinct associations with positive challenge at work,perceived control at work,and job attitudes

Activities within the Norwegian School Psychology Service traditionally concentrate on assessment of individuals in need and report writing (individual-level treatment). In recent years, a more “systemic” job aspect, providing preschool/school staff with tools to prevent the emergence of problems (systemic-level prevention) has been in demand. This study investigates the predictive value of these distinct aspects of work behaviour in the School Psychology Service using the outcome variables job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment among employees. It also looks at to what extent such associations may be mediated by positive challenge at work and perceived control at work. Self-reported data were collected from 470 School Psychology counsellors within 121 offices. Structural equation modelling suggested that the preventive aspect of the job was positively related to job attitudes, while the traditional job aspect was not. Furthermore, these associations were partially mediated by positive challenge at work and perceived control at work. Control for age did not alter the magnitude or pattern of regression coefficients in any substantive way. Occupational group did not moderate the associations. Alternative models were tested. Implications are discussed.     

Narratives at work: the development of career identity

Well-developed career stories are becoming increasingly important for individuals as they navigate an unstable and unpredictable labour market. Existing narrative approaches in career guidance do not yet clearly identify the learning process by which career stories are created. In this article, a model of transformation-through-writing will be introduced to help explain the learning process that occurs when narratives are used for constructing career stories. We propose that this learning process occurs stepwise in four cognitive stages: sensing, sifting, focusing, and understanding. To progress through these stages, an internal (with oneself) as well as an external (with relevant others) dialogue is needed. The case study used to illustrate the process is a story of unemployment and effectively shows how narratives can be created through expressive and reflective writing and how such a process may foster career learning in response to a boundary experience.     

Description of an ambulatory neuropsychiatric patient population in the Gondar region, Northwest Ethiopia: epidemiologic and clinical aspects

The paper deals with the morbidity profile of 1240 patients in the neuropsychiatric outpatient department of the Gondar College of Medical Sciences in the course of eleven months in the years 1985-1986, and proceeds to compare in with a previous analysis, that of Bach and Bachmann (1987). Although the morbidity profile tallies remarkably well with that in Central Europe, the extensive practice of consulting traditional healers disguises the exact situation. Constantly shifting regional peculiarities has a great influence on the morbidity of individual clinical pictures. Epidemiological and clinical aspects are discussed in the context of the relevant African literature.     

New parents at work: Jobs, families and the psychological contract

Interviews with seven women and six men who had recently returned to work after becoming first-time parents were carried out to examine experiences of the policies, practices and attitudes of their employers towards new parents, and to assess how far they felt able to discuss their circumstances and changed expectations with their managers. Findings pointed to considerable differences in the attitudes of employers to the men and women. Almost all the women had changed to part-time work, but arranging this had not been easy and some had found it difficult to come to terms with a difference in status. Many of the respondents had reservations about discussing their positions and altered expectations with their managers, and it seemed unlikely that mutually beneficial psychological contracts could be negotiated without changes in organisational cultures and policies. The findings have implications for our understanding of organisational careers and for career-planning interventions in organisations.