Facilitating Interorganizational Collaboration: The Contributions of Interorganizational Alliances

In an attempt to promote service delivery integration and improve interorganizational collaboration, many recent human service delivery initiatives have included the development of interorganizational alliances such as coalitions and coordinating councils. Despite their popularity, little is known about how these alliances influence interorganizational collaboration, specifically the extent to which they alter the interactions among human service delivery organizations. The present study examined the interorganizational interactions, specifically the exchange relationships, within one county that was implementing two interorganizational alliances—a countywide coordinating council and interagency service delivery teams. Membership on both alliances was associated with broader interorganizational exchange networks. Organizations involved in a coordinating council were more likely to be included in client, information, and resource exchanges, and participate in joint ventures with a broader range of organizations. Providers involved in interagency teams also exchanged clients and information with a broader sector of service delivery organizations than nonparticipating providers. Observational data suggested that both alliances created structures and processes intended to facilitate interorganizational exchanges. Together, these results suggest that the development of opportunities for and encouragement of staff and leader involvement in these types of alliances may be an important part of our attempt to create a more integrated social service delivery system. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Community service for misdemeanours in Accra: Preferences of offenders,victims, judiciary,and community members

Taking religiosity into account, the study explored preferences for community service sentencing by victims, offenders, judiciary, and community members from Accra, Ghana. One hundred and ninety respondents were sampled (females = 38.42%, offenders = 5.26%, victims = 58.95%, law enforcement = 10.52%, members of the Judiciary = 4.74%, and general community members = 65.26%). They responded to the Attitude Towards Community Service Questionnaire, and the data were analysed utilising ANOVA between group difference tests. Offenders expressed a higher preference for community sentencing than victims and members of the judiciary. Religion aligned participants supported community sentencing. Community sentencing seems a preferred sentencing option by a cross section of Ghanaian community members for adult non-violent offenders.     

Level of service delivery of public transport and mode choice in Accra,Ghana

Worsening traffic congestion and air quality has been associated with the proliferation of informal operation of private microbus and minibus in African cities. It is recognised that large buses hold the promise of relieving the growing congestion of African cities if they are managed efficiently and sustainably.It is in line with this that this study seeks to explore the reasons behind commuters’ non-preference of Metro Mass Transit (MMT) for intra-city commuting in Accra, Ghana. A revealed preference survey was administered to 134 commuters to find out the reasons behind their non-preference and their perception of the level of service (LOS) delivery of the Metro Mass Transit.The Study revealed that though Metro Mass Transit was 20% cheaper in terms of price, commuters perceived its service delivery as poor. Over-crowding of buses, non-adherence to time schedule, long in-vehicle time, perception of not getting access to seats, non-availability of bus at respondents’ origins and destinations, accessibility of alternative modes and long waiting times for buses accounted for the major reasons for non-preference.Metro Mass Transit Limited’s improvement in its service attributes especially in-vehicle time, waiting time, comfort, reliability and accessibility is a means of increasing its modal share. Adherence to these is the surest way to achieving the objective of promoting mass transit in Accra by shifting people from the use of unsustainable modes such as mini-buses and taxis to the use of efficient high capacity systems as Metro Mass Transit.     

Courteous service: Its assessment and modification in a human service organization

We evaluated strategies to increase behaviors associated with courteous provision of service by 3 staff members of a human service agency. Training included written instructions, practice, and performance feedback. A lottery procedure was introduced to maintain courteous service after training. The results of a multiple baseline design across the 3 participants showed marked increases in courteous behaviors following training. These effects were maintained at 3-, 5-, and 8-month follow-ups. Consumers' satisfaction with service also increased. These findings suggest that simple training and reinforcement procedures can enhance courtesy afforded those who receive service from public and nonprofit organizations.     

Empowering youth to change their world: Identifying key components of a community service program to promote positive development

Prior to graduating from high school, the vast majority of youth in the United States will take part in at least one community service activity. Although it is frequently assumed that community service is inherently beneficial to those that take part, the activities and processes of youth service programs tend to be unsystematic and vary widely. In addition, empirical assessment of youth service programs is inconsistent and often lacks methodological rigor. The present paper addresses these concerns in a preliminary evaluation of both the process experience and the outcomes of a theoretically grounded school-based community service program for urban adolescents. The evaluation focuses on identifying key components of a youth community service program, assessing whether the program was experienced as it was intended, and providing preliminary data on participant outcomes. Findings indicate that the program was experienced as both empowering (i.e., guided by student initiative, preferences, and strengths) and promoting a sense of community (i.e., encouraged cooperation and collective decision making). Results also suggest that taking part in the community service program increased youths' self-reported empathy and intent to be involved in future community action, as compared to a group of matched controls. Implications and recommendations for developing and evaluating service-learning or community service programs in the schools are discussed.     

Experiences of the health care delivery system in a rural South African setting

This exploratory study aimed to examine health care provider work-related experiences in a rural South African context. Participants were a convenient sample of 12 medical practitioners (private sector = 55%). The practitioners responded to an open-ended question on their health care delivery-related experiences. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that the medical officers experienced both care provider fatigue and satisfaction from their work roles. Experiences of care provider fatigue were characterised by stress, anxiety, hopelessness, depression, burnout, frustration, and anger. Care provider satisfaction was associated with happiness, ability to cope, security, conscience, and commitment. Job retention and satisfaction of the health care providers were dependent on material and manpower resourcing of health services.     

Interfaith Relations in the United States: Toward a Multilevel Community Psychology Approach

Interest in religion within the field of community psychology has steadily emerged within the last three decades. This interest has focused almost exclusively on the social benefits of religion, glossing over the often‐contentious nature of religious life and the ways in which religious individuals and institutions can disrupt healthy human and community development. Considering the recent surge of interfaith conflicts and discriminatory practices targeting religious minorities in communities across the United States, it is imperative that community psychologists begin to examine relevant trends in interfaith relations and potential directions for action research and intervention. This paper serves as the beginning point of just such an examination, proposing a multilevel model for addressing the microsystemic, mesosystemic, and macrosystemic levels of interfaith phenomena. More specifically, I present interfaith contact, congregation‐based community partnerships, and theological belief systems as particularly relevant to interfaith community research and intervention. Finally, I detail an interfaith organization that embodies these dimensions of interfaith relations and provides a concrete example of how a multilevel action research model may be effectively employed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mental health counselling in the Black American Church: reflections and recommendations from counsellors serving in a counselling ministry

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between “The Black Church”, the mental health needs of its members, and addressing those needs from the perspective of counsellors within the church. Four in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the mental health counselling team at one large, African American-serving church in the Midwest to explore their thoughts about their church pastor’s desire to expand their current ministry to a fully operating counselling centre. The findings suggest that “the Black Church” not only has a role and responsibility in addressing the mental health needs of African Americans within and outside of the church but can also use religiosity as a facilitator rather than a barrier to mental health service use among African Americans.     

The young women's network: a case study in community development

While young women have been found to be at additional risk for psychological morbidity after a breast cancer diagnosis, their specific needs in relation to support are not well described. A community development approach was utilized to develop the Young Women's Network, a peer support programme for young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer that addresses their specific psychological and social needs. Central to this approach was the key role of the target group in both the definition of the problem and the generation of the solutions. This article describes the steps involved in developing this programme and guidelines for health professionals and community members who may wish to replicate either the Young Women's Network or this particular approach to programme development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Edge of Diversity: Bringing African Americans and Latinos Together in a Neighborhood Group

This article describes challenges we encountered when organizing a group of African Americans and Latinos in a community where ethnic tensions had been normative. We relate how the first author, a Caucasian with a university affiliation, entered this diverse community and employed ethnographic methods in an attempt to understand it. The ethnography provides a context for the principal challenge we encountered: ensuring that the group had ethnic balance. Focusing on the group's first meeting, we describe the uncertainty of whether our work would be helpful or harmful to the community. We conclude with reflections on the gaps between science and practice in diverse communities; the utility and limits of ethnography; the multiple ecological levels of influence on the community; dilemmas around a White male taking proactive stances while trying to empower a group consisting mostly of women of color; and the influence of values we brought to the community.     

Predictors of Client Attrition in a University-Based Community Counseling Clinic

The purpose of this study was to investigate how symptom distress, social role, interpersonal relationships, gender, age, number of supports, and education level predict client attrition in a community sample. Using binary logistic regression and cross-sectional data, the authors examined the predictive impact of 8 variables on adult client attrition in a university-based community counseling clinic. Results indicated that education level, interpersonal relationships, and number of supports significantly predicted attrition. In this sample, gender, age, symptom distress, social role, and race did not significantly predict attrition. Implications for clinical assessment and counseling practice are discussed.     

Defining Location in the Mental Health System: A Case Study of a Consumer-Run Agency

In this ethnographic study of a mental health service agency staffed by “consumers,” or fellow “recipients” of services for serious mental illness, the concept of community narrative provides the framework for examining how such an agency preserves its consumer identity while providing services dictated by the established service system. Locating the agency's narrative in its “origins tale,” analysis revealed five principles comprising the agency's identity: a normalizing view of mental illness, a commitment to helping, a dual-valued understanding of the mental health system, and beliefs in recovery and in the significance of employment as a criterion for recovery. Predicted consequences of narrative functioning emerged in social climate and staff expressions of cohesion and commitment. The local meaning of these narrative themes reveals the agency's view of the consumer element in its work and its solution to the dilemma of being both inside and outside of the mental health system.     

Forging partnerships for mental health: The case of a prefecture in crisis ravaged Greece

Public health and in particular mental health have been severely affected by the multitude of socioeconomic crises experienced by people in Greece. The severe austerity programmes, have reduced access to health services and increased demand for publically funded health care. This paper presents a case study focusing on the impact of these measures on the lives of mental health providers in one prefecture in Crete. Focus group methodology was applied and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. Analyses revealed three superordinate themes that converge at many levels and appear to be going counter to the circumstances: firstly, ‘forging partnerships for mental health’; secondly, ‘extending our reach’; and thirdly ‘transformations in professional identity through praxis’. These themes are discussed using the words of the participants and the relevant literature.     

Effectiveness of a consultation intervention to promote tobacco control policies in Northwest Indian tribes: Integrating experimental evaluation and service delivery

A quasi-experimental replication of an intervention for promoting tobacco control policies in Northwest Indian tribes is described and the process of intervention including issues of collaboration among research institutions and Indian organizations is discussed. The policy intervention was evaluated using a pretest-posttest design wherein 20 tribes that had served as wait-list controls now received the intervention. The intervention comprised a tribal representative attending a kickoff orientation; follow-up visits to the tribes; distribution of tobacco policy workbooks; and phone call consultations. Policy status and stringency were assessed by means of telephone interviews with two key contacts per tribe, and by a count of enacted policies. There were significant pre-post changes in the primary outcome measure, a composite summary score of tobacco policy stringency, and changes were also reflected in enacted policies. The intervention effects observed were similar to those found in the prior randomized trial and suggest a robust, disseminable intervention. Much of the success achieved was attributed to the role of an Indian organization in planning the project and implementing the intervention and evaluation protocols.     

Risk assessment of knowledge fusion in an innovation ecosystem based on a GA-BP neural network

The risk assessment of knowledge fusion in innovation ecosystems is directly related to these ecosystems’ success or failure. A back-propagation (BP) neural network optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA) is thus proposed to evaluate the risk of knowledge fusion in innovation ecosystems. First, an index system is constructed for evaluating the risk of knowledge fusion in innovation ecosystems, and data are collected by questionnaire for use as training data for the neural networks. To realize machine learning, 84 datasets were generated, of which 60 were used to train the network, and 24 were used to test the network in MATLAB (R2014b). Evaluation models were then constructed by the BP neural network and GA-BP neural network, and their accuracy was judged by comparing the evaluation value with the target value. The comparison shows that the GA-BP neural network has faster convergence speed and higher stability, can achieve the goal more often, and reduces the possibility of the BP neural network falling into a local optimum instead of reaching global optimization. The GA-BP neural network model for the knowledge fusion risk assessment of innovation ecosystems provides a new method for practice.     

Assessing the Impact of a Media‐based Intervention to Prevent Intergroup Violence and Promote Positive Intergroup Relations in Burundi

The present study (N = 1074) examined the impact of a theory‐driven media intervention aimed at violence prevention and intergroup reconciliation in Burundi. We used a novel methodology utilizing audio‐based surveys to assess attitudes related to intergroup conflict and reconciliation among community members. We conducted a propensity score analysis to estimate the causal effects of the intervention by examining differences between listeners and non‐listeners of the radio dramas. The results indicated a positive effect of the intervention on several social psychological outcomes (tolerance, in‐group superiority, social distance, intergroup trust, responsibility attributions, trauma disclosure and competitive victimhood). However, listeners and non‐listeners did not differ in obedience toward leaders or historical perspective taking; and the results for active bystandership, one of the main foci of the intervention, were mixed. Furthermore, the results show that the impact of the intervention sometimes depends on listeners' personal experiences of victimization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence for a cognitive control network for goal-directed attention in simple sustained attention

The deterioration of performance over time is characteristic for sustained attention tasks. This so-called “performance decrement” is measured by the increase of reaction time (RT) over time. Some behavioural and neurobiological mechanisms of this phenomenon are not yet fully understood. Behaviourally, we examined the increase of RT over time and the inter-individual differences of this performance decrement. On the neurophysiological level, we investigated the task-relevant brain areas where neural activity was modulated by RT and searched for brain areas involved in good performance (i.e. participants with no or moderate performance decrement) as compared to poor performance (i.e. participants with a steep performance decrement). For this purpose, 20 healthy, young subjects performed a carefully designed task for simple sustained attention, namely a low-demanding version of the Rapid Visual Information Processing task. We employed a rapid event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design. The behavioural results showed a significant increase of RT over time in the whole group, and also revealed that some participants were not as prone to the performance decrement as others. The latter was statistically significant comparing good versus poor performers. Moreover, high BOLD-responses were linked to longer RTs in a task-relevant bilateral fronto-cingulate-insular-parietal network. Among these regions, good performance was associated with significantly higher RT-BOLD correlations in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). We concluded that the task-relevant bilateral fronto-cingulate-insular-parietal network was a cognitive control network responsible for goal-directed attention. The pre-SMA in particular might be associated with the performance decrement insofar that good performers could sustain activity in this brain region in order to monitor performance declines and adjust behavioural output.     

Obama's Interfaith Service Challenge: A Call for a New Theology of Service in American Higher Education

Abstract : President Obama's recent Interfaith Service Challenge issued to colleges and universities in the United States encourages schools to commit to year‐long interfaith service projects that engage constituencies across campus, across faith traditions, and across the wider local community. While they were included in pre‐challenge planning, university chaplains and religious life staff were omitted from the list of partners. This omission challenges college chaplains and campus ministers to articulate a theology of interfaith service that represents their enduring priorities to engagement across faith lines and in service to others. For Christians, such a theology could be based on the three key principles of imago dei, theologia crucis, and faith active in love.