On patients’ unique self-knowledge

Abstract

Patients contribute to analytic endeavors through a knowledge of their own unique ways of organizing their experience, of building an intersubjective space with significant others, of the type of life that they consider worth living, and primarily of their specific passions and yearnings. The more that therapists allow the patients’ unique self-knowledge to influence their therapeutic perceptions and decisions, the further they will advance patients’ status as co-experts working together with the therapist to create and formulate new, richer knowledge. In the present article, it is suggested that one of the main reasons why patients’ self-knowledge is excluded from the therapeutic dialogue is that the persuasive power of the therapists’ rich and deep knowledge challenges the patients’ self-authority. Through an illustrative vignette, therapists are recommended to use a metacommunication intervention to restore the balance that has been undermined between the therapist’s authority and the patient’s self-authority.     

Fostering learning-in-organizing through narration: Questioning myths and stimulating multiplicity in two performing art schools

This article is organized around the concept of “learning-in-organizing” to capture the collective, dynamic, and relational nature of how groups of persons, moving together through space and time, can come to gain knowledge and appreciation of a given issue through “storying” their experiences. Learning is understood as an integral part of the process of organizing. I suggest that the character and modes of learning vary depending on the stage of organizing. These move through stages of relative stability (“gaming”) and change (“playing”). The learning that takes place during a relative stable period has the character of monitoring and is primarily problem driven. During change, more complicated learning occurs. Inherited myths and rules are called into question; situations and problems are redefined as a result of the conflicting stories told by social actors. This article covers considerable theoretical and practical ground in outlining and illustrating this dynamic narrative approach to organizational learning. It includes a case concerned with making self-care a public issue among the communities of two performing art schools. The example shows that in situations where inherited narratives are no longer adequate, it is possible to foster transformational learning through reflexive dialogues if participants are willing to share their experiences, to take each other seriously, and to acknowledge multiplicity.     

Devices of Responsibility: Over a Decade of Responsible Research and Innovation Initiatives for Nanotechnologies

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) has come to represent a change in the relationship between science, technology and society. With origins in the democratisation of science, and the inclusion of ethical and societal aspects in research and development activities, RRI offers a means of integrating society and the research and innovation communities. In this article, we frame RRI activities through the lens of layers of science and technology governance as a means of characterising the context in which the RRI activity is positioned and the goal of those actors promoting the RRI activities in shaping overall governance patterns. RRI began to emerge during a time of considerable deliberation about the societal and governance challenges around nanotechnology, in which stakeholders were looking for new ways of integrating notions of responsibility in nanotechnology research and development. For this reason, this article focuses on nanotechnology as the site for exploring the evolution and growth of RRI.     

Learning As Support For Organizational Innovation: Possibilities And Limitations

Abstract

The present article tells an intervention story where two collectives, from business and academia, came together to address a business problem through collaborative action research. Among other things, the project created new ways of learning and therefore, knowing about the “business problem.” The author argues that in order to talk about an organizational intervention in a learning context, it was helpful to focus observation at the level of practice, in this case the different learning practices brought to the project by the organization and the research group. The “scientific narrative” focuses on how the two practices interacted. The present story's plot revolves around the following questions: What happens when one collective—used to a particular style of learning—decides to engage with another collective with a different approach to learning and what are the consequences for organizational innovation?     

Between Thanatos and Eros: Erich Fromm and the psychoanalysis of social networking technology use

Social networking technologies have become a ubiquitous framework for social interaction, serving to organise much of the individual’s social life. Such technological structuring affects not merely the individual’s psyche (as a psycho- technics), it also affects broader aspects of society (as a socio-technics). While social networking technologies may serve to transform society in positive ways, such technologies also have the potential to significantly encroach upon and (re) construct individual and cultural meaning in ways that must be investigated. Erich Fromm, who psychoanalytically describes humans as a product of their society and the economic systems within that society, may provide insight into the influence of social networking technologies in contemporary society. He sees the relationship between the individual and society as being in a constant state of dynamic change. Utilising Fromm’s psycho-societal insight, social networking technologies are shown to conflate and confuse the relation between Thanatos and Eros – the Thanatos of a lifeless and consumerist agenda-filled mechanisation, and the Eros associated with social engagement. Thanatos and Eros are tied together via social networking technologies. This results in, firstly, social networking technologies functioning predominantly to further capitalist agendas through the monetisation of these technologies – particularly in terms of linking commodity fetishism and the foundational social drive of the individual. Secondly, social networking technologies mechanise human action according to predictable behavioural paths through the use of these technologies, especially in terms of how socialisation is possible via these technologies (shaping how platonic and romantic relationships may take place in the contemporary world). Such a mechanisation of interpersonal engagement contrasts with Erich Fromm’s assertion that interpersonal relations (vis-à-vis love) are not “mere emotion”, but rather represent an interpersonal creative capacity and interplay. Fromm’s psycho-societal insights will show how contemporary individuals may take independent and responsible rational action to establish accountable and psychologically beneficial ways of engaging with others through social networking technologies.     

Digital power: exploring the effects of social media on children’s spirituality

Digital culture is a prominent factor in the formation of children’s identity and relational experiences, with high percentages of children in many countries participating in gaming and social networking activities. Yet little scholarly work has addressed the ways in which various patterns of engagement in digital culture call into question current assumptions about childhood identity formation and relationality and the repercussions of formational and relational shifts on children’s spirituality. This essay explores ways in which digital culture functions as a spiritually enriching force in children’s lives, paying particular attention to the potential value of social networking for children’s spiritual well-being and the ways in which the internet’s positive aspects may mask other, more corrosive, elements.     

Community-Based Guidance: A ‘Tupperware Party’ Approach to Mid-Life Decision Making

This article examines a community-based approach to assisting women in their mid-life decisions through networking, peer-counseling, and professional support.     

Participative work as an influence on human development

A number of business and industries in the United States and Europe have been experimenting with ways to involve more employees in organizational decision-making and problem-solving activities. Although the goal of such experiments in participative work is usually to improve productivity and enhance morale, there is evidence that working in such firms enhances adult development. This article reviews this evidence, focusing on how the experience of working in a participative milieu affects the individual in ways that are manifested off the job—in the family and community. Suggestions are made for future research that would involve developmental psychologists in helping work organizations experiment with planned social change.     

The emergence of a South Asian business elite in the United Kingdom

This article explores the emergence of a South Asian business elite in Britain based on primary research. It suggests that today's South Asian business elites possess the initial socioeconomic resources that are advantageous for business expansion. In addition, they have broken out of the confines of their local ethnic community to expand their business operations. They no longer rely heavily on co-ethnic labour or exclusively serve their own community's needs. Even those who started out in small-scale retailing have now diversified into more profitable businesses. These findings suggest that British Asian business elites lose some of their “ethnic” features when they own big businesses. Many strive to be regarded as British rather than Asian or ethnic entrepreneurs because they believe that integration is necessary for business success in Britain. Nevertheless, they have forged international business links and use their knowledge of different countries and cultures as leverage.     

“Okokuqala ngokuya ndandiqala kwakungekho easy”: Feeling empowered to take collective action through community engagement

Community engagement (CE) at Rhodes University (RU) and community psychology draw on similar principles: using an asset-based community development approach; recognising and drawing on the skills, capabilities, and knowledge of all parties, which they contribute to a partnership. Working from a strategic model of engagement, mutuality is foreground in all CE activities, where both student volunteers and community partners jointly benefit from the engagement. This paper examines CE at RU and how CE principles are translated into practise, using Siyakhana@Makana (S@M) as a case study. In S@M, a 19-week-long volunteer programme, community partners and student volunteers are jointly involved in planning, executing, and evaluating CE activities together. This paper illustrates how being involved in such CE activities has enabled community partners to mobilise for effective change in their communities. Community partners reflect on how they have been empowered to taken on leadership roles, addressing local challenges in collaborative ways, while drawing on the skills and knowledge that they have gained through their engagements in S@M. This resonates with the social action model of community psychology, a participatory approach that seeks to mobilise people to bring about change in the contexts in which they live.     

For Now We See Through In Vitro Darkly; But Then Face to Face: An Alternative Theological Perspective on In Vitro Fertilization

Abstract

This article uses the techniques of discourse analysis to highlight the ways in which official Church documents on IVF have eclipsed from view the desires, dilemmas and pastoral needs of women seeking treatment for infertility. Furthermore, this analysis reveals how an overriding concern for the embryo has also curtailed debate upon the wider social context in which the procedures of the biomedical community are located. It is argued that the insights generated through feminist debates concerning an ‘ethics of care’ can effectively challenge the androcentric ‘rights’ perspectives enshrined in the moral teaching of the churches. The attention to context generated within this feminist ethical framework would provide a more effective means of challenging the commercial activities of the biotechnology industry than is currently employed.     

Does technology and innovation management improve market position? Empirical evidence from innovating firms in South Africa

There is a growing recognition of the central role of technology and knowledge management for market success of organizations. Little is empirically know, however, about this relationship. Drawing on the South African Innovation Survey, a unique dataset on innovative behavior of South African firms in manufacturing and services, this paper investigates the question to what extent and in which ways do technology and innovation management activities affect firms’ market position. Findings show that conducting technology strategy activities pays out. Moreover, especially a combination of internal and external technology audits seems to be beneficial for organizational performance.     

Analysis of Behavior in Forming a Joint Enterprise in Senior Citizens’ Communities of Practice

The aim of this article is to examine the joint enterprise, one of the three keys to form a Community of Practice (CoP) for senior citizens. The researchers visited all the Toy Clinic Shops in Taiwan and employed both semi-structured interview and observation methods to explore how the elderly volunteers form their joint enterprise within these CoPs. This article presents findings that the CoPs for elderly serve as effective knowledge bases to carry intergenerational learning. Elderly education is not just something to do with the senior citizens’ professional knowledge but the formation and reformation of their value. Key elements to form joint enterprise are identified, while suggestions to facilitators are given. The research advances our understanding of applying CoPs to the field of senior adults’ development and provides suggestions on organizing CoPs for elderly volunteers.     

Design in the Local Economy: Location Factors and Externalities of Design

This article deals with the relation between design and local economy. The study explains the mechanisms, which lead innovative and knowledge intensive activities to concentrate in metropolises and major cities. In addition, there is a tendency that within cities, these activities concentrate to certain locations. Intensive and easy communication with deep social dimension connected to it creates positive externalities and spillover effects of knowledge. This is fruitful not only for the design business itself but also to a large extent to other innovative activities. The location of design industry is illustrated by empirical data in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. Design has a great significance for brand and value creation processes of many important, global businesses, like mobile phone industry or machinery, in addition to design industries itself. Via this, link design firms together with research and education institutions are an important part of the global industrial clusters.     

The influence of implicit motives on memory processes.

Four studies tested the hypothesis that agentic and communal motives act as a channel for new knowledge and are linked to specific ways of organizing information that facilitate its accessibility. In Study 1, agentic and communal participants read an agentic or a communal vignette consisting of differentiated and integrated statements, performed a distraction task, then completed written recall and recognition tasks. Agentics recalled and recognized more differentiation in the agentic story; communals recalled and recognized more integration in the communal story. A computerized replication with randomized recognition items (Study 2) found the same pattern of recognition results. Studies 3 and 4 used implicit motive primes and found similar results in both written and computerized recognition tasks. These ways of organizing information have powerful implications for the encoding of autobiographical knowledge and its long-term organization.     

Reformation Unfinished: Economy,Inclusivity, Authority

In 2017, churches around the world are organizing different activities to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. The Reformation was a momentous event in the church and the history of Europe. This article examines three important legacies of the Reformation to look ahead to the future: the church and economic life; the priesthood of all believers; and the authority of the Bible. In many ways, the issues that Luther has raised – such as authority, church structure, priesthood and ministry, biblical interpretation, and the church's relation to economics and social issues – remain to this day and demand the church's critical attention.     

A Complexity Approach To Co-Creating An Innovative Environment

The distinguishing characteristic of complex co-evolving systems is their ability to create new order. In human systems this may take the form of new ways of working or relating, new ideas for products, procedures, artefacts, or even the creation of a different culture or a new organizational form. This article will explore the creation of new order using the principles of complexity and the concepts of creativity and innovation. It will argue that innovation can be facilitated by an enabling environment based on the logic of complexity and describe how one organization (the Humberside Training and Enterprise Council) co-created an innovative environment and changed its culture, ways of working, thinking, and relating.     

Indigenous Women’s Ways of Knowing and Healing in Mexico

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on examples of Indigenous ways of knowing in three communities of northern and southern Mexico. It centers on dialogue conducted with Indigenous women from Northern Baja California (Arcelia, the cultural healer from the Kumiai community of San Jose de la Zorra), Oaxaca (Maria Sabina through textual analysis of the only book that houses her healing wisdom), and Chiapas (the Lacandon community of Lacanja Chansayab). It then highlights ways in which the author—an academic woman—brought the wisdom of Indigenous cultures to the center of academic discourse, and how Indigenous women apply their knowledge and wisdom to heal their communities. Lastly, the article concludes with lessons learned from the dialogues with Indigenous women, how they have applied innovative research and healing strategies that depart from Euro-American paradigms, and how they creatively contribute to the development of Indigenous psychologies that are anchored in feminist, popular power.     

The spirit of giving: Mennonite narratives about charitable contributions

Many charitable contributions in the USA are religiously motivated. Based on an analysis of the discussions about charitable contributions among three Mennonite groups in south-central Pennsylvania, this article examines members' complex decision-making processes about giving. Most recent studies of such donations among Christians emphasise the importance of a sense of sacrifice and the demonstration of one's religious commitment through giving. This article, however, suggests that giving decisions cannot be fully understood without considering members' pragmatic, but also sometimes conflictive views on appropriate religious contributions. The three groups in this article differ considerably in the ways in which their beliefs affect their decisions about contributions. While one group prioritises their immediate church community, another group emphasises systematic monetary contributions for evangelical activities and the third stresses the relationship between their financial decisions and the broader social and economic context in which church members are situated.