The training of telephone crisis intervention volunteers

Telephone crisis intervention services are growing at a very rapid rate. A review of the literature reveals that there are very few references to this new phenomenon and even fewer that deal with evaluating the effectiveness of telephone crisis training. Herein 7 articles are reviewed which deal with volunteer selection and training. These articles demonstrate that no consistent rationale for volunteer selection or training exists. Selection of volunteers typically consists of a gross screening to eliminate any obviously unsuitable persons, with training serving as a further sorting procedure where volunteers who are uncomfortable with the role of a crisis interventionist can be encouraged to drop out. The authors suggest that a training model be built around crisis intervention theory using principles of social learning as the methodology for training.     

Lunar phases and crisis center telephone calls

The lunar hypothesis, that is, the notion that lunar phases can directly affect human behavior, was tested by time-series analysis of 4,575 crisis center telephone calls (all calls recorded for a 6-month interval). As expected, the lunar hypothesis was not supported. The 28-day lunar cycle accounted for less than 1% of the variance of the frequency of crisis center calls. Also, as hypothesized from an attribution theory framework, crisis center workers reported significantly greater belief in lunar effects than a non-crisis-center-worker comparison group.     

Teenagers' attitudes about seeking help from telephone crisis services (hotlines)

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes toward the use of telephone crisis services (hotlines) among 519 adolescents in 9th through 12th grade mandatory health courses in six high schools in New York State. Few adolescents (2.1%) used hotlines and negative attitudes were stronger toward hotlines than they were toward other formal sources of help. The most common reasons for hotline nonuse related to feelings of self-reliance and shame. Objections to hotlines were strongest among students most in need of help by virtue of impaired functioning or feelings of hopelessness. The results underscore needed outreach efforts to youth.     

Dimensionality of organizational commitment in volunteer workers: Chamber of commerce board members and role fulfillment

This study explores the multi-dimensionality of organizational commitment of volunteer chamber of commerce board members using the Meyer and Allen (1997) scale. The effect of organizational commitment on desirable board member roles is also tested. Theory is developed by uniting past research in both organizational commitment and employee motivation. A proposed scale is tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with data gathered from 616 respondents at 116 chambers of commerce in 36 states. Structural Equations Modeling is then used to examine the effects of organizational commitment on several critical roles the board member is hoped to perform. Unlike prior research using Meyer and Allen’s (1997) scale that focused on paid employees, our results indicate that normative, affective, and continuance commitment based on low alternatives are the three distinct constructs applicable to volunteer employees. Moreover, these components have a positive effect on board member’s roles.     

Evaluation of crisis intervention services with anonymous clients

American Journal of Community Psychology -     

Perceptions of health among lay consumers.

The incongruent perceptions of health by consumers and health professionals may contribute to low rates of adherence to medical regimens and few health promotion behaviors. This study of 65 adults, 21 men and 44 women, examined adults' views of health to identify gender, age, and education differences in health perceptions. A questionnaire with 34 items in 12 health categories was developed, based on the work of Woods and associates. Self-concept, fitness, and role performance were rated highest by all groups. Women rated social involvement and harmony significantly higher than men. Education groups rated body-image, fitness, and self-actualization significantly differently.     

Criteria in lay self-judgment of anger control

The basis of judgment by laypersons in the self-evaluation of difficulties with anger control is examined. Responses to a set of 10 specific criteria of anger control problems and a self-rating of degree of problem were obtained on 190 subjects. The criteria and problem ratings were found to have satisfactory testretest reliability. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that certain criteria entered more than others into the self-judgments of anger control problems. Exploratory factor analysis produced three factors, interpreted as Personal Difficulties with Anger, Aggression, and Hostility, which replicated some of the previous research. Implications of the findings for a social constructivist view of self-judgment of anger and aggression and the development of self-report instruments are discussed. Additional studies with other samples are suggested.     

The lay person's understanding of sexual harassment

The literature on how lay people interpret behavior as sexual harassment is reviewed. An attributional model of this interpretation process is proposed. An experiment testing some of the basic postulates of the attribution model is reported. The results of the experiment generally supported the attribution model.This research was supported by a grant from the Jesse Jones Faculty Research Fund, University of Notre Dame. The author expresses gratitude to Jeff DeMartino and Barbara Spengeman for their assistance as experimenters and to J. D. Day for her comments on the stimulus materials.     

Immigrant linguistic justice: The lay of the land

Linguistic justice is concerned with the just way of politically regulating linguistic diversity. Today, the linguistic-justice debate may be differentiated into three different domains: interlinguistic justice, intralinguistic justice, and global linguistic justice. Each of these domains has, to a significant extent, attracted different authors and debates, although the normative system underlying them is structurally similar. This introductory piece aims to provide context for our symposium dedicated to linguistic justice and migration by, first, giving an overview of linguistic justice, second, linking linguistic justice to migration, and, finally, providing an overview of the various papers in the symposium, situating them against the background developed in the first two sections.     

An empirical analysis of lay conceptions of memory domains

Although experts consider memory in terms of different domains (e.g., short-term memory, spatial memory), little is known about the way in which lay people conceive memory domains. Study 1 addressed this issue by asking 79 French lay people to group together 125 memory situations (previously generated by lay people) according to their similarity. Study 2 used a similar procedure with 99 American lay people and 40 different memory situations. Hierarchical cluster analyses revealed five main memory domains common to the two studies: learn a set of things and recall them later, episodic and detailed memory, autobiographical memory, memory for day-to-day living, and failure to remember. Study 1 revealed a further domain: memory for intellectual and exact knowledge. Identifying these shared lay conceptions of memory provides insights into how lay people communicate about memory and will enable the construction of memory self-evaluation measures that are more representative of all memory domains.     

Sex differences in self-estimates of lay dimensions of intelligence

260 participants rated themselves on 12 items that made up the three types of intelligence as noted by Sternberg, et al. in 1981. There were sex differences on two of the three standardized scores with men rating themselves higher than women on practical and verbal intelligence. This confirms previous studies of sex differences in the ratings of over-all (g) and multiple intelligences.     

The lay assessment of subclinical depression in daily life

This study examined how laypersons assess subclinical depression in others on the basis of information about their daily lives. For 2 days, 96 participants were tracked with the Electronically Activated Recorder, a naturalistic observation method that samples ambient sounds from participants' momentary environments. Judges rated participants' levels of depression after listening to the sampled ambient sounds. Participants' depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. Overall, judges showed little accuracy at determining participants' levels of depressive symptoms from the ambient sounds. Exploratory analyses, however, revealed that judges were more accurate among moderately and severely depressed participants, presumably because the cues judges used to assess depression (e.g., spending time alone, not socializing, not laughing) discriminated successfully only at high levels of subclinical depression.