Counselling in the workplace: How time‐limited counselling can effect change in well‐being

Background: Many employers provide counselling support on work and personal issues for their employees, but in times of economic pressure such services can be at risk if their effectiveness is not demonstrated. Aim: To evaluate whether time‐limited counselling in a workplace can effect sustained change in well‐being. Method: The study was carried out by a staff counselling team in a university setting. The Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale (WEMWBS) was completed by clients at the beginning and end of counselling, and at three and six months following. A non‐treatment comparison group completed the survey at the same intervals. Results: The results of our investigation show clearly that the effect of time‐limited counselling (average seven sessions) on distressed clients is positive. The evidence of our treatment group suggests that they acquire an increased sense of well‐being as a result of the experience of counselling with a significant statistical difference between pre‐and post‐counselling treatment group scores on the WEMWBS and consistently higher scores found post counselling. The improvement was maintained at the same level for at least six months following the end of counselling. Conclusions: The provision of time‐limited counselling by employers is an effective support for personal difficulties affecting work.     

Behavioural coherence in group robbery: a circumplex model of offender and victim interactions

The behaviour of offenders and victims in 116 cases of group robbery (61 commercial, 55 personal) was examined. Four interpersonal themes were evident: dominance, submission, co‐operation and hostility. These themes are governed by the principles of complementarity such that offender dominance elicits victim submission (reciprocity) and vice versa, while co‐operative offenders tend to elicit victim co‐operation (correspondence). Hostile offences were hypothesised as eliciting hostility in victims, but few victims in the sample demonstrated active resistance. The existence of behavioural themes suggests that offenders within the same group behave in a homogenous fashion, which is explained by reference to group norms and processes of modelling. Further, differences in interpersonal themes were evident between commercial and personal robberies. Commercial robberies tend to involve greater levels of co‐operation than personal robberies, while personal robberies involve more hostility than commercial robberies. This is discussed in terms of situational and motivational elements of the robberies. Aggr. Behav. 32:330–342, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Redressing the balance—involving children in family therapy

This paper argues that family therapists have tended to ignore the problem of how to engage children in family therapy, and it presents a number of techniques specifically aimed at involving children in therapy. The socio-historical context of childhood is discussed and its implications for therapists examined. A number of visual techniques are then described, illustrated by case examples. These serve the function of addressing the whole family system on a number of levels and involving children fully in the process of therapy.     

Language,cognition, and second language grammaticality judgments

In first language research, there appear to be two predominant positions relating metalinguistic awareness to language development. One suggests that since metalinguistic awareness is related to primary language acquisition (comprehension and production), general cognitive processes perform a limited role in metalinguistic awareness. The other suggests that since metalinguistic awareness is more closely related to secondary language acquisition (reading and writing), a greater role is assumed by general cognitive processes. There have been some indirect attempts to study the role of language and cognition with respect to second language grammaticality judgments. There is growing evidence that metalinguistic awareness is a reliable indicator of developing second language competence. Furthermore, it has been shown that language aptitude is significantly related to metalinguistic awareness. The present study was designed to investigate the statistical relationship between second language grammaticality judgments and selected cognitive and linguistic variables. The variables studied were second language proficiency, second language classroom achievement, first language reading competence, language aptitude, nonverbal intelligence, field dependence-independence, and a written grammaticality judgment test tapping the ability to recognize, and correct, deviance. Subjects were college students in advanced English-as-a-second-language classes. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to determine the relative contribution of linguistic and cognitive variables to the individual variation demonstrated by the learners in their ability to detect deviance in English. The results showed that second language proficiency, second language achievement in the classroom, and language aptitude were significant predictors of the subjects' ability to make grammaticality judgments. First language reading competence was significantly related to subjects' ability to correct deviance. These observations are discussed in the light of: (1) the relationship among cognition, language, and metalinguistic awareness, and (2) the role of metalinguistic awareness in second language acquisition and second language learning.     

An approach to the study of determiners in early language development

The definite and indefinite articles (the and a) are usually regarded as being a contrastive system. Either the or a is required with a noun, depending on certain semantic and pragmatic considerations. Developmental research views the child as progressively attaining appropriate (adult) use of the two forms. However, both historical and recent developmental evidence indicates that the articles should be incorporated into a total system of determination, including both verbal and nonverbal determiners. A single experiment is described to show 3-year-old children's use of the articles (and other determiners). Several functions of the articles within the two conditions of the experimental context were elicited, as were other verbal (e.g., this, that) and nonverbal (e.g., a point) determiners. It is argued that instead of regarding the child's use of the articles as correct or incorrect, we should look at the form and function of those determiners used and omitted and consider why they are elicited.     

Parental guilt: The part played by the clinical geneticist

Parents of children born with a disability often suffer feelings of inappropriate guilt and shame. Although some genetic counselors see their main task to be that of diagnosis and education, they also aim to relieve these feelings of guilt and shame. Little is known about the process of genetic counseling, and whether or not counselors achieve this aim. An exploratory study of one clinic, and one geneticist working with 30 families, using video recordings and taped interviews, indicated that this particular doctor sometimes succeeded in reducing guilt, either intentionally or unintentionally, but on one occasion guilt was iatrogenic, and increased rather than decreased. Further research is needed to examine other types and other styles of genetic counseling so that in future iatrogenic guilt can be avoided, and the distressing aspects of inappropriate guilt and shame reduced as much as possible.     

Family therapy and soiling: an audit of externalizing and other approaches

This is a retrospective audit of the therapy outcome of 108 children with soiling and their families. Fifty-four children were treated by externalizing and 54 comparison children and families were treated by the usual methods in the same clinic. The results from the externalizing group were better and compared favourably with standards derived from previous studies of soiling. Externalizing was rated as much more helpful by parents at follow-up.     

On-line consultation of definitions and examples: Implications for the design of interactive dictionaries

The paper discusses how dictionary consultation during text comprehension varies according to dictionary users' prior knowledge of a word and of the concept it represents. Four types of consultation are isolated: the construction, extension, confirmation, and recognition of word meaning. Two experiments (one using an interactive electronic dictionary and the second a pencil-and-paper task) show that people's use of definitions and examples varies with type of consultation. The findings suggest that dictionary entries giving definitions as the primary source of information are appropriate for construction, extension, and confirmation tasks but that examples should be the primary information for recognition tasks. The implications of the findings for the design of interactive dictionaries are discussed.