Unraveling Cultural Threads: A Qualitative Study of Culture and Ethnic Identity Among Urban Southwestern American Indian Youth Parents and Elders

We utilized qualitative methods to explore ethnic and cultural identity among urban Southwestern American Indian youth, parents, and elders. Twenty-four respondents ranging in age from approximately 13 to 90 years were interviewed in focus groups divided by age. Six major themes and seventeen sub-themes related to tribal and pan-American Indian ethnic identity were identified. Two important findings emerging from our study were that common ethnic identity constructs can be validated and new identity constructs discovered through qualitative methods. These and other findings suggest the importance of qualitative methods in better understanding cultural and ethnic identity. Of particular significance was the notion that the most salient and relevant identity constructs can be learned from the voices and perspectives of ethnic identity members themselves across generations, age, tribal groups, gender, and reservation and urban residence.     

Religion and emotional compensation: results from a prospective study of widowhood

Based on recent applications of attachment theory to religion, the authors predicted that the loss of a spouse would cause widowed individuals to increase the importance of their religious/spiritual beliefs. This hypothesis was examined using the Changing Lives of Older Couples sample from which preloss measures of religiosity were available for widowed individuals and matched controls. A total of 103 widowed individuals provided follow-up data, including reports of religious beliefs and grief, at 6 months, 24 months, and 48 months after the loss. Results indicated that widowed individuals were more likely than controls to increase their religious/spiritual beliefs. This increase was associated with decreased grief but did not influence other indicators of adjustment such as depression. Finally, insecure individuals were most likely to benefit from increasing the importance of their beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of the potential value of applying psychological theory to the study of religion.     

The be-coming of a therapist: experiential learning, self-education and the personal/professional nexus

Grounded in a narrative account of the author's own development as a counselling practitioner, it is argued that a programmatic developmental path for therapy practitioners can be singularly inappropriate. Such a route to practitionerhood threatens to interfere with, and even fundamentally to undermine, the necessarily unique idiosyncrasies of practitioner development, and the often ineffable, unspecifiable nature of the therapeutic process itself. Some tensions lying at the heart of the attempt to professionalise the therapy field in Britain are articulated in this personal chronicled history of principled challenge to statutory regulation. The Independent Practitioners Network is introduced as an approach to accountability that strives to avoid many of the worst incoherencies of the 'modernist' bureaucratic institution, and suggestions are made as to how we might enable diverse, innovative practitioner development in Late Modernity.     

Successful Transitions of Runaway/Homeless Youth from Shelter Care

Previous research indicates that runaway and homeless youth often achieve positive outcomes after shelter stays however few studies have examined how these outcomes are achieved. This study employs qualitative methods to explicate this phenomenon. Twenty-five providers and 21 youth from four shelters participated in this study. Youth were recruited who had completed shelter care and returned home for minimally six months. Multiple raters identified themes and created a conceptual model. While in shelter, youths experienced structure and freedom, and the family experienced respite. Once youth became involved in treatment, the family re-connected and the youth returned home. After returning home, youth and family become involved in follow-up services. Results from our study provide insight into the process through which runaway/homeless youth return home after a shelter stay. Our findings emphasize the need for continued change by all members of the family system, highlighting the need for continued intervention to maintain positive changes.     

Evaluating the Character of People Who Insult the Nation: Implications for Immigrant Integration

We examine immigrant integration by analyzing how natives evaluate immigrants' character. Most literature examines how natives distinguish between immigrants with different levels of assimilation, which is best suited to identifying integration boundaries between different types of immigrants. We shift the analysis and examine the boundary between immigrants and natives, which measures integration by the extent to which immigrant status is relevant for character evaluations. We compare how natives respond to national insults that come from immigrants as opposed to natives. We focus on insulting the nation because it highlights the salience of national identity and clarifies the importance of group boundaries. We measure responses to national insults with vignette experiments from three original surveys in the United States. Our results are consistent with situationist theories of interpersonal interactions because they suggest that character evaluations are more dependent on the situational distinction between people who do and do not insult the nation than the demographic distinction between whether the insult comes from a native or immigrant. These findings have multiple implications for our understanding of national identity, immigrant integration, and immigrant‐native boundaries.     

Project GLOBE: An Introduction

Le projet GLOBE est décrit dans cet article, avec ses bases conceptuelle et méthodologique. Une introduction est indispensable puisque les travaux présentés dans ce numéro relèvent de ce projet qui est une étude exceptionnelle de 61 pays sous divers aspects et à partir de plusieurs méthodes; il porte sur la vaste question de la culture, du leadership et des pratiques organisationnelles. Plus de 150 spécialistes du management et des sciences sociales des 61 pays y ont contribué. L'objectif global du projet est le développement d'une théorie empirique destinée à décrire, comprendre et prédire l'impact de variables culturelles spécifiques sur le leadership, les processus organisationnels et leur efficience. L'article survole différents aspects de ce projet et peut être utilisé pour se repérer dans les autres contributions.     

Brain training in older adults: evidence of transfer to memory span performance and pseudo-Matthew effects

In this study the effects of 'brain training' using the Nintendo DS Brain Training program were examined in two groups of older adults; the cognitive performance of an experimental group (n = 21) who were asked to use the Nintendo DS regularly over a 6-week period was compared with the control group (n = 20). Groups were matched on age (mean age = 74 years), education, computer experience, daily activities (time spent reading or watching television), and initial scores of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Analyses revealed that improvements were primarily in the Digit Span Test, specifically Digits Backwards. Although the Brain Training package appeared to have some efficacy, other factors such as perceived quality of life and perceived cognitive functioning were at least equally important in determining training outcomes. The implications of these findings for cognitive training are discussed.