A feasibility study of the systematic evaluation of client outcomes in a voluntary sector counselling agency

There is an increasing demand on voluntary sector counselling agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of their work with clients. A pilot study was carried out in a voluntary sector counselling agency to assess the feasibility of adopting a well‐established evaluation system (CORE) designed to measure client outcomes. The paper describes the issues and complexities involved in introducing such a system, and explores the impact of the evaluation on counsellors, staff and users of the service. It is suggested that evaluation can play an important role within voluntary organisations in enabling counsellors and staff to reflect on their work.     

Violence in the community—a study of violence and aggression in homelessness and mental health day services

This study examined violence and aggression in five agencies providing day services in homelessness or mental health. Incident reporting was used to test the hypotheses that aggression is associated with alcohol problems, drug use, mental disorder, homelessness, history of violence, age and sex. Agency policies and patterns to aggressive incidents were explored. Three agencies provided a sufficient number of incidents for analysis (involving 30 ‘aggressors’). A history of violence was associated with aggression in all three agencies; alcohol problems, drug use and younger age were associated with aggression in at least one agency; no association was found for mental disorder, homelessness or sex. A degree of pattern to incidents could be discerned, with drink or drugs often involved, and exercises of authority or intervention in client altercations being particularly likely to precede aggression towards staff. A variety of incidents were reported, from verbal arguments to threats with a knife and serious physical assault. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving Financial Inclusion through Communal Financial Orientation: How Financial Service Providers Can Better Engage Consumers in Banking Deserts

Banking deserts, vulnerable communities that lack access to mainstream banks, represent a serious societal problem. Mainstream banks successfully entering banking deserts can help to assuage this problem. Drawing from research on the psychological consequences of poverty, we propose that mainstream banks can more successfully operate in banking deserts by increasing consumers’ perception of communal financial orientation as a bank benefit (i.e., consumers’ perception that engaging with the bank is beneficial for their community's well‐being). Two field studies, comparing customers of a credit union who live in a banking desert and those who do not, show that the perception of communal financial orientation as a bank benefit increases banking‐desert consumers’ beliefs that engaging with the credit union is beneficial and increases their likelihood of patronizing and recommending it; consumers living outside banking deserts do not display these effects. These findings provide novel insights into psychological mechanisms distinctly associated with banking‐desert consumers and establish the importance of communal financial orientation. This is a win‐win proposal for under‐served communities and financial service providers because it helps both improve financial inclusion and increase the viability of serving banking deserts.     

Psychosocial Factors Relating to Adaptive Capacity in a New Zealand District Health Board

ABSTRACT

Communities assume that health care systems are adequately preparing for disasters, yet health sector capacities are restricted. The current research examined factors associated with adaptive capacity of staff in the New Zealand health sector. Two studies were carried out in the context of large-scale emergency management exercises, with the assumption that such exercises provide information about psychosocial responses to real emergency situations. The focus of the research was on adaptive capacity to address routine work-related stressors, as high levels of routine demands in the health sector have implications for staff health and organizational functioning, both of which are important for managing the stressful demands arising from emergency situations. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Focusing on the emergencies or on their roots? The role of nonprofit organisations in immigration policymaking in Italy

Religious organisations are a relevant actor in immigration policymaking in Italy; they usually work in networks with institutions and other actors from the nonprofit sector to implement projects and services for migrants. However, the collaboration might lead to disagreement on which is the best way to face social problems related to immigration. In the province of Foggia, the reports on the precarious conditions of migrants employed in agriculture led to the development of a range of activities for improving their status and fighting their exploitation. While an issue network on the receipt and first assistance for migrants has arisen, there is no agreement on deeper interventions between nonprofit organisations (NPOs) which want to provide help for migrants in actual situations of precariousness and NPOs committed to face the causes of these situations. The tension between these two conceptions of nonprofit role in public policies might be divisive inside the religious associationism.     

Management Selection in Australia: A Comparison with British and French Findings

The present study provided data on the cross-national use of management selection methods by collecting information from the Australian context. The data is compared with the British and French findings obtained by Shackleton and Newell (1991). A total of 254 companies (53.4%) responded to the survey. The overall pattern of results indicated that Australian management selection methods were closer to the British than to the French findings. Compared to previous Australian studies, the present data indicated that the main selection tools being used are unchanged. Some evidence was found that selection methods may differ within organizations comprising the private sector and between the private and public sector. The business sector made significantly greater use of cognitive testing and assessment centres compared to manufacturing, retail and government sectors. The government sector reported a significant difference in using two or three interviewers. It is proposed that, although surveys of this type have been useful as general reviews of the area, future research would benefit by collecting: (1) data on the specific measures used, (2) distinguishing between internal and external recruitment, (3) distinguishing between private and public sector recruitment, and (4) ensuring respondents have the same conceptual understanding of the selection methods covered by the survey.     

Working for free: A fundamental value of counselling

This paper challenges two myths about voluntary sector counselling, namely (a) that volunteer counsellors and voluntary sector counselling are the same thing, and (b) that standards of practice in the voluntary sector are significantly different from those elsewhere. The paper also argues that voluntary sector counselling nurtures a deeply felt commitment to respond to human need without monetary recompense. Drawing on evidence from a study of voluntary sector counselling in Scotland, we show that a substantial proportion of voluntary sector counselling is undertaken by paid workers, and that many counsellors who volunteer in one setting undertake paid counselling work in another setting. We demonstrate that the majority of voluntary sector counselling agencies in Scotland work within ethical frameworks developed by the professional bodies for counselling, and we argue that these agencies have been at the forefront of efforts to enhance the quality and safety of counselling services available to the public. We identify and illustrate three overlapping reasons why large numbers of highly qualified counsellors give their time and expertise for free: because of their desire to support the work of agencies through which the accessibility of counselling is extended; because volunteer counselling constitutes personally rewarding and meaningful work; and as an expression of their commitment to give freely of themselves. In conclusion we argue that voluntarism is central to counselling, but that parts of the counselling world are at risk of forgetting this core value.     

Care Versus Control: The Identity Dilemmas of UK Homelessness Professionals Working in a Contract Culture

UK voluntary and community sector organizations (VCOs) play a key role in caring for homeless people. However, there are widespread concerns about the impact of increasing government contracting on the quality of their services. This paper examines understandings of homelessness and identities as homelessness professionals, as expressed by VCO professionals. By so doing, it considers how ‘partnership working’ enables or undermines their capacities to care. The paper uses 24 in‐depth interviews and four focus groups with London‐based homelessness professionals. Professionals expressed deep tensions in their experience of their role. On one hand, they reported a deep ethical commitment to care and to develop quality supporting relationships to respond to their clients' complex needs. On the other, their capacity to care was undermined by their dependence on statutory resources and the controls this involved over the way VCOs delivered care. Professionals had to adjust to statutory monitoring frameworks and hard performance targets, which detached them from the human and intimate encounter with their clients and constrained their person‐centred caring interventions. The findings highlight the contradictory nature of contemporary systems of ‘joined up’ welfare that neglect the very human and complex nature of the issues that they were originally created to address. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

利益相关者理论及在卫生领域中的应用

利益相关者理论产生于20世纪80年代,国外进行了大量的相关研究,而国内的研究则刚刚起步,主要应用范围也仅限于工商管理界。在综合国外相关研究的基础上,系统地介绍了利益相关者方法的产生、发展以及在卫生领域的应用情况,以期为国内相关研究的进一步开展提供借鉴。