A social cure in the community: A mixed-method exploration of the role of social identity in the experiences and well-being of community volunteers

Cohesive, resilient communities are vital to the well-being of residents. Uncovering the determinants of successful community identities is therefore essential to progressing the community health agenda. Engaging in community participation through volunteering may be one pathway to building local community identity and enhancing residents’ health and well-being, but the group processes connecting them remain unexplored. We conducted two studies investigating these dynamics using the “Social Cure” perspective. First, we analysed 53 in-depth interviews with volunteers, finding that community relationships shaped their experiences and that volunteering influenced their sense of community belonging, support, and well-being. Second, a community survey (N = 619) revealed that volunteering predicts well-being through the serial mediators of community identification and social support. Our article demonstrates the Social Cure processes involved in community-based volunteering, their impact on community identity, support and well-being, and their implications for community health, and the provision and sustainability of community voluntary action and interventions.     

Suicidality Protective Factors Among Black College Students: Which Cultural and Personal Resources Matter?

This study examined the influence of cultural resources (ethnic identity, Afrocentric worldview, and religiosity) on suicidal thoughts and behaviors among Black college students and the role of personal resources (ego resiliency and optimism) as mediators of this link. Data collected from 257 participants were analyzed. A bivariate correlational analysis showed that ethnic identity was significantly associated with lower levels of suicidality. In addition, ego resiliency mediated the relationships between Afrocentric worldview, ethnic identity, and religiosity and suicidality. Este estudio examinó la influencia que tienen los recursos culturales (identidad étnica, visión del mundo afrocéntrica y religiosidad) sobre los pensamientos y comportamientos suicidas entre estudiantes universitarios negros, así como el papel de los recursos personales (resiliencia del ego y optimismo) como mediadores de esta conexión. Se analizaron los resultados recogidos de 257 participantes. Un análisis correlacional bivariado mostró que la identidad étnica estaba asociada significativamente a niveles más bajos de tendencias suicidas. Además, la resiliencia del ego medió la relación entre la visión del mundo afrocéntrica, la identidad étnica y la religiosidad y las tendencias suicidas.     

Community group membership protects the well‐being of adults experiencing socio‐economic disadvantage

The present research examined the mechanisms through which community groups improve well‐being in adults (N = 156) experiencing socio‐economic disadvantage. Analysis showed that joining a group improved outcomes by enhancing people's group identification and wider sense of belonging to multiple groups and that this effect was stronger for more socio‐economically disadvantaged participants.     

民族接触减弱民族本质论：文化认同与文化相似性的中介作用

采用问卷法,以911名少数民族和汉族大学生为被试,探讨了民族接触减弱民族本质论及其机制问题。研究1检验了民族接触与民族本质论、民族交往态度的关系,结果表明,少数民族被试的民族接触与民族本质论存在显著负相关,汉族被试存在负相关但不显著;研究2检验了少数民族被试的本民族文化认同和与汉族文化的相似性感知在民族接触和民族本质论之间的中介作用。结果表明,文化认同和文化相似性完全中介了民族接触和民族本质论之间的负相关。文章认为民族接触可以通过增加民族之间文化相似性感知、降低内群体的文化认同而减弱民族本质论信念。最后讨论了本研究在理论和实践方面的贡献,以及存在的局限性。     

Examining Relationships Between Physicians and Their Patients: A Psychoanalytic Model

This is a study of a group of physicians' reflections about their communication with patients. Using an applied psychoanalytic framework for self-inquiry in groups, the authors summarize their findings and provide a model for others to use. They describe their method of conducting and studying three physician groups. The authors identify six essential dynamics within groups and illustrate the dynamics with examples of physician reflections. They summarize further their observations about the composition, dominant themes, and phases of development for each group. The intent of the self-inquiry groups—to clarify physicians' habits and thought patterns about patients—is upheld in the report's conclusion, in which the authors report participants' evaluation of their learning experience. Recommendations are made for analysts to apply the model in work with general physicians.     

The Etiology of Individual-Targeted Intolerance: Group Stereotypes and Judgments of Individual Group Members

Virtually all scientific writing on attitudes toward political unorthodoxy in the United States focuses on group-targeted tolerance, or the question of whether Americans are willing to extend constitutional rights and freedoms to groups outside the political mainstream. Less is known about the etiology of individual-targeted tolerance, or the question of whether Americans are willing to tolerate the exercise of constitutional rights and freedoms by individuals who belong to unpopular groups. This paper examines the sources of attitudes toward individuals belonging to disliked and stereotyped political groups—in particular, the extent to which political tolerance judgments about gay and racist targets are influenced by attributes of those targets that are either consistent or inconsistent with group stereotypes. In line with expectations, an empirical analysis showed that individuals exhibiting attributes inconsistent with their group's stereotype (whether neutral with respect to stereotypic beliefs or directly challenging them) are tolerated more than those with stereotype-consistent attributes. Because members of political outgroups can control the timing of disclosing their group membership, they have the power to determine whether and to what extent stereotypic beliefs associated with their group will influence the reactions they provoke. This analysis confirms that the impact of stereotypic beliefs on tolerance varies as a function of timing of group membership revelation, although the direction of this interaction depends on the intensity of dislike for the group of which the individual target is a member.     

The Politicisation of Group Analysis in the 21st Century

At a time of uncertainty and rapid change, little can be predicted with any confidence. We can however note the point reached in dialectical historical processes and recognise the conflicts and contradictions pushing in different directions. We can consider developments in politics, culture, personal relationships and psychotherapy as major dimensions of the context within which we continue to work and which, in the course of our work, we are called on to address.     

Chaos, Group Psychotherapy, and the Future of Uncertainty and Uniqueness

This paper explores the application of chaos theory, a new non-linear dynamical theory, to the understanding of psychotherapy groups. Two features of psychotherapy groups that have been insufficiently described or explained, uncertainty and uniqueness, are considered in the light of the chaos theory notion that groups proceed through periods of order and disorder. The recommendation is made that chaos theory be explored further as the field moves into the millennium and a hundred years of its own existence.     

Large Group Intervention to Encourage Dialogue Between Directors and Workers in the Context of Organizational Ambiguity

In the postmodern era the entire sphere of employment is undergoing changes that create feelings of ambiguity. These changes are reflected in the use of defense mechanisms such as splits between management and employees, and alienation and dissociation. Occupational social workers are also experiencing insecurity. Although their function is to assist individuals and the organization during crises, they are not able to detach themselves from their experiences. It is more difficult for them resort to bridging and dialogue in order to ameliorate feelings of anxiety. This article will describe how a large group intervention can provide practical experience that raises self-awareness and facilitates coping with organizational ambiguity.