Locked Up,Then Locked Out

SUMMARY

Women prisoners face tremendous psychological, emotional, and physical hardships inside prison. These include isolation, separation from their families and children, lack of medical care and general abuse of their basic human rights. When they are released from prison, women confront institutional as well as psychological barriers to a successful return to their communities     

Psychometric properties of the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) in a study of coping behaviour amongst malawian students

Abstract

The Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI; Amirkhan 1990) is an inductively derived measure of responses to adverse circumstances. Although seeking to isolate “a few fundamental strategies with wide applicability” (Amirkhan 1990). the initial validation studies were all based on Californian populations. The present study repork findings from completion of the CSI by 415 Malawian students as part of their enrolment health check up. Factor analysis (principal components analysis with varimax rotation) identified three factors with very similar structure and loadings to those identified by Amirkhan, namely, Support Seeking, Problem Solving and Avoidance. As with the initial validation study, there was some evidence of withdrawal and distraction forming identifiable sub-components of Avoidance. The CSI does appear to provide a measure of core coping strategies which is robust across cultural settings, the theoretical implications of which are considered. The influence of factors such as age and gender on CSI scores is discussed     

Cultural Diversity: Do We Need a New Wake-Up Call for Parent Training?

In 1996, Forehand and Kotchick concluded that parent-training (PT) interventions largely ignored cultural influences on parenting behavior. They reasoned that the failure to integrate the influence of ethnicity into theories of parenting behavior could result in culturally biased and less effective interventions. The present article addresses whether their “wake-up call” went unheard. We review research on PT treatment studies and examine (a) the rate of inclusion of ethnic minority parents in PT research, (b) the effectiveness of PT across ethnic groups, and (c) the effectiveness of culturally adapted PT interventions. Results show that there has been an increase in the ethnic diversity of PT treatment studies over the past three decades, yet only one methodologically sound study directly examined ethnicity as a moderator of PT treatment outcome. Despite the paucity of evidence that ethnicity is a moderator of parent-training outcomes, a number of culturally adapted PT treatments have been developed. These adapted interventions have rarely been tested against the unadapted interventions on which they are based. The results fail to support the current emphasis on ethnicity in efforts to improve the effectiveness of PT. We present methodological and conceptual limitations in the existing literature and provide recommendations for researchers studying the effects of ethnicity on PT outcomes.     

Offender interviewing in custodial settings: Understanding validity,value and veracity issues

The purpose of this scoping literature review was to identify trends regarding validity, value and veracity issues when conducting (qualitative) interviews with offenders in custodial settings. We selected for review works from electronic databases in SAGE, Springer, and Taylor and Francis by using e-journals, Google Scholar and the behavioural science database, PsycINFO. The inclusion criteria for our studies were based on whether sources addressed offender interviewing as a wellspring of information, but excluded those that focused solely on the acquisition of clinical information (at the expense of focusing on validity, value and veracity issues). We utilised the content analysis approach to identify themes/ patterns in the research findings. Key findings suggest that offenders with impression management motivations deceive and manipulate in their research interview presentations. When gathering data from inmates in custodial care settings, best practice includes cross-checking offender interview data against other sources of evidence and taking into account the context in which they are serving their sentences.     

Socio-ecological influences of attitudes toward disability among Kenyan undergraduate students

This study examined personal and contextual variables as predictors of attitudes toward disability at a Kenyan higher education setting. Participants were a convenience sample of 309 undergraduate students at a Kenyan university enrolled in Sociology, Social Work, Psychology, Political Science, and Public Administration majors. Data on attitudes were collected using the Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons scale (ATDP: Antonac & Livneh, 1988). A cross-sectional survey design was employed for data collection, and a multiple regression analysis was used for data analysis. Results revealed that the model was significant: F (9, 250)?=?2.784, p?=?0.004. However, only age (β?=?0.173, p?=?0.044) significantly predicted attitudes towards disability, indicating older students held more positive attitudes than their younger counterparts. Older students had a more favourable attitude towards people with disabilities than younger students. Seniority, by age, is highly valued in Africa than perhaps anywhere in the world. Kenyan older adults may be key to enhancing favourable attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in Kenya as well as interventions aimed at changing negative attitudes towards people with disabilities.     

Depression as a Creative Illness: A South African Case Study

This case study presents a cultural perspective to supporting health and wellbeing in a young South African adult with depression and unresolved paternity issues. Issues around cultural identity appeared to influence the experience of depression and addressing the identifying aspects was helpful to recovery and wellbeing. Therapy facilitated the discovery of the client’s biological father and necessary ritual to reunite him with his African ancestry.     

Psychoanalysis,class & politics: Encounters in the clinical setting

Abstract

There is little research and literature available in the United Kingdom which addresses the issues for black and ethnic minority families who have dealings with the family court system. Therefore, this article is based largely on the personal views and experiences of the author. In it I shall be commenting on the functioning of the court in terms of private law concerning children.     

Loss of feeling in the university counsellor: Some clinical illustrations of personal illness in a university context

Abstract

This paper is concerned with anaesthesia, loss of feeling or state of lifelessness, including numbness, helplessness and paralysis in the university counsellor, and explores briefly contributions to such states in a university counsellor.     

Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom

Studies of religion and fandom have tended to explore the extent to which fan cultures might be seen as forms of surrogate religion. This article suggests that a more detailed examination of the way in which believers use their faith within their individual fandoms would offer more interesting insights into both contemporary religious practice and fandom. Conducting a case study of ‘Brony’ fandom (adult fandom of cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), this article explores the ways in which Christian fans use fan fiction and art to promote religious literacy, explore theological issues and engage in evangelism and exegesis. Fan knowledge is used as a way to quickly impart and explore complex religious concepts in a manner which utilises the shared culture of fandom. This should not be seen as a symptom of ‘mediatisation’ but as part of a complex synthesis of faith and popular culture.     

Determinants of religious expression in the workplace

With the importance of religion to many individuals and the legal protections present in various countries, religious expression in the workplace is a phenomenon worthy of greater research and understanding. This study examined several potential antecedents of religious expression in the workplace. Results from a sample of employed individuals suggest that both individual and organisational factors, including individual religiosity, company culture and value congruence, influence the level of workplace religious expression.