Dieter Declercq, Eshika Kafle, Jade Peters, Sam Raby, Dave Chawner, James Blease and Una Foye
Eating disorders (EDs) remain a major health concern, and their incidence has further increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the equally increasing demands on treatments and…
Abstract
Purpose
Eating disorders (EDs) remain a major health concern, and their incidence has further increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the equally increasing demands on treatments and service provision and the high levels of relapse post-treatment, it is important that research explore novel and innovative interventions that can further support recovery for individuals with EDs. There is growing evidence that arts interventions are beneficial for recovery from EDs. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a stand-up comedy course to support ED recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative interview study design to evaluate the recovery benefits of participating in stand-up comedy workshops for a pilot group of people in recovery from EDs (n = 10).
Findings
The comedy intervention was well-attended and had high acceptability and feasibility. For most individuals, participating in the course had a positive impact, including promoting personal recovery (PR) outcomes across all five elements of the CHIME framework. Unique assets of the course included providing participants with an opportunity to distance themselves from everyday worries of living with an ED; the opportunity to cognitively reframe situations by making them the object of humour; and providing a safe space to (re-)build a positive sense of self.
Originality/value
This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, that evaluates stand-up comedy workshops for ED recovery and further demonstrates the potential of arts interventions and the relevance of PR frameworks in this field.
Details
Keywords
Andy Cook and Julie Payne
The purpose of this paper is to describe family intervention (FI) with four families in which the service user is under the care of forensic mental health services. There is a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe family intervention (FI) with four families in which the service user is under the care of forensic mental health services. There is a focus on identifying how systemic practice is used or adapted in working with families who have a family member who has presented risk and caused harm.
Design/methodology/approach
Four case studies are used to provide a basis for the exploration of commonalities in practice between the cases and the utility of FI within forensic services, which have the dual purpose of promoting mental health recovery and reducing offending/risk behaviour.
Findings
Family work can be a key healing tool in the recovery journey of forensic service users and their families. An integrated systemic and psycho-educational FI approach was found to be appropriate in the cases described. Issues particular to forensic services are identified; these include the role of safety planning; the function of talking about the history of trauma in the family including the impact of offending behaviour; mediating difficult relationships between family members and professionals; and overcoming barriers to having difficult and emotive conversations.
Research limitations/implications
The absence of outcome assessments limits the findings to observational data and self-reported experiences from the authors.
Practical implications
FI can be safely and effectively used within forensic settings, facilitated by practitioners competent in working with trauma and complexity, as an integrated component of the therapeutic treatment.
Originality/value
There are recognised barriers to the provision of FI within forensic settings, with limited research regarding the application of such therapies with forensic patients and their families. This paper adds to the small pool of knowledge regarding useful applications of FI in such settings.
Details
Keywords
This chapter works to provide a space beyond the predictable discourses of early childhood education in order to interrogate the social practices of teachers and children. What is…
Abstract
This chapter works to provide a space beyond the predictable discourses of early childhood education in order to interrogate the social practices of teachers and children. What is presented in this chapter is not a collection of dispassionately observed facts but one person's reconstruction of some important language ‘moments’, in the lived experience of a few Year One children. Through the use of pastiche and collage as the medium for ‘displaying’ the data, this work of interrogation involves pulling apart the tried and true, established mechanisms for reading the classroom. The result is a much untidier picture of the lived experience of Year One children than the traditional educational discourses have allowed.
Taylor Jade Willmott and Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
Theory remains underused in social marketing despite many potential benefits that may arise if theory is concretely and consistently applied. In response to ongoing calls for…
Abstract
Purpose
Theory remains underused in social marketing despite many potential benefits that may arise if theory is concretely and consistently applied. In response to ongoing calls for standardised frameworks and methods, this study aims to present a four-step theory application process with the aim of supporting improved theory use across the entire social marketing process.
Design/methodology/approach
The role and importance of theory application in behaviour change is outlined alongside an integrative review and critical analysis of theory application in social marketing. To address key challenges impeding rigorous theory use, the theory selection, iterative schematisation, theory testing and explicit reporting of theory use (TITE) four-step theory application process is proposed. Evidence-based guidance, current best practice examples, and a worked example are provided to illustrate how the TITE process may be initially followed.
Findings
Low levels and poor quality of theory use suggest social marketing researchers and practitioners need further support in rigorously applying theories across the life of an intervention. The TITE process leverages the known benefits of theory use and capitalises on the reciprocal relationship that may be enacted between theory selection, iterative schematisation, theory testing and explicit reporting of theory use.
Research limitations/implications
The TITE process delivers a standardised framework that aims to stimulate rigorous theory application and explicit reporting of theory use in social marketing. Clear theory application and reporting will permit a more fine-grained understanding of intervention effectiveness to be established by shifting away from a simple dichotomous view of effectiveness (success or failure) to unpacking the “active ingredients” contributing to observed outcomes.
Practical implications
The evidence-based guidance and best practice examples provided for each step of the TITE process will increase the accessibility and usability of theory among practitioners. With time the TITE process will support practitioners by delivering a robust theory base that can be reliably followed to further extend on social marketing’s effectiveness.
Originality/value
This paper draws on interdisciplinary methods and resources to propose a standardised framework – the TITE process – designed to support rigorous theory application and explicit reporting of theory use in social marketing. Refinement, uptake and widespread implementation of the TITE process will improve theory use and support the creation of a shared language, thereby advancing social marketing’s cumulative knowledge base over time.
Details
Keywords
Jessica L. Collett and Jade Avelis
An ongoing debate in social exchange theory centers on the benefits and drawbacks of reciprocal versus negotiated exchange for dyadic relationships. Lawler's affect theory of…
Abstract
An ongoing debate in social exchange theory centers on the benefits and drawbacks of reciprocal versus negotiated exchange for dyadic relationships. Lawler's affect theory of social exchange argues that the interdependent nature of negotiated exchange enhances commitment to exchange relations, whereas Molm's reciprocity theory suggests that reciprocal exchange fosters more integrative bonds than the bilateral agreements of negotiation. In this chapter, we use data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with poor and working-class couples to explore the effects of both types of exchange on relationship satisfaction. Consistent with reciprocity theory, we find that couples who engage in reciprocal exchange are happier and more satisfied with their relationship than those who explicitly negotiate the division of labor in their households and that the expressive value of these exchanges play an important role in this outcome. However, reciprocity is not enough. As predicted by the affect theory, the couples with the best outcomes also perceive supporting a family as a highly interdependent task, regardless of their family structure. Our results point to the complementary nature of these two theories in a natural social setting.
Geneva Gudmundson, jay johnson, Jessica W. Chin and Margery Holman
With social media use on the rise and little indication that sport team hazing ceremonies are declining, the amount and types of exposure and awareness of hazing and its…
Abstract
With social media use on the rise and little indication that sport team hazing ceremonies are declining, the amount and types of exposure and awareness of hazing and its potentially detrimental impacts are shifting for athletes, the public and school administrators alike. This chapter describes relationships between hazing in sport and social media use in university athletics. These two areas of research have been investigated separately but warrant a closer examination to understand how they are intertwined. In this analysis, we include findings from our larger national-scale sport hazing study that produced a second stream of data specific to social media use. Data are derived from interviews with university athletic directors, coaches and athletes to spotlight: (1) uses of social media in the context of athletics, (2) their understanding of social media's relationship to hazing and (3) experiences with social media and hazing education. We also present recommendations provided by the researchers, and athletes, coaches and athletic directors, for athletic administration use in developing educational and informational resources that address the interconnections between social media use and hazing. This chapter describes how athletic departments and coaches perceived and (dis)engaged from discussions around social media, the ways that university athletes and teams engaged in hazing practices, the diversified and multiple uses of social media on teams differing by gender, highlighting a (lack) of educational programming provided for athletes by their university athletic departments centred around social media use and sport hazing as both separate and interconnected topics.
Details
Keywords
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Kathryn M. Hudson and John S. Henderson
Relationships between long-distance exchange, especially of luxury goods, and the centralization of political power represent a fundamental dimension of political and economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Relationships between long-distance exchange, especially of luxury goods, and the centralization of political power represent a fundamental dimension of political and economic organization. Precolumbian American societies, outside familiar European contexts that have shaped analytical perspectives, provide a broadened comparative field with the potential for more nuanced analysis.
Methodology/approach
Analysis focuses on four cases that vary in political centralization, institutional complexity, and geographic scale: Ulúa societies without political centralization; small Maya states; Aztec; and Inka empires. Emphasis on relationships between principals and agents highlights the potential of social practices to perform the functions often associated with state institutions
Findings
In the Ulúa region, commerce flourished in the absence of states and their concomitants. The very wealth of Ulúa societies and the unusually broad dispersion of prosperity across social segments impeded the development of states by limiting the ability of local lords to intensify their status and convert it to political power. Intensity of market activity and long-distance exchange does not correlate well with the florescence of states. Less centralized and non-centralized political systems may in fact facilitate mercantile activity (or impede it less) in comparison with states.
Originality/value
These cases frame a useful perspective on the organizational configuration of long-distance trade. Informal social mechanisms and practices can be an alternative to state institutions in structuring complex economic relations. The implications for understanding trajectories of societal change are clear: the development of states and centralized political organization is not a prerequisite for robust long-distance commerce.