Defining forgiveness: Christian clergy and general population perspectives.

The lack of any consensual definition of forgiveness is a serious weakness in the research literature (McCullough, Pargament &amp; Thoresen, 2000). As forgiveness is at the core of Christianity, this study returns to the Christian source of the concept to explore the meaning of forgiveness for practicing Christian clergy. Comparisons are made with a general population sample and social science definitions of forgiveness to ensure that a shared meaning of forgiveness is articulated. Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy (N = 209) and a general population sample (N = 159) completed a postal questionnaire about forgiveness. There is agreement on the existence of individual differences in forgiveness. Clergy and the general population perceive reconciliation as necessary for forgiveness while there is no consensus within psychology. The clergy suggests that forgiveness is limitless and that repentance is unnecessary while the general population suggests that there are limits and that repentance is necessary. Psychological definitions do not conceptualize repentance as necessary for forgiveness and the question of limits has not been addressed although within therapy the implicit assumption is that forgiveness is limitless.</p

Using Learning Contracts in Fieldwork Education: the Views of Occupational Therapy Students and those Responsible for their Supervision

Occupational therapy students at the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, use learning contracts during fieldwork placements. A learning contract is a practical agreement between the student and the fieldwork educator, which is designed to take account of the student's individual learning needs. Studies have considered the value of using learning contracts within health care settings; however, there is little evidence available of their use with occupational therapy students and fieldwork educators. The aims of this study were to consider occupational therapy students' and fieldwork educators' opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of learning contracts and to identify how contracts were used in the fieldwork setting. A further aim was to identify the attitudes of students and fieldwork educators towards the educational theory - andragogy - underpinning learning contracts. A postal questionnaire was used to gather information from a year group of 46 occupational therapy students and the 52 fieldwork educators responsible for their supervision. The respondents suggested a number of advantages and disadvantages of using learning contracts and most respondents had positive attitudes towards andragogical theory. The study found that the majority of the respondents supported the use of learning contracts in fieldwork settings and further research is recommended

It is possible for people diagnosed with schizophrenia to recover

Services that support individuals with a diagnosis of Serious Mental Illness are called upon to deliver services that seek to promote their recovery.The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE, 2005), have been working towards defining the key features of what a recovery oriented service should look like. Optimistic as it may seem, services are a long way to undoing the effects of institutionalisation in the lives of many service users. This article provides an account of an evaluation of a Recovery Group designed to introduce participants to the recovery paradigm, in an attempt to help enhance their hopefulness about their future. It was hypothesised that when people are hopeful about achieving their goals, then they will become more motivated to pursue meaningful activities. An eight week group was conducted using outcome measures such as the Beck Hopelessness scale (1974), Lancashire Quality of Life scale, Bradburn Affect Scale and Cantill’s Life Ladder. Seven mental health service users from a Rehabilitation Inpatient Unit, and Community Team participated in the Recovery group, of whom four service users completed the programme. Despite methodological limitations of this evaluation some improvements were noted for the service users in terms of improved quality of life, a sense of optimism for the future and improved psychological well-being