Family Stories and Family Secrets

Families preserve and rewrite history in ways that pass on to the next generation a sense of family history based on what is known and what cannot be told. In this paper, we analyze New Zealand European adolescents’ stories about their parents’ childhood, exploring how these young people tell and do not tell family stories shrouded in secrecy. We identify three major ways in which families express secrets across the generations—through collusion, through confusion, and through whole-family secrets—and discuss the implications of each of these family practices for the preservation of family history

Technology-supported group activity to promote communication in dementia : a protocol for a within-participants study

Background. CIRCA (Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid; Alm et al., 2004) is an interactive conversation support for people living with dementia. CIRCA facilitates one-to-one conversations and caregiving relationships in formal care environments (Astell, 2009). Originally developed as a standalone device, a new web-based version of CIRCA has been created to increase availability. The potential of CIRCA to support group activities and conversation between people living with dementia and a facilitator has not previously been explored. Objectives. The two objectives of this study are: (i) To validate the new web-based version of CIRCA against the original standalone device; (ii) To explore the efficacy of CIRCA to support group activity with people with dementia in a formal care setting. Methods. This mixed methods study comprises two parts: (i) 8-session group activity using the CIRCA stand-alone device; (ii) 8-session group activity using the web-based CIRCA. One hundred and eighty people with dementia will be recruited: 90 for part (i) and 90 for part (ii). Measures of cognition and quality of life will be taken at baseline, post-CIRCA intervention and three-months later, plus video recordings of the group sessions. Results. Both parts of the study will be completed in February 2018. Discussion. The study will provide evidence on two issues: (i) a validation of the new web-based version of CIRCA; and (ii) the suitability of CIRCA to support group activities in formal care settings for people living with dementia

New synthetic transformations of 1-benzyl, 3,5-dibromo, 1h-1,2,4-triazole /c

This report details the study of the nucleophilic substitution of 1-benzyl-3,5-dibromo-lH-1,2,4-triazole. A variety of nucleophiles have been studied to date. The nucleophiles studied primarily fall into the categories of Phosphorous, Oxygen and Sul fur species. Some of the initially formed substitution products are thermally unstable and undergo unique rearrangements. The report describes the physical properties, 1H NMR, 13c NMR, IR and Mass spectra for all of the synthesized compounds. Possible mechanistic pathways are presented for the formation of the prepared compounds. Recommendations are made in order to suggest future research opportunities in this area

The Importance of Leadership: An Investigation of Presidential Style at Fifty National Universities

Leadership has been studied as an essential component for success in business, government, and military environments. However, the optimal style of leadership in university settings remains unclear. Transformational leadership style has been proposed as efficient for universities, however some experts have argued that transformational leadership is actually counterproductive at academic institutions. Increasing public scrutiny of university leaders has also raised the question of presidential leadership style. One manifestation of this scrutiny is the U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) annual college ranking. To resolve the uncertainty regarding effective leadership style the present study was designed to address the following research questions: 1. Is there any relationship between a top tier ranking in the USNWR and a particular leadership style? 2. Is there agreement among top administrators at the ranked institutions regarding the style of leadership exhibited by their university president? The proposed study answers these questions through the analysis of data gathered utilizing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The survey instrument was sent to three top administrators at the top 50 ranked national universities according to USNWR. A score was derived which provided a quantitative assessment of transformational, transactional or laissez-faire leadership styles. In addition, a satisfaction score was determined. The key results of the study show: 1) transformational leadership was found in 56% to 74% of the rated presidents; 2) transformational leaders were found to induce the greatest satisfaction; 3) transactional leadership style was exhibited 24% of the time, and laissez-faire leadership was found among 8% of the presidents; 4) laissez-faire leadership was noted significantly more frequently among universities ranked from 40 - 50 according to the USNWR; and 5) there was no statistical agreement among the administrators surveyed.In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that transformational leadership is the most satisfactory style of leadership among these national universities. The rating of transformational university presidents as highly satisfactory demonstrates the success of presidents with these leadership skills

Personal narratives, well-being, and gender in adolescence

Relations between narratives, especially the inclusion of internal state language within narratives, and well-being have been found in adults. However, research with adolescents has been sparse and the findings inconsistent. We examined gender differences in adolescents’ personal autobiographical narratives as well as relations between internal state language and emotional well-being. Mirroring previous research with different age groups, we found that females narrate both positive and negative personal experiences in more emotional ways than do males. Also, adolescent females include more cognitive processing words indicative of self-reflection than do adolescent males. Adolescent males who told personal narratives richer in internal state language displayed higher levels of well-being, but there were no relations between internal state language in personal narratives and well-being for adolescent females. These results are interpreted in terms of gender differences in emotional processing and understanding. Directions for future research are discussed

The development of anxiety disorders in childhood: an integrative review

We present an integrative review of the development of child anxiety, drawing on a number of strands of research. Family aggregation and genetic studies indicate raised vulnerability to anxiety in offspring of adults with the disorder (e.g. the temperamental style of behavioural inhibition, or information processing biases). Environmental factors are also important; these include adverse life events and exposure to negative information or modelling. Parents are likely to be key, although not unique, sources of such influences, particularly if they are anxious themselves. Some parenting behaviours associated with child anxiety, such as overprotection, may be elicited by child characteristics, especially in the context of parental anxiety, and these may serve to maintain child disorder. Emerging evidence emphasizes the importance of taking the nature of child and parental anxiety into account, of constructing assessments and interventions that are both disorder specific, and of considering bidirectional influences

The social and cultural context of remembering : implications for recalling childhood sexual abuse

Remembering is a social cultural activity. Contributors to this Special Issue were asked to address how conversations about personally experienced past events might or might not influence subsequent memory, especially in light of current controversies regarding historical memories of sexual abuse. For many years, the study of human memory focused on the individual engaging in a cognitive activity that produced a specific representation of a past event at a specific time point. But as the papers in this issue make clear, memory is an active ongoing social process that has cascading effects over time, an idea first developed by Bartlett (1932) and championed by Neisser (1982). Even when reminiscing to ourselves, there is an imagined audience, a way of expressing memories of our past selves to our current selves (Halbwachs, 1925/1952). What is remembered about any given event on any given day will depend on both the history of that memory, the specific local context within which the individual is remembering, and the larger sociocultural developmental history within which the individual is embedded (Nelson & Fivush, 2004). In this commentary, we pull the threads through these contributions, and discuss three major factors that contribute to remembering: language, emotion and time. These are, obviously, “big” constructs, but we try to weave together arguments and findings presented across the contributions to this issue. We end with some thoughts on what this might mean specifically for remembering childhood sexual abuse

Supporting parent-child conversations in a history museum

BACKGROUND: Museums can serve as rich resources for families to learn about the social world through engagement with exhibits and parent-child conversation about exhibits. AIMS: This study examined ways of engaging parents and child about two related exhibits at a cultural and history museum. Sample participants consisted of families visiting the Animal Antics and the Gone Potty exhibits at the British Museum. METHODS: Whilst visiting two exhibits at the British Museum, 30 families were assigned to use a backpack of activities, 13 were assigned to a booklet of activities, and 15 were assigned to visit the exhibits without props (control condition). RESULTS: Compared to the families in the control condition, the interventions increased the amount of time parents and children engaged together with the exhibit. Additionally, recordings of the conversations revealed that adults asked more questions related to the exhibits when assigned to the two intervention conditions compared to the control group. Children engaged in more historical talk when using the booklets than in the other two conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that providing support with either booklets or activities for children at exhibits may prove beneficial to parent-child conversations and engagement with museum exhibits

Family memories in the home: contrasting physical and digital mementos

We carried out fieldwork to characterise and compare physical and digital mementos in the home. Physical mementos are highly valued, heterogeneous and support different types of recollection. Contrary to expectations, we found physical mementos are not purely representational, and can involve appropriating common objects and more idiosyncratic forms. In contrast, digital mementos were initially perceived as less valuable, although participants later reconsidered this. Digital mementos were somewhat limited in function and expression, largely involving representational photos and videos, and infrequently accessed. We explain these digital limitations and conclude with design guidelines for digital mementos, including better techniques for accessing and integrating these into everyday life, allowing them to acquire the symbolic associations and lasting value that characterise their physical counterparts