Some impressions on taking on the leadership of a therapeutic community

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-228
Author(s):  
Martin K. Bhurruth
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Face ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
Participant Observer

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how psychoanalytic thinking can help therapeutic communities think about how the defence of psychic retreat can develop and take hold in the face of organisational transition and overwhelming loss. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws upon the paradigm of psychoanalysis and is a case study orientated by a participant/observer stance. Findings – This paper posits that unless loss is worked through then perverse clinical cultures can develop including bullying and denial of reality. Originality/value – This paper illustrates the unique selling point of therapeutic communities incorporating justice into the treatment frame. It also identifies that unless loss is emotionally worked through then it can become the ground soil in which perverse cultures can develop.

The potential of prison-based democratic therapeutic communities

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Bennett ◽  
Richard Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sexually Violent ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the work of HMP Grendon, the only prison in the UK to operate entirely as a series of democratic therapeutic communities and to summarise the research of its effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach The paper is both descriptive, providing an overview of the work of a prison-based therapeutic community, and offers a literature review regarding evidence of effectiveness. Findings The work of HMP Grendon has a wide range of positive benefits including reduced levels of disruption in prison, reduced self-harm, improved well-being, an environment that is experienced as more humane and reduced levels of reoffending. Originality/value The work of HMP Grendon offers a well established and evidenced approach to managing men who have committed serious violent and sexually violent offences. It also promotes and embodies a progressive approach to managing prisons rooted in the welfare tradition.

“Own store” vision for Finnish co-op

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-15
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Alternative Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Face ◽  
Practical Guidelines ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – The case-study article illustrates how a Finnish grocery retailer introduced a compelling alternative strategy, based on co-operative principles, to transform the organization’s fortunes in the face of increasing competition from rivals with global buying power. The study presents the four focal tasks of the vision and concludes with five practical guidelines for executives. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Enhancing Black Belts via academic mastery

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 909-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara M Savage ◽  
Sampath Kumar Sreevathsan
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Business School ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
Strategic Quality Management ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – In May 2010, a new collaborative initiative was launched between the Portsmouth Business School and Hewlett Packard, wherein trained Black Belts (BB) were enabled to pursue an MSc in strategic quality management. Five years on from its commencement, the purpose of this paper is to explore the development and impact of this initiative. Design/methodology/approach – Inductive, exploratory, multi-viewpoint participant-observer case study that triangulates the academic, student and employer reactions to the programme. Findings – The paper evaluates how the academic dimension provided by the MSc has impacted on candidates’ work as BB. Practical implications – Employee engagement and enthusiasm has been increased, as has the depth and breadth of the knowledge base among the participating BB, who are then applying these new skills in their improvement projects to make them more sustainable as well as financially valuable. They have been able to transfer knowledge to team members. Originality/value – This approach provides a model for accelerated development of groups of quality professionals within larger organisations. There is evidence that the community spirit that grows within and across cohorts has a multiplying effect that enhances the impact for the sponsoring organisation beyond the simple sum of the performance and skills improvement on a student by student basis.

Containment: from cruelty to kindness

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Campling
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Philosophy

Purpose – This paper is about therapeutic containment. It makes links between what the author understands about containment in therapeutic communities and wider perspectives on containment in the context of organisational and social forces within which the author lives and works in modern society. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The author explores relational dynamics, focusing particularly on the English NHS, using evidence from a cross-section of disciplines including ethology, anthropology and economic philosophy. Findings – The author suggests that the crisis in healthcare culture reflects a wider crisis of containment in the modern world; and that the theoretical legacy from, and lived experience in, therapeutic communities offers a rich perspective on the issues and points to ways forward. Social implications – The paper suggests ways that therapeutic community thinking can be applied more widely to topical problems such as the undermining of healthcare culture. The paper argues that an explicit focus on values is important in order to mitigate the forces that distract from co-operative and therapeutic relationships. To illustrate this, the author describes a simple model for nurturing the conditions for intelligent kindness. Originality/value – The paper draws important parallels between therapeutic community philosophy and practice, and the culture at large.

scholarly journals Public libraries in Switzerland: RDA and the FRBRization watershed

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 98-112
Author(s):  
Elisa Banfi ◽  
Arnaud Gaudinat
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Face ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how Swiss public libraries are experiencing a normative revolution connected to new cataloging standards, such as RDA and the FRBRization of catalogs.Design/methodology/approachThanks to semi-structured interviews, the paper analyzes the current positioning of Swiss public libraries on the “bibliographic transition” issue by using a case study of the network of municipal libraries in Geneva.FindingsIn Switzerland, the federal and multi-linguistic structure of the library networks increases the organizational obstacles to the adoption of new cataloging principles and formats. At the local level, the Swiss municipal libraries have to cope with this complexity to transform their structures and continue to offer competitive and effective services to their users.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes six scenarios of technology watershed for the analyzed case study and their consequences for cataloging standards and rules.Social implicationsThe paper shows how the adoption of technological and conceptual innovations has to be done in the face of real organizational and administrative constraints, especially in the case of public lending libraries.Originality/valueThe paper analyzes at the empirical and theoretical levels how, especially in Switzerland, the variety of governance levels and linguistic areas have made strategizing more complex for public lending libraries.

If they will have me, I think I will stay a while: compassion and containment illustrated by the Ingrebourne Therapeutic Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Tom Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Approach ◽  
Phd Thesis ◽  
Structured Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the evolution of discerning compassion and how it was used in the Ingrebourne Therapeutic Community. Design/methodology/approach This paper is derived from a PhD thesis which was researched through interviews and archival research. The fundamental finding was that the therapeutic community approach was almost unique in providing a structured approach to implementing discerning compassion. Practical implication The therapeutic community approach for discerning compassion, in which the response to distress aims to promote flourishing. Social implications This paper offers a model that has implications on how care is delivered in other settings. Originality/value There is little literature that explores the role of compassion in therapeutic communities or in care environments of any form. The approach taken here places compassion in a historical and philosophical setting and contrasts it with the kindness expressed in traditional psychiatric care that promoted “tranquility”.

Remarkable lives: Chantelle Garth in conversation with Jerome Carson

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantelle Garth ◽  
Jerome Carson
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Short Account ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Face ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Chantelle Garth. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, Chantelle provides a short account of her background and is then interviewed by Jerome. Findings Chantelle gives an account of her very troubled childhood and adolescence. Her adult life has been no easier. Life is a continuous challenge. Research limitations/implications It is hard to imagine a tougher life than Chantelle’s, yet her ambition has carried her through. A single account, yet one of the most powerful accounts in this series. Practical implications There are few better accounts of resilience in the face of at times what seem like insurmountable obstacles. Social implications The belief that can be instilled by a single professional can have a profound effect in encouraging someone facing adversity. Originality/value There are numerous accounts of individuals facing difficulties in life, then there is Chantelle’s. This is in a category of its own.

Senior therapeutic community members show greater consistency when affirming peers: evidence of social learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Keith L. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Therapeutic communities (TCs) use social learning between peers in treating substance abuse. One mechanism for fostering social learning is peer affirmations for prosocial behavior. The purpose of this study is to use consistency of affirmations as a test of whether social learning does occur. Design/methodology/approach Using the results of a social network survey of 50 women in a corrections-based TC, the authors compared affirmations and nonprogrammatic compliments exchanged between residents as two directed social networks. The authors evaluated consistency of judgment using the hubs and authorities algorithm, and tested to see whether more senior residents are more likely to be hubs, thereby showing more consistent judgment. Findings More senior residents show greater consistency with peers in program affirmations but not in nonprogrammatic compliments. Hub status in the network of affirmations increases most rapidly in the first 200 days of residence, with slower increases thereafter. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to one survey of the women in one TC. The external validity of the findings is therefore unclear. The results suggest that social learning of TC principles and prosocial behavior does occur and that it is not simply a function of popularity among peers. This seems to happen most rapidly in the first 200 days, suggesting that programs much shorter than six months may limit this process. Originality/value This is the first use of the hubs and authorities algorithm with a social network drawn from a therapeutic community and the first attempt to verify social learning through a social network analysis.

Leading from below? Decisions, responsibility and creativity as a group dynamic

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Robert Douglas Hinshelwood
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Group Dynamic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Disadvantaged People

Purpose This paper aims to bring back into view some of the original ideas from which the Therapeutic Community (TC) developed today. If we forget the origins of therapeutic communities way back in the past, we cannot be in the best position to make decisions for the present. The underlying principles of the TC are a combination of social science ideas, psychotherapeutic practices and a political urgency to do something for disadvantaged people. There is a need to try to keep all branches of the past roots in play together. Design/methodology/approach Learning from the past. Findings The past has a relevance that must not be forgotten in present reflection. Originality/value This is a reflective exercise at the heart of the therapeutic community practice.

The complexity of the therapeutic experience within the therapeutic community based on an ex-patient’s account

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Ivanova ◽  
Andrew John Howe ◽  
Patricia Burns ◽  
Merryn Jones
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Therapeutic Experience ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Impact ◽  
E Mail

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of the therapeutic community and to look at the potential changes that some patients may experience following treatment at the therapeutic communities (TC). Design/methodology/approach A thematic analysis was conducted on an e-mail sent by an ex-patient of the TC. The text was reviewed multiple times and codes were generated. Based on the data found, three themes were identified. The e-mail was sent to the patient’s primary therapist, who was asked to provide an account of the e-mail. The therapist was sent six questions created by the authors of the paper; the responses were used to compare the two perspectives. Findings The main findings entailed the changes the patient went through after her treatment at the TC. The patient’s account described her inability to process the adversities she had been through at the time and therefore her inability to communicate them. However, the impact the service had on the patient, according to the e-mail was evident years later. The lack of a support network during treatment at the TC and evidence of one following treatment seemed to be the key factor in the patient’s improvement. Originality/value The authors confirm that the research presented in this paper is their original work. The authors hereby acknowledge that all material included in this piece of work, that has been published or written by another person has been referenced accordingly.

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