It can be difficult for any customer service environment to keep up with the whirlwind pace of change in today's technology-centric world. The challenge can be particularly daunting in an institutional setting accustomed to deliberative, consensus-driven change. The Office of the Registrar at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) has a…

The involvement of 124 young mothers in a doula support program was measured in two dimensions--quantity of program contact and quality of mother-doula helping relationship. The study examined each dimension's differential associations with maternal outcomes, as well as the moderating effects of mother characteristics on these associations.…

In 1999, the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP) was launched by a group of key stakeholders in Philadelphia--including the district attorney's office, adult and juvenile parole, other city agencies and community organizations. Its goal is to steer young people, ages 14 to 24 and at greatest risk of killing or being killed, away from…

The current study was designed to compare four possible methods of identifying natural helpers: a self-report measure of natural helping ability, ratings by others of helping ability based on two 10-minute helping sessions, self-report on measures assessing theoretically-derived constructs related to natural helping, and a self-report of intent to…

This article presents a brief history of crossing or assistance cards for travelers who are deaf-blind, along with two studies on variables that predict effective solicitation of assistance to cross a street. Although gender does not greatly affect efficiency, the larger size of a communication card positively influences the receipt of assistance.…

Introduction: Attribution theory posits that helping behaviour is determined in part by the potential helper's attributions and emotions regarding the behaviour that requires help. Specifically, helping is considered to be more likely if stability is perceived as low, generating optimism for change, and if controllability is perceived as low,…

Purpose: School leaders are professionals who need professional help to enable them better to cope with the ever-changing challenges characteristic to their daily routine. Yet, in considering their hierarchical position in schools, they may be reluctant to ask for professional assistance even when help is available and needed, attempting to…

This article reports that across the country, retired superintendents are finding fulfillment as mentors, either formally or informally, spontaneously or planned. Some are paid, but most are volunteers who remember their first year running a school district and want to ease the transition for others. Some want to focus on leadership development.…

This study examined the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee students in a metropolitan area of the United States Southwest. The research questions underpinning this study included: What are the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee…

School disengagement and dropout prevention are important areas of inquiry in today's educational environment. School counselors can have dramatic impact on student engagement and retention. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a peer helper program on disengagement and dropout. The researchers implemented a comprehensive,…

This study aims at ascertaining how Hong Kong people perceive Hong Kong as a harmonious society. It also identifies the elements that are most conducive to social harmony in Hong Kong, so that the government could take reference when formulating new policies. 1,062 adults residents were asked to rate their perceived level of social harmony and…

Phenomenological research investigates the meaning of lived experiences for participants, as well as the implications of those experiences. This chapter presents brief biographical sketches of 12 youth workers who participated in a phenomenological investigation of the experience of self in moments of not-knowing what to do. Each participant's…

Helping and cooperation are central to human social life. Here, we report two studies investigating these social behaviors in children with autism and children with developmental delay. In the first study, both groups of children helped the experimenter attain her goals. In the second study, both groups of children cooperated with an adult, but…

The Reverend Paul Locatelli has been president of Santa Clara University for 20 years. He was recently appointed as Jesuit secretary for higher education throughout the world and will step down as president of the university later this year. In this interview, Locatelli talks about how Pope Benedict, seeing universities as part of the church's…

This study explored the feedback provided by sixty African American mothers as they listened to their first grade children read aloud from a grade level text. Maternal feedback fell into two distinct groups. Children with higher oral reading accuracy levels on the text had mothers who more frequently waited and permitted opportunities for the…