Christina Krause

Promoting mental health and salutogenesis in transcultural organizational and work contexts.

Mental health and sense of coherence (SOC) have been researched interdisciplinarily in various social, organizational, cultural and scientifi c contexts, based on various methodological approaches. SOC has been introduced as a salutogenic, culture-general and universal life orientation that primarily develops in childhood. Recent research has shown that SOC in adults is infl uenced by (organizational) work contexts, since people spend a large amount of their lifetime in work organizations (Mayer, 2011). It has been stated as well that specifi c interventions can increase SOC particularly in adulthood. However, SOC has scarcely been studied and these interventions have barely been described, assessed or evaluated regarding their mechanisms of actions and their transcultural adaptability. With regard to the globalizing work contexts, the rapid changing challenges, the overload of information, the rising expectations and complexities in international and transcultural work places, the individual ’ s need to maintain mental health and promote SOC is growing. Due to an increase in stress-related symptoms, ill-health and the decrease in mental health, organizations are affected globally by healthrelated absenteeism and lack of job performance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to exchange ideas on and address transcultural salutogenic interventions to promote salutogenesis in work contexts to maintain and build mental health in individuals and organizations across cultures. This special issue of the International Review of Psychiatry focuses on promoting mental health and salutogenesis in transcultural organizational and work contexts to raise issues and questions on the sense of coherence which are of scientifi c interest and which have hardly been addressed before. The overall aim of this special issue is to fi ll the void by connecting the concept of salutogenesis to culture and transculturality within the work place. Various authors from different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds have been invited to submit theoretical and empirical manuscripts on these issues and illuminate them from different points of view. Therefore, this special issue focuses on drawing together culture-specifi c and transcultural knowledge referring to salutogenesis as well as refl ecting health, culture and transculturality in the particular context of work. This special issue adds to the interdisciplinary body of knowledge and thereby contributes to the body of knowledge on salutogenesis in transcultural (organizational) settings.

Familiale Sozialisation von Jungen und Mädchen in Ostdeutschland

Bei der Darstellung geschlechtstypischer Entwicklung in der Familie wird in der DDR-Literatur zunachst festgestellt, das die Familie bei der Erziehung der Heranwachsenden einen bedeutenden Beitrag zu leisten habe. Die Schwierigkeiten fur DDR-Wissenschaftler ergaben sich aber aus der Aufgabe, die Besonderheiten einer „sozialistischen Familie“ herausarbeiten zu wollen oder zu mussen.