Fortuna Procentese

Italian families living with relatives with alcohol or drugs problems

Purpose: To examine the overall impact of alcohol and drug problems on a sample of Italian family members. Sample: 113 family members affected by and concerned about the problem drinking or drug-taking of close relatives recruited from the North (N = 37), the Centre (N = 26) and the South (N = 50) of Italy. Measurements: Family Member Impact scale (FMI), Symptom Rating Test (SRT), Coping Questionnaire (CQ) and Hopefulness–Hopelessness scale (HOPE). Findings: There is a high level of impact on family members; the greater the impact, the higher the symptom levels; and the greater both the impact and symptoms are, the more types of coping behaviour are used. Multiple regression showed that the most important variables relating to overall symptom levels reported by family members were total coping, gender and impact. These data lend further support to the Stress-Strain-Coping-Support model (Orford et al., 2005a, b).

Qualitative and Quantitative Research: An Ecological Approach

Abstract The current article describes an investigation among young people with an ecological perspective, using a sequential mixed methods design in accordance with the Tashakkori typology (Tashakkori & Teddlie 2003). Firstly, the qualitative research considered the orientation of young people towards action in their local communities, focusing on the way they plan so as to promote personal and collective empowering actions in their local contexts. Then a quantitative investigation collected data on specific factors concerning the local context and the future planning of young people. The primary concern of the ecological approach – the theoretical perspective of this research – is to determine the possible benefits obtained by the beneficiaries of the research (Rappaport 1990). In a two-phase design (Creswell 1994), the study availed itself of qualitative methods to explore the phenomenon and understand the participants’ different constructions of their life experiences, followed by a quantitative method for the measurement and generalization of the findings based on the collection of data on large samples. The shift from one research method to the next is underlined so as to reveal its advantages in generating new ideas and the generalization of the results.

Participatory Planning and Community Development: An E-Learning Training Program

The main goal of this article is to provide guidelines for all community actors on the acquisition of participatory planning tools. There is a growing need for experts capable of participatory interventions to act as social catalysts to promote local well-being and empowerment. Thus, under an ecological approach, 21 young graduates from different fields (architecture, psychology, environmental planning), public administration officers and social organization managers, all residing in Southern Italy, were offered individual and group empowerment training modules through a multidisciplinary training experience with e-learning features. These consisted of 1,500 hours of didactic activities including online cooperative experiences and field interactions directed toward acquiring participatory planning and community mediation tools. Our experience indicates that it is possible to promote participation and acquire skills through online training. Online training has shown itself to be a useful and successful tool for promoting skills in the field of social planning.

Participatory visual methods in the ‘Psychology loves Porta Capuana’ project:

This article describes the use of participatory visual and multimedia methods as part of a participatory action research carried out in a highly degraded urban area of a metropolis. The project was developed by the ‘I love Portacapuana’ committee in collaboration with community psychology lab and 180 undergraduate psychology students of the University of Naples Federico II. The joint use of visual tools such as photographs and videos with Internet-based collaborative work groups – through social networks such as Facebook – has proved effective in interpreting the needs of local citizens. This process has also involved a thorough analysis in terms of strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats in the local context. Indeed, the integration of visual tools into the broader framework of community diagnosis has fostered an interactive dialogue between the local community, researchers and local authorities. This, in turn, has lead to the outlining of a series of intervention strategies for local urban regeneration.

La relazione allenatore-atleta in adolescenza : implicazioni per il benessere percepito : uno studio qualitativo

I diversi contesti relazionali in cui si svolgono le attivita sportive a livello agonistico e, in particolare, il comportamento e lo stile interpersonale dell’allenatore svolgono un ruolo fondamentale nel plasmare i potenziali effetti psicologici, emotivi e fisici (sia positivi che negativi) della partecipazione sportiva in adolescenza. Obiettivo del presente lavoro e stato esplorare il processo di costruzione e di sviluppo della relazione allenatore-atleta e le ripercussioni della qualita di tale relazione sul benessere personale percepito dai protagonisti. A tal fine, sono stati intervistati 50 atleti adolescenti e 21 allenatori, provenienti da societa sportive campane. Le interviste, trascritte verbatim, sono state analizzate attraverso l’approccio della Grounded Theory. Dall’analisi sono emerse 13 categorie raggruppate in 3 macro aree concettuali: 1) Ruoli e compiti nella relazione allenatore-atleta. 2) La vittoria: punto di arrivo o punto di partenza? 3) L’evoluzione della relazione in rapporto ai sistemi di riferimento. La core category individuata e Benefici della relazione: dalla solitudine alla condivisione. Dalla lettura del fenomeno emergono due diversi stili interattivi che caratterizzano la relazione allenatore-atleta, che sono fortemente influenzati dal significato simbolico attribuito al concetto di vittoria e influiscono sulla percezione di benessere e di partecipazione. E stata inoltre individuata una dimensione di profonda solitudine, legata alla percezione di una difficolta nel ritagliare uno spazio e un tempo dedicati alla riflessione e al dialogo rispetto alla natura della relazione stessa. Cio rimanda alla necessita di teorizzare ed intervenire sulla percezione dei contesti relazionali in un’ottica di prevenzione del drop-out e di promozione del benessere.

Convivenza responsabile : quali i significati attribuiti nelle comunità di appartenenza?

La ricerca verte sul significato attribuito alla convivenza responsabile nei contesti locali ed e finalizzata a comprendere la discrepanza tra i cambiamenti culturali relativi alla ridefinizione del ruolo di cittadino e le prassi volte al raggiungimento del benessere sociale. A tal fine sono stati raccolti gli scritti di 73 studenti universitari. Dall’analisi tematica degli elaborati sono emerse le dimensioni strutturanti la rappresentazione locale di convivenza ed i diversi fattori determinanti la costruzione di azioni pro-sociali. Si evidenzia un non riconoscimento di spazi di condivisione e di negoziazione. In particolare prevale la mancanza di quel sentimento di fiducia che sviluppa interdipendenza costruttiva, funzionale alla convivenza responsabile.

Il modello ecologico come strumento di analisi di una comunità di migranti in una realtà locale

La ricerca ha voluto applicare il modello ecologico di Prilleltensky allo studio di una realta locale. Lo scopo e stato individuare i fattori che caratterizzano la vita della comunita di immigrati dell’agro aversano. La realta presa in esame e San Marcellino, piccolo paese della periferia Casertana, terra di criminalita, ingiustizia e immigrazione. E in questo territorio che a trovare la propria dimora e la comunita di musulmani maghrebini, che da anni risiede stabilmente in questi luoghi. Lo studio ha considerato molteplici livelli d’analisi, a partire da quello individuale a quello socio-ambientale, rintracciando i fattori promotori di benessere e all’opposto quelli di rischio. A tal fine, abbiamo utilizzato la Grounded Theory grazie alla quale siamo giunti a costruire teorie di riferimento a partire dalle interviste fornite dai partecipanti. Abbiamo poi considerato il ruolo del potere e della politica nell’informare il benessere di questa comunita, rintracciando i fattori che ci permettono di analizzare questioni solitamente non indagate, come ad esempio, l’inaccessibilita alle infrastrutture, una burocrazia rigida, assenza di tutele legislative. A fungere da supporto sociale e la presenza di associazioni di volontariato, e soprattutto, della moschea locale, luogo d’incontro, supporto e condivisione per eccellenza.

Identity and Immigrant Stereotypes: A Study Based on the Ego-Ecological Approach

ABSTRACT Based on the ego-ecological approach, which views identity as deeply interconnected with the social environment via group memberships, this study reconstructed the psychosocial identity of a group of Sri Lankan immigrants who settled in Naples, Italy, with the aim of detecting resonances between their self-representations and the stereotypes circulating in the receiving society. Fifty-one Sri Lankan immigrants completed a shortened version of the Multistage Investigator of Social Identity (MISI) with the following two stimulus groups: “Sri Lankans” (i.e., ethnocultural identity) and “immigrants.” Analyses revealed an implication of the self in both groups (i.e., Sri Lankans and immigrants), with the represented immigrant self more negatively connoted than the ethnocultural self. The contents of the self-representations showed resonances with both the stereotypes associated with immigrants in Italian society and the specific stereotype associated with the Sri Lankan community, thereby empirically confirming that in the immigrant experience identity feels the effect of the attitudes of the receiving context.

Participatory action research from an intercultural and critical perspective

ABSTRACT The critical community psychology approach to intercultural issues constitutes the theoretical framework for this research. The work has been carried out in the Campania region, in the South of Italy, by a group of University researchers in collaboration with representatives of associations, members of the local community, and Maghrebi immigrants who reside in the local area of San Marcellino (Caserta). This participatory action research (PAR) was aimed at acquiring knowledge about the mutual interactions between migrants and inhabitants who share the same local context. The results show the participants’ and researchers’ reflexivity as a main investigation tool that enriched the quality of research. The role of power profile in community analysis, the thorough definition of the trustworthiness of the researchers within the local context–as well as the use of nonasymmetrical power-based interactions between researchers and participants (think-tank sessions)–and focused interviews are discussed.

Familiari sotto stress per consumo di alcol o droghe da parte di figli o partner: un approccio di genere

Relatives under stress for sons/daughters’ or partners’ alcohol or drugs use: a gender approach The ADF (Alcohol, Drug and Family Group), directed by Jim Orford, has extensive experience in the research and treatment of families in which a problem of alcohol or drug consumption exists. The Group’s work, which identifies a specific model for responding to household stress (Stress-Tension-Coping-Support), illustrates various family members’ forms of coping (engaged, tolerant, avoidant) in their specific manifestations. Such an apportionment particularly allows for the description of certain tactics typical of males and females, husbands and wives, in confronting the stress caused by a partner who abuses drugs or alcohol. On a reading of the social data, it would appear that the complexity lies for both men and women in their assumption of a socially prescribed role: the father dedicated to his work and the mother to nurturing the relationship. Keywords: gender roles, gender expectations, coping