This book provides insight into the complex nature of socialization and development by exploring the interrelations among such topics as play, diet, social cognition, self-concept, friendship, family, and school. This book also examines the contributions and impact of intrapersonal and interpersonal integration on a child's psychological development from early to middle childhood levels.

Integrative therapy focuses on the mind-body-spirit relationship, recognizes spirituality as a fundamental domain of human existence, acknowledges and utilizes the mind's power as well as the body's, and reaches beyond self-actualization or symptom reduction to broaden a perception of self that connects individuals to a larger sense of themselves and to their communities. When it was published in 2009, Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Social Work was the first book to strongly connect Western therapeutic techniques with Eastern philosophy and practices, while also providing a comprehensive and pragmatic agenda for social work, and mental health professionals. This breakthrough text, written by a cast of highly regarded researchers from both Asia and America, presented a holistic, therapeutic approach that ties Eastern philosophy and practical techniques to Western forms of therapy in order to help bring about positive, transformative changes in individuals and families. This second features a major reorganization of Part III: Applications and Treatment Effectiveness, renamed to "Evidence-informed Translational Practice and Evidence." Based on systematic reviews of Integrative body-mind-spirit practices, Part III provides a "resource guide" of different types of integrative practices used in diverse health and mental health conditions. A new companion website includes streaming video clips showing demonstrations of the BMS techniques described in the book and worksheets and client resources/handouts. Here, the authors provide a pragmatic, step-by-step description of assessment and treatment techniques that employ an integrative, holistic perspective. They begin by establishing the conceptual framework of integrative body-mind-spirit social work, then expertly describe, step-by-step, assessment and treatment techniques that utilize integrative and holistic perspectives. Numerous case studies demonstrate the approach in action, such as one with breast cancer patients who participated in body-mind-spirit and social support groups and another in which trauma survivors used meditation to get onto a path of healing. These examples provide solid empirical evidence that integrative body-mind-spirit social work is indeed a practical therapeutic approach in bringing about tangible changes in clients. The authors also discuss ethical issues and give tips for learning integrative body-mind-spirit social work. Professionals in social work, psychology, counseling, and nursing, as well as graduate students in courses on integral, alternative, or complementary clinical practice will find this a much-needed resource that complements the growing interest in alternatives to traditional Western psychotherapy.

At the start of the new millennium, mankind is challenged by a paradox: the more we know about the world the more uncertain we become in understanding and predicting how it works. This book presents an outline of a new basis for Systems Science, and a methodology for its application in complex environmental, economic, social, and technological systems.

A tribute to Robert S. Wyer, Jr.'s remarkable contributions to social psychology, Foundations of Social Cognition offers a compelling analysis of the underlying processes that have long been the focus of Bob Wyer's own research, including attention, perception, inference, and memory. Leading scholars provide an in-depth analysis of these processes as they pertain to one or more substantive areas, including attitudes, construct accessibility, impressions of persons and groups, the interplay between affect and cognition, motivated reasoning, and stereotypes. Each chapter reviews and synthesizes past scholarship with the assessment of current understanding and cutting-edge trends and issues. A "must have" for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in the fields of social and cognitive psychology, as well as those in related fields such as consumer, organizational, and political psychology, neuroscience, marketing, advertising, and communication.

In recent history the practice of medicine and mental health has been increasingly eclectic as more and more practitioners harness seemingly disparate therapies and techniques to arrive at clinical breakthroughs. But while social work professionals have been involved in integrative practice informally and intuitively for years, resources to bring structure to this therapeutic concept have been few and far between. In response, Integrative Social Work Practice offers innovative ways of conceptualizing cases, communicating with clients and making better therapeutic use of client individuality. Rich in research, evidence-based and clinical material from a variety of settings, the book begins with the basic organizing principles behind effective integrative practice. Real-world examples flesh out the theoretical rationales and psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral and developmental methods are shown in practical context. The author also demonstrates how to balance flexibility and boundaries and manage diverse and even conflicting theories, while providing clear guidelines on: Integrating key psychotherapeutic approaches into social work. Using somatic knowledge to enhance therapy. Making assessments and choosing interventions. Applying an integrative approach to therapeutic relationships. Creating manageable goals based on small steps. Building and working with an integrative team. An important step forward in both professional development and the larger therapeutic picture, Integrative Social Work Practice benefits researchers and practitioners as well as supervisors and students in social work and counseling.

What are the relationships between news media and public relations? What happens when a negative event seems to destroy many years of corporation's good reputation? Is credibility really a transferable value? Are public relation activities social and intangible issues? How to use media management and public relations to reverse a corporate and/or personal image tarnished by the media? What is the "mud machine" in political communication and how to contrast it? How to measure and evaluate communication quality? What is the AVE method? Many and apparently different questions, concerning several topics. But all framed in a fundamental question: Is it possible to assess communication? And how? This book tries to give some answers, presenting theoretical approaches, methodologies and case histories coming from public relations, media studies, political communication. An innovative approach to important but still poorly analysed issues in Communication Studies.

Sociological social work is a lifelong social work practice which is animated by a sociological perspective. Social workers 'shorthand' orientations such as 'strengths perspective', 'task centred' or 'humanistic' (to name but a few), as a way to identify their philosophical and theoretical approaches in professional life. Whilst some texts have examined sociology for social work, this text instead proposes that sociological social work is a legitimate and theoretically rich orientation, and this book demonstrates what sociological social work looks like in our rapidly changing world. This text will equip students and practitioners with a way to think sociologically, not just while they are studying, but as an ever present reference for making sense of social work purpose and how this is realised in a transforming world. This follows an established tradition in social work literature, but this book elevates and names the importance of this approach, which we argue is critically needed if social work is to achieve its agenda in transformative social, political economic and environmental contexts. The current landscape in which we live is one that is characterised by rapid changes which have implications for the life experiences of those with whom social workers work, social justice advocacy agendas, and for fulfilling the purpose of social work more generally. This book is essential reading for those looking to keep up with these changes.

The 21st century has seen a number of advancements in technology, including the use of high performance computing. Computing resources are being used by the science and economy fields for data processing, simulation, and modeling. These innovations aid in the support of production, logistics, and mobility processes. Integrated Information and Computing Systems for Natural, Spatial, and Social Sciences covers a carefully selected spectrum of the most up to date issues, revealing the benefits, dynamism, potential, and challenges of information and computing system application scenarios and components from a wide spectrum of prominent disciplines. This comprehensive collection offers important guidance on the development stage of the universal solution to information and computing systems for researchers as well as industry decision makers and developers.

The book uses an innovative theoretical framework to explain how the EU social dimension has taken its present form. It presents and applies a political economic framework to the European labour market integration process and offers new tools for analysing the dynamics of regional integration. The theory is applied to case studies of the EU's approach to social protection, health and safety protection at the workplace, and maternity leave. The topical issues around the future of welfare provision in Europe, how a 'Social Europe' may develop and the political and economic consequences of this are discussed.