Successful physician-patient communication is increasingly being acknowledged as a vital aspect of healthcare today. Research in the field has not examined all aspects of patient-centered care and the aspects that have been studied have not been grounded in actual patient action. The research done in the field has largely been studied quantitatively. The present thesis research attempts to contribute to the gap in the field of physician-patient communication by qualitatively examining patient assertiveness. This thesis examines conversations between women in Portland, Oregon recently diagnosed with breast cancer talking to their surgeons about their diagnoses and treatment options. Using grounded qualitative theoretical analysis, this thesis uncovered five major themes of patient assertiveness in breast cancer care.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

As a result of the restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1996 and various other factors, Police Social Work Services decided to broaden the scope of its services by developing and introducing proactive personnel capacity-building programmes. By 1999, 15 such programmes had been developed. The need subsequently arose for a comprehensive impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis of these programmes and the Evaluation of Personnel Capacity-Building Programmes (EPCaP) study was launched in 2001. The evaluation of the Anger Management, Assertiveness and Conflict Management Programmes, as well as a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole, formed part of this research. Objectives: This study had two primary aims. The first was to determine the effect of the Assertiveness, Conflict Management and Anger Management programmes on the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of SAPS personnel. The second was to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole. Method: In the case of the effect measurement, a comparison group pre-test and post-test design and triangulation were used. Eighteen measurement scales and a presenter's evaluation questionnaire were developed and completed by 627 experimental group respondents, 150 comparison group members and 32 presenters. In the cost-benefit analysis, a comprehensive, computerised ROI analysis programme that was developed by Meyer et al. (2003) was primarily used. It measured the interventions' return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), payback period, internal rate of return (IRR) and learning cost per attendee. Results: By means of the triangulation of measurements it was ascertained that the three personnel capacity-building programmes had a practical significant effect on the respondents' knowledge, attitude and behaviour. They could, therefore, be considered as effective tools in the hands of Police Social Work Services which not only empowered SAPS personnel to lead more productive professional lives, but also enhanced their personal well-being. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the Life Skills Programmes represented a worthwhile investment of the organisation's time, money and effort. In its first year of implementation alone, it produced a return on investment (ROI) coefficient of more than 1700%. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

As a result of the restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1996 and various other factors, Police Social Work Services decided to broaden the scope of its services by developing and introducing proactive personnel capacity-building programmes. By 1999, 15 such programmes had been developed. The need subsequently arose for a comprehensive impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis of these programmes and the Evaluation of Personnel Capacity-Building Programmes (EPCaP) study was launched in 2001. The evaluation of the Anger Management, Assertiveness and Conflict Management Programmes, as well as a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole, formed part of this research. Objectives: This study had two primary aims. The first was to determine the effect of the Assertiveness, Conflict Management and Anger Management programmes on the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of SAPS personnel. The second was to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole. Method: In the case of the effect measurement, a comparison group pre-test and post-test design and triangulation were used. Eighteen measurement scales and a presenter's evaluation questionnaire were developed and completed by 627 experimental group respondents, 150 comparison group members and 32 presenters. In the cost-benefit analysis, a comprehensive, computerised ROI analysis programme that was developed by Meyer et al. (2003) was primarily used. It measured the interventions' return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), payback period, internal rate of return (IRR) and learning cost per attendee. Results: By means of the triangulation of measurements it was ascertained that the three personnel capacity-building programmes had a practical significant effect on the respondents' knowledge, attitude and behaviour. They could, therefore, be considered as effective tools in the hands of Police Social Work Services which not only empowered SAPS personnel to lead more productive professional lives, but also enhanced their personal well-being. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the Life Skills Programmes represented a worthwhile investment of the organisation's time, money and effort. In its first year of implementation alone, it produced a return on investment (ROI) coefficient of more than 1700%. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The assertive training literature has documented the effectiveness of both behavioral and cognitive methods to increase individual's assertiveness. However, the ability for such methods to enhance the generalization of treatment effects to untrained assertive response classes and the natural environment has been poor. In addition, little notice has been paid to the durability of these changes. Although the past several years have witnessed more intensive efforts by investigators to program generalization as part of their interventions, results have continued to be disappointing. A specific generalization-enhancing treatment strategy, self-directed practice, has been utilized with much success in phobic populations. This strategy, and the theoretical orientation it reflects, has been proposed for use in assertive training. The present study sought to examine the effectiveness of this method as compared to the traditional assertive training procedures and investigate the role of self-efficacy expectations in mediating initial behavior change and its subsequent generalization.

Existent literature suggests forgiveness could lead to either greater psychological abuse (reinforcement theory), or lower psychological abuse (interpersonal theory). Questionnaires were completed by 291 participants who were dating at least 2 months. More forgiveness-particularly Absence of Negativity-was related to less abuse received from their partner, and this effect was stronger for females than for males. Absence of Negativity (AN) was predictive of health variables (psychosomatic symptoms, mental and physical health), although Presence of Positive forgiveness did not predict health beyond the impact of AN. Abuse-forgiveness and assertiveness-forgiveness interaction terms were not significant predictors of health. Results indicate interpersonal theory describes the link between forgiveness and psychological abuse. Results suggest that focus on AN could be sufficient for mental or physical health change

本研究主要依據語言行為理論(theory of speech acts) 及語言使用的客氣理論(politeness theory) ，探討一段以要求為主題的對話中，要求者不同果斷性 (assertiveness) 的言語行為，與對話雙方性別此二因素，如何影響知覺此對話的受試(1) 記憶要求者所說目標論辭的百分比高低與論辭果斷性的強弱；(2) 推論對話雙方的權力高低與關係親密度；(3) 評價要求者所採用的言語行為與預測對話雙方長期關係的後果。 本研究採3 （言語行為的果斷性：標準果斷、同理果斷、不果斷）×4 （要求者對接 收者的性別訊息：男對女、男對男、女對女、女對男）的受試者間實驗設計，參與實 驗的三百六十位大學生受試，先閱讀某一種實驗處理情況的文字對話，然後再填寫一 份包含回憶論辭作業與各種社會判斷題目的問卷。經二因子便異數分析與單純主要效 果模式(simple main effect model)考驗的結果發現：(1) 受試對果斷性愈強的目標論辭，回憶的百分比愈高，且同理果斷的論辭由「男對女」此由「男對男」中的男要求者說出，有更高的回憶百分比；(2) 性別訊息對受試所回憶目標論辭的果斷性、權力高低、親密度、言語行為的評價與後果，比接收者的權力更高，且雙方關係愈親密；(4) 受是本人較喜歡女要求者與男接收者互動時採用同理果斷，甚於採用不果斷的言語行為；(5) 不論接收者是男或女，女要求者採用不果斷比採用標準果斷的言語行為，更有利於長期關係的後果。 鑑於上述結果，實驗者討論了本研究的意涵(implication) 與可能的限制，並對相關議題的研究者與果斷性訓練(assertiveness training;AT) 的應用者提出建議；特別是，過去十多年來為AT重視的標準果斷，並未此另兩種果斷性的言語行為，有更佳的立即評價；而近年來也頗受AT強調的同理果斷，亦未有最好的長期關係後果。實驗者認為，AT中的女性學員，學習較具果斷性的言語行為，其負面的評價與後果之議題，直的深思。

Assertive training was investigated to determine its usefulness in teaching mildly retarded women to become more assertive. The 10 subjects (ages 18-35, WAIS VIQ 50-75) were randomly assigned to either the assertive training or the control group. Experimental subjects received 5 weeks of daily assertive training sessions which employed modeling, behavior rehearsal, and focused instructions in a group setting. Specific components of assertive behavior were taught in the following order: (a) assertive refusals, (b) assertive requests, (c) posture, (d) eye contact, and (e) loudness, Results of a behavioral role-playing task administered to both groups before and after treatment revealed that assertaive training subjects made significantly greater improvement than controls in their assertive content, Additionally, these subjects manifested significantly more improvement than control subjects on a global assertiveness measure.

Freud définit l’acte d’enseigner comme un métier impossible (à l’instar de gouverner et soigner) car pour lui, « on peut d’emblée être sûr d’un succès insuffisant ». Quel point commun entre ces trois spécialités si ce n’est l’importance du rapport à l’autre ? Or, un examen du système scolaire et des préoccupations qui animent le milieu de l’éducation atteste d’une forte prédominance des aspects disciplinaires, didactiques. Pourtant, les souvenirs laissés par les enseignants auprès des élèves sont davantage conditionnés par la relation communicationnelle qu’ils ont établie ensemble. L’étude de ce point de vue et la recherche d’éléments signifiants venant accréditer sa fonctionnalité a été réalisée au moyen d’une méthodologie croisée, quantitative et qualitative, convoquant des questionnaires à destination des élèves, des tests d’empathie et des tests d’assertivité auprès des professeurs, des films en situation d’enseignement analysés tant d’un point de vue thématique que quantitatif, ainsi que des entretiens semi-directifs avec les acteurs. Au final, ce travail atteste que la trace mnésique laissée aux élèves est conditionnée par un « curriculum d’assertivité socio-conative » dont la dynamique propre est à même de contribuer à la formation initiale et continue des enseignants. / Freud defines the act of teaching as an impossible profession (like governing and caring) because for him, " we can be sure of an unsuccessful success ". What is the common point between these three specialties, if not the importance of the relationship to the other one? However, an examination of the school system and the concerns that animate the education community attest to a strong ascendancy of disciplinary and didactical aspects. Nevertheless, the memories left by the teachers to the students are more conditioned by the communicative relationship they have established together. The study of this point of view and the search for significant elements to accredit its functionality was carried out using a cross-methodology, quantitative and qualitative, summoning questionnaires for students, tests of empathy and tests. Assertiveness to teachers, films in teaching situations analyzed from both a thematic and quantitative point of view, as well as semi-structured interviews with the actors. In the end, this work shows that the memory trace left to the students is conditioned by a "socio-conative assertiveness curriculum" whose own dynamics are able to contribute to the initial and continuous training of teachers.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a aplicação do Inventário de Habilidades Sociais de Del Prette (IHS) na mensuração das Habilidades Sociais e suas correlações com variáveis psicopatológicas e neuropsicológicas em pacientes com esquizofrenia, em comparação com controles normais. MÉTODOS: Este estudo é parte de um ensaio clinico que avaliou a eficácia do Treino de Habilidades Sociais em pacientes com esquizofrenia e onde foram utilizados vários instrumentos e, entre eles, o IHS para avaliação de Habilidades Sociais, a Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) para avaliação da Psicopatologia e a Wechsler Abbrevited Scale of Intelligence (WASI) como medida geral de avaliação da inteligência. O estudo foi realizado no ambulatório de dois centros especializados (Projesq do Instituto de Psiquiatria do HC FMUSP e Proesq da Universidade Federal de São Paulo) nos quais 91 pacientes com diagnostico de esquizofrenia pelo DSM IV TR, com diferentes níveis de gravidade ( 62 refratários e 29 não refratários), foram comparados com controles 108 controles normais. Para comparação entre variáveis foram utilizados teste t de Student, Análise de Variância e Covariância e para o estudo das correlações um modelo de Regressão Linear. .Resultados: Pacientes com esquizofrenia apresentaram comprometimento significativamente maior de suas habilidades sociais, avaliadas pelos cinco fatores do IHS, quando comparados com controles normais, exceto para o Fator F5 (auto-controle da agressividade). Não foram encontradas diferenças de habilidades sociais entre os subgrupos de pacientes divididos de acordo com sua gravidade. Os fatores do IHS não se correlacionaram significativamente com as subescalas da PANSS, com exceção do fator F3 (conversação e desenvoltura social), que se correlacionou inversamente com a gravidade da subescala de Psicopatologia Geral da PANSS. Não foram observadas correlações entre os fatores do IHS e as três dimensões do WASI (Verbal, Execução e Total). CONCLUSÕES: O Inventário de Habilidades Sociais mostrou ser um instrumento capaz de detectar o comprometimento das habilidades sociais em pacientes com esquizofrenia, quando comparados com controles normais. Não foram observadas diferenças entre os subgrupos de pacientes quanto à gravidade do quadro, bem como em relação à maioria das variáveis psicopatológicas ou neuropsicológicas mensuradas, fazendo supor que as habilidades sociais representem uma dimensão independente do funcionamento social na esquizofrenia / AIM: To evaluate the use of Del Prettes Social Skills Inventory ( IHS) in the measurement of Social Skills e their correlations with psychopathological and neuropsychological variables in patients with schizophrenia comparing with normal controls. METHODS: This study is part of a clinical trial which evaluated the efficacy of Social Skills Training in patients with schizophrenia and which utilized several instruments such as the IHS for the evaluations of Social Skills, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for the evaluation of Psychopathology and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) as a measure of general intelligence. The study was developed in two specialized centers (Projesq of the Institute of Psychiatry of University of São Paulo General Hospital and Proesq of the Federal University of São Paulo) where 91 patients with a DSM IV_TR diagnostic of schizophrenia, with different levels of severity (62 refractory and 29 non refractory) were compared with 108 normal controls. Comparisons between variables were performed using t tests, Analysis of Variance and Covariance, and for correlations a Linear Regression Model. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia, when compared with normal controls, showed a significant impairment in their social skills, as measured by the 5 factors of the IHS, except for factor F5 (self control of aggression). Patients showed no differences in terms of social skills regarding severity. No significant correlations where found between the IHS factors the PANSS subscales, except the F3 factor (conversation and social performance) which inversely correlated with the General Psychopathology subscale. Additionally we found no correlations between IHS factors and the 3 WASI dimensions (Verbal, Executive and Total).CONCLUSIONS: The Social Skills Inventory was able to detect socials skills impairment in patients with schizophrenia, as compared to normal controls. No relationship were found between IHS and severity, psychopathology or cognitive measures and, therefore, we may hypothesize that Social Skills may represent and independent dimension of the social functioning in schizophrenia