Adolescent males experience of the counselling process

This study examines 11 adolescent males' self-reports of their experiences of 23 counselling sessions to identify what they found helpful and unhelpful during key moments in the therapeutic process. The findings suggest that the experiences of the adolescent males in this study are similar in many ways to the to the reported experiences of adults in counselling. In particular, the experience of emotional support and relief appears to be highly significant for adolescent males, who give significantly lesser importance to cognitive task factors.

A Competence-Based Post-Disaster Reconstruction Process: Findings from Sri Lanka

As natural disasters continue to escalate in frequency and magnitude, NGOs are faced with numerous barriers as they attempt to implement post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) projects. In many cases, a lack of competency in key areas leads to a reduction in overall project success. This paper utilizes the competency-based framework of von Meding et al. (2010) as the starting point of its inquiry. In this context, a leading NGO responsible for the implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation in Sri Lanka following the Asian Tsunami has been investigated in depth using a causal mapping interview procedure with key project staff. The combined barriers within this organization’s PDR operations have been identified and measured and solutions articulated. The study found that within this organization key objectives were to achieve the ‘build back better’ mantra and to effectively plan interventions in advance. The primary barriers to successful reconstruction were identified as the high turnover rate of humanitarian staff and a poor level of communication and co-operation between agencies. An essential strategy employed to combat these barriers is the consideration of staff capabilities, which links us back to competence-based theory. The results are highly valuable in the context of an ongoing wider research study on competence within humanitarian organizations.

The Influence of Friction Stir Welding Process Idealization on Residual Stress and Distortion Predictions for Future Airframe Assembly Simulations

The ability to accurately predict residual stresses and resultant distortions is a key product from process assembly simulations. Assembly processes necessarily consider large structural components potentially making simulations computationally expensive. The objective herein is to develop greater understanding of the influence of friction stir welding process idealization on the prediction of residual stress and distortion and thus determine the minimum required modeling fidelity for future airframe assembly simulations. The combined computational and experimental results highlight the importance of accurately representing the welding forging force and process speed. In addition, the results emphasize that increased CPU simulation times are associated with representing the tool torque, while there is potentially only local increase in prediction fidelity.