Drug mule for love

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain in-depth understandings of the stages involved in the case of a romance scam victim who was unknowingly used as a drug mule. The work compares this case with established research in this field. It also seeks to learn more about the strategies used by these cybercriminals. Design/methodology/approach The research presents a case study of a victim of a romance scam who was arrested for drug trafficking. The research involves a grounded theory analysis of interviews with the victim, legal team and family members and analysis of her instant messenger chat logs and email communications. Findings The analysis identified a variation on previous stage models of romance scams and re-names this as the “romance scammers” strategy model. It also replicates previous work on scammers’ techniques and highlights some new strategies, including positively and negatively framing messages, unconditional positive regard, activating norms of romantic relationships, cognitive immersion, manipulating role, sleep deprivation and signing is believing. Practical implications These findings could be used to help guide future similar court cases. Moreover, they can be drawn upon to advance future research on romance scams, as well as scams in general. Originality/value This is the first in-depth case study of a romance scam victim involved in drug trafficking and is the first research on romance scams to examine in depth a case, taking into account textual exchanges. While not undermining previous research, this paper provides valuable insights that are lacking in previous qualitative work on cyber scam victims.

Attitude towards People with Intellectual Disabilities (PWID)

History on PWID indicates influence of various psycho-social, biological, religious and educational factors for the existence of stereotypical attitudes towards PWID. Across the world until the mid-80's they were a marginalized group of people who were discriminated from others' who considered themselves as “normal”. But since the early part of the 21st century significant efforts have been reported across countries in integrating and mainstreaming the PWID in the community at large. To attain this challenging milestone attitude plays a very significant role. Families of PWID undergo high levels of stress and emotional reactions resulting from daily care demands, emotional distress, interpersonal difficulties (family discord), financial hardships as well as social isolation which call for intervention not just for the intellectually disabled but also with the family members. Positive attitude among the health and all professionals with humane qualities such as empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard towards the PWID leads to positive expectation and better outcome. Interestingly in developing countries stereotypes are based on ignorance and families find it extremely difficult to disclose the presence of Intellectual Disability (ID) as it is considered to be a ‘loss of face'' and is believed to tarnish the family reputation. Hence, families often adopt strategies to hide the existence of a disability, which in turn delays the treatment, and rehabilitation of PWID. Along with parents and family members other stakeholders like siblings and relatives, teachers, educationists, health professionals and general public's attitudes towards them are highly influential factors for their rehabilitation and integration in the mainstream community. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to focus on the importance of attitude that determines the course towards acceptance of PWID. The authors' focus is on the various perceptions towards intellectual disability and the implications of the favorable and unfavorable attitudes towards PWID since the Egyptian era in developed and developing nations. Further, the recommendations provided are for the policymakers and stakeholders to design intervention programs to alter people's attitude towards acceptance and compassion towards PWID. This is believed to help in their rehabilitation, and integration into the society at all levels and thereby reduces the prejudice and discrimination towards them.

Psychological Intervention in Psychotic Crisis: a person-centered approach

This article describes, theoretically analyzes, and exemplifies, through a fictitious vignette, a psychological intervention of a clinical nature, developed by psychologists in a tertiary mental health care hospital, as an alternative to conventional physical restraint in situations of acute psychotic crises. The theoretical framework adopted is Person-Centered Approach, developed by the North American psychologist Carl Rogers. The psychological intervention reveals the importance of an interpersonal relationship in the care of patients who are going through a psychotic crisis. The psychologist’s therapeutic posture includes the three attitudes advocated by Carl Rogers as necessary and sufficient to facilitate the process of resuming personal autonomy (congruence or authenticity, unconditional positive regard, and empathic understanding), in addition to confidence in the patient’s own actualizing tendency. The therapeutic strategy presented is a possible resource to be used to stabilize the person in crisis. These attitudes were initially proposed by Rogers and his team to develop and maintain a psychotherapeutic intervention process, but they also proved to be effective in the experience of Brazilian psychologists in relation to patients with severe mental disorders in acute crises.

Understanding congruence in person-centred counselling practice: A trainee counsellor’s perspective

Congruence is a condition in therapeutic relationship that refers to accurate matching of a person’s experience with awareness. In person-centred counselling, counsellor’s congruence is believed as one of helpful and significant aspects that facilitates clients’ growth in counselling. However, this term is quite difficult to understand as a single condition as it interrelated to the other conditions such as empathy and unconditional positive regard. Understanding congruence theoretically and practically is intriguing as well as challenging especially for a trainee counsellor that is still learning to apply theory on practice. This paper aims to critically explore congruence from person-centred counselling theory and to demonstrate some evidences of the development of congruence in practice based on the author’s counselling practice as a trainee counsellor. There are three main discussions in this paper that is to explain congruence from the theoretical point of view, to understand the relation between congruence and acceptance and to explore congruence in person-centred practice. The exploration found that trainee counsellor’s cultural background including condition of worth and language barrier is one of challenges in experiencing congruence within person-centred counselling practice.Keywords: congruence, person-centred counselling, unconditional positive regard, ontological standpoint

KARAKTERISTIK KONSELOR PADA CALON KONSELOR BERDASARKAN PERBEDAAN KELOMPOK GENDER

ABSTRACT: COUNSELOR CHARACTERISTIC AMONG CANDIDATED COUNSELOR BASED ON GENDER GROUP DIFFERENCES A qualified counselor will determine the success of the counseling process. Three characteristics are needed and determine the quality of a counselor, namely: (1) congruence (authentic), (2) unconditional positive regard (acceptance), and (3) empathy (empathy). This study aims to describe the characteristics of counselors based on gender groups. The research sample consisted of 68 prospective counselor students who were divided into gender groups. The measuring instrument uses a counselor characteristic test developed using controversial statements with alternative Likert scale answers. The results of the study found that there were significant differences in the characteristics of counselors among students of the guidance and counseling study program based on differences in gender groups. There is a significant difference between the need to develop educational programs and effective counselor training for male and female students. The development of congruence characteristics is more needed for male students, while female students on the characteristics of unconditional positive regard. A larger sample size is needed to increase heterogeneity, and additional interviews are conducted individually to deepen the discussion. Key words: counselor characteristics, gender, measurement of emphaty, psychological instrument. Konselor yang berkualitas akan menentukan keberhasilan proses konseling. Tiga karakteristik yang diperlukan dan menentukan kualitas konselor, yaitu: (1) congruence (otentik), (2) unconditional positive regard (penerimaan), dan (3) empathy (empati). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat gambaran karakteristik konselor berdasarkan kelompok gender. Sampel penelitian merupakan 68 mahasiswa calon konselor yang dibagi berdasarkan kelompok gender. Alat ukur menggunakan tes karakteristik konselor yang dikembangkan dengan menggunakan pernyataan kontroversial dengan alternatif jawaban skala Likert. Hasil penelitian menemukan ada perbedaan yang signifikan dalam karakteristik konselor pada mahasiswa program studi bimbingan dan konseling berdasarkan perbedaan kelompok gender. Ada perbedaan yang signifikan antara kebutuhan pengembangan program pendidikan dan pelatihan konselor yang efektif bagi mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan. Pengembangan karakteristik congruence lebih dibutuhkan untuk mahasiswa laki-laki, sementara mahasiswa perempuan pada karakteristik unconditional positive regard. Jumlah sampel yang lebih besar diperlukan untuk meningkatkan heterogenitas, dan melakukan wawancara tambahan secara individual untuk memperdalam diskusi. Kata kunci: karakteristik konselor, gender, pengukuran empati, instrumen psikologi.

Empathy, Honesty, and Integrity in the Therapist

Empathy, honesty, and integrity are essential concepts to ensure the quality of the therapy relationship and the client’s trust in the therapist. This chapter situates these concepts in relation to the necessary and sufficient conditions for therapy proposed by Carl Rogers in the late 1950s, and particularly in relation to the therapist attitudes of empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. In person-centered therapy (PCT), empathy is a moral, not instrumental, practice that nondirectively protects the self-determination of the client. It exemplifies power with others, avoiding power over others, and facilitating power from within, by providing a conduit for non-possessive love, the active ingredient in PCT. Honesty in PCT involves the sincerity of the therapist’s unconditional empathy and the transparence to be a full person in relation to a client. Integrity refers not only to the disciplined moral practice of empathy, but an extensional, fully functioning maturation.

Inquiring About Client Cultural Identities: A Content Analysis of Intake Paperwork

We assessed clinical intake paperwork (N = 128) from three similar, mid-sized Midwestern counties for cultural variable inclusion and response formats (i.e., checkbox, open-ended) via systematic content analysis. We found no patterns across intakes or geographic area in terms of which cultural variables counselors included on their intake paperwork, though we found consistency in terms of response type. To date, few researchers have examined counselor intake paperwork, specifically cultural variable inclusion, and theoretical recommendations are inconsistent. We suggest that asking about client cultural identities on intake paperwork is a vital first step in the counseling process, demonstrating openness, warmth, and unconditional positive regard as a foundation for the working alliance. We present pertinent literature and research findings and offer recommendations for counseling professionals to strengthen cultural identity inclusion in their intake paperwork.

The Scottish Clinical Supervision Model for midwives

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) model of statutory supervision for midwives ceased in 2017 following a change in UK legislation. In response, the Scottish Government and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) worked with NHS Health Boards to develop a new employer-led model of clinical supervision. The aim of this model is to help midwives provide improved services, safer care and improved outcomes for women and infants in keeping with professional regulation. The new Scottish Clinical Supervision Model is also designed to increase midwives' personal wellbeing and help them deal with the everyday challenges of clinical practice. The design is a radical departure from the previous NMC model because it incorporates facilitation and coaching methods which teach midwives to respond, reflect and restore self, and reduce stress and increase resilience. In an attempt to improve nurturing leadership, the key components of this new model are underpinned by a person-centred approach, during which the supervisor provides unconditional positive regard and empathy towards the supervisee. Equipping midwives to develop contemporary supervision is supported by NES through online education.