Editorial by Paul Tibbles in dialogue with Ncazelo Ncube
This edition of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (CCPP) has developed in the context of ongoing and increasing international alarm at the levels of displaced children, young people and families seeking refuge from persecution, war and economic privations. Initially as special editor, my focus was on how to promote articles which addressed the immediate and long-term needs of these people and the therapeutic care that should be made available to them. However, I was aware of divergent views that existed between some practitioners who focussed on addressing trauma, while others were attentive to promoting resilience. Among the many other issues which I considered important were the long-term effects on parents of losing a child during conflict, cultural sensitivity of services, the wider political context, and the impact of vicarious trauma and vicarious resilience on health and social care staff. I think that the articles in this edition cover many of these issues which are highly relevant when addressing the psychological well-being of displaced and persecuted children and families. Although these articles are derived from different parts of the globe, they inevitably reflect a bias towards researchers and clinicians originating from more affluent recipient countries rather than the perspective of those working in emerging economies. It was with this in mind that I approached Ncazelo Ncube to ask her to engage with me in an email dialogue about our different perspectives on how best to promote the psychological development and well-being of children, young people and families seeking asylum and refuge. Ncazelo is well known for her work in South Africa using narrative approaches with displaced children (Ncube, 2006). Our email dialogue is located below and, as can be gathered, there was considerable reflection about our own history and cultural context and how that impacted on the way we made sense of what we experienced and the ramifications of this on our work. Paul: Life contains periodic poignant coincidences and such an incident happened to me while preparing to write this editorial. A number of unexpected conjunctions in my own life had ramifications and connections with my thinking about the victims of war, refugee families and unaccompanied children seeking sanctuary. Prior to starting to write the editorial, I was called to jury service for a trial in a part of London where I had moved to from Devon almost 40 years earlier. At that time, it was a desolate and empty area of derelict warehouses surrounded by the last remaining bombsites in the city. I revelled in being able to walk through this during the working week without seeing another person. It was truly Dickensian. Now, it has some of the most expensive real estate in the country, there are vast crowds of people walking along its footpaths and the last remaining physical memories of World War II have been erased. The 755775 CCP0010.1177/1359104518755775Clinical Child Psychology and PsychiatryEditorial editorial2018
‘I Will Not Leave My Baby Behind’: A Cook Island Māori Family's Experience of New Zealand Māori Traditional Healing
Traditional healers in many parts of the world have used family focused understandings and interventions well before the emergence of western family therapy theory and practice. This paper gives a detailed account of New Zealand Maori traditional healing work with a Cook Island Maori family in which the eldest daughter was in considerable distress as were her family, who believed that she had become maki tupapaku (possessed). This account is told from the perspectives of the child psychiatrist, the traditional healer and the mother of the family. While the intervention bears a superficial resemblance to western family therapy approaches, the theoretical foundation reflects the traditional healer’s New Zealand Maori world views in which spiritual understandings are paramount, and concepts of mana, tapu and mauri 1 guide him in the family healing process. The single session described here can be viewed as an indigenous family therapy intervention involving six generations of family members, both living and deceased, in the one room. Conclusions: Indigenous communities have called for traditional healers to be employed alongside child mental health workers and family therapists who work with their communities. Close and sincere collaboration between an indigenous traditional healer and a health professional can offer a family in distress healing possibilities that may not be available to them in conventional child mental health or other family therapy settings.
Development of polyamide curable modified epoxy novolac resins with improved adhesion and chemical resistance
Purpose – To prepare modified epoxy resins from resorcinol, cresol and phenol for improved adhesion and chemical resistance. To evaluate the properties of such modified epoxy resins.Design/methodology/approach – Epoxy novolac resins (ENRs) were synthesised by condensing epichlorohydrin with novolacs based on different types of substituted phenols for improving adhesion and chemical resistance. Various compositions were made by incorporating different proportions of polyamide resin. The chemical and adhesive strengths of the conventional epoxy and the modified epoxy resins were characterised.Findings – The modified ENR using substituted phenols showed significant enhancement of chemical and adhesive strengths over the conventional DGEBA resin. The modified ENR had an increased number of glycidyl groups (thus increased functionality) of resin, which was responsible for improved chemical and adhesive strengths over the conventional DGEBA resin.Research limitations/implications – The EPN resins used in the pr...