Author: Hari Singh
Publisher: HRD Press
ISBN: 0-87425-873-1
People make hundreds of decisions every day. Most decisions are either so trivial or so routine that we don’t even think about the processes we follow to make them. In fact, we probably don’t even realize we are applying any processes to our decision-making. Our dilemmas arise when we must make significant decisions: who to marry, what career to pursue, where to live . . .. Are there any useful models we can apply to decisions like these? Dr. Hari Singh would answer that question with a resounding, “yes!”
If you think a business professor’s account of decision-making is likely to be dry as dust, think again. Dr. Singh uses a remarkably creative “frame” to present an abundance of scholarly material. Rather than explaining concepts deductively or formulaically, Dr. Singh enfolds those concepts in the frame of a novel. Moreover, Dr. Singh’s uses the classic framing technique of enclosing a story-within-a-story. Thus, the story, the concepts and the models are literally “framed” in multiple layers.
The outer frame of the story is a conversation between two brothers. Chris, who must soon make some critical decisions, has come to his elder brother, Larry, for advice. Larry could dryly explicate Benjamin Franklin’s Balance Sheet method, or the Weighing Attributes and Ranking Scores method, or the Scenario Strategies method of decision-making and then tell Chris to select a model from that menu. He doesn’t do that. Instead, Larry tells Chris how he first learned, through two life-changing experiences, to apply all of those decision-making models at appropriate times.
The first life-changing experience, which provides the inner frame of the story, is Larry’s account of a decision-making course he took in business school. This is the primary context in which academic concepts and models are introduced. Dr. Singh uses the dialogue between the students and their professor to explain and clarify the subject matter. The students’ learning experiences, however, are not confined to the classroom. The students, by means of a case study, demonstrate how the ideas discussed in class can be applied to real-world situations. To this point, the concepts, models and case study have been set primarily in a business school context. But Dr. Singh does not stop there.
The second life-changing experience, which provides the fascinating (dare I say “fun?”) core of Larry’s story, is his application of the knowledge acquired in his business course to solve a murder mystery. Thus, Dr. Singh cleverly transfers concepts derived from a wide range of academic disciplines to an entirely new context and demonstrates that they can be used, literally, to resolve all manner of dilemmas. One could even say that it would be appropriate to view these ideas as life skills rather than mere business or decision-making tools.
Not only does Dr. Singh present his material in a novel (pun intended) context, he uses a variety of mnemonic tools and acronyms to assist the reader’s retention of the material. I have not had the privilege of attending any of Dr. Singh’s classes but I suspect that he is an outstanding teacher as well as a scholar. He has published numerous journal articles and served as a consultant for a variety of organizations and government agencies. This book is merely the latest addition to his substantial list of accomplishments.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in management, decision-making, group dynamics and the like. In addition to acquiring decision-making skills, readers of this book will gain a keen understanding of human nature and interaction. For that reason, in addition to being fruitfully used as a textbook in collegiate courses across a range of disciplines, this book should be required reading for executives and management professionals in all business (including non-profit organizations) and government agency contexts.
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Sunday, November 12, 2006
How Children Become Violent
Author: Kathryn Seifert, Ph.D.
Publisher: Acanthus Publishing
ISBN: 1-933631-48-1
It seems that hardly a month goes by in which Americans don’t hear of violence involving children. Sometimes, children assault or kill adults. Often, adults assault and kill children. And far too often, children assault and kill other children. Repeatedly, we gather in our lunchrooms, on our subways or in our churches and ask each other: Why did this happen? What is this world coming to? What can we do to prevent this from happening again?
In How Children Become Violent, Dr. Kathryn Seifert has provided some answers to these questions. In the first section of the book, Seifert discusses violence and disrupted attachment patterns. This section is filled with anecdotal evidence from Seifert’s own travel and experiences, plus an array of statistical evidence. Seifert posits that a significant cause of violence occurs when children do not have opportunities, very early in life, to development normal, healthy attachment relationships with caregivers. The reasons for these disruptions are varied and the consequences, frequently, are severe. Seifert bases her theory on lessons learned in more than three decades as a clinician, as well as an extensive body of research conducted in the past several decades by many scholars. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six-Stage Theory of Moral Development provides a particularly significant foundation for Seifert’s theory. Linking her theory to Kohlberg’s, she uses the latter’s ideas as the basis for her analyses of some well-known American serial killers, such as Ted Kacynski, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson.
In the second section of the book, Seifert discusses means for assessing whether children (and adults who survived troubled childhoods) suffer from disrupted attachment patterns or other problems. This section is filled with brief descriptions of various instruments that measure psychological health.
In the third section, Seifert describes various treatment methods for working with children and adults who suffer from disrupted attachment patterns. Similar to her discussion of the assessment tools, Seifert’s discussion of each treatment is brief.
The book’s final chapter, written by a colleague of Seifert’s, discusses a school-based mental health program in which school districts and families can work together toward early diagnosis and violence prevention. Throughout the book, Seifert emphasizes that families and communities must be involved in preventing childhood attachment disruptions. In Seifert’s experience, it is not enough to treat children who suffer from disrupted attachment patterns. Their families, particularly their primary caregivers, must be involved in the treatment and often require treatment themselves. Moreover, since violent children frequently harm others outside of their families, violent children are ultimately a community concern. School-based programs offer a natural juncture for families and communities to work together.
Overall, Seifert’s book is filled with a wealth of interesting material. Unfortunately, I had difficulty determining what audience Seifert intends to reach with this book. The first section, with its wealth of anecdotal material, is written in a manner that appeals to lay people. Nevertheless, Seifert includes some solid scholarly information here. This is not mere psychological pabulum for the masses. The second and third sections, however, appear to be addressed to professional audiences. The second section is reminiscent of the literature review one finds in research papers, theses and dissertations. Much of the information is rather technical and would appeal primarily to scholars and practitioners in the field of psychology. The third section, with its interesting descriptive overviews of treatment methods, seems too superficial to offer much for practicing professionals and scholars. It could, however, be useful material for college students who may be searching for their particular professional niches.
Another indication of Seifert’s apparent confusion regarding her intended audience is the inclusion of material concerning childhood violence in countries other than the United States. To be sure, this is fascinating and important information. Unfortunately, however, Seifert does not tightly tie these issues together with the rest of the book, which focuses almost exclusively on an American context. Ordinarily, I would heartily applaud Seifert’s effort to avoid the cultural myopia that afflicts many Americans. In this case, however, Seifert’s message would be clearer if her focus was more centered.
How Children Become Violent should be of interest to lay people with a strong interest in psychology, criminal justice and the like. Be warned, however, that you’d better be familiar with research methodology and lingo, because the book’s middle section is laced with it. The book should also be of interest to college students majoring in psychology, criminology, or other related fields, who are exploring possible specific directions for their careers, as it provides a good basic grounding in the psychology of violence. As Seifert admits, there is much more work to be done in this field. To her credit, she’s taken a solid first step in analyzing and documenting an acute problem. More importantly, she’s also pointed out possible directions for solving that problem. These are achievements for which all of us should be grateful.
Publisher: Acanthus Publishing
ISBN: 1-933631-48-1
It seems that hardly a month goes by in which Americans don’t hear of violence involving children. Sometimes, children assault or kill adults. Often, adults assault and kill children. And far too often, children assault and kill other children. Repeatedly, we gather in our lunchrooms, on our subways or in our churches and ask each other: Why did this happen? What is this world coming to? What can we do to prevent this from happening again?
In How Children Become Violent, Dr. Kathryn Seifert has provided some answers to these questions. In the first section of the book, Seifert discusses violence and disrupted attachment patterns. This section is filled with anecdotal evidence from Seifert’s own travel and experiences, plus an array of statistical evidence. Seifert posits that a significant cause of violence occurs when children do not have opportunities, very early in life, to development normal, healthy attachment relationships with caregivers. The reasons for these disruptions are varied and the consequences, frequently, are severe. Seifert bases her theory on lessons learned in more than three decades as a clinician, as well as an extensive body of research conducted in the past several decades by many scholars. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six-Stage Theory of Moral Development provides a particularly significant foundation for Seifert’s theory. Linking her theory to Kohlberg’s, she uses the latter’s ideas as the basis for her analyses of some well-known American serial killers, such as Ted Kacynski, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson.
In the second section of the book, Seifert discusses means for assessing whether children (and adults who survived troubled childhoods) suffer from disrupted attachment patterns or other problems. This section is filled with brief descriptions of various instruments that measure psychological health.
In the third section, Seifert describes various treatment methods for working with children and adults who suffer from disrupted attachment patterns. Similar to her discussion of the assessment tools, Seifert’s discussion of each treatment is brief.
The book’s final chapter, written by a colleague of Seifert’s, discusses a school-based mental health program in which school districts and families can work together toward early diagnosis and violence prevention. Throughout the book, Seifert emphasizes that families and communities must be involved in preventing childhood attachment disruptions. In Seifert’s experience, it is not enough to treat children who suffer from disrupted attachment patterns. Their families, particularly their primary caregivers, must be involved in the treatment and often require treatment themselves. Moreover, since violent children frequently harm others outside of their families, violent children are ultimately a community concern. School-based programs offer a natural juncture for families and communities to work together.
Overall, Seifert’s book is filled with a wealth of interesting material. Unfortunately, I had difficulty determining what audience Seifert intends to reach with this book. The first section, with its wealth of anecdotal material, is written in a manner that appeals to lay people. Nevertheless, Seifert includes some solid scholarly information here. This is not mere psychological pabulum for the masses. The second and third sections, however, appear to be addressed to professional audiences. The second section is reminiscent of the literature review one finds in research papers, theses and dissertations. Much of the information is rather technical and would appeal primarily to scholars and practitioners in the field of psychology. The third section, with its interesting descriptive overviews of treatment methods, seems too superficial to offer much for practicing professionals and scholars. It could, however, be useful material for college students who may be searching for their particular professional niches.
Another indication of Seifert’s apparent confusion regarding her intended audience is the inclusion of material concerning childhood violence in countries other than the United States. To be sure, this is fascinating and important information. Unfortunately, however, Seifert does not tightly tie these issues together with the rest of the book, which focuses almost exclusively on an American context. Ordinarily, I would heartily applaud Seifert’s effort to avoid the cultural myopia that afflicts many Americans. In this case, however, Seifert’s message would be clearer if her focus was more centered.
How Children Become Violent should be of interest to lay people with a strong interest in psychology, criminal justice and the like. Be warned, however, that you’d better be familiar with research methodology and lingo, because the book’s middle section is laced with it. The book should also be of interest to college students majoring in psychology, criminology, or other related fields, who are exploring possible specific directions for their careers, as it provides a good basic grounding in the psychology of violence. As Seifert admits, there is much more work to be done in this field. To her credit, she’s taken a solid first step in analyzing and documenting an acute problem. More importantly, she’s also pointed out possible directions for solving that problem. These are achievements for which all of us should be grateful.
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