After nearly 20 years of democracy-building projects in Russia, a robust civil society has yet to develop. While researchers have suggested political conditions, misaligned incentives, or the unintended consequences of Western funding as possible reasons for this situation, the impact of culture on civic organizations has been overlooked. This article draws on ethnographic research of civic organizations in Novosibirsk, Russia to illustrate the impact of national and organizational culture on emerging civic organizations. Most civic organizations in Russia are influenced by cultural legacies of patronage and personalism, Soviet-style collectives, and group boundaries reinforced through taking tea. Reproduction of these cultural norms results in bonding social capital rather than the bridging social capital associated with democratic society. The ongoing structuration of civic organizations through the reproduction of tsarist and socialist legacies illustrates the importance of understanding the cultural contexts of civil society development.
really feel what it's like … Feel a smile grow from deep inside you … Feel it spreading all the way through you … What is the best thing about being this image … step out of being this image and back to being you. (pp. 91-92) Careful consideration of the abilities of the child would be required when selecting or modifying activities. However, activities might also be used to explore whether or not a child has developed specific skills or knowledge such as self-other awareness, ability to understand emotions, and ability to use imagination to think about options for problem-solving. Given the importance of these fundamental skills for the development of effective interaction and relationships with others, activities from the book could helpfully be used to develop a clearer profile of skills for children with social communication difficulties. Strikingly, children with autistic spectrum disorders can be desperately in need of support in the area of change, stress and anxiety, but may not be able to access unmodified versions of the visualization activities. An exploration of the ways in which image work can and cannot be used to successfully build emotional awareness and resilience in this population could prove worthwhile.In summary, this book is a helpful addition to available resources. It prompts some important questions about how to ensure access to these informal psychotherapeutic approaches for children who might be at risk of acute difficulties in later life. It will not always be clear who should take responsibility for the work, but this book provides some excellent ideas that will suit a large proportion of children experiencing difficulties with change, stress and anxiety. Nippold MA and Scott CM (eds) (2009) Expository discourse in children, adolescents, and adults: Development and disorders. Psychology Press: New York. 336pp. Hardback £45.00. ISBN 978-1-84169-892-2.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.