Personnel Evaluations Research Articles

Does the Tourist Appreciate Your Employees? Prioritizing Service Employee Improvements Based on User-Generated Content Mining

While a multitude of opinion mining studies have examined the impact of attribute performance on customer satisfaction, they have offered limited insights into the role performance of service employees by investigating tourists’ experiences. Focusing on the hotel industry, this study investigated tourists’ evaluations of service personnel by scrutinizing 68,439 hotel reviews and explored the asymmetric effects of employee performance on customer satisfaction according to service employee functions and traveler types. The results indicate that different travelers have distinct expectations of different kinds of services, thereby moderating the asymmetric impact of role performance on tourist satisfaction. Manager employee, in particular, constitutes an excitement factor for family, solo, and couple travelers. The findings have implications for the formulation of operation strategies to promote tourists’ satisfaction rather than frustration. This study contributes to the literature by offering a novel understanding of the asymmetric effect of customer–personnel interactions on tourist satisfaction.

A two-year program to promote participatory workplace environmental improvements at small enterprises with fewer than ten employees

This study aimed to determine the influence of participatory workplace environmental improvement program on reducing job stress and workers' psychological distress at small enterprises (i.e., less than 10 employees). Furthermore, this study aimed to clarify important factors for success of this program as well. The model program was tested in a small enterprise with eight employees between October 2014 and January 2017. Moreover, five employees participated in the annual work environment improvement workshops for two consecutive years. During both years, the New Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (80-item version) was used to measure work-related stress before (baseline) and after (post-three months and post-12 months) the workshops. To assess the extent of an intervention effect, the questionnaire data were analyzed using the Friedman test and the multiple comparison test annually. In addition, continuous data were analyzed during the two years. The statistical significance of the differences across time was determined at the p < .10 cutoff value because the number of participants was small. The effect size was also calculated. The participants were interviewed regularly. For both years, the employees implemented action plans within one month of completing the workshops. In the first year, the data for the Friedman test indicated a significant change in role conflict, job resources (workgroup-level), respect for individuals, fair personnel evaluations, work-self balance (positive), workplace social capital, and job satisfaction. In the multiple comparison test, significant changes manifested in role conflict and workplace social capital. In the second year, significant changes were found regarding role conflict and fair personnel evaluations for the Friedman test, demonstrating significant changes in role conflict in the multiple comparison test. As per the two-year survey results, the Friedman test indicated significant changes in role conflict, respect for individuals, and fair personnel evaluations, while the multiple comparison test demonstrated no significant changes. Over time, favorable changes were found regarding role conflict in the first year; however, undesirable changes were found regarding the other statistically significant items. The interviews revealed both positive and negative opinions. This study found the effects of the participatory workplace environment improvement program to be limited. Thus, the program should be improved to reduce its adverse effects as well as the participants' negative opinions.

Word Use as an Unobtrusive Predictor of Early Departure From Organizations

Past studies have emphasized members’ personality as an important predictor of departure from organizations, but the measurement of this factor has mostly relied on self-judged personality. As alternatives to self-judged personality, our study examines how two unobtrusive measures—others-judged personality and computerized text analytic results through Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2015 (Pennebaker et al., 2015)—are related to members’ departure from organizations ( N = 49). Drawing from internal personnel evaluations (i.e., others-judged personality), text (i.e., self-introduction documents that applicants submitted when applying to the organization), and behavioral data (i.e., actual stay in the organization), this study indicates that unobtrusive measures significantly predict members’ length of stay and that simultaneous use of both measures better predicts members’ length of stay in the organization than either one separately. However, text analytic results through Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2015 predict members’ departure more robustly. This study expands the theoretical meaning of personality and provides practical ways to predict people’s organizational behaviors.

Military Personnel Ratings of a Deployment and Their Positive and Negative Deployment Experiences.

There is limited investigation of how military personnel evaluate their deployment experiences. An understanding of their perceptions would help unit psychologists to advise commanders on ways to improve the deployment experience (and therefore mental well-being) of personnel. This study examined the interplay between deployment overall ratings, personnel characteristics and positive and negative deployment experiences in aid of such understanding. The participants were 1,226 Australian Defence Force personnel who deployed to East Timor and (through a survey) provided an overall rating of their deployment and comments on major positive and negative deployment experiences. Descriptive statistics detail ratings by personnel characteristics, and a hybrid content/thematic analysis details the positive and negative experiences. The study was approved by an Institutional Review Board. Over 80% of the participants rated their overall East Timor deployment experience as positive, with 13% rating it as neutral and 7% as negative. Intrinsic rewards (eg, ability to use skills) were the most commonly expressed major positive experiences of the deployment, with deployment administration and military leadership the most common negatives. Most intrinsic rewards were reported more often in participants with a positive deployment rating, while poor leadership was most frequent in those with a negative rating. Military leadership is corroborated as a negative experience of military deployment, while a new finding indicates that intrinsic rewards are a common feature in positive evaluations of deployment. Leadership is a factor that Defence Forces can address to improve the deployment experience. The study strength is the range and size of the sample, with a limitation the potential for recall bias (the data were collected, on average, 5 years postdeployment). Future research should replicate this type of analysis to build a picture of the experiences and evaluations of personnel from a range of different deployments.

Evaluating Adherence to Return to School and Activity Protocols in Children After Concussion.

The need to have a pediatric-specific concussion management protocol on Return to School (RTS) and Return to Activity (RTA) after concussion has been recognized internationally. The first step to evaluate the protocol effectiveness is to establish whether children and youth are adhering to these recommendations. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence and predictors of adherence to RTS and RTA concussion management protocols for children/youth. A prospective cohort of children/youth with concussion. Childhood Disability Research Centre. One hundred thirty-nine children/youth aged 5 to 18 years, diagnosed with concussion and symptomatic upon enrollment, were followed for up to 6 months. Primary recruitment occurred from a Children's Hospital Emergency Department. Provision of RTS/RTA guidelines. Measurement of adherence came from multiple sources, including the child's and parent's knowledge of protocols, research personnel evaluations, and self-reported stages of RTS/RTA and Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) scores. Spearman correlations and logistic regression were used, investigating the relationship between PCSS and progression of protocols and determining predictors of adherence. Significant negative associations between total PCSS score and stage of RTS/RTA protocols were found. Fifty-three percent and 56% of the participants adhered to the RTS and RTA protocols, respectively. Children's knowledge of protocols and total PCSS scores significantly predicted adherence to RTS/RTA and may be the most important factors in predicting adherence during recovery from concussion.

Simulated Casualty Evacuation Performance Is Augmented by Deadlift Peak Force.

The purpose of the current study was to examine if isometric peak force and rate of force development (RFD) were related to the ability to successfully perform a simulated casualty evacuation task in both unweighted and weighted conditions. Eighteen male participants from Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) completed a maximum isometric deadlift on a force plate (IRB#HE16227). Isometric peak force and RFD were calculated from ground reaction force. Two simulated casualty evacuation performance trials were then completed. The unweighted trial consisted of lifting and carrying a 75 kg dummy as quickly as possible for 50 m. The weighted trial was similar except 9 kg vests were added to both the simulation dummy and the participant to represent 18 kg of duty gear. Independent sample t-tests and Pearson correlations were performed to compare the characteristics of those who passed and failed the weighted trial. All of the participants (n = 18) completed the unweighted casualty evacuation trial, while 72% (n = 13) were able to complete the weighted casualty evacuation trial. The participants that successfully completed the weighted evacuation trial had significantly (p < 0.05) greater isometric peak force (1420 ± 165 vs. 1076 ± 256 N) and lean mass (74.18 ± 3.89 vs. 65.34 ± 3.89 kg) when compared to participants (n = 5) that could not complete the weighted evacuating task trial. Additionally, greater Army Physical Fitness Test scores (288 ± 13 vs. 269 ± 16 arbitrary units) and significantly faster (30.34 ± 4.41 vs. 44.92 ± 10.62 seconds) unweighted evacuation trial times were observed in participants that could complete the weighted evacuation task. Peak force was also significantly correlated with lean mass (r = 0.51, p < 0.05). There was no relationship between RFD and performance of the unweighted or weight trial. Isometric deadlift peak force represents an important determinant for the success of a simulated casualty evacuation task and may be a useful marker to include in periodic fitness evaluations of military personnel.

Study of Practices and Innovation of the Applied Personnel Training Model at Private Institutions of Higher Education

The applied personnel training model, which is centered on applications, oriented toward the market, and premised on abilities, has appeared at private institutions of higher education in a variety of formats, including the embedded format, custom order format, industry-education integration, and so on. However, the presence of blind emulation in goal orientation, theoretization of curriculum systems, homogenization of the composition of qualified teachers, formalization of personnel evaluations, and other issues has prevented the applied personnel training model from achieving effective linkage between private higher education and industry: only through cooperation between entities on all sides and constant innovation will it be possible to fully exercise the important functions of the applied personnel training model at private institutions of higher education.

An Assessment of the Impact of Employee Satisfaction on Customer Satisfaction in Hotel Enterprises

The aim of this study is to determine the personnel evaluations of employee satisfaction factors in customer satisfaction by using statistical methods. Firstly, the studies about the factors affecting the satisfaction of the employees in the literature were examined and the statements used in the study were formed and then the suitability of the questionnaire in terms of both content and comprehensibility was checked by taking expert opinion. Face to face survey method was used as a method of data collection. Surveys were applied to 419 staff working in international chain hotels in 2017 (September, October, November, December), 2018 (January) between Atlanta, Savannah, Hilton Head Island regions. Statistical analysis was performed with the help of SPSS package program. Variables are described by frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation statistics and also T-test and variance analysis were performed. Tukey test was used for the comparison of binary groups as a result of variance analysis. As a result of the study, it was determined that the most positive opinion of the employees regarding the effect of employee satisfaction on the hotel satisfaction was the terms of working conditions, followed by social rights and communication with the employees, respectively. Moreover, it was determined that the opinions of the participants did not differ significantly according to gender and working position, but for age, marital status, educational status and the department.

Forensic mental health evaluations of military personnel with traumatic life event, in a university hospital in Ankara, Turkey

IntroductionThe definition of psychological trauma has been rephrased with the DSM-5. From now on, witnessing someone else's traumatic event is also accepted as a traumatic life event. Therefore, the psychiatric examination of forensic cases gains importance for not overlooking a psychiatric trauma. This research aims to discuss the psychiatric examinations of military personnel who had a traumatic life event and to reveal psychiatric states of soldiers after trauma. Materials and methodsThe forensic reports prepared at Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA), Forensic Medicine polyclinic between January 1, 2011 and November 30, 2014 were examined, and among them the cases sent to GMMA Psychiatry polyclinic for psychiatric examination were analyzed retrospectively. ResultsThere were a total of 2408 cases who applied for the arrangement of a judicial report and 167 of them required a psychological examination. Among 167 cases, 165 were male and 2 were female, and the mean age was 25.6 years. Anxiety disorder (53.9%) was the most common diagnosis as a result of the psychiatric examination, following posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (18.6%), and 3.6% had no psychopathology. It was determined that injuries caused by firearms (38.3%) and explosive materials (26.3%) had caused psychological trauma the most. On the other hand, 11 (6.6%) cases were determined to have undergone a psychological trauma on account of being a witness to their friends' injuries during the conflict without experiencing any physical injury. There were not any statistically significant relationships between the severity of physical injury and being PTSD or anxiety disorder. DiscussionDevelopment of PTSD risk is directly correlated with the nature of trauma. The trauma types of the cases in our study were in the high-risk group because of the military population. Our study is of importance in terms of putting forward the psychiatric disorders seen in the military population with traumatic life history associated with war (combat-related). In this research, 26.1% of the cases followed up due to combat-related trauma were diagnosed with PTSD. Interestingly, this ratio was lower than the studies that have larger case numbers. There is still the need to conduct studies that will involve larger participants.

Assessing Principals’ Assessments: Subjective Evaluations of Teacher Effectiveness in Low- and High-Stakes Environments

Teacher effectiveness varies substantially, yet principals’ evaluations of teachers often fail to differentiate performance among teachers. We offer new evidence on principals’ subjective evaluations of their teachers’ effectiveness using two sources of data from a large, urban district: principals’ high-stakes personnel evaluations of teachers, and their low-stakes assessments of a subsample of those teachers provided to the researchers. We find that principals’ evaluations of teachers are quite positive whether the stakes are high or low, but the low-stakes evaluations show substantially more use of lower rating categories, and many teachers rated ineffective on the low-stakes assessment receive “effective” or “highly effective” high-stakes ratings. Teacher characteristics, such as experience, partially explain the discrepancy between the two scores. Also, despite the fact that principals overwhelmingly assign teachers to the two highest rating categories on the high-stakes evaluation, their high- and low-stakes ratings show similar correlations with teacher value-added measures.

SU‐E‐P‐01: Adaptation of Commercial, Web‐Based, Medical Residency Management Software (MedHub, Inc.) for a Medium‐Sized Medical Physics Residency Program

Purpose:Management of a CAMPEP‐accredited medical physics residency program (CaMPRP) is demanding. In our experience, the time required to manage a CaMPRP increased linearly with the number of residents. Managing our paper‐based CaMPRP became unwieldy and inefficient when we increased in size from three to four residents resulting in the purchase of commercial, web‐based residency management software (MedHub, Inc).Methods:All documentation for our CaMPRP was converted into a format that fits the MedHub structure including: all assessments, procedure participation, mentor/resident meeting summaries, director/resident meeting summaries, journals, tumor board and departmental meeting attendance, written reports, presentations, resident/faculty/staff evaluations, didactic coursework approval, licenses, absence tracking, and ethics/professionalism coursework. The conversion process was performed over a 4‐month period and required approximately 120 hours of director time and 100 hours of administrator time. Task assignments and documentation required of residents and faculty are now scheduled and dispersed through MedHub via email. Regular reminders are automatically emailed from MedHub for incomplete documentation. The MedHub server is maintained centrally by a university‐wide system administrator. Data is encrypted and meets FERPA and HIPAA standards.Results:MedHub is a repository for all documentation required of a CaMPRP and is viewable from supported internet browsers. Resident progress and compliance is transparent and viewable in real‐time by residents and administration. Resident and faculty compliance with required documentation and attendance have increased dramatically, approaching 100%. Management of our CaMPRP is now consistent with the medical residency programs who use Medhub campus‐wide. Anonymity is preserved for evaluations of personnel. Lost paper documentation is no longer a concern. Data mining tools are being created to analyze documentation to help increase focus and productivity.Conclusion:Medical residency management software has been successfully adapted by a CaMPRP. This management tool has been very useful toward increasing compliance, access, transparency, anonymity and productivity.

Guidelines for Initiating a Research Agenda: Topic Selection and Evidence of Impact

The focus on scholarly productivity as an outcome measure for performance evaluations of personnel and/or units and benchmarking purposes is increasing in both the academic and clinical settings. This article presents avenues for identifying achievable research projects in both the academic and clinical settings. Factors for consideration when selecting a project include its significance or impact on the profession, feasibility for implementing the project, and ethical issues related to human subjects protection. A review of the literature is essential for identifying gaps in knowledge and for constructing the hypothesis or research question. Decisions concerning IRB submission, budget allocation, and collection of data must also be considered before implementation of the research design.

Cultural Competence: A Literature Review and Conceptual Model for Mental Health Services

Cultural Competence: A Literature Review and Conceptual Model for Mental Health Services

Comment on "Using the Peters-Belson method in equal employment opportunity personnel evaluations" by Sinclair and Pan

The Peters-Belson (P-B) method (also called the Blinder–Oaxaca approach method in the economics literature; Blinder, 1973; Oaxaca, 1973) is a linear regression–based method that is used in salary discrimination cases. The underlying idea is to create a ‘statistical match’ to each member of the protected or unfavoured group by predicting the wage that an individual from that group would have received had that individual been a member of the majority or favoured group (see Altonji and Blank, 1999, for a review). The paper of Sinclair and Pan (2009) applies an extension of the P-B method to logistic regression (Gastwirth and Greenhouse, 1995; Nayak and Gastwirth, 1997) to personnel actions where the outcome is a binary variable, e.g. hired or not, instead of a continuous variable such as salary. As in the case for linear regression, they use logistic regression to adjust for differences in the distribution of covariates between the favoured versus unfavoured groups in the prediction of fairness of a personnel action. In logistic regression, the P-B method follows the same basic recipe as it does for linear regression. A logistic regression is fitted to the favoured group and then applied to the individuals in the unfavoured group to estimate their predicted probability of success. The difference between an individual’s observed value (0 or 1) and predicted values is their ‘shortfall’. Here, the predicted value is the probability of not being hired. The total short falls for all members of the unfavoured group estimates the number of positions (hires or promotions) they would have received had their qualifications been assessed by the same formula the employers used in evaluating the candidates from the favoured group. This average short fall is the P-B estimate of disparity. Sinclair and Pan (2009) give an excellent presentation of the properties of the P-B method and how it compares with the standard method where a regression is estimated using the combined data from both groups and an indicator variable is included in the regression model to distinguish the two groups. An estimate of the disparity for standard method comes directly from this additional term. In this Comment, I will provide some graphical illustrations of several important issues related to using the two methods for estimating disparity and augment some of the excellent statistical discussion provided by Sinclair and Pan (2009). This discussion will focus on linear regression instead of logistic regression because it is easier to illustrate the properties of both the P-B and the standard method graphically for linear regression in this situation, as these properties extend to the logistic regression setting. To focus on the basic concepts, I consider simple linear regression where there are two variables, dependent variable wages (W ) and a covariate X that is a predictor of wages such as years of experience, and there are only two groups to be compared, favoured and unfavoured. I will assume that the slopes of lines for the

Using the Peters-Belson method in equal employment opportunity personnel evaluations

The Peters-Belson method has been used as an alternative approach to standard linear regression analysis to examine potential wage discrimination as it also accounts for any differences in the qualifications of the applicants. To apply the Peters-Belson method, one first conducts a regression analysis on the favoured class and applies the resulting model to the non-favoured class to identify whether this class would have received a different rate of pay if they had been treated the same as their favoured counterparts. Since this method was recently extended to explore disparities in the personnel selections via logistic regression, we will examine the general properties of this method as compared to standard regression analysis. The effects of the demographic mix and size of the applicant pool, the difference in the distribution of the qualifications and the employer's evaluation criteria on the estimated disparity will be examined. Some of the philosophical and legal issues from selected court cases surrounding the use of these two techniques will also be discussed.

Designing Transparent Teacher Evaluation: The Role of Oversight Panels for Professional Accountability

Background/Context Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), or peer review as it has historically been called, has existed in a handful of school districts since the early 1980s. In 1999, California became the first state to pass PAR legislation; at that time, a major district had not implemented the policy in over a decade. Setting This is an in-depth study of one urban district in California, given the pseudonym Rosemont, as it implemented PAR following California's legislation. Program With PAR, designated “PAR coaches”—teachers identified for excellence and released from teaching duties full-time for 2–3 years—provide mentoring to teachers new to the district or the profession, intervention for identified veteran teachers experiencing difficulty, and the formal personnel evaluations of both groups. These PAR coaches are not school based but rather report to an oversight panel composed of teachers and administrators from across the district. Research Questions A companion study previously found that the rate of dismissals increased dramatically after the implementation of PAR in Rosemont. This study examines one aspect of Rosemont's PAR program, its oversight panel. The study examines three questions that in turn address the design, process, and outcomes of PAR and the PAR panel in Rosemont: (1) How did the PAR panel work? (2) How, if at all, did the presence of an oversight panel affect the teacher evaluation process? (3) How, if at all, did the presence of an oversight panel affect personnel outcomes? Participants The study involved all PAR coaches (10) and all members of the PAR panel (9) for the first year of program implementation. Research Design The study employed an embedded single-case design in Rosemont over 1 1/2 years. Data Collection and Analysis The study relied on observations (311 hours of meetings) and semistructured interviews (39). I used QSR NVivo data management. I coded observation scripts and interview transcripts were coded to a schema developed from the progressive coding patterns that I observed, and analyzed them in response to the research questions. Findings The Rosemont data demonstrate that the PAR panel both supported the coaches to do their jobs and held them accountable. The community of educators created by PAR and the PAR panel appears to have proved a more rigorous, evidence-based check on classroom teaching performance. I also present data demonstrating the shortcomings of the PAR panel structure in the face of enduring norms against accountability in education. Conclusions Significant shifts in organizational structure occurred to support the PAR coaches in their role as evaluators. Making the typically solitary practice of teacher evaluation transparent to colleagues fundamentally altered the nature of educational accountability.

Are Ethical Codes of Conduct Toothless Tigers for Dealing with Employment Discrimination?

This study examined the influence of two organizational context variables, codes of conduct and supervisor advice, on personnel decisions in an experimental simulation. Specifically, we studied personnel evaluations and decisions in a situation where codes of conduct conflict with supervisor advice. Past studies showed that supervisors’ advice to prefer ingroup over outgroup candidates leads to discriminatory personnel selection decisions. We extended this line of research by studying how codes of conduct and code enforcement may reduce this form of discrimination. Eighty German managers evaluated and selected candidates from an applicant pool including Germans (ingroup members) and foreigners (outgroup members). Supervisor advice to prefer ingroup members lowered suitability ratings of outgroup members as well as their chances to be selected for an interview. Ethical codes of conduct referring to equal opportunities limited this form of discrimination, but only when codes were enforced by sanctions and integrated into organizational every-day practice. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Barriers to apply pain assessment tools in children by nurses

Background Pain control is intended to prevent pain and suffering of women and to increase the quality of life. Successful pain control is achieved by accurate pain assessment and for doing this, proper and valid tools should be applied. Purpose This descriptive cross sectional study was performed to identify the problems of nurses in applying pain assessment tools in children. Methods 30 nurses in emergency ward of clinics of Oil Company voluntarily took part in the study. A questionnaire in 3 parts including demographics, barriers of nurses to apply the tools and information regarding pain assessment was used for data collection. Content method was used for validity of the tool. Its reliability for the second and third part was measured by test-retest and internal consistency methods respectively. Results 72.3% and 26.7% of nurses were male and female respectively. 73.3% had baccalaureate and 26.7% had associate degrees. Their mean age was 37±5. 60%, 20% and 20% of the nurses had moderate, weak and good knowledge regarding pain assessment respectively. The most common barriers were environmental [facilities and manpower (lack of a pain assessment tool and inadequate personnel to assess pain)], administrative (lack of regulations to assess pain and lack of inclusion of it in annual personnel evaluations), educational (inadequate programs in this regard) and personal or motivational (work overload of nurses) according to the subjects. Conclusion Results showed that nurses face with many difficulties in assessing pain from different aspects. The analysis and suggestions indicate that the most significant solution for this problem is to establish pain control nursing committee at the setting. Keywords: Nursing, Pediatric, scale, Pain assesment, Commission.

Quality Analysis of Journals in TESOL and Applied Linguistics

Journals act as one of the primary storage areas for and distributors of academic knowledge across fields, including TESOL and applied linguistics (AL). The quality of such journals often determines the visibility and impact of the articles they contain; the ranking of programs, departments, and individual performances; the distribution of research funds, and even the way data are presented and discussed (Weiner, 2001). Whether we agree with the centrality of journals, an understanding of journal quality can play a significant role in our professional decisions. There is yet no accepted methodology for determining the value and impact of certain journals relative to others in TESOL-AL; whether there should or indeed can be one is an ongoing discussion to which this article might contribute. Specifically, a method for representing journal quality in TESOL-AL could help members of the field accurately judge the quality of journals during personnel evaluations, selecting outlets for use and publication, and in discerning the quality of work across the field. The focus of the current quality analysis was to develop such a method for journal quality in TESOL-AL. However, a thorough review of the research and of the journals included in this analysis determined that a single method, regardless of the number of components included, could not account for important differences among journals and in reasons for publishing in them. This article explores the foundations for this conclusion and suggests options that exist for TESOL-AL professionals to determine journal value. The research journals were chosen for this article to make the data set relatively heterogeneous and manageable; however, the overall principles can be applied to other types of journals and publications. This analysis consists of a brief critical review of existing journal quality mea

"Asbab l'il-darb ktir basita": The Legality of Claims of Violence During Judicial Divorce Cases in Damascus

AbstractThrough observations of Damascus shari'a (or Muslim family) court processing of three recent judicial divorce cases, this paper analyses court personnel's evaluations of the veracity and legal implications of allegations of domestic violence. These accusations are not articulated as a justification for judicial rulings granting divorces to female claimants in the court's files. However, despite the fact that the issue is not recorded in the paper work, allegations of physical and psychological abuse are not marginalised or ignored by the court. These claims both contribute to establishing the legally established conditions for the granting of a judicial divorce and may also be a factor in the courts ruling on what financial settlement is entailed by the termination of the marriage.Court procedure appoints professional arbiters to hear judicial divorce claims in private sessions, and allows them considerable discretion in processing these cases since their recommendations do not have to be substantiated in their final report to the judge. It is only through observation of the arbiters' work, therefore, that conclusions can be drawn regarding the norms that contribute to their recommendations to the court. Although they often make strenuous attempts to reconcile spouses, arbiters routinely grant persistent claims and award signifiant financial entitlements. In making their recommendations, arbiters are influenced by several factors; the kinds of evidence offered to substantiate a claim, social definitions of violent acts, the nature of specific claims, pragmatism regarding the spouses'financial circumstances and the expectations of the judicial culture. These three cases demonstrate the complexity and unpredictability of the processing of cases and support the conclusion that judicial divorce claims receive a sympathetic hearing in the court.