THERAPISTS' PERSONALITIES AND THEIR EVALUATION OF THREE FAMILY THERAPY STYLES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

This study examined the relationship between beginning therapists' personalities and their evaluations of three divergent family therapy styles. Sixty clinical and counseling psychology students completed the Adjective Checklist (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983) and rated videotaped therapy sessions conducted by Bowen, Minuckin, and Whitaker. Adjective Checklist ratings of each subject were also obtained from three friends/family members. Self-rated personality factors of dominant-masculinity and, to a lesser extent, nurturant-femininity were significant predictors of subjects' ratings of the tapes. Gender was a factor in ranked ratings of the tapes. Other-rated personality traits were not significant predictors. Implications for therapy training and supervision are discussed.     

VALUES IN CONFLICT: CHALLENGES TO FAMILY THERAPISTS' THINKING

Our familiar and comfortable family therapy theories were not designed to deal with violence and may help maintain our collective avoidance. Our formulations appear to make violence more manageable than it is and demonstrate our naivete. The limitations of therapeutic neutrality are explored as are the dangers inherent in some of our interventions. Effective amelioration of family violence requires linkages to larger systems.-Editor.     

FACTORS RELATED TO FAMILY THERAPISTS' BREAKING CONFIDENCE WHEN CLIENTS DISCLOSE HIGH-RISKS-TO-HIV/AIDS SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

This national survey of 309 marriage and family therapists examined what therapists do when their HIV-positive clients disclose that they are engaging in high-risk sexual behavior. The participants were given vignettes in which a fictitious client told the therapist about engaging in unprotected sex. Although the basic situations were the same, the client variables of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and HIV status were systematically varied. The participants were more likely to break confidence regarding unsafe sex practices when their clients were male, young, gay, or African American. Moreover, therapists who were more likely to disclose were older, female, had less experience with gay/lesbian populations, were Catholic, were very religious, and were more likely to practice in urban areas. The authors discuss the implications of these and other findings.     

FAMILY GOAL RECORDING: AN ADAPTATION OF GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING FOR ENHANCING FAMILY THERAPY AND ASSESSMENT*

Family Goal Recording is proposed as a systemic approach for measuring change in the presenting concerns of couples and families. This paper describes the procedures for using Family Goal Recording as an outcome measure for family therapy and a device to enhance goal attainment. In addition, the results of an initial study on the reliability and validity of this method are presented.     

THREE APPROACHES TO FAMILY THERAPY: A STUDY OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE*

The literature on professional development suggests that the process of segmentation or specialization within a profession logically accompanies the aggregation, dissemination and application of new and expanding bodies of knowledge. The present study empirically examines the extent and dimensions of this process of segmentation within the family therapy movement by comparing the belief and action systems of 1000 experienced family therapists oriented to one of three major models of family therapy. Two theses are suggested which may explain the findings depicting a unique patterning of similarities and differences among the three models; each implying different directives and implications for the continued growth of the interdisciplinary practice of family therapy.     

ADAPTING TO DEPRIVATION: AN EXAMINATION OF INFLATED EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

Many researchers argue that lower-class individuals adapt to their deprivation by lowering their aspirations for success. Data provide only limited support for this position, however, and suggest that many lower-class individuals continue to hold high aspirations. This article points to a second method of adapting to deprivation: raising expectations for success to inflated levels—levels that have a low probability of realization. The extent and determinants of inflated educational expectations are explored using data from a national, longitudinal survey of high school seniors. Results indicate that almost half of all deprived individuals with high aspirations have inflated expectations. The primary determinants of inflated expectations appear to be pressure to attend college and the overestimation of one's abilities. These data are relevant to anomie or strain theories of deviance and social structure and personality.     

USE OF THE DSM IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY PROGRAMS: CURRENT PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES

The DSM has largely become the common language of behavioral health which its authors intended. Although family systems theory resulted in part from the study of major mental illness, it later became distanced from considerations of individual psychopathology. No studies have assessed current practices and views within the field of family therapy on teaching students the use of the DSM. Member training programs of the Education and Training Council of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy were surveyed regarding their practices in teaching the DSM. Seventy-nine of 177 surveys (45%) were returned. Ninety-one percent of these programs offered training in the DSM, and in 93% of those such training was mandatory. Written comments indicated that pragmatic concerns about students being able to speak a common language with other behavioral health providers were among the primary reasons for teaching the DSM.     

SYSTEMS CONSULTATION AND HEAD START: AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL FAMILY THERAPY

As Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) enter Head Start programs, systems consultation emerges as a viable alternative to providing therapy to enrolled children and families. As systems consultants, family therapists can offer organizational consultation, training, and support to Head Start staff, classroom interventions, and direct work with families. This article describes a multidimensional model for providing comprehensive mental health consultation to Head Start programs. It explores the skills necessary for MFTs to work effectively as systems consultants. Finally, recommendations are made for applying the model in both university and private settings.     

SELF-CONCEPT AND ATTITUDES: A COMPARISON OF CANADIAN INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN STUDENTS*

La recherche antérieure sur les étudiants indiens canadiens suggère la formation d'images de soi et d'attitudes négatives en conséquence de leur position dans la société et de la discrimination rencontrée dans la société et dans l'école. La plus grande partie de cette recherche a cependent négligé de comparer les attitudes de ces étudiants avec celles des étudiants non-indiens qui, on présume, n'ont pas à faire face aux mêmes pressions et situations sociales. La présente étude a été construite de façon à pouvoir examiner les états affectifs des étudiants indiens et non-indiens en contrôlant un nombre de variables importantes. Les résultats ne confirme pas l'affirmation faite par la recherche antérieure. Previous research on Canadian Indian students suggests that they develop negative self-concepts and attitudes as a result of their position in society and the discrimination they face in society and school. However, most of this research has failed to compare the attitudes of these students with the attitudes of non-Indian students who, presumably, have not faced the same social pressures and situations. The present study was designed to examine the affective states of both Indian and non-Indian students when a number of important variables were controlled. The findings do not support the contention that Indian students have negative self-concepts and attitudes.     

THE EFFICACY OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY: AN EMPIRICAL OVERVIEW, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based primarily on the contributions to this Special Issue of JMFT, this article provides an overview of the empirical research on the efficacy of marital and family therapy for the following disorders and problems: schizophrenia; affective (mood) disorders; slected externalizing, internalizing, and pervasive developmental disorders of childhood; adolescent conduct disorder; marital distress and the prevention of divorce; alcoholism; adult and adolescent drug abuse; and various chronic adult, adolescent, and childhood physical disorders. Convincing scientific evidence supports the efficacy of broadly defined marital and family therapy for the treatment of many disorders, as well as its superiority to standard and individual treatments for certain disorders and populations. We conclude with recommendations for future research as well as for collaborative initiatives between marital/family therapists and other professionals working in the marriage and family field.     

NETWORK AND MEANING: AN INTERACTIONIST APPROACH TO STRUCTURE*

Social network is a concept interactionists might use to link individual behavior to the larger social system. A symbolic interactionist formulation of network would: 1) approximate the original, anthropological usage better than the current structural conception does, 2) offer symbolic interactionists a unit of social organization better suited to their perspective than the small group, and 3) allow symbolic interactionists to deal with “macro” sociological concerns. Network is conceived of as a set of relationships which people imbue with meaning and use for personal or collective purposes. By emphasizing subjective meaning and the investigation of multi-purpose and weak ties, the interactionist formulation provides theoretical insights into those aspects of society which “structural” approaches overlook.     

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO FAMILY INTERACTION RESEARCH? AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT AND A FAMILY SYSTEMS VIEWPOINT

The origins and evolution of family interaction research are outlined in order to examine the apparent lag in the field after the initial hopes and enthusiasms of the 1960s. It is argued that family interaction research naturally drew upon the methodology of social psychology and that there was an insufficient integration of the implications of the clinical viewpoint of family systems theory into research procedure. A discussion is presented of some central concepts in scientific psychology, drawing conclusions as to how they can be broadened for the special field of family research. An experimental method for evaluating the public verifiability of complex clinical notions is described, and a number of recent investigations are scrutinized in the light of our critique. It is concluded that there are grounds for being optimistic that the gap between clinical and research thinking can be bridged, making the assessment and refinement of abstract and intricate concepts discovered in clinical procedures accessible to scientific experimentation.     

FIRM AND INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO CHANGED MARKET CONDITIONS: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH

This paper describes an evolutionary theory of the response of firms in a competitive industry to changed market conditions. Search and selection replace the more orthodox assumptions of profit maximizing and zero profit long run equilibrium. The particular assumptions needed to assure that the direction of response of such an evolutionary system is the same as that predicted by more orthodox theory are explored. While an evolutionary theory and a more orthodox one yield many of the same positive qualitative predictions, they differ sharply in a number of other respects, and these are considered in detail.     

NONVERBAL RECIPROCITY IN NONDISTRESSED MARITAL PARTNERS: AN EXAMINATION OF BASE RATE CHANGE*

The present study sought to incorporate recent suggestions for reciprocity research into an experimental design which could use behavioral base rate change as a method for determining nonverbal reciprocity in nondistressed couples. This study examined reciprocity by surreptitiously manipulating the touching behavior of one spouse, and monitoring responses of the other spouse. Forty couples were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Couples were videotaped engaging in an assigned task which permitted interaction. During the interaction, positive touches, smiles, and headnods were monitored. Following instruction to do so, selected spouses in the experimental group increased their rate of touches. Results indicated that, in response, naive spouses subsequently increased their rate of touches. The results of this experiment provide supportive evidence for the lawful nature of reciprocity. The implications of these findings, and suggestions for subsequent reciprocity research, are forwarded.