bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interlaminar Stress Determination in Carbon Fibre Epoxy Composites with the Embedded Strain Gauge Technique
Authors: Schnack E. , Prinz B. , Dimitrov S.
Published: July 2004

Abstract:  In order to determine interlaminar stresses, strain gauges have been embedded in carbon fibre/epoxy composites. Insulation problems occurring because of the electrical conductivity of the carbon fibres were successfully resolved with the help of special foils. Measurements on unidirectional and angle‐ply laminates were in good agreement with calculations based on the classical laminate theory. Moreover, the laminate strength was not significantly affected by the embedded strain gauges. The technique may also be applied to residual stress determination in composite components.
Homogenisation Metamodelling of Perforated Plates
Authors: Lew T. L. , Scarpa F. , Worden K.
Published: July 2004

Abstract:  The use of finite element (FE)‐based homogenisation has improved the study of composite material properties. However, it involves enormous computational effort when implemented in engineering design problems. Therefore an artificial neural network (ANN) surrogate model is proposed here to avoid this issue. In this study, a numerical homogenisation code was developed based on a commercial FE package. It is used to develop the ANN metamodel for an individual composite structure. The effectiveness of the metamodel was examined through an analytical optimisation procedure.
Determination of Critical Tearing Energy of Tyre Rubber
Authors: Gdoutos E. E. , Schubel P. M. , Daniel I. M.
Published: July 2004

Abstract:  An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the crack growth characteristics and critical tearing energy of pure tyre rubber under mode‐I and ‐III loading. Constrained tension and trousers specimens were used, respectively. In the trousers test it was observed that the crack does not propagate at a steady rate, but in a stick–slip way, i.e., it is arrested and re‐initiated at fairly regular intervals. Thus, the force necessary to propagate the crack varies widely from a maximum value at crack initiation to a minimum value at crack arrest. In the constrained tension tests, no stable crack growth was observed and crack initiation coincides with catastrophic fracture. The critical tearing energies corresponding to crack initiation and arrest under mode‐III and to unstable crack growth under mode‐I loading were determined from the load–displacement records by an approximate analysis of the trousers and the constrained tension tests.
Progress in Thermoelastic Residual Stress Measurement
Authors: Quinn S. , Dulieu‐Barton J. M. , Langlands J. M.
Published: July 2004

Abstract:  The possibilities of using thermoelastic stress analysis to measure residual stresses are assessed, particularly in the context of the effect of plastic strain on the thermoelastic output. Components manufactured from aluminium and steel were deformed so that they experienced a plastic deformation and in some cases, a residual stress. Thermoelastic data from the components were compared with data from geometrically similar undeformed components. According to well‐accepted theory, the thermoelastic data from both components should be practically identical. The results from the deformed components show departures from those of the undeformed components; the possible reasons for this are discussed in detail. A practical application of cold‐expanded holes used in aircraft structures is described and recommendations are made for possible future work.
Parental Patterns of Affective Style and the Development of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Authors: DOANE JERI A. , GOLDSTEIN MICHAEL J. , RODNICK ELIOT H.
Published: August 2004

Measures of parental affective style of communication, based on direct family discussions, were obtained for a sample of 52 families of disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents. When the variations of both parents on the measure for two different measurement contexts were combined, an accurate prediction of subsequent psychiatric status at follow‐up occurred. Adolescents with at least one parent who consistently displayed a pathological affective style of communication in both a dyadic and triadic discussion developed schizophrenia‐spectrum disorders as young adults. Conversely, adolescents with at least one parent who was consistently benign in affective style had healthier outcomes. Finally, more serious young adult psychopathology was noted where both parents were inconsistent in their affective style from dyadic to triadic interaction. Methodological implications for family interaction research are discussed.
Creativity, Pathology, and Family Structure: A Cybernetic Metaphor
Authors: SCHWARTZMAN JOHN
Published: August 2004

This paper describes a cybernetic metaphor as a novel paradigm for family theory, linking aspects of cybernetic epistemology as described by Bateson (1) with the tropes, major figures of speech, as defined by the linguist Jakobson (25). Jakobson describes two operations characteristic of all human discourse at many levels of organization and abstraction: the metaphoric, linking by similarity; and the metonymic, linking by contiguity.

A cybernetic metaphor suggests a view of individuals as adaptive systems able to transform novelty into expectations (49) in one of two ways and thereby maintain a relationship with their context. Those who encounter contexts characterized by “dissonances” in structure and basic premises would adopt the metaphoric mode by finding similarities in apparent differences and thus learn to link separate domains. Those learning to orient themselves in a context of consistent basic premises and structure would adopt the metonymic mode, linking by temporal or spacial contiguity within an implicit assumed whole. Clinical examples and the literature on the families of symptomatic and creative individuals will be used as illustrations of this process of learning communicative modes.
Parental Communication Deviance as a Predictor of Competence in Children at Risk for Adult Psychiatric Disorder
Authors: DOANE JERI A. , JONES JAMES E. , FISHER LAWRENCE , RITZLER BARRY , SINGER MARGARET T. , WYNNE LYMAN C.
Published: August 2004

Measures of communication deviance derived from three different Rorschach situations were obtained from parents of 62 children vulnerable to future psychiatric disturbance. The families were maritally intact, with one parent having a history of previous psychiatric hospitalization and a male index child, 7 or 10 years of age. Amount of parental communication deviance in one situation was not significantly related to amount of communication deviance observed in another setting. However, mothers who exhibited high levels of communication deviance in both the Individual and Family Consensus situations tended to have offspring who were judged as low functioning in multiple settings, based on teacher ratings, peer ratings, and parental report. Conversely, children judged as high functioning in multiple settings had mothers who were free of high levels of communication deviance in both Rorschach situations.
Hemophilia In Context: Adjunctive Hypnosis for Families with a Hemophiliac Member
Authors: RITTERMAN MICHELE KLEVENS
Published: August 2004

This is a report of preliminary findings of a pilot study conducted at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study examined the use of adjunctive hypnotic techniques with families in which at least one member was a hemophiliac. It is suggested that hypnotic approaches may be more effective if they take into consideration patient‐family and family‐hospital relationships. Advantages of an open‐systems, clinical‐research model of hemophilia are presented.
The Transition to Young Adulthood: Generational Boundary Dissolution and Female Identity Development
Authors: FULLINWIDER‐BUSH NELL , JACOBVITZ DEBORAH B.
Published: July 2004

This research explored links between differential qualities of family connectedness and young adult females' development of an independent identity. Identity development involves exploration of possible roles and choices in particular domains such as occupation, dating, and friendship, followed by commitment to a set of values and behaviors in one of these areas. In this study, women who reported that their parents encouraged autonomy while still maintaining closeness also reported more exploration in their friendship and dating relationships. In contrast, reports of parent‐child boundary dissolution, characterized by role‐reversal, enmeshment, and overinvolvement, were related to less exploration, particularly in dating relationships. Mother‐daughter boundary dissolution, specifically, was linked to women'stendency to base their commitments to a career and relationships with others on parental values and expectations without ever exploring alternative choices. Father‐daughter boundary dissolution was related to lower exploration as well as lower commitment to values and beliefs in any area. These findings lend support to theoretical and clinical impressions that inter‐generational boundary violations hinder the development of an independent identity.
Short‐Term Stability of Task‐Generated, Interactional Patterns in Families of Schizophrenic Patients
Authors: BERGMAN R. LINDSEY , GOLDSTEIN MICHAEL J.
Published: July 2004

Both researchers and therapists who study schizophrenia make inferences about enduring family roles from observed patterns of interactional talking behavior within families. Evidence regarding the stability of these patterns is rarely investigated. The present study examined the short‐term stability of intrafamilial speech patterns (who talks to whom) across two consecutive discussions. The sample was composed of families containing a recent‐onset, adult schizophrenic patient. All discussions involved two biological parents and a young adult patient (N = 28). Families were classified into one of three interactional role‐structure categories based on the intrafamilial speech patterns in two 10‐minute discussions obtained in the same session. In addition, the affective style (Doane, West, Goldstein, et al., 1981) of the content of the discussions was coded. The results indicated that intrafamilial speech patterns were relatively stable across two discussions despite variations in the focus of the problem discussed. Further, when one parent was predominant in the discussion, a higher rate of negative affective statements was observed than when both parents were equal participants. The results provide further support for the use of discussion tasks in generating meaningful family interaction data.
Revisiting the Notion of Hierarchy
Authors: SIMON GEORGE M.
Published: July 2004

The traditional definition of hierarchy in terms of power has rendered the image of the hierarchical therapist a fit subject for constructionist critiques. This essay uses an alternative definition of hierarchy, cast in temporal and developmental terms, as the basis for a revised understanding of the role of hierarchy in the therapeutic process. It is argued that when therapy is constructed as a “framing‐developing hierarchy,” rather than as a “power hierarchy,” then constructionist aspirations to create a therapy that is nonjudgmental, nonpathologizing, and noncontrolling are realized.
Disordered Communication and Grieving in Deaf Member Families
Authors: SLOMAN LEON , SPRINGER STEPHEN , VACHON MARY L.S.
Published: July 2004

When a deaf child is born to hearing parents, a grieving process is initiated in the parents. Unresolved grieving over their child's deafness often makes it difficult for hearing parents to accept the importance of signing, thus increasing the child's problems — further source of grief for these parents. Clinical illustrations are provided of (1) the reciprocal relationship between disruption of the mourning process and disturbance of communication between family members, and (2) the transmission of the dysfunctional relationship between hearing parents and deaf children to the subsequent relationship between the deaf children, when they reach adulthood, and their hearing children.
Competence in Children at Risk for Psychopathology Predicted from Confirmatory and Disconfirmatory Family Communication
Authors: WICHSTRØM LARS , HOLTE ARNE , HUSBY RAGNHILD , WYNNE LYMAN C.
Published: July 2004

The relationship between confirmation/ disconfirmation in parental and family communication and offspring social competence was examined in 59 families in which at least one of the parents had been hospitalized for a functional psychiatric disorder. Communication samples were obtained using the Consensus Rorschach procedure both with parental couples and with parent‐child family units. The communication was analyzed using the Confirmation‐Disconfirmation Coding System (CONDIS). The competence at school of 7‐and 10‐year‐old boys was rated by both peers and teachers. Competence at home was rated by the parents. The results indicated that the more competent the high‐risk children were, both at school and at home, the more their family communicated in confirmatory ways and the less they communicated in disconfirmatory ways. Furthermore, although the parental couple CONDIS score and the family CONDIS score were modestly correlated, each contributed separately to the prediction of offspring competence. These communication data were not significantly related to parental psychopathology, neither severity of parental impairment nor the diagnosis of the patient‐parent.
Beyond the “Psychosomatic Family”: A Biobehavioral Family Model of Pediatric Illness
Authors: WOOD BEATRICE L.
Published: July 2004

This article proposes a multilevel systems model of the interactive biological, psychological, and social processes in childhood illness. This heuristic model can organize the investigation of pathways and mechanisms by which these levels influence one another. A pivotal feature of this biobehavioral family model is the construct of responsivity, which is conceptualized at both family (interpersonal responsivity) and individual (biobehavioral reactivity) levels. Individual biobehavioral reactivity is proposed as a bidirectional pathway by which family patterns and disease processes influence one another. Illustrative clinical material and relevant research are presented with recommendations for future study. This model integrates individual and family‐level theory and thus has the capacity to bridge the fields of psychosomatics, pediatrics, behavioral medicine, and family systems medicine.
Maternal Interaction Style in Affective Disordered, Physically III, and Normal Women
Authors: HAMILTON ELIZABETH BURNEY , JONES MAREN , HAMMEN CONSTANCE
Published: July 2004

Affective style (AS) and communication deviance (CD) have been suggested as markers of dysfunctional family environments that may be associated with psychiatric illness. Studies have focused mainly on parental responses during family interactions when an offspring is the identified patient. The present study is unique in examining AS and CD in mothers with unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, or chronic physical illness, and in normal controls. The sample consisted of 64 mothers with children ages 8 to 16. Unipolar mothers were more likely to show negative AS than were any other maternal group. There were no group differences for CD. Chronic stress, few positive life events, and single parenting were associated with AS. CD was associated solely with lower socioeconomic status. Results suggest that dysfunctional interactions are determined not only by maternal psychopathology, but also by an array of contextual factors that are related to the quality of the family environment.
Bipolar Disorder and the Family: An Integrative Model
Authors: MOLTZ DAVID A.
Published: July 2004

The relationship between major mental illness and the family is complex. This article describes a model that recognizes biological, individual, and familial aspects of illness, and the interaction and reciprocal effects of these different levels. This model is illustrated using the example of bipolar illness, with particular emphasis on the effects of the illness on the family. Many characteristics previously noted in bipolar families can be understood as consequences, rather than causes, of the illness. A framework for integrated treatment is also described.
Communication Deviances and Clarity Among the Mothers of Normally Achieving and Learning‐Disabled Boys.
Authors: Rasku‐Puttonen Helena , Lyytinen Paula , Poikkeus Anna‐Maija , Laakso Marja‐Leena , Ahonen Timo
Published: July 2004

The main purpose of the study was to reexamine the association between maternal communication deviances and learning disabilities in children. In this study, we adapted and extended the procedure used b Ditton, Green, and Singer (1987). A two‐part experimental task was used: one in which the child could not request any clarification of mother's insruction, and another in which the mother and child could communicate. Both communication deviances and the clarity of mother's communication were analyzed. The subjects were 60 mother‐child paires in which half of the children had learning disabilities and the other haalf were normally achieving children matched for age and parents' SES. The dyads were vedetaped in a laboratory setting. The mothers o f learning‐disabled (LD) children were found to give less exact instructions and to present more ambiguous messages to the child than the mothers of non‐LD children.
Adoptive Family System Dynamics: Variations by Level of Openness in the Adoption
Authors: GROTEVANT HAROLD D. , McROY RUTH G. , ELDE CAROL L. , FRAVEL DEBORAH LEWIS
Published: July 2004

This study examines the consequences of variations in levels of openness in adoption, especially focusing on the dynamics of the adoptive family system from the perspective of the adoptive parents. Participants included the father, mother, and at least one adopted child in 190 adoptive families, and 169 birthmothers, drawn from adoption agencies across the United States. Families included 62 confidential, 17 time‐limited mediated, 52 ongoing mediated, and 59 fully disclosed adoptions. When compared to parents in confidential adoptions, those in open adoptions generally demonstrated higher levels of acknowledgment of the adoption, empathy toward the birthparents and their child, a stronger sense of permanence in the relationship with their child as projected into the future, and less fear that the birthmother might try to reclaim her child. Despite these mean differences, variations within all levels of openness were present, and results are discussed in terms of the ongoing process involved in building a family through adoption.
Creating a Participant Text: Writing, Multiple Voices, Narrative Multiplicity
Authors: PENN PEGGY , FRANKFURT MARILYN
Published: July 2004

This article uses the ideas of social constructionism to explore how families change by investigating the way our perceptions of ourselves in relation to others are formed through language. The idea that language has the inherent potential to generate a reply has strongly influenced our thinking. We propose that the reply to others is shaped by our initial reply to ourselves in inner conversation. Interaction moves back and forth from inner conversation to conversation with others, from monologue to dialogue, becoming the “stuff” of new narratives. The particular focus on language in this article is on how adding writing to the session conversation produces a “participant text,” a therapeutic narrative that is composed of the voices of the family and the therapists. These voices, often newly discovered or invented, allow our narrative discourse to expand and multiply. Using this approach with individuals, couples, and families from different socioeconomic levels, we have worked with mourning, divorcing couples, recovery from abuse, marital conflict, parenting dilemmas, and physical illness.
Using a Narrative Metaphor: Implications for Theory and Clinical Practice
Authors: ZIMMERMAN JEFFREY L. , DICKERSON VICTORIA C.
Published: July 2004

The evolution of family therapy from a cybernetic metaphor to a narrative metaphor has led us to think differently about therapy, about clients, and about ourselves as therapists. In this article we pursue how this different way of thinking has informed a theoretical understanding of a narrative therapy approach and consequently has opened space for different ways of working clinically. We begin by tracing the evolution to narrative; we consider the implications of social constructionism and its political effects; and we complete the discussion by focusing on narrative theory. We then show how the clinical work follows logically and is coherent with the theoretical considerations. We describe, and illustrate with clinical examples, an innovative approach to working with couples and families with adolescents. In this work we pay attention to the larger cultural stories, including gender constructions, and to personal stories that persons have created to make meaning out of their experience as they interact with one another in a reciprocal meaning‐making process. Interventions focus on externalizing the problem narrative that is influencing the client(s), mapping the effects of the problem pattern and/or the totalizing view persons might have of others, and creating space for client(s) to notice preferred actions and intentions. Finally, we close the loop by asking questions of ourselves and others about the effects of working from a narrative metaphor.
Treating the Sexually Abused Child: A Recursive, Multimodal Program
Authors: SHEINBERG MARCIA , TRUE FIONA , FRAENKEL PETER
Published: July 2004

This article describes a recursive, multi‐modal therapy approach for children who have been sexually abused by members of their family. The different therapeutic modalities (family, group, and individual) are conceived of as different “communities” that provide a variety of relationships, information, and perspectives on the incest experience. The child's involvement in these different communities allows her or him to develop a multiplicity of self‐accounts. Meaning is further expanded through the recursive transfer of material across modalities. By determining the content that is discussed in any particular session, and by participating actively in decisions about transferring material across modalities, the child both develops an enhanced sense of personal agency and a connection to trustworthy family members. This approach is designed to allow each child's unique experience with incest to emerge. Clinical examples are provided, along with a description of the program that provides the setting for our multimodal approach to incest.
Ethical Issues in Observational Family Research
Authors: BUSSELL DANIELLE A.
Published: July 2004

Ethical issues raised by the increasing reliance on observational technology in family research are discussed. The tensions between scientific advancement and participant welfare are highlighted by delineating the process of observational research and the nature of the relationship between family scientists and the families they study. Guidelines are proposed for ethical decision making regarding potential child abuse, suicidality, informed consent, confidentiality, and debriefing.
Relatives' Perceptions of Their Interactional Behavior with a Schizop/hrenic Family Member
Authors: FRIEDMANN MICHAEL S. , GOLDSTEIN MICHAEL J.
Published: July 2004

Relatives' (N = 77) perceptions of their recent interactional behavior with a schizophrenic family member (N = 51), as measured by an adjective checklist, were compared with outside observer ratings of the relatives' Affective Style (AS) and the patients' Coping Style (CS) during a family interaction task. Results indicated that, overall, the relatives in the present sample perceived their own interactional behavior toward the patient, as well as the patients' behavior toward them, in a way that paralleled their affective behavior as assessed by outside raters. Moreover, the relatives' rated their relationship with the patient in a fashion that was more predictive of the observed interactional behavior of both the relatives and the patients than were the outside observers' ratings of the relatives' Expressed Emotion (EE) measured either at the patients' index hospitalization (using the Camberwell Family Interview, CFI‐EE) or during the post‐discharge period (assessed with a brief Five‐Minute Speech Sample method, FMSS‐EE).
Relational Control Patterns and Expressed Emotion in Families of Persons with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Authors: WUERKER ANNE McCARRICK
Published: July 2004

The process of relational control, that is, the negotiation of “who's in charge,” was examined in 40 families of persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Verbal interaction recorded during problem‐solving tasks was coded with the Relational Control Coding System (RCCS). Patterning of message and response sequences was compared by diagnosis of the patient and level of expressed emotion (EE) of the family. Results indicated that patients with either diagnosis assert control more than their parents, that high‐EE families compete for control more than low‐EE families, and that families of bipolar patients compete for control whatever their EE status. The most dramatic differences in control patterns were in the dual‐parent, high‐EE families of persons with schizophrenia, in which the patients successfully challenged parents for control, and parents often yielded. It was concluded that EE reflects transactional processes in families that vary by diagnosis of the patient.
Coalitions and Family Problem Solving with Preadolescents in Referred, At‐Risk, and Comparison Families
Authors: Vuchinich Samuel , Wood Barbara , Vuchinich Regina
Published: July 2004

This study tested the hypothesis that the mother‐father coalition, parent‐child coalitions, and parental warmth expressed toward the child are associated with family problem solving in families with a preadolescent child referred for treatment of behavior problems (n = 30), families with a child at‐risk for conduct disorder (n = 68), and a sample of comparison families (n = 90). Referred and at‐risk families displayed less effective problem solving. A regression analysis, which controlled for gender of the child, family structure, family income, marital satisfaction, and severity of child problems, showed that strong parental coalitions were linked to low levels of family problem solving in at‐risk and referred families. Parent‐child coalitions had little apparent impact while parental warmth was highly correlated with better family problem solving. The results may be interpreted as evidence for a tendency for parents in at‐risk and referred families to “scapegoat” a preadolescent during family problem‐solving sessions. This may undermine progress on family problem solutions and may complicate family‐based prevention and treatment programs that use family problem‐solving sessions.
Screening for Physical Violence in Couple Therapy: Methodological, Practical, and Ethical Considerations
Authors: ALDARONDO ETIONY , STRAUS MURRAY A.
Published: July 2004

Over two‐thirds of clients in family therapy clinics engage in some form of physical violence against their partners within the year prior to the initiation of therapy. However, family therapists are aware of only a small proportion of these cases. The purpose of this article is to enhance the ability of family therapists to detect marital violence. We examine client and therapist reasons for why physical violence is not detected. We then review various methods to screen for the presence of physical violence, especially the Conflict Tactics Scales. Finally, indicators of life‐threatening violence are presented to help family therapists detect cases that require immediate intervention to protect the partner whose life may be in danger.
Of Families and Other Cultures: The Shifting Paradigm of Family Therapy
Authors: PARÉ DAVID A.
Published: July 2004

This essay proposes that family therapy is currently undergoing a paradigm shift as a result of the ascendance of an epistemological focus absent in the foundational works that gave rise to the field's dominant clinical approaches. While systemic metaphors for the family are based on mechanistic, biological, and linguistic models primarily concerned with how the world is (ontology), postmodernism's social constructionist leanings give primacy to meaning, interpretation, and the inter‐subjectivity of knowledge (epistemology). Thus, the metaphor of the family as a system is gradually being subsumed by a metaphor that construes families as interpretive communities, or storying cultures. It is suggested that this largely implicit transformation be made explicit in order to explore more fully the clinical implications of the new epistemology.
The Unencumbered Child: Family Reputations and Responsibilities in the Care of Relatives with Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: GLOBERMAN JUDITH
Published: July 2004

Using a grounded theory methodology in exploratory interviews with noncaregiving and caregiving adult children, differences were found in their experience of burden, their focus, their suffering, and their sense of responsibility. Childhood reputations appeared to follow siblings into adulthood, and they describe finding their adult positions in the family clearly circumscribed and entrenched because of family legacy. Children who were in some way different and excused from family responsibilities in childhood because they were, for example, “spoiled,” a “problem child,” the “intellectual,” or “flaky,” appeared to be unencumbered as adults when faced with caregiving responsibilities for a relative with Alzheimer's disease. Although these uninvolved and unencumbered children seemed to take less caregiving responsibility, they describe their loss and suffering in relation to a loss of identity and selfhood, whereas other children describe their burden and the overwhelming pulls and demands made on them. These preliminary findings suggest the need for systematic scientific inquiry about families, including multiple relatives, family history, impact of family‐of‐origin legacy, family reputations, and family negotiation patterns.
An Empirically Derived Typology of Families: I. Relationships with Adult Health
Authors: FISHER LAWRENCE , RANSOM DONALD C.
Published: July 2004

In this report we describe the development and partial validation of an empirically derived typology of families based on 11 family variable composites derived from the California Family Health Project. Our goal was to use the typology to condense and integrate the findings from previous analyses of a large group of family variables and to account for differences in the self‐reported health of adult family members. Exploratory and confirmatory cluster analyses conducted separately by gender classified 97% of the sample into four parallel types for husbands and wives: Balanced, Traditional, Disconnected, and Emotionally Strained. A 1‐way MANOVA indicated that all 11 family variable composites significantly differentiated the four family types for husbands and wives. Significant differences among the four family types were also found on 10 demographic and other family variables, using ANOVA. Using MANOVA, we compared the four family types on 12 self‐reported health and well‐being variables by gender. Both husbands and wives from Balanced and Traditional families reported higher health scores than spouses from Disconnected and Emotionally Strained families, but no single profile of health scores was unique to a particular family type. The four family types provide an integrated and comprehensive framework for describing the family in health research.
Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods: A Research Model
Authors: SELLS SCOTT P. , SMITH THOMAS EDWARD , SPRENKLE DOUGLAS H.
Published: July 2004

A historical antagonism between proponents of qualitative methods and quantitative methods has prevented recognition of the benefits to be gained by employing both methods (that is, a multi‐method approach) during the same study or program of studies. Increasingly, family therapy researchers have begun to recognize the value of a multi‐method approach in bridging the current gaps among theory, research, and practice. However, current writings have yet to move beyond the discussion stage. This article proposes a bidirectional continuum that includes both qualitative and quantitative methods. An ethnographic content analysis approach is presented to illustrate the procedural stages of this continuum. The article ends with a discussion of the challenges in carrying out a bidirectional, multi‐method approach and the potential contributions that an integrative research methodology will give both researchers and clinicians.
Self‐Defense against Verbal Assault: Shame, Anger, and the Social Bond
Authors: SCHEFF THOMAS J.
Published: July 2004

With many years of experience and refinement, the arts of self‐defense against physical assault are highly developed. Without an effective theory and a useful practice, there is little in the way of self‐defense against verbal assault. For THEORY, I draw upon ideas from aikido, family systems theory, and the sociology of emotions. Since unacknowledged shame seems to generate rage and damage social bonds, I emphasize the management of shame, anger, and bonds. To illustrate the meaning of these principles, I offer several episodes as examples, using the METHOD of discourse analysis. I apply this theory and method to the PRACTICE of psychotherapy by describing some rudimentary principles of defense of self against verbal aggression, especially the subtle aggression of innuendo. Psychotherapy is often an arena of verbal aggression by both therapist and client, even though it is usually unintentional and outside of awareness.
The Structure of Family Perceptions Among Adolescents and Their Parents: Individual Satisfaction Factors and Family System Factors
Authors: BENSON MARK J. , CURTNER‐SMITH MARY ELIZABETH , COLLINS W. ANDREW , KEITH TIMOTHY Z.
Published: July 2004

This study examined the underlying structure of self‐reports of family functioning by adolescents, mothers, and fathers (N of individuals = 360) from intact families. Participants completed a multidimensional self‐report measure of family functioning, and their responses were entered into a factor analysis with the family as the unit of analysis (N of cases = 120). The results indicate two types of factors: individual satisfaction factors and family system factors. The findings are consistent with the view that different types of characteristics assessed in self‐report measures of the family may be stored as different kinds of memories. The findings also provide preliminary data toward understanding the linkages between family system factors and satisfaction with the family based on family roles as adolescents, mothers, and fathers.
The McMaster Model of Family Functioning: Observer and Parental Ratings in a Nonclinical Sample
Authors: STEVENSON‐HINDE JOAN , AKISTER JANE
Published: July 2004

The McMaster Model of Family Functioning defines seven dimensions, which may be assessed either by an observer applying a Clinical Rating Scale (CRS) to a semi‐structured interview of the family and/or by family members completing a questionnaire, the Family Assessment Device (FAD). The present article applied both methods of assessment, as well as the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), to a nonclinical sample (N = 105). Interobserver reliability on the CRS was highly significant. Parent (FAD) vs. observer (CRS) agreement was also highly significant, except for Affective Responsiveness and Behavior Control, for which agreement was barely significant. When families were labeled as “healthy” or “unhealthy” according to cut‐offs, agreement between observers and parents was high (87%), and disagreements illuminated dynamics of individual families. Finally, the DAS (completed by mothers) was significantly correlated with both the CRS and the FAD, particularly for General Functioning.
Training to Think Culturally: A Multidimensional Comparative Framework
Authors: FALICOV CELIA JAES
Published: July 2004

A multidimensional, comparative training framework is designed to integrate culture with all aspects of family therapy. Culture is viewed as occurring in multiple contexts that create common “cultural borderlands” as well as diversity; unpredictability and possibility, as well as regularity and constraint. The framework proposes a search for basic parameters to help therapists think comparatively and pluralistically about families’ cultural configurations and meanings. Further, the parameters chosen — ecological context, migration/acculturation, organization, and life cycle — are used to heighten therapists’ awareness about the “situated knowledge” of their own professional and personal culture. This approach recognizes the potential complexity of both the family's and the therapist's cultural location or ecological niche, and encourages curiosity in the therapeutic conversation rather than reliance on potentially stereotyping, ethnic‐focused information.
Counseling Caregivers of Relatives with Schizophrenia: Themes, Interventions, and Caveats
Authors: BLOCH SIDNEY , SZMUKLER GEORGE I. , HERRMAN HELEN , BENSON ANN , COLUSSA SILVANA
Published: July 2004

As part of a controlled study of the effectiveness of a counseling program for family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the process. The particular foci were on themes that arose during sessions, principal therapeutic interventions offered, and caveats for counselors working in the field. The most striking finding was the diverse range of themes, covering personal, coping, family, and social aspects of the caregiving experience. This required a correspondingly broad array of interventions. The implications are clear: confining counseling for caregivers to such traditional dimensions as education or attempts to reduce emotional expressiveness denies them the opportunity to deal with other equally relevant concerns.
A Self Psychologist in Couplesland: Multisubjective Approach to Transference and Countertransference‐Like Phenomena in Marital Relationships
Authors: LIVINGSTON MARTIN S.
Published: July 2004

This essay introduces the reader to some basic self psychological concepts that have useful applications to couples therapy. Two points are highlighted. First, the therapist must be constantly aware of the narcissistic vulnerability of each of the participants. Second, the working through of transference and countertransference‐like experiences within the marital dyad is just as central to an understanding of the curative process in couples treatment as it is within the patient/therapist dyad in individual treatment.
Culture and Meaning: Expanding the Metaphorical Repertoire of Family Therapy
Authors: PARÉ DAVID A.
Published: July 2004

This essay proposes that a family therapy founded on a contemporary, postmodern perspective demands an expanded range of metaphors for the family and the work of therapy. It describes a perspective that emphasizes a view of the family as a culture, as opposed to a system. A cultural perspective naturally addresses issues of meaning and language, narrative, politics, and practices of power — critical contemporary concerns not adequately encompassed by traditional systemic formulations. The essay explores the relationship between theory and metaphor, and contrasts the views of persons and of the family offered by the metaphors of culture and system. Case illustrations demonstrate how a cultural view effectively fashions an expanded therapeutic discourse, shifting the focus of family therapy from normative prescriptions for family “functionality” to issues of intercultural harmony. This shift in emphasis also extends to individual work, where the therapeutic task is construed as a peace‐making between conflicting stories that intersect in the client's life.
Coping with Stress in Families of Servicemen: Searching for “Win‐Win” Solutions to a Conflict between the Family and the Military Organization
Authors: DESIVILYA HELENA SYNA , GAL REUVEN
Published: July 2004

The objective of this research was to explore the coping patterns of servicemen's families with the competing demands of two institutions: the military organization and the family. The sample comprised one hundred career soldiers along with their families. The research instruments included individual interviews, a battery of questionnaires, and a role‐playing task. Examination of the couple's joint coping modes yielded two major categories of families — families that were successful in their efforts to resolve the military vs. family conflict, and families that did not manage to reconcile the competing demands of these two domains. Within each of these two categories there were a variety of distinct profiles. To compare the dynamics of successful coping with less successful coping regarding the military vs. family conflict, a conceptual model was suggested. This model subsumes the antecedent variables (job issues, support network, and couple relationships); mediating variables (cognitive appraisal of conflict severity and coping potential, as well as actual coping strategies); and outcome variables reflecting the degree of adjustment to the military vs. family conflict.
Family Bereavement and Cultural Diversity: A Social Developmental Perspective
Authors: SHAPIRO ESTER R.
Published: July 2004

This article offers an integrative, interdisciplinary model of bereavement as a family developmental process that unfolds in cultural context. A critique of cultural assumptions highlights the culture‐bound nature of prevailing North American practices, which view grief as an isolated individual experience and emphasize detachment from the dead as a way to promote recovery. Death and grief precipitate two kinds of family change, both guided by culture yet uniquely experienced and interpreted by individual families: 1) recreating the family without a key family member; but capable of coping with both existing and new tasks; and 2) incorporating the death into an ongoing but irrevocably altered family life‐cycle developmental process. In supporting family change after a death, family therapists need to collaborate with grieving families in examining the goodness of fit between their unique circumstances and the bereavement expectations of their community and culture. Four case examples are presented, two of which will apply this social developmental model to emphasize transformations of attachment to the deceased — rather than detachment — that will support the ongoing family development of grieving families.
Measuring Family Therapy Outcome in a Clinical Setting: Families That Do Better or Do Worse in Therapy
Authors: Hampson Robert B. , Beavers W. Robert
Published: July 2004

This study examined several important family and therapist characteristics as they related to treatment success. A total of 434 families entering family therapy at a sliding‐fee clinic in Dallas, Texas were rated (on the Beavers Interactional Competence and Style Scales), and completed several self‐report family assessment instruments (Self‐Report Family Inventory, FACES III) prior to beginning therapy. The therapists, trainees from various disciplines, had been trained in the Beavers Systems Model. Overall, 75% of the families showed at least some improvement. Those that fared best in therapy were more competent at the outset. While number of therapy sessions was associated with greater gains, there were some families that made great gains in fewer than six sessions. There were important demographic qualities that did not discriminate between greater‐ vs. lesser‐gain families, including income level, ethnicity, therapist gender, and family size. A regression analysis indicated that functional rather than demographic variables were more important in predicting therapy outcome.
Coping Strategies of Immigrant Parents: Directions for Family Therapy
Authors: STRIER DORIT ROER
Published: July 2004

Immigration often involves major changes in the physical, cultural, and social settings in which families function and develop. In the process of immigration, parents are often confronted with totally different child‐rearing practices and ideologies held by the socializing agents of the host culture. This article proposes an ecological approach for dealing with these differences. Based on this approach, it is suggested that an “adaptive adult” image underlies child‐rearing ideologies and practices in different cultures. The article presents a differential perspective based on three types of coping strategies typically adopted by immigrant families struggling with conflicting “adaptive adult” images. This perspective challenges the prevailing notion that differences result in long‐term malfunctioning of the child and family. Finally, the article outlines motives for choosing a specific strategy and suggests directions for family therapy using the proposed conceptual framework.
Why Ask, Why Tell? Teaching and Learning about Lesbians and Gays in Family Therapy
Authors: GREEN ROBERT‐JAY
Published: July 2004

The article by J.K. Long (1996) in this issue of Family Process helps puncture the conventional secrecy around homosexuality, challenging the silence of many supervisors. In this commentary, I will expand on the themes raised by Long and offer some tangible steps we can take to teach and learn about lesbians/gays in couples and families.
Parents' Sense of “Entitlement” in Adoptive and Nonadoptive Families
Authors: COHEN NANCY J. , COYNE JAMES C. , DUVALL JAMES D.
Published: July 2004

The literature suggests that problems with developing a sense of entitlement are unique to adoptive families, but this assumption has not been examined empirically. In this study, a questionnaire was constructed to define operationally those characteristics associated with the construct of entitlement, and was administered to adoptive and nonadoptive families with children averaging 11.5 years in age who presented either for mental health service or were recruited as a comparison‐control sample. Factor analysis yielded four factors on which the four groups of subjects were compared. Results indicated that problems with entitlement are not specific to adoptive families. Instead, differences in sense of entitlement occurred primarily between clinic and nonclinic control families, regardless of whether the target child had been adopted. Findings are discussed in terms of methodological shortcomings in the adoption research literature and how problems in entitlement may be associated with other family characteristics.
Why Pragmatics Is Probably Enough for Now
Authors: AMUNDSON JON
Published: July 2004

In place of aesthetic, essentialist, or foundational pursuits, family therapy might be better served by simply seeking to be helpful. Within such a perspective, ideas are valued/embraced for their functionality and utility. In the following essay, a critical discussion concerning this pragmatic emphasis is undertaken with illustrative clinical case examples from the Eastside Family Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Is depression related to subsequent diabetes mellitus?
Authors: van den Akker M. , Schuurman A. , Metsemakers J. , Buntinx F.
Published: July 2004

Objective:  To compare the risk of developing diabetes mellitus (DM) in the general population between subjects who had a depression and subjects who never had a depression.

Method: Retrospective cohort design. People with depression were diagnosed with a depression between 1975 and 1990; controls never had a depression. Both groups were followed for a diagnosis of type II diabetes until 2000. Data on 1334 depressed and 66 670 non‐depressed subjects were available from a large general practice‐based database.

Results:  No overall relation was found, but among males below age 50 there was a 78% increase in the rate of development of DM compared with non‐depressed patients (hazard ratio 1.78, 95% CI: 1.21–2.62).

Conclusion:  Depression in males between the age of 20 and 50 years is related to an increased risk of developing DM.