bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Former partners and new rivals as threats to a relationship: Infidelity type, gender, and commitment as factors related to distress and forgiveness
Authors: Cann Arnie , Baucom Tracy R.
Published: August 2004

The overall aim of this study was to examine differences in responses to relationship infidelity when the infidelity involves a former romantic partner as opposed to a new rival. Participants indicated, for either sexual or emotional infidelity, whether they would be more upset if their partner were involved with a former partner or a new person, and whether they would be forgiving. Men and women saw the former partner as a greater threat when the infidelity was sexual. However, for emotional infidelity, only women selected the former partner more frequently. Ratings of the degree of distress and likelihood of forgiveness followed a similar pattern. For women, measures of relationship commitment were related to distress and forgiveness. For men, these measures were related to forgiveness only. The gender differences in distress may be related to differences between men and women in beliefs about the importance of commitment.
Sex differences in the contexts of extreme jealousy
Authors: Sagarin Brad J. , Guadagno Rosanna E.
Published: August 2004

Research on sex differences in jealousy using continuous measures sometimes reveals that women report more intense jealousy than men in response to both sexual and emotional infidelity. Two studies tested whether these findings might have stemmed from sex differences in the interpretation of the upper anchor of the jealousy scales (e.g., “extremely jealous”). In Study 1, women and men offered different types of exemplars when describing situations in which they felt extremely jealous. A significantly greater proportion of women than men reported feeling extreme jealousy in the context of romantic relationships. Additional results demonstrated that women and men confuse the terms “jealousy” and “envy,” although this confusion cannot account for the sex differences in the contexts of extreme jealousy. Study 2 demonstrated that the sex difference in the intensity of reported jealousy disappears if the upper anchor of the scale is modified to include specific contextual information (e.g., “as jealous as you could feel in a romantic relationship”).
When is negative emotion positive for relationships? An investigation of married couples and roommates
Authors: Sanford Keith , Rowatt Wade C.
Published: August 2004

Three types of negative emotion (hard, soft, and fear based) were believed to be integral to functioning in close interpersonal relationships. Hard emotion includes feeling angry, soft emotion includes feeling sad or hurt, and fear‐based emotion includes feeling anxious or threatened. Married persons (studies 1 and 3) and college roommates (study 2) rated the extent to which they would feel different emotions in response to a variety of negative partner behaviors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the distinction between the three types of emotion. Although hard and soft negative emotions were highly positively correlated, they had opposite effects when used to predict relationship functioning. After controlling for shared variance between the emotions, soft emotion was associated with positive relationship functioning (high satisfaction, low conflict, and low avoidance) and hard emotion was associated with negative relationship functioning (low satisfaction, high conflict, and high avoidance). In contrast, fear‐based emotion was strongly, positively, and uniquely associated with relationship anxiety.
The tendency to forgive in dating and married couples: The role of attachment and relationship satisfaction
Authors: Kachadourian Lorig K. , Fincham Frank , Davila Joanne
Published: August 2004

Given the positive benefits associated with interpersonal forgiveness, the current investigation examined the tendency to forgive in romantic relationships. Two studies tested the hypothesis that the tendency to forgive mediates the association between attachment models of self and other and relationship satisfaction in dating (n = 184) and marital relationships (n = 96). In addition, the extent to which the tendency to forgive predicts forgiveness of an actual transgression was examined among married couples. The tendency to forgive partially mediated the relation between model of other (relationship partner) and satisfaction for those in dating relationships and for husbands. For those in marital relationships, the tendency to forgive partially mediated the relation between model of self and satisfaction. In addition, for wives, endorsing a greater tendency to forgive was related to forgiveness of an actual transgression, regardless of the severity of that transgression. For husbands, endorsing a greater tendency to forgive was related to forgiveness of an actual transgression, but only for more severe transgressions. Results are discussed in terms of who is more likely to forgive and the role that the tendency to forgive plays in romantic relationships.
Material, Myth, and Magic: A Cultural Approach to Family Therapy
Authors: SELTZER WENCKE J. , SELTZER MICHAEL R.
Published: August 2004

This paper presents a model for a therapeutic approach to the cultural systems of families. Using anthropologically derived concepts of material and ideational planes of culture, magic, and ritualistic intervention, the inducement of culture change in frozen familial systems is framed in dialectical terms. Four brief case studies are presented describing the systems engaged, the material‐ideational rituals employed, and the cultural transformations induced. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the theoretical and practical implications of this cultural approach to the family in therapy.
Assessing the Development of Relationships: A New Measure
Authors: STEPHEN TIMOTHY D. , MARKMAN HOWARD J.
Published: August 2004

This paper describes the development and application of a procedure (The Relationship World Index) to measure the development of intimate relationships. Grounded in symbolic interaction theory, the Relationship World Index is a measure of agreement on important aspects of relationships between members of intimate dyads. The development of the measure was guided by assumptions inherent in symbolic interactionism that predict the emergence of a shared construction of reality that bonds relationship members. Research results are presented providing evidence for the reliability and validity of the measure.
The Family and the Child with Epilepsy
Authors: FERRARI MICHAEL , MATTHEWS WENDY S. , BARABAS GABOR
Published: August 2004

Reports documenting psychosocial epiphenomena of chronic illness in individuals with that illness have been common in recent years. Few studies, however, have been concerned with how illness might affect the family. Those that have appeared in the literature often lack critical controls (i.e., control groups) and often fail to investigate possible links between illness‐specific variables (i.e. chronicity, inhibition of mobility) and psychosocial outcomes on the family. The present study of 45 families focused on how children with epilepsy affect their families' functioning relative to families with a child with diabetes and families with no chronically ill members. The results suggest several areas of child and family adjustment (i.e. child self‐concept, family communication, family cohesion) in which the families of epileptic children have great difficulty. Implications of these results are discussed with regard to differential influences of various chronic illnesses on families and family‐based preventive and remedial treatment programs.
Family Models: Comparing and Contrasting the Olson Circumplex Model with the Beavers Systems Model
Authors: BEAVERS W. ROBERT , VOELLER MARK N.
Published: August 2004

There is an increasing interest in and need for family models. One such model is the Olson Circumplex Model, previously reported in this journal (18). This model is compared and contrasted with the Beavers Systems Model, which was also developed from empirical data and has had extensive use in family assessment. Though both are cross‐sectional, process‐oriented, and capable of providing structure for family research, we believe there are certain shortcomings in the Olson model that make it less clinically useful than the Beavers Systems Model. These include definitional problems and a total reliance on curvilinear dimensions with a grid approach to family typology that does not acknowledge a separation/individuation continuum. Our model avoids these deficiencies and includes a continuum of functional competence that reflects the development and differentiation of many living systems, including the family.
Family Treatment of an Obsessive‐Compulsive Child: A Case Report
Authors: DALTON PATRICIA
Published: August 2004

This paper presents a family therapy approach to the treatment of an obsessive‐compulsive child. Psychodynamic, behavioral and family therapy approaches to the etiology and treatment of this dysfunction are described briefly, and a detailed case report of a 15‐session treatment utilizing behavioral interventions designed to change the family context is presented. Various procedures for dealing with the obsessive‐compulsive behavior have been reported in the literature, including eliminating it directly by interruption or ordeal and modifying it. In this case, the author proceeded by ignoring the compulsive behaviors and concentrating on more functional ones using a paradoxical charting intervention. At one‐year follow‐up, the child was symptom free. Relationship factors, technical interventions, and stylistic aspects of the therapy are discussed, and the importance of rapid symptom alleviation in these children is underscored.
Rules: The Invisible Family
Authors: FORD FREDERICK R.
Published: August 2004

Family rules occur in groups of five and more. Because they are implicit and multidimensional, family rules are beyond visualization. These characteristics have unsettling effects on clinicians and researchers. Knowing the rules of a family, however, allows precise intervention, and using rules concepts makes learning family therapy techniques less threatening to students. The concept of homeostasis in the context of rules has been examined and placed in an understandable perspective. Rules provide the connection between family process and individual behavior. They also constitute an integrated theory of families and individual personality development.
Multisystem‐Multimethod Family Assessment in Clinical Contexts
Authors: CROMWELL RONALD E. , PETERSON GARY W.
Published: August 2004

A framework for assessing multiple levels of the family system by using multiple methodologies is proposed in this paper. This approach for measuring family phenomena is referred to as Multisystem‐Multimethod (MS‐MM) family assessment. Ideas from systems theory, measurement theory, and clinical application are used to describe the measurement strategy. A clinical case example is offered illustrating one way in which a MS‐MM procedure can be implemented with families. Several currently available assessment tools are utilized to assess the individual, marital, and family levels of the family system. This diversity of measurement techniques provides convergent and divergent information within and across system levels. An MS‐MM procedure has the capacity to assess the wholistic qualities of systems as well as specific issues within the boundaries of particular family subsystems.
Practice and Training in Family Therapy: A Known Group Study
Authors: KOLEVZON MICHAEL S. , GREEN ROBERT G.
Published: August 2004

The present study reports on a comparative survey of the belief and action systems of graduates who had been intensively trained in one of three of the major models of family therapy: Bowenian, communications, and strategic. An analysis of the factor‐analyzed assumptions (belief system) and style (action system) items showed consistently greater divergence among the three models than convergence, as well as a remarkable synchronicity between the respective literature on these three models and their implementation, as represented by family therapists intensively trained in each model. A comparison of the present study's findings with previous research strongly supports the potency of formal and intensive training for developing adherents of a particular model and suggests that the distinctiveness of each model needs to be more fully developed in preference to premature attempts to develop generic or inclusive models that may become internally inconsistent and therefore difficult to operationalize in practice.
Schizophrenia and the Family: II. Adverse Effects of Family Therapy
Authors: TERKELSEN KENNETH G.
Published: August 2004

Theoretical formulations of the past thirty years have championed the hypothesis that family interaction contributes heavily to the etiology of schizophrenia, a position that has dominated contemporary family therapy even in the absence of solid empirical confirmation. The possibility that sociogenic modeling of schizophrenia is not only incorrect but even harmful to families, and to the relationship between families and clinicians, has never been taken seriously, despite its implications for the practice of family therapy. The author describes untoward effects of the sociogenic hypothesis in his own ten‐year experience with families of chronic schizophrenics and examines pertinent reports in the family therapy literature, offering the reinterpretation that many communicational aberrations are adaptations to two therapist attributes: (a) failure to absolve the family of initial causal responsibility, and (b) failure to inform the family about the nature of the illness.
Why Can't I Get Hives: Brief Strategic Therapy with an Obsessional Child
Authors: O'CONNOR JOHN J.
Published: August 2004

A case study is presented of a 10‐year‐old boy who obsessively feared he would vomit. The material is formulated within a psycho‐dynamic as well as a strategic model, and treatment approaches are suggested for each. The treatment consisted of a five‐session, strategic, problem‐focused approach over three months with a two‐year follow‐up. The rationale and effective ingredients of the intervention are discussed.
Jealousy: Interventions in Couples Therapy
Authors: IM WON‐GI , WILNER R. STEFANIE , BREIT MIRANDA
Published: August 2004

Jealousy is a ubiquitous phenomenon that often needs to be addressed in couples therapy. Eleven treatment interventions, with case examples, are discussed, ranging from traditional, direct, straightforward approaches to indirect, paradoxical solutions. Criteria are offered for determining which interventions to use.
Anorexia Nervosa: A Transgenerational System Perspective
Authors: WHITE MICHAEL
Published: August 2004

In this paper it is suggested that there is a link between the condition of anorexia nervosa and certain rigid and implicit family beliefs. These rigid and implicit beliefs are transmitted from one generation to the next and have a highly constraining effect on all family members. More specifically, these beliefs include role prescriptions that are applied to certain daughters. These daughters are vulnerable to the symptoms of anorexia nervosa.

The goal of treatment is to challenge successfully the constraining influence of these beliefs. As such beliefs appear extraordinarily resistant to direct challenge, this is best achieved by rendering the beliefs and their specific consequences explicit to family members. An intervention procedure based on this approach is described and its application to “anorectic families” is demonstrated. The description is supported by transcripts of a family in treatment.
Sensory Experience and Family Process: Perceptual Styles Tend to Run in but Not Necessarily Run Families
Authors: REISS DAVID , OLIVERI MARY ELLEN
Published: August 2004

The science of family systems has begun to develop concepts and methods for objectively assessing important characteristics of families. Thus we now have ways of measuring differences among families with respect to cohesiveness, flexibility, clarity of communication, and shared views of social reality. We know practically nothing, however, about the origins of these differences among families. One possibility is that the skills or personal attributes of one or more individual members influences the characteristics of the family as a whole. This paper explores the hypothesis that the perceptual styles of individual members — the ways they organize their experience of their personal stimulus world — influence the shared perceptions the family develops of the social world in which it lives. We explored relationships between nine measures of perceptual style and problem‐solving measures of the family's shared perception of its social world. The findings showed many similarities among members of the same family on several measures of perceptual style. However, perceptual style had only a few relationships with family performance in the problem‐solving task.
Family Boundaries in Transition: A Search for Alternatives
Authors: WOOD BEATRICE , TALMON MOSHE
Published: August 2004

This paper attempts to clarify Minuchin's concept of family boundaries and to modify the original definition to one based on social systems concepts that are neutral with respect to pathology. The authors distinguish between logical and physical conceptualizations of “boundary” and differentiate the broad metaphor of family boundaries into proximity (i.e., interpersonal boundaries) and hierarchy (i.e., generational boundaries). Assuming that the nature of a relationship is reflected by the extent of overlap or sharing of interpersonal territories, Wood (14) adapted Goffman's (2) concept of territorial preserve to encompass six types of territories family members may share to a greater or lesser extent, reflecting the family's pattern of proximity. The family's hierarchy is reflected by who is “in charge,” parents or children.

We explore the process of boundary reorganization in families in transition, offering a nonstatic and health‐oriented view of boundary permeability. Using the anthropological concept of “rite of passage,” we suggest an alternative view of stressful transitional events such as marriage and divorce.

We illustrate with examples the reorganization of proximity and hierarchy that occurs during periods of transition.
Family Therapy — A Science or an Art?
Authors: STIERLIN HELM
Published: August 2004

Family therapy can be viewed as science and as art. Following leads provided by Gregory Bateson, this paper reflects on problems and promises inherent in both views.
Contrasting Strategic and Milan Therapies
Authors: MACKINNON LAURIE
Published: August 2004

Three related models of therapy are often grouped together as the strategic therapies. These are the brief therapy model associated with the Mental Reseach Institute, approaches developed by Jay Haley and Cloë Madanes, and the model developed by the Milan associates. Controversy exists, however, as to whether the Milan model should be included as a strategic therapy. It appears that the similarities among the three models can mask deeper differences, thus confounding the confusion. This paper contrasts the models in their development, theory, and practice.
Agency Triangles: Problems in Agency‐Family Relationships
Authors: CARL DOUGLAS , JURKOVlC GREGORY J.
Published: August 2004

This article focuses on ways in which helping agents, including family therapists, become part of the problem they are treating. Particular emphasis is placed on triangular patterns that frequently develop when one agency involves another in carrying out its functions and in diffusing conflict with a client and his or her family. We refer to this process as an agency triangle. Case examples of such triangles involving various service systems (e.g., schools, courts, mental health centers) are presented, followed by discussion of how agency triangles can be prevented.
An Institution for Change: Developing a Family Day Unit
Authors: Cooklin Alan , Miller Ann C. , McHugh Brenda
Published: August 2004

This paper describes the theory and structure of a day unit designed to intervene in the systems of families who present with severe or multiple problems to agencies attempting to help them, but who are difficult to engage in a therapeutic pact and unresponsive to attempts at outpatient therapy. An analysis of these families is offered in terms of the relations between internal and external boundaries and difficulties in making transitions in the daily contexts of life. The principles of the unit are described in terms of the creation of an artificial extended family, the intensification of sequence and patterns of interaction, and the making and traversing of boundaries. Particular attention is paid to the function of agency interventions in family patterns and to redefining the relationship between family and agencies.
Process, Structure and World Views: Toward an Integrated View of Systemic Models in Family Therapy
Authors: SLUZKI CARLOS E.
Published: August 2004

Therapeutic modalities centered in interpersonal processes, in structural phenomena, and in reality constructions — the three core orientations in the field of family therapy — are here defined as mutually nonexclusive “translations” of the systemic paradigm into clinical practice. This definition does not attempt to blur the distinctions among these models but seeks to show their common denominator and thus expands the conceptual and clinical repertoire of the systems‐oriented family therapist.
Live Supervision/Consultation: Conceptual and Pragmatic Guidelines for Family Therapy Trainers
Authors: LIDDLE HOWARD A. , SCHWARTZ RICHARD C.
Published: August 2004

This paper addresses a conceptual and pragmatic gap in the area of family therapy training and supervision. It details an evolving stage‐specific set of skills for the conduct of live supervision/consultation, using the previously developed conception of the isomorphic nature of training and therapy as a theoretical backdrop.
Multiple Theoretical Approaches to Supervision: Choices in Family Therapy Training
Authors: McDANIEL SUSAN H. , WEBER TIMOTHY , McKEEVER JAMES
Published: August 2004

The supervision techniques used in structural, strategic, family‐of‐origin, and experiential family therapy training are discussed and compared, with emphasis on the isomorphism between supervision and therapy in each school. The usefulness of each supervisory model is related to supervisees' needs at different levels of training. Recommendations are made about the sequence of family therapy training, including the utility of eclectic versus purist family therapy training programs for trainees at different levels of experience.
Prescribing Family Criticism as a Paradoxical Intervention
Authors: BERGMAN JOEL S.
Published: August 2004

Two case studies are presented in which parental criticism of children was prescribed in two fused families, who in part were fused because of the mutual and intense criticism between the parents and children. In both cases, prescribing the criticism resulted in blocking the parental criticism, thus forcing the family members to interact in new and different ways. Blocking the criticism permitted the individuals and the family to evolve to the next developmental stages in the family life cycle. Discussion is detailed as to why the prescription of family criticism led to shifts in the family system.
Perceptions of Family Environment Among Psychiatric Patients and Their Wives
Authors: SPIEGEL DAVID , WISSLER TERRY
Published: August 2004

This study compared the perceived family environments of former psychiatric inpatients with thought, affective, and substance abuse disorders to those of normative comparison couples using the Family Environment Scale. Family environment was assessed among patients and wives separately at hospital discharge and at three‐ and twelve‐month follow‐ups. Patients and their wives were consistently more incongruent in their perceptions of their shared environment than normative couples. In addition, low‐functioning patient couples reported less family cohesion, expressiveness, and recreational emphasis than their higher functioning counterparts; the high‐functioning patient couples more closely resembled the norm. The paper discusses possible relationships between positive family contact and better patient functioning.
The Death of Resistance
Authors: DE SHAZER STEVE
Published: August 2004

For any conceptual distinction to be useful (5) within the field of family therapy, it needs to lead to some clear answers to the question: What does this distinction mean for clinical practice?

The distinction between (a) the family‐as‐a‐system, and (b) family‐therapy‐as‐a‐system leads to a clinical perspective, or stance, that includes a focus on changing. Once this focus is clear, the therapist can help to create the expectation of changing and consequently promote changing. That is, techniques can be developed using positive feedback loops.1 Moreover, this distinction leads to a therapeutic stance in which not changing is a surprise.
Patterns of Alliances in Nondistressed and Multiproblem Families
Authors: GILBERT RICHARD , CHRISTENSEN ANDREW , MARGOLIN GAYLA
Published: August 2004

The goal of this study was empirically to investigate differences between distressed and nondistressed families in the strength, patterning, and cross‐situational consistency of alliances. Audiotapes were made of 12 distressed and 12 nondistressed families in two observational situations. The resultant interaction was then coded for family alliances by trained observers. Distressed families were characterized by low overall levels of alliance behavior, weakness in the marital alliance relative to other family alliances, and discrepancies in parental alliances with the target child. There were generally no differences between groups in the cross‐situational variability of alliance strength or patterning. The results are discussed in relation to the predictions of structural models of family process.
The Remarried Family: An Annotated Bibliography, 1979–1982
Authors: BERGQUIST BEATRICE
Published: August 2004

This bibliography was developed to provide professionals and interested others with a reference source for information on stepfamilies.

The focus is on the remarried family and the characteristics common to its formation and integration.

The bibliography is divided into six sections to facilitate easy reference. The sections are not mutually exclusive, however, and articles could be placed under more than one heading. The six sections are I. Demography/Legal Issues; II. Remarriage as a Transition; III. Remarriage Formation: Restructuring Relationships; IV. Children in Remarried Families; V. Treatment Issues; and VI. How‐To Books.

To complete this project, the published research literature from 1979 through 1982 was searched under the subject headings of blended families, second marriages, remarried families, stepfamilies and reconstituted families. Regret is expressed for any overlooked material.
DEAFNESS IN THE FAMILY: WILL THE THERAPIST LISTEN?
Authors: SCOTT SAMUEL
Published: August 2004

This discussion of Harvey's paper suggests a basic approach to working with families of the deaf. It emphasizes the utilization of the natural resources and strengths of these families in helping them solve problems. The approach assumes that communication is always secure in families and that therapists must learn to capitalize on the family's intrinsic style of communication. The use of an interpreter is viewed as resourceful in some cases, depending upon individual family circumstance.
A Family/Systems Approach to Illness‐Maintaining Behaviors in Chronically III Adolescents
Authors: FREY JOSEPH
Published: August 2004

A distressingly significant number of chronic, seriously ill adolescents demonstrate poor medical management of their illnesses through “illness‐maintaining behaviors.” These behaviors are defined in this article as any action that compromises chronically ill adolescents' care and prevents them from functioning optimally. Current conceptualizations of illness‐maintaining behaviors offer explanations that view these behaviors as individually focused, using either psychodynamic or behavioral models. This article, however, presents a family systems model of illness‐maintaining behaviors. A therapeutic framework leading to specific intervention strategies is also developed.
On “Naturalistic” Family Research
Authors: BAVELAS JANET BEAVIN
Published: August 2004

Much is made of the desirability of “naturalistic” research on the family. Indeed, experimental research is often rejected for not being “naturalistic.” The purpose of the present article is to draw out and to examine some of the assumptions underlying such a position. The assumptions behind criteria such as “real,”“relevant,” and “typical” for research topics and settings are held to be questionable, not least because they are inconsistent with a communicational, context‐oriented approach to the family. Alternative assumptions more consistent with this approach are described.
Family Organization as an Ecology of Ideas: An Alternative to the Reification of Family Systems
Authors: BOGDAN JEFFREY L.
Published: August 2004

This paper offers a critical analysis of current structural and quasi‐organismic descriptions of family process and proposes an alternative view of family organization based on Bateson's notion of an ecology of ideas. The requirements of this view for a theory of resistance are outlined in its penultimate section.
Family Rituals
Authors: WOLIN STEVEN J. , BENNETT LINDA A.
Published: August 2004

Family rituals, consisting of celebrations, traditions, and patterned family interactions, are defined and illustrated in this paper. The power of ritual practice in families is explained by three underlying processes — transformation, communication, and stabilization — concepts whose roots lie in anthropology and ethology. We propose that all families struggle with finding a suitable role for rituals in their collective lives but their actual achievement varies greatly. Commitment to ritual and adaptability of ritual practice throughout the family life cycle are important considerations. The utility of these concepts in the assessment and treatment of families is discussed.
Family Etiology and Remission in a Case of Psychogenic Fugue
Authors: VENN JONATHAN
Published: August 2004

A psychogenic fugue lasting six days occurred in a 15‐year‐old girl living with her mother, sister, and stepfather. The fugue was of the most complete type — the patient assumed a new identity; spoke a foreign language she had studied in school; “regressed” to an earlier period in history; radically altered her dress and grooming; and showed skills, interests, and personality features she had not shown before. Although accounts of fugues are rare and often sketchy, the present case is unique in the amount of detail that was available. The argument between situational and psychodynamic interpretations of fugue is reviewed briefly, and a family systems interpretation of the present case is offered.
The Empirical Evaluation of Family Therapy Training
Authors: TUCKER SHERRY J. , PINSOF WILLIAM M.
Published: August 2004

This paper presents the results of the first comprehensive and empirical evaluation of a family therapy training program. Focusing on the first year of a two‐year training program, the study found significant changes in the clinical conceptualizations and in‐therapy verbal behaviors of a group of trainees. Additionally, this study involved the development and/or first use of various research instruments and procedures that can be used to facilitate further research on family therapy training.
Changing Teams/Changing Families
Authors: DE SHAZER STEVE , MOLNAR ALEX
Published: August 2004

A therapist's view of the nature of change and the processes of changing directly influences what the therapist does clinically. This essay describes how we have moved our clinical practice closer to our epistemological premises about the processes of change. For us, one key element in initiating the processes of therapeutic change is the introduction of randomness into the system. In our view, the system under consideration is the family‐system plus the therapist (team)‐system, and the random can be introduced anywhere in that suprasystem. Therefore, changing the therapy team can promote changing the family's problematic pattern.
Symptom Utilization in Strategic Therapy
Authors: MAZZA JUDITH
Published: August 2004

Five techniques of symptom utilization have been presented in an interactional strategic approach. They are: utilization of peers, utilization of the desire to grow up, utilization of personal ambition and future expectations, utilization of an antagonistic relationship, and utilization of sibling rivalry. Emphasis is placed on helping the therapist develop a way of thinking to approach difficult problems.
How Really Real Is Real?
Authors: SPEED BEBE
Published: August 2004

This paper takes issue with a number of family therapists who appear to hold that reality is entirely constructed out of our beliefs and that different views of reality can only be discriminated between on the basis of their usefulness for a particular purpose. Rather this paper argues for a co‐constructivist position, that is, that the knower's beliefs and constructs are in an interpenetrating relationship with reality and that different views of reality can be discriminated between on the basis of their adequacy in describing that reality and that it is this adequacy that will determine their usefulness. These issues are not just of theoretical interest but have important implications for the practice of therapy.
Process and Strategy in Network Therapy
Authors: HALEVY‐MARTINI JULIA , VAN DER VELDEN ELIZABETH M. HEMLEY , RUHF LAWRENCE , SCHOENFELD PAUL
Published: August 2004

The following article presents a new methodology in network therapy. It describes the network therapy process from the referral and assessment of a client‐system, through sessions held, to the concluding follow‐up. The three stages of convening, connecting, and shifting the locus of control from the therapeutic team to the network are discussed. Various strategies and case material are described.
Family Boundary Ambiguity: A New Variable in Family Stress Theory
Authors: BOSS PAULINE , GREENBERG JAN
Published: August 2004

The variable, degree of family boundary ambiguity, is increasingly being used in family research to describe and predict the effects of family membership loss and change over time. Boundary ambiguity is defined as the family not knowing who is in and who is out of the system. The family may perceive a physically absent member as psychologically present or a physically present member as psychologically absent. In either case, the family boundary is ambiguous. This review is presented to clarify the meaning of boundary ambiguity and to explore its scope and application as a variable. We focus here on (a) the process of theory development, inductive and deductive, by which the construct of boundary ambiguity was identified and validated as a continuous variable within family stress theory; (b) the historical antecedents of the construct; and (c) the interrelationships of the variable with other factors related to stressed families.
Shared Parenting: An Empirical Analysis Utilizing a Large Data Base
Authors: IRVING HOWARD H. , BENJAMIN MICHAEL , TROCHE NICOLAS
Published: August 2004

The shared parenting literature is replete with rhetoric and relatively bereft of empirical data. In an effort to redress the balance, this study presents the preliminary results of the questionnaire responses of 201 parents involved in a shared parenting arrangement. The findings are presented in six substantive areas. Discussion of these results stresses the viability of shared parenting as a custody option and the need to differentiate carefully between those for whom shared parenting is an appropriate custody option and those for whom it is contraindicated.
The Single‐Parent Family: An Author's Reflection
Authors: MORAWETZ ANITA
Published: August 2004

In view of the dramatic rise in the divorce rate, this paper proposes that separation and divorce be viewed as normal phases of the family life cycle and be reframed in positive terms, such as a couple “being ready for a new relationship” or children “being the lucky possessors of two families instead of one.” It further makes a plea for more extensive family support services, with the goal of prevention and education rather than just amelioration of problems after they have become evident.
Single‐Case Experimental Designs in Family Therapy Research: Limitations and Considerations
Authors: CRANE D. RUSSELL
Published: August 2004

Recent authors have encouraged the use of single‐case experimental design in family therapy research. However, several issues related to the application of these designs have not been addressed. The present article suggests that the applicability of single‐case methods to family therapy research may be limited. The first issue raised is the general lack of adequate dependent measures of family interaction that fulfill the requirements of the single‐case experimental designs. Suggestions for development of appropriate measures are given. Second, the necessary reliance on relatively weak single‐case designs often allows only relatively weak conclusions. Finally, the strategy of beginning the single‐case study of family functioning and family therapy in laboratory settings is suggested.
Twenty Years of Family Therapy in Israel: A Personal Journey
Authors: KAFFMAN MORDECAI
Published: August 2004

This article is a personal statement of my beliefs and practice of family therapy, from the time I first introduced the concept to Israel over twenty years ago to the present day. It reflects the evolution and changes in my clinical work against the background of major developments in the field of family therapy.
Methods for Analyzing Marital Conflict Discourse: Implications of a Systems Approach
Authors: ROGERS L. EDNA , MILLAR FRANK E. , BAVELAS JANET BEAVIN
Published: August 2004

A large number of studies of family and marital conflictual interaction purport to describe relational processes, yet close examination reveals a scarcity of process analyses. Many studies are interactional or systemic in name only. Three basic criteria are proposed as necessary for the development of a systems methodology: observable, sequential, system‐level behavioral descriptions. A methodological review of the literature reveals that the first criterion yielded the most abundant set of methodologies. Application of the second criterion resulted in a much smaller number, which after the third criterion dwindled to a mere handful. This review does not focus on the substantive results of these investigations but rather on the research criteria, strategies, and issues that need to be addressed if process‐oriented measures are to be developed for the study of interpersonal systems.
Alternative Strategies for Creating “Relational” Family Data
Authors: FISHER LAWRENCE , KOKES RONALD F. , RANSOM DONALD C. , PHILLIPS SUSAN L. , RUDD PAMELA
Published: August 2004

A major problem facing family clinicians and researchers is creating data that will reflect the family as a unit. To address this problem, we present a framework for family assessment based on three measurement strategies: individual family member assessment, relational family assessment, and transactional family assessment. Within this context, we present several categories of methods for combining individual family member data into “relational” scores that reflect the couple or family as a unit. The problems and benefits of each method are presented, and it is suggested that the choice of method is dependent upon the content of the assessment, the theory underlying the content, and the statistical properties of the individual family member scores.
A Factor Analysis of Self‐Report Measures of Family Functioning
Authors: BLOOM BERNARD L.
Published: August 2004

Four well‐known, self‐report measures of family functioning were serially examined in order to identify a limited set of reliable concepts for describing families. Following the completion of four separate data collection procedures, a 75‐item scale comprising 15 dimensions of family functioning was constructed. The dimensions appear reasonably independent of each other and have satisfactory psychometric properties. An initial effort to validate the scales was undertaken by contrasting scale scores obtained from descriptions of intact families with those obtained from descriptions of families that subsequently were disrupted by separation and divorce. Significant differences in scale scores were obtained on 12 of the 15 dimensions of family functioning. The 15 dimensions of family functioning could be subsumed under the three general headings suggested by Moos, Insel, and Humphrey (14)—relationship dimensions, personal growth or value dimensions, and system maintenance dimensions.
Sharing the Holocaust Experience: Communication Behaviors and Their Consequences in Families of Ex‐Partisans and Ex‐Prisoners of Concentration Camps
Authors: KAV VENAKI SOPHIE , NADLER ARIE , GERSHONI HADAS
Published: August 2004

This study concerns the manner in which the traumatic events suffered by the parent in the Nazi holocaust are communicated to the second generation born after the Second World War. Additionally we investigated the effects of differences in wartime experiences on subsequent communication behaviors. Communication behaviors in families whose parents had been prisoners in concentration camps were compared with those of families who had displayed active resistance (i.e., were partisans) during the Second World War. The data indicate greater legitimacy and openness in discussing holocaust‐related issues in the homes of ex‐partisans than in the homes of ex‐prisoners in concentration camps. Also, sons and daughters of the former group have better knowledge of the holocaust and hold more favorable attitudes than do sons and daughters in the second group. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Feed‐Forward: Future Questions, Future Maps
Authors: PENN PEGGY
Published: August 2004

“Feed‐forward” is a technique that encourages families to imagine the pattern of their relationships at some future point in time. Questions about the future, in conjunction with positive connotation, put families in a metaposition to their own dilemmas and thus facilitate change by opening up new solutions for old problems.
The Beavers‐Timberlawn Model of Family Competence and the Circumplex Model of Family Adaptability and Cohesion: Separate, but Equal?
Authors: GREEN ROBERT G. , KOLEVZON MICHAEL S. , VOSLER NANCY R.
Published: August 2004

An empirical examination of the association between instruments measuring the Beavers‐Timberlawn Model of family competence and the Circumplex Model of adaptability and cohesion is presented. Even when triangulated measures were utilized to control for the divergent methods of data collection traditionally employed to operationalize these models of family health, family competence as measured by the Beavers‐Timberlawn Family Evaluation Scales was either minimally (mothers) or not associated at all (fathers and children) with balanced and thereby optimal dimensions of adaptability and cohesion as measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales. Methodological and substantive explanations for the surprising lack of association between measures of these two prominent family assessment models are explored and short‐ and long‐range implications for the growth and practice of family therapy are discussed.
The Missing Triad: The Case of Two‐Child Families
Authors: ADAMS WESLEY J.
Published: August 2004

Families, as they grow, become more complex in their psychosocial development. They also become more complex in their dyadic/triadic structure through the simple addition of another child. This article traces some of the structural changes that families undergo with the entry of each new child. It also raises several questions about how these very structures may, in turn, influence development of the children. By comparing two‐ and three‐children families with different dyadic/triadic structures, these questions offer some basis for possible future research, as well as some speculation for the clinician.
A Systemic View of Family Therapy Ethics
Authors: WENDORF DONALD J. , WENDORF ROBERT J.
Published: August 2004

A critical review of the literature on family therapy ethics is used to develop the proposition that a more systemic analysis is needed, one that includes the levels of therapist and society as well as patient (family). These ideas are discussed through reexamining the issues of family secrets, therapist deceptiveness, and therapist advocacy of personal (feminist) values.
Children of the Rich
Authors: PITTMAN FRANK S.
Published: August 2004

Growing up rich is not an unmixed blessing. Great wealth has undoubted benefits, but it is not good for children. It distorts their functional relationship with the world, it belittles their own accomplishments, and it grotesquely amplifies their sense of what is good enough. It is addictive. Wealth may even become a barrier to a relationship with a therapist. One job of a therapist to the rich is to teach people how to be middle class and to achieve moderately, and to teach rich parents to accept such unmagnificent normality. The rich, of course, have all the same problems other people have, perhaps complicated by the wealth, perhaps just frustratingly unrelieved by the wealth. Suggestions are made for treating these unfortunate victims of excess and for overcoming the therapist's naïve counter‐transference reactions to the families of the rich.
Proximity and Hierarchy: Orthogonal Dimensions of Family Interconnectedness
Authors: WOOD BEATRICE
Published: August 2004

The purpose of this research was to develop logical and empirically valid conceptual tools for investigating relationships between family patterns of interconnectedness and psychosocial functioning of children in the family. The family systems concept of boundary was analyzed into two component concepts: Proximity (interpersonal boundaries) and generational Hierarchy (subsystem boundaries). These concepts were operationalized as dimensions, and eight families were assessed by means of interaction coding, interview, and Kinetic Family Drawing to yield empirical verification of these dimensions. Findings indicated that Proximity and Hierarchy are reliable, valid, and independent dimensions of family interconnectedness. Weak generational Hierarchy was associated with increased levels of psychological dysfunction for both identified patients and their siblings. High Proximity was similarly associated with psychological dysfunction, but only for identified patients. The hypothesis that enmeshment is a composite pattern of high Proximity and weak Hierarchy was disconfirmed. Suggestions for future research include systemic analysis of deviation‐counteracting and ‐amplifying relationships between patterns of Proximity and Hierarchy, on the one hand, and psychosocial dysfunction, on the other.
Multiple Family Therapy: Current Status and Critical Appraisal
Authors: O'SHEA MICHAEL D. , PHELPS RANDY
Published: August 2004

This article provides an updated review and synthesis of the research and clinical literature dealing with multiple family therapy as an identifiable treatment approach. Major emphasis is placed on the literature published since an earlier comprehensive review (63). It is concluded that multiple family therapy is a viable and promising treatment modality, yet one that in clinical practice remains underused, conceptually underdeveloped, and poorly differentiated from other treatment approaches. Recommendations are made and pathways are identified that may promote the further growth and development of the approach.