bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modified ureterosigmoidostomy (Mainz Pouch II) in different age groups and with different techniques of ureteric implantation
Authors: Bastian Patrick J. , Albers Peter , Haferkamp Axel , Schumacher Stefan , Müller Stefan C.
Published: August 2004

In this section there are papers on three types of urinary diversion which are in common use. Authors from Germany, Greece and Turkey describe their experience with the Mainz pouch II, S‐pouch neobladder and modified Hautmann bladder, respectively.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the outcome of Mainz Pouch II urinary diversion in different age groups and with different techniques of ureteric implantation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between March 1995 and August 2002 a Mainz Pouch II was created in 41 patients (27 male and 14 female, median age 56.3 years, range 2–75) with 81 renal units (RU). For analysis, the patients were divided into 29 (70%) aged <65 years and 12 (30%) aged >65 years. Ureteric implantation with the Goodwin‐Hohenfellner (GH) technique was used in 55 RU, with the Abol‐Enein (AE) modification in 23 and Le‐Duc procedure in three. The median (range) follow‐up (available for 36 patients, 88%) was 19 (1–80) months. An unvalidated questionnaire was used to determine specific urinary diversion items.

RESULTS

Early complications occurred in 7% of patients, none requiring surgical intervention. Pyelonephritis occurred in five of 36 patients and seven of 71 RU (14% of the patients, 10% of the RU); all patients were <65 years old. In five of seven RU pyelonephritis was caused by the development of upper urinary tract dilatation; none required surgical revision. Ureteric stenosis requiring reimplantation occurred in two RU (2%, one GH, one AE). All patients were continent in the daytime; all but one patient had to wake to urinate at night, with 36% having to do so more than six times. Of the patients, 63% were able to distinguish between stool and urine. Initially, alkalinizing drugs to prevent metabolic acidosis were taken by 30% of the patients. Of previously medicated patients with a follow‐up of >1 year, 8% required oral alkalinizing medication.

CONCLUSION

The Mainz Pouch II is a safe and reproducible urinary diversion, and serves as a satisfying alternative to other forms of continent urinary diversion in all age groups. The follow‐up shows a low complication rate with good results in terms of continence. There were no significant differences in complication rates for the different ureteric implantation techniques. The long‐term results remain to be evaluated.
Expression of transforming growth factor‐β1 in penile tissue from rats with bilateral cavernosal nerve ablation
Authors: Hu Wan‐Li , Hu Li‐Quan , Li Shi‐Wen , Zheng Xin‐Ming , Tian Bing‐Chun
Published: August 2004

OBJECTIVE

To explore the expression of transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) in penile tissue from rats after bilateral cavernosal nerve (CN) ablation, mimicking patients who have had no nerve‐sparing during prostatectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ten adult male rats (neurectomy group) had a bilateral CN resection aseptically under an operating microscope, with six sham‐operated rats as controls. Fifteen weeks after surgery an apomorphine test was used in all rats to assess penile erection. The penile specimens were then collected and prepared for detecting the expression of TGF‐β1 by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR), western blot and immunohistochemistry, and for quantitative analysis of the ratio of smooth muscle to collagen fibres in the corpus cavernosum with confocal microscopy.

RESULTS

All rats in the sham‐operated group but none after neurectomy had an erectile response after subcutaneous injection with apomorphine (100 µg/kg). Immunohistochemistry, RT‐PCR and western blot analyses showed a significantly higher expression of TGF‐β1 in the penile tissues after neurectomy than after sham surgery. Smooth muscle cells (fluorescing red) and collagen fibres (green autofluorescence) after paraformaldehyde fixation, were clearly identified by confocal microscopy. The fluorescence intensity expressed as the mean (sem) ratio of smooth muscle to collagen fibres in the corpus cavernosum after neurectomy was 0.265 (0.125), significantly lower than that in the sham‐operated group, at 0.760 (0.196) (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

An increased expression of TGF‐β1 in penile tissue which promotes the synthesis of collagen may be one of the important factors for the erectile dysfunction caused by bilateral CN ablation. Similar pathophysiological processes may occur in the corpus cavernosum of patients after radical prostatectomy.
Environmental control of flowering periodicity in Costa Rican and Mexican tropical dry forests
Authors: Borchert Rolf , Meyer Stefanie A. , Felger Richard S. , Porter‐Bolland Luciana
Published: August 2004

Aim We analyse the proximate causes of the large variation in flowering periodicity among four tropical dry forests (TDF) and ask whether climatic periodicity or biotic interactions are the ultimate causes of flowering periodicity.

Location The four TDFs in Guanacaste (Costa Rica), Yucatan, Jalisco and Sonora (Mexico) are characterized by a 5–7 month long dry season and are located along a gradient of increasing latitude (10–30°N).

Methods To dissect the differences in flowering periodicity observed at the community level, individual tree species were assigned to ‘flowering types’, i.e. groups of species with characteristic flowering periods determined by similar combinations of environmental flowering cues and vegetative phenology.

Results Large variation in the fraction of species and flowering types blooming during the dry and wet season, respectively, indicates large differences in the severity of seasonal drought among the four forests. In the dry upland forests of Jalisco, flowering of leafless trees remains suppressed during severe seasonal drought and is triggered by the first rains of the wet season. In the other forests, leaf shedding, exceptional rainfall or increasing daylength cause flowering of many deciduous species at various times during the dry season, well before the summer rains. The fraction of deciduous species leafing out during the summer rains and flowering when leafless during the dry season is largest in the Sonoran TDF.

Main conclusions In many wide‐ranging species the phenotypic plasticity of flowering periodicity is large. The distinct temporal separation of spring flowering on leafless shoots and subsequent summer flushing represents a unique adaptation of tree development to climates with a relatively short rainy season and a long dry season. Seasonal variation in rainfall and soil water availability apparently constitutes not only the proximate, but also the ultimate cause of flowering periodicity, which is unlikely to have evolved in response to biotic adaptive pressures.
Geographic range and body size in Neotropical marsupials
Authors: Olifiers N. , Vieira M. V. , Grelle C. E. V.
Published: August 2004

Aim Our aim is to investigate the relationship between body size and geographical range in Neotropical marsupials, considering the possible effects of latitude and phylogeny.

Location Neotropical region.

Methods Phylogenetic generalized least‐squares regression method (PGLS) is used to investigate the relationship between body size, geographical range, and latitude considering the phylogenetic relationship between species. Data for 22 species were compiled from the literature.

Results The scattergram of body size vs. geographical range was triangular in shape. Body size and geographical range were positively correlated throughout the phylogeny. Latitude was not important to this relationship.

Conclusions The polygonal relationship between geographical range and body size seems to be moulded by ecological and geographical constraints rather than by a common association with latitude.
The portability of foodweb dynamics: reassembling an Australian eucalypt–psyllid–bird association within California
Authors: Lockwood Julie L. , Gilroy James J.
Published: August 2004

Aims  To evaluate the role of native predators (birds) within an Australian foodweb (lerp psyllids and eucalyptus trees) reassembled in California.

Location  Eucalyptus groves within Santa Cruz, California.

Methods  We compared bird diversity and abundance between a eucalyptus grove infested with lerp psyllids and a grove that was uninfested, using point counts. We documented shifts in the foraging behaviour of birds between the groves using structured behavioural observations. Additionally, we judged the effect of bird foraging on lerp psyllid abundance using exclosure experiments.

Results  We found a greater richness and abundance of Californian birds within a psyllid infested eucalyptus grove compared to a matched non‐infested grove, and that Californian birds modify their foraging behaviour within the infested grove in order to concentrate on ingesting psyllids. This suggests that Californian birds could provide indirect top‐down benefits to eucalyptus trees similar to those observed in Australia. However, using bird exclosure experiments, we found no evidence of top‐down control of lerp psyllids by Californian birds.

Main conclusions  We suggest that physiological and foraging differences between Californian and Australian pysllid‐eating birds account for the failure to observe top‐down control of psyllid populations in California. The increasing rate of non‐indigenous species invasions has produced local biotas that are almost entirely composed of non‐indigenous species. This example illustrates the complex nature of cosmopolitan native‐exotic food webs, and the ecological insights obtainable through their study.
Regional scale relationships between ecosystem structure and functioning: the case of the Patagonian steppes
Authors: Paruelo José M. , Golluscio Rodolfo A. , Guerschman Juan Pablo , Cesa Ariela , Jouve Varinia V. , Garbulsky Martín F.
Published: August 2004

Aims  1. To characterize ecosystem functioning by focusing on above‐ground net primary production (ANPP), and 2. to relate the spatial heterogeneity of both functional and structural attributes of vegetation to environmental factors and landscape structure. We discuss the relationship between vegetation structure and functioning found in Patagonia in terms of the capabilities of remote sensing techniques to monitor and assess desertification.

Location  Western portion of the Patagonian steppes in Argentina (39°30′ S to 45°27′ S).

Methods  We used remotely‐sensed data from Landsat TM and AVHRR/NOAA sensors to characterize vegetation structure (physiognomic units) and ecosystem functioning (ANPP and its seasonal and interannual variation). We combined the satellite information with floristic relevés and field estimates of ANPP. We built an empirical relationship between the Landsat TM‐derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and field ANPP. Using stepwise regressions we explored the relationship between ANPP and both environmental variables (precipitation and temperature surrogates) and structural attributes of the landscape (proportion and diversity of different physiognomic classes (PCs)).

Results  PCs were quite heterogeneous in floristic terms, probably reflecting degradation processes. Regional estimates of ANPP showed differences of one order of magnitude among physiognomic classes. Fifty percent of the spatial variance in ANPP was accounted for by longitude, reflecting the dependency of ANPP on precipitation. The proportion of prairies and semideserts, latitude and, to a lesser extent, the number of PCs within an 8 × 8 km cell accounted for an additional 33% of the ANPP variability. ANPP spatial heterogeneity (calculated from Landsat TM data) within an 8 × 8 km cell was positively associated with the mean AVHRR/NOAA NDVI and with the diversity of physiognomic classes.

Main conclusions  Our results suggest that the spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem functioning described from ANPP result not only from water availability and thermal conditions but also from landscape structure (proportion and diversity of different PCs). The structural classification performed using remotely‐sensed data captured the spatial variability in physiognomy. Such capability will allow the use of spectral classifications to monitor desertification.
Acculturation strategies, coping process and acculturative stress
Authors: KOSIC ANKICA
Published: July 2004

Using structural equation modeling, this study examines the influences of motivational factors (Need for Cognitive Closure – NCC – and Decisiveness), coping strategies and acculturation strategies on levels of acculturative stress. Two groups of immigrants in Rome (Croatians n= 156 and Poles n= 179) completed a questionnaire that included scales for the various factors. Although our initial hypothesized model was not confirmed, a modified model showed that the motivational factors of NCC and Decisiveness indirectly influence acculturative stress. The modified model with good fit indices indicated that the relationship between NCC and Decisiveness are mediated by coping strategies and acculturation strategies. Specifically, NCC is associated positively with avoidance coping, which in turn is negatively associated with the host group relationships and positively with the original culture maintenance. The last two dimensions predicted lower levels of acculturative stress. Decisiveness was positively associated with the problem‐oriented coping and, negatively, with emotional and avoidance coping.
The role of teachers’ perceived control and children's characteristics in interactions between 6‐year‐olds and their teachers
Authors: HAGEKULL BERIT , HAMMARBERG ANNIE
Published: July 2004

The study aimed at an understanding of child–teacher interactions in school preparatory classrooms. Relations between observed interactions and sex of the child, teachers’ ratings of their perceived control, and of children's undercontrolled and overcontrolled problem behaviors, social competence and work efficiency were studied. Thirty‐six teachers and 92 six‐year‐olds, 39 girls and 53 boys, from 19 classrooms were directly observed on 2–5 occasions during a total mean of 60 minutes per child. The results showed that interactions involving teacher support behaviors were the most common, but comparatively less well explained by the predictors. Associations were found between perceived control and two types of teacher command interactions. For teacher commands initiated by child externalizing behavior, the relation with perceived control was shown to hold for boys only. Male sex and rated undercontrolled problems were predictive of more interactions initiated with externalizing behaviors and also of more restrictive teacher responses following child positive behaviors. Overcontrolled children, who had teachers high in perceived control, were more often met with support behavior when they were off‐task. It was concluded that teacher perceptions of control and of child behaviors as well as sex of the child contribute to ongoing processes in preschool classrooms and that the chosen methodology could be used to further the search for factors affecting interactions in preschool settings.
The effect of low social support on short‐term prognosis in patients following a first myocardial infarction
Authors: PEDERSEN SUSANNE SCHMIDT , VAN DOMBURG RON THEODOOR , LARSEN MOGENS LYTKEN
Published: July 2004

The objectives of the current study were (1) to assess adjustment in patients following a first myocardial infarction (MI) at 9 months compared with 4–6 weeks post‐MI, (2) to examine the availability of and satisfaction with social support over time, and (3) to determine separate baseline psychosocial predictors of recurrent cardiac events. A questionnaire assessing post‐traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, health complaints, and social support, was distributed to consecutive patients 4–6 weeks and 9 months post‐MI. Prior to assessment at follow‐up, 8 (7%) of 112 patients had dropped out, and two had died due to cardiac causes. Objective clinical measures were obtained from medical records. There was an improvement in somatic and cognitive symptoms at follow‐up, but no change in symptoms of arousal, depression, and anxiety. Half of the patients were afraid of a recurrent MI. There was a significant decrease in social support between baseline and follow‐up, and lower social support at baseline was associated with a 10% increased risk of recurrent cardiac events at follow‐up (OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.84 to 0.97) adjusting for all other variables. Some patients still experienced difficulties with psychosocial adjustment 9 months post‐MI despite a reduction in somatic and cognitive symptoms. Social support decreased over time, which may have serious prognostic implications; lower social support at baseline was an independent predictor of recurrent events at 9 months. An important step for future research will be to investigate how social support can be enhanced in patients at risk.
Bayesian assessment of dimensionality in reduced rank regression
Authors: Corander Jukka , Villani Mattias
Published: August 2004

We consider Bayesian inference about the dimensionality in the multivariate reduced rank regression framework, which encompasses several models such as MANOVA, factor analysis and cointegration models for multiple time series. The fractional Bayes approach is used to derive a closed form approximation to the posterior distribution of the dimensionality and some asymptotic properties of the approximation are proved. Finite sample properties are studied by simulation and the method is applied to growth curve data and cointegrated multivariate time series.
When is Commuting Desirable to the Individual?
Authors: Ory David T. , Mokhtarian Patricia L. , Redmond Lothlorien S. , Salomon Ilan , Collantes Gustavo O. , Choo Sangho
Published: July 2004

ABSTRACT  Commuting is popularly viewed as a stressful, costly, time‐wasting experience from the individual perspective, with the attendant congestion imposing major social costs as well. However, several authors have noted that commuting can also offer benefits to the individual, serving as a valued transition between the home and work realms of personal life. Using survey data collected from about 1,300 commuting workers in three San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods, empirical models are developed for four key variables measured for commute travel, namely: Objective Mobility, Subjective Mobility, Travel Liking, and Relative Desired Mobility. Explanatory variables include measures of general travel‐related attitudes, personality traits, lifestyle priorities, and sociodemographic characteristics. Both descriptive statistics and analytical models indicate that commuting is not the unmitigated burden that it is widely perceived to be. About half of the sample were relatively satisfied with the amount they commute, with a small segment actually wanting to increase that amount. Both the psychological impact of commuting, and the amounts people want to commute relative to what they are doing now, are strongly influenced by their liking for commuting. An implication for policy is that some people may be more resistant than expected toward approaches intended to induce reductions in commuting (including, for example, telecommuting). New creativity may be needed to devise policies that recognize the inherent positive utility of travel, while trying to find socially beneficial ways to fulfill desires to maintain or increase travel.
40 Years of Strain: A Retrospective Review*
Authors: Stanley Peter
Published: July 2004

Abstract:  The paper provides a picture of the changes and advances in the field of strain measurement and related topics, as represented by the contents of the journal Strain, from its inception in 1965 to the present day.
Audit Firm Portfolio Management Decisions
Authors: JOHNSTONE KARLA M. , BEDARD JEAN C.
Published: July 2004

We examine client acceptance and client continuance decisions of a large audit firm to provide empirical evidence on the extent and nature of risk avoidance that the firm uses to purposefully manage its client portfolio. Our results support several key new inferences regarding audit firm portfolio management decisions. First, the results show that this firm is shedding the riskier clients in its portfolio, consistent with the risk avoidance theory of audit firm portfolio management. Second, the results show that the firm's newly accepted clients are less risky than its continuing clients. Although results of both the client continuance and client acceptance decisions imply a less risky portfolio emerging over time, there are greater differences in risk between continuing and discontinued clients than between continuing and newly accepted clients. Third, we find that audit risk factors are more important in audit firm portfolio management decisions than are financial risk factors. Finally, we find no evidence that audit pricing affects the client acceptance and continuance decisions of this firm, controlling for risk and other client characteristics.
Valuation and Accounting for Inflation and Foreign Exchange
Authors: HUGHES JOHN , LIU JING , ZHANG MINGSHAN
Published: July 2004

Inflation and foreign exchange raise new issues with respect to accounting representations of equity value. For example, inflation creates an earnings illusion as an artifact of the mismatching of expenses based on allocations of historical costs with current revenues in determining earnings. This mismatching distorts mappings of aggregate earnings and book values into equity value such that value‐relevant information is lost. In this article we consider the consequences of inflation and foreign exchange accounting policies, including those contained in accounting standards, on the value relevance of bottom‐line accounting numbers. Policies are identified that achieve efficient accounting in the sense that aggregate (comprehensive) earnings and book values are sufficient for an accounting representation of equity value. The linear relations that emerge provide predictions on capitalization coefficients that help explain results of empirical inquiries. As well, our analysis provides a theoretical foundation for policies contained in accounting standards that contributes to the resolution of controversies such as that concerning foreign exchange accounting.
Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems: Vl. Theoretical Update
Authors: OLSON DAVID H. , RUSSELL CANDYCE S. , SPRENKLE DOUGLAS H.
Published: August 2004

This paper updates the theoretical work on the Circumplex Model and provides revised and new hypotheses. Similarities and contrasts to the Beavers Systems Model are made along with comments regarding Beavers and Voeller's critique. FACES II, a newly revised assessment tool, provides both “perceived” and “ideal” family assessment that is useful empirically and clinically.
A Clarification of Multisystem‐Multimethod Assessment: Reductionism Versus Wholism
Authors: PETERSON GARY W. , CROMWELL RONALD E.
Published: August 2004

A clarification and response to a critique of the Multisystem‐Multimethod (MS‐MM) family assessment is provided in this paper. This approach consists of a logic for integrating family assessment, systems thinking, and clinical interventions. In contrast to the wholistic, or systemic, focus of MS‐MM family assessment, the critique of these procedures recommends a more reductionistic approach that contradicts basic elements of systems theory. The critique advocates the isolation and measurement of a few family phenomena, whereas MS‐MM assessment recognizes the interdependence among the levels of organization and components of family systems.
The Limits of Reciprocity in Behavioral Marriage Therapy
Authors: LEADBEATER BONNIE , FARBER BARRY A.
Published: August 2004

This reexamination of the values underlying Behavioral Marriage Therapy (BMT) focuses on the central theoretical concept of reciprocity. It is suggested that BMT's emphasis on individuality and instrumental exchange may not be suitable for all couples. An alternative perspective, emphasizing a developmental progression in marriage reciprocity defined by mutual understanding, is seen to be more sensitive to the differing value systems of couples in therapy.
Assessment of Perceptual Discrepancy: Utility of the Primary Communication Inventory
Authors: BEACH STEVEN R. H. , ARIAS ILEANA
Published: August 2004

The Primary Communication Inventory was factor‐analyzed in order to validate the subscales of this instrument. These subscales were derived by Navran (20) on the basis of face validity and were labeled verbal and nonverbal communication subscales. The analysis yielded two factors. However, they could not be labeled verbal and nonverbal. Instead, the factors were interpreted as: (a) the individual's perceptions of own communication ability, and (b) the spouse's perceptions of the individual's communication ability. The scoring of the Primary Communication Inventory was revised and used as a measure of perceptual discrepancy between husbands and wives. Interestingly, discrepancy within the marital dyad was greater for the nondistressed participants than for the distressed participants. The results illustrate the potentially adaptive nature of positive perceptual distortion within the marital dyad and the potential utility for future research of calculating perceptual discrepancy scores for each spouse using the Primary Communication Inventory.
Reflections on Parenting: A Multigenerational Perspective
Authors: TAYLOR DENNY
Published: August 2004

This paper presents some of the underlying patterns of parenting that have emerged from six years of ethnographic field research into the role of the family in children's acquisition and use of reading and writing skills. The research has provided some insights into the many complex and interrelated ways that children's literate activities are mediated and affected by multigenerational family patterns and by their personal experience of everyday life both within and outside the family.

Two central themes are discussed: the spirit of change, which breaks the patterns of the past and brings new interpretations into the present, and the spirit of conservation, which maintains the continuation of family patterns from one generation to the next. Also described are the important parental attitudes of social flexibility and resiliency that are frequently evident in these processes of conservation and change of multigenerational patterns. One specific family story provides the background for the theoretical issues that are explored.
Soft Meaning and Sincerity in the Family System
Authors: WARNER MARGARET S.
Published: August 2004

The concept of “sincerity” is often dismissed as being irrelevant to the understanding of families as systems, since sincerity is seen as a linear, intrapsychic construct. This paper makes the opposite argument. Much family communication involves a particular kind of “soft” meanings. Such meanings are flexible and open to varied interpretation, but their use is nevertheless framed by social rules. Sincerity rules function as social agreements to refrain from manipulating “soft” meaning in particular ways. The expectation that family members are (or are not) likely to communicate sincerely is a crucial systems property, altering both the interpersonal strategies and relationship structures that are likely to emerge within families. The analysis of soft meaning developed in this paper suggests new ways of understanding the rich, tangled, sometimes paradoxical communication typical of families. However, a number of premises frequently associated with family systems theory must be abandoned before a clear analysis of family communication can proceed.
Integrating Family Therapy Training into Psychiatry Residency Programs: Policy Issues and Alternatives
Authors: SUGARMAN STUART
Published: August 2004

This article explicates policy issues and alternatives in the integration of family therapy training within general psychiatry residency programs. These issues include controversies about the definition of the field; elective versus required teaching; curriculum content; and when, where, and who should teach family therapy in this context. The article concludes with recommendation for further clarification of this training area.
Family Concepts and Their Measurement: Things Are Seldom What They Seem
Authors: OLIVERI MARY ELLEN , REISS DAVID
Published: August 2004

An empirical examination of the degree of association of dimensions elicited by two family assessment instruments is presented. There were no associations among dimensions whose descriptors suggested a good amount of similarity. The results strongly suggest additional study of correspondence among assessment methods that appear to tap similar family properties, with particular attention directed to the correspondence between self‐report and direct observational procedures.
Parenting, Protecting, Preserving:Mission of the Adolescent Female Runaway
Authors: MIRKIN MARSHA PRAVDER , RASKIN PAMELA A. , ANTOGNINI FRANCESCA C.
Published: August 2004

This paper presents a systemic framework for therapy with families of adolescent female runaways. The runaway adolescent is viewed as serving three functions within her family. First, she often parents her parents and siblings. Second, she protects her parents' marriage and regulates marital distance. Third, she preserves her family unit at the preadolescent developmental stage. Interventions are described that remove the adolescent from those roles by empowering the parents to take charge of the adolescent, by changing the communication process such that the couple deal with their marital issues without the help of the teenager, and by facilitating the family's movement toward a new stage of separation and individuation.
Time‐Limited Brief Therapy with Families: A One‐Year Follow‐Up Study
Authors: FISHER STUART G.
Published: August 2004

Families from a previously reported study of time‐limited brief treatment were followed up one year after termination. Results based on questionnaires completed by the parents provide no evidence for deterioration after termination for families that had received six‐session time‐limited therapy, twelve‐session time‐limited therapy, or treatment without time limits. At one year, there were no significant differences in outcome between time‐limited and unlimited approaches, between six‐session and twelve‐session treatment, or between treated families and a waiting list control group (most of whom had entered therapy by this time). As in the original study, the results do not support claims of increased therapeutic effectiveness for time and session limits. However, time limits did succeed in shortening treatment without significantly reducing its effectiveness or the durability of outcome.
Interactional Complexity and Communication
Authors: RICCI CARLO , SELVINI‐PALAZZOLI MARA
Published: August 2004

This paper draws attention to an over‐simplification that we believe has been frequently made in the analysis of interpersonal communication. This happens when one uses interpersonal communication models that do not match the interactional complexity of the system under observation. The aim of the paper is to present some conceptual parameters (Territoriality, Temporality, Duality) of an N‐adic model of communication in the effort to match the interactional complexity of the N‐person games. In other words, if we accept the so‐called “systems” approach, we need communication models that allow us to observe different levels of interactional complexity. The observer (the therapist) may decide on which level to take up his or her stance with reference to the particular case at hand and the goals in studying it.
Family Therapy with Deaf Persons: The Systemic Utilization of an Interpreter
Authors: HARVEY MICHAEL A.
Published: August 2004

This paper discusses the theory and practice of providing family therapy to families in which there are hearing parents and at least one Deaf child, particularly regarding the optimal utilization of an interpreter. The therapist must be knowledgeable about the psychosocial effects of deafness, the cultural aspects of deafness, and preferably be able to use American Sign Language and Signed English. The therapeutic benefit of utilizing an interpreter extends far beyond simply facilitating communication between each family member whose primary language is either spoken English or Sign Language. The presence of an interpreter helps the therapist to modify family rules that deny the implications of deafness and prohibit the use of Sign Language, to modify the balance of power in the family, and to encourage participants to exhibit the ego defense mechanisms of projection and transference. The family therapist can utilize those subtle yet profound influences to therapeutic advantage.
Resource Theory and Power in Families: Life Cycle Considerations
Authors: HESSE‐BIBER SHARLENE , WILLIAMSON JOHN
Published: August 2004

We begin our discussion by outlining the usefulness of “resource theory” as a theoretical framework for the study of family power. This framework is then used to analyze changes in the balance of power between elderly parents and their middle‐aged children. With respect to intergenerational power relationships, we argue that the autonomy of elderly parents has increased, but their power and influence over adult children has decreased. This trend is likely to continue in coming decades. Resource theory is then utilized to analyze changes in marital power relationships as couples age. Most studies of power relationships between elderly spouses have an important limitation — they tend to reflect yesterday's definitions of male and female roles. Recent changes in these roles may significantly alter the social meanings of aging for both men and women in coming years.
The Ramsay Family in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse: A Study of Arrest at Stage Three of Family Development as Delineated in Solomon's “A Developmental, Conceptual Premise for Family Therapy”
Authors: PROUDFIT CHARLES L.
Published: August 2004

The five stages of family development and their phase‐specific tasks as delineated by Michael A. Solomon in an article that appeared in this journal (1973) are given dramatic representation by Virginia Woolf in her novel To the Lighthouse (1927). The novel begins with the Ramsay family system arrested at the third stage of development; and it is only after the death of Mrs. Ramsay that the remaining family members begin to attend to the phase‐specific tasks of stages four and five, and family development commences.
Ethnic Intermarriage
Authors: McGOLDRICK MONICA , PRETO NYDIA GARCIA
Published: August 2004

Americans are marrying out of their ethnic groups at an ever‐increasing rate, reflecting the expectation that people in this country will assimilate into what has been termed the “melting pot.” We know, however, that not all ingredients in the pot have melted and that ethnic values and identification remain with us for generations. The difficulties inherent in intermarriage then become intensified by being unanticipated. We confuse the idea that we are all created equal with the belief that we are all the same.

This paper presents a paradigm for understanding the family patterns and typical problems of intermarried couples, and offers suggestions for clinical intervention. We will present a framework for helping spouses to recognize, understand, and negotiate their differences. We are keenly aware of the perniciousness of negative stereotyping in our culture and in no way wish to contribute to that tendency. We wish instead to provide a map that, although covering only limited aspects of the terrain, may nevertheless provide a guide to explorers seeking a path to expand our clinical sensitivity and effectiveness.
Comments on Terkelsen's “Schizophrenia and the Family: II. Adverse Effects of Family Therapy”
Authors: GRUNEBAUM HENRY
Published: August 2004

These comments supplement Kenneth Terkelsen's paper by expanding on the ethical and moral issues faced by families of the chronically mentally ill in the current era of deinstitutionalization.
Structural Complexity and the Quality of Stepfather‐Stepchild Relationships
Authors: CLINGEMPEEL W. GLENN , IEVOLI RICHARD , BRAND EULALEE
Published: August 2004

This research examined the effects of structural complexity and sex of stepchild on the quality of stepfather‐stepchild relationships. Sixteen simple stepfather families (the wife had custody of a child from a previous marriage, but the stepfather has no biological children) and 16 complex stepfather families (the wife had custody of a child from a previous marriage, and the stepfather was a noncustodial biological parent) with half of each type (N = 8) having a male and half having a female, 9–12‐year‐old target child participated in a multimethod‐multimeasure assessment of the stepfather‐stepchild relationship. Families were recruited from marriage license records, and data collection was accomplished in a single three‐and‐a‐half‐hour home visit. Dependent variables included: (a) questionnaire measures of love and detachment relationship dimensions independently obtained from parents, stepparents, and (step)children, and (b) proportions of positive and negative stepparent and stepchild communication behaviors derived from videotaped interaction tasks. Findings revealed that simple and complex stepfather families did not differ on any questionnaire or behavioral measures. Girls, however, engaged in a lower proportion of positive verbal and greater proportion of negative problem‐solving behaviors toward their stepfathers than boys did. Stepfathers did not differ on proportions of communication behaviors emitted toward boys and girls. No sex‐of‐child differences were obtained on the questionnaire measures. Directions for future research on structural complexity and stepfather families are discussed.
Thinking About Thinking in Family Therapy
Authors: AUERSWALD EDGAR H.
Published: August 2004

Epistemological comparison reveals congruence between the reality‐defusing thought rules of new science, Batesonian evolution, and ecosystemic thinking with families and family therapy. These rules provide a base for a technology of therapy in which the therapist functions as a benign detective, seeking out with the family and others the event‐shape in time‐space (the Storey) that contains the reported distress. Intervention consists of action that adds to the Storey in a manner designed to alleviate the distress. A Storey is presented that illustrates the difference between medical, paradoxical, and ecosystemic interventions.
A Systems Theory Conceptualization of Incest
Authors: ALEXANDER PAMELA C.
Published: August 2004

In this paper, father‐daughter incest is examined from the perspective of general systems theory. Three characteristics of an open system—information exchange with the environment, negentropy, and dynamic homeostasis—are described and examined with respect to the functioning of incestuous families. Two case studies of families with father‐daughter incest illustrate the tendency of these families to be more characteristic of the “closed” end of the continuum. The role of the environment in the origin and maintenance of the incestuous symptom is also examined. Implications for treatment are presented within the context of this theoretical perspective.
Rites of Passage in Families with Adolescents
Authors: QUINN WILLIAM H. , NEWFIELD NEAL A. , PROTINSKY HOWARD O.
Published: August 2004

In previous generations society defined expectations and constructed events to promote individual development, a functional family organization, and cultural continuity. Culturally defined and accepted rites of passage that were previously observed in families with adolescents have given way to a more vague and meaningless set of adolescent expectations and affirmations. It is proposed that this change has interfered with the mission of the family to promote functional adolescent development and with the ability of the family during this life cycle stage to operate with a sense of community attachment. This paper addresses the importance of rites of passage as they pertain to family development and change and presents ideas about making them explicit in family therapy to change family interaction and structure. Prescribed family rituals that are straightforward, developmentally relevant, and interactional can be effective without consideration to whether they are paradoxical. Three clinical illustrations are presented to highlight this therapeutic approach.
A Developmental Model for Family Systems
Authors: COMBRINCK‐GRAHAM LEE
Published: August 2004

This paper reviews the historical context of concepts of development and some of the problems of applying them to family systems. A model of family systems development is presented that emphasizes changes in family shape through the individual life cycle. Some clinical uses of the model are described.
From General Laws To Singularities
Authors: ELKAÏM MONY
Published: August 2004

This article comprises several sections. The first is devoted to an explanation of a number of notions stemming from work by Ilya Prigogine and others on open systems far from equilibrium. As a result of this work, I have been able to stand back from the traditional approach employed in family therapy, that of open systems at equilibrium (the theory of Ludwig Bertalanffy). The second section describes a clinical example based on elements close to Prigogine's theories. In the third part I develop an approach that—although continuing to draw on Prigogine's work—is much more closely linked to the research I have carried out with Félix Guattari over recent years. In this part I attempt to study a level that, in my view, has too often been left outside the field of inquiry: that of couplings between “singularities” of members of the family system and the therapist. A clinical case is presented in which this “semiotic” level, as Guattari terms it, is used together with that of the “intrinsic rules” of the system. Finally, I propose a few avenues of inquiry and research on the basis of the concepts presented.
Paradox and Polarity: The Tao of Family Therapy
Authors: JORDAN JOHN R.
Published: August 2004

Taoism a Chinese spiritual tradition whose central metaphors concern polarity, paradox, and the natural process of change. Taoist ideas offer a particularly useful framework for understanding paradoxical interventions, the stance of the paradoxical therapist, and the new epistemology emerging in the field. The relevance of three Taoist metaphors for family therapists is discussed: polarity, cyclical change, and Wu Wei (noninterference).
Pragmatics in the Measurement of Family Functioning: An Interpretive Framework for Methodology
Authors: SIGAFOOS ANN , REISS DAVID , RICH JESSICA , DOUGLAS ERROL
Published: August 2004

The issue of the cross‐method comparison of concepts that describe family functioning is addressed by means of an empirical investigation of two methods of family assessment. The examination focuses on a consideration of the functional, or pragmatic, aspects of subjects' responses through a comparison of a self‐report and an observational method whose associated concepts appear to be similar. Little predicted association based on conceptual similarity is noted. An interpretive framework is developed suggesting that the outcomes of empirical method comparisons may be usefully considered in terms of the pragmatic aspects of subjects' responses or the way in which subjects may be using their responses, based on their inferences regarding the interpersonal context associated with each method.
The Debate: A Strategic Technique
Authors: SHEINBERG MARCIA
Published: August 2004

This paper describes the work of a strategic team that came out from behind the one‐way mirror. A debate among the team is enacted before the family as a strategy for change. The case of a family that refused to provide information illustrates an application of this method. The debate among the therapists represents a dilemma that is a strategically constructed isomorph of the family situation. From this position, therapists have the option of changing levels between themselves and the family, asking the family to help solve the therapists' dilemma so that they in turn can be free to help the family. The combination of the debate and the change of levels between the therapists and the family creates a therapeutic neutrality for the family. From their meta position, they observe the therapists' struggle to solve the family's problem, which is re‐presented as a problem among the therapists. This perspective offers the family the choice of more adaptive solutions to their own dilemma.
Our Personal and Professional Lives: Learning Positive Connotation and Circular Questioning
Authors: O'BRIAN CHARLES , BRUGGEN PETER
Published: August 2004

The work of the Center for the Study of the Family in Milan has had wide influence. We describe its influence on us—the positive connotation of many car journeys, our self‐training, and changes in how we view, and function in, our personal and professional lives.
On the Boundary: Family Therapy in a Long‐Term Inpatient Setting
Authors: HUNTER DAVID E. K.
Published: August 2004

This paper presents a paradigm of family therapy in a long‐term inpatient setting. After reviewing literature commenting on the necessity of attending to the needs of families of inpatients, the essential functions of inpatient treatment are discussed and an approach to family therapy, related to and reflecting those functions, is developed. Four functions of inpatient family therapy are delineated: joining, support, intervention, and validation. What distinguishes these from similar functions in outpatient treatment is the family therapist's position on the hospital‐family boundary.
The Family Void: Treatment and Theoretical Aspects of the Synchronous Family Paradigm
Authors: CONSTANTINE LARRY L. , ISRAEL JUDITH T.
Published: August 2004

The synchronous paradigm is a model of families whose members remain uninvolved and disconnected from each other yet somehow maintain relatively unvarying or even rigid patterns of behavior. In the synchronous paradigm, calm agreement and harmonious unity of action are valued above all. The concept of synchronous operation was first formulated by Constantine to solve certain theoretical problems growing out of the work of Kantor and Lehr. The theory has been elaborated upon through linkages established with other clinical and theoretical models of family dysfunction. Clinical experience in treating synchronous families has now contributed more detailed and practical understanding. Clinically, disabled synchronous families may present as bland, boring, or even death‐like. They may have considerable difficulty accommodating to necessary developmental changes or to the demands of life crises, employing a variety of strategies to maintain the appearance of synchrony at the expense of adaptation. Their ability to ignore change and to absorb interventions can tax the abilities of even the most creative and energetic therapist. On the other hand, the quiet efficiency of the family and the social sensitivity of its members can be strong assets. Awareness of their strengths and special vulnerabilities can help the family therapist work more effectively with synchronous families.