Masters and milieus: Transmitting the history of sociology

The history of sociology is usually transmitted as a biographical parade of the „masters”︁ and their knowledge claims through time. This approach tends to portray the sociological enterprise as cumulative with empirical-analytic rather than historical-hermeneutic or critical features and often fails to convey the „sociological imagination”︁ to the student. Another approach to the history of sociology, one emphasizing history as method rather than history as theory, directly exposes the student to historical materials placing the masters in their milieus and encourages the student to construct sociology from these materials. The second approach is described using three exercises in the „Sociology of, for, and in the South.”︁.     

Robert E. Park's „notes on the origins of the society for social research”︁

Robert Park's „Notes on the Origins of the Society for Social Research”︁ represent an important document previously published only in the in-house Bulletin of the Society for Social Research. They are presented here, along with an introduction which indicates the generally unacknowledged importance of the society and suggests five themes in Park's „Notes”︁: the impact of W. I. Thomas on Chicago sociology, the role of the society in the Chicago department, the city as a research laboratory, influences on Park's work, and the importance of the pragmatic perspective.     

Weber and Weimar: A response to Factor and Turner

In their critique, Factor and Turner attempt to substitute one commonplace for another by merely supplying long lists of publications that mention Max Weber. While accepting their reproof that I applied the concept of „influence”︁ too narrowly, my response endeavors to map out the directions that further research in this area will need to follow if the controversy is ever to move beyond jejune polemics.     

Dr. high on Dr. Pastore on “Dr. high on history”: James's theory of space perception

Criticisms are made of Nicholas Pastore's comments on High, „Shadworth Hodgson and William James's Formulation of Space Perception.”︁ Dr. Pastore's comments appeared in JHBS 17 (1981): 486–489.     

What kind of society permits child abuse?

Child maltreatment is conceptualized as a social welfare problem inevitably created by the isolation that individualistic culture creates. The „defective parent”︁ model for detecting abusive persons is described as inconsistent, unfeasible and contradictory. Attention must be focused on basic institutional and social forces which permit abuse. The social and economic context for families is seen as the setting that transforms risk for abuse into actual abuse. It is strongly suggested that integration of formal and informal systems of child protective services is needed to protect and enhance the welfare of children and families.     

The dissolution of “classical ethnoscience”

„Ethnoscience”︁ in the early 1960s provides a prototypical case of an elite specialty. With easy access to recognition, there was only a loose confederation, not at all the kind of tightly knit social network with a garrison worldview typifying revolutionary groups. Elite specialities both grow and dissolve more rapidly than revolutionary groups; they require less commitment, and concomitantly offer less resistance to competitors. Ethnoscience lacked a single leader and was never monolithic.     

Stress for families today

Rapid changes in family life have created enormous challenges and pressures on developing families - divorce, two working parents, disappearance of the extended family, unclear cultural values for our children's future, poorly defined support systems for stressed families, inadequate substitute care when both parents work-all contribute to an anxious atmosphere for young families. Parents who must return to work „too early”︁ (and we have no established standards yet for what this means to either child or adult development) seem to grieve about the loss of the relationship with the developing child. They may even set up defenses against making a strong and painful attachment. They may not become involved in the child's development in a way that will foster their own development as nurturing adults. The grieving and the necessary defenses against it are predictable and must be mitigated in order to foster nurturing adults within the family. Children must be provided with caring, intensely involved adults in order to assure their optimal future development. We must provide them and their parents with adequate substitute care. This paper suggests adjustments at the industrial level that must be made to foster parental involvement and to assure positive outcomes for future generations.     

Durkheim's sociology of scientific knowledge

Durkheim's thinking on scientific knowledge reveals several contradictions, resulting from the relativist implications of his substantive theory of culture and the positivist assumptions of his metatheoretical definition of scientific methods in sociology. In his explanations of historical and cross-cultural differences in „truthful”︁ representations of reality, Durkheim suggests that logical and conceptual structures of knowledge are determined by social morphology, and that the validity of any truth-claim is limited to cultural contexts in which designated criteria of validation are normatively maintained. However, in epistemological works such as The Rules, Durkheim suggests that social factors are of little importance in constructing scientific knowledge, and that truths of science mirror external reality and so their validity transcends cultural boundaries.     

Infant transfer behavior in humans: A note on the exploitation of young

Human infant transfers filmed in West New Guinea and stored in the archives of Max-Planck Geselschaft are formally described and analyzed relative to reports of similar behavior from nonhuman primates in laboratory and field studies. Motor patterns directed from one individual to another were discriminated and grouped into five categories of behavior ordered according to their relative likelihoods of “damaging aggression” [Fagen, American Naturalist, 115:858–869, 1980]. Transfers generally occurred between two females of different reproductive conditions. Most interactions were directed from the holder of the infant to the infant, demonstrating that the infant is the recipient of most nondamaging as well as potentially damaging behavior. While transfers are characterized by “aggressive restraint,” the least damaging behavior is most likely to precede a transfer and may function to prolong the relative duration of infant holding. Behavior with a relatively high likelihood of damage to the infant by the infant holder is as likely to occur before as after transfer, suggesting that infant transfer behavior in this human society reflects competitive interactions among adult females.     

Assessment of mothers' concerns about infants,toddlers, and preschoolers

Only recently has determining the child-rearing concerns of parents been considered an important research objective. Existing efforts have, for the most part, either employed small sample sizes or surveyed parents already in the process of seeking help or advice. It was, therefore, felt that additional, more representative data were needed. In the present study, 583 mothers with children aged 59 months or younger were surveyed regarding their concerns about their children's development. On the „Specific Needs Assessment Report”︁ (SNAR) (copyright © 1975, by Karl F. Riem, J. Jeffrey Crisco, and Kathy Willms), mothers rated their concerns for 60 developmental-behavioral items about their children's health, attending skills, problem behaviors, communication skills, motor skills, cognitive skills, self-help skills, and social skills. Mothers were most frequently concerned to a moderate or major degree about at least one item of the problem behavior category. For this category, parent-child management, crying-whining, and temper tantrums were the individual items of greatest concern. Mothers of girls more frequently indicated health concerns than mothers of boys. These results support those of previous investigations, which suggested the need for parent education programs to help parents manage their children.     

Change in selectivity of infant social behavior between 15 and 30 weeks

Six infants were filmed at 15 and 30 weeks of age while alone as well as in the presence of an adult (mother or stranger) who interacted with the infant or remained passive. Judges viewing samples of infant behavior tried to identify the social context in which episodes of behavior had occurred. Signal detection analysis of ratings made by the judges showed that infant behavior at both ages varied in accord with whether or not an adult was present. The identity and interactional style of the adult had only limited influence on infant behavior at 15 weeks, but judges could readily establish from the behavior of 30-week infants whether the adult was interactive or passive. Mothers were no more accurate in their ratings of social context than other judges were, even when they were observing the behavior of their own infant. Measurement of specific infant behaviors showed that the presence of the adult at both ages and the interactional style of the adult at 30 weeks exerted selective influence over rates of looking and smiling by infants. Signal detection classification was more sensitive to social context variables than microanalysis, possibly because observers had access to complex behavioral configurations.     

FLEXING THE FRAME: CONTEMPLATING THE USE OF MULTIPLE PORTS OF ENTRY IN PARENT–INFANT PSYCHOTHERAPY

Multirelational interventions are well described in the psychoanalytic parent–infant literature. Daniel Stern (1995) originally suggested and described five “ports of entry” that may be employed to access the multiperson parent–infant clinical system. Other authors have elaborated and extended Stern's original list of ports of entry. The impact of using multiple ports of entry on the psychoanalytic frame, however, is largely neglected in the parent–infant psychotherapy literature. Danielle Quinodoz's (1992) four facets of the psychoanalytic setting are used to structure a discussion of how the multiplicities associated with parent–infant psychotherapy may impact the frame. The article argues strongly for a necessary flexing of the psychoanalytic frame to establish therapeutic alliances. A fifth facet, that of psychoanalytic mindfulness, is offered as a counterbalance to the risks associated with excessive flexing of the frame, particularly in relation to Quinodoz's fourth facet of “refraining from ‘doing.’” This article relies on case material to illustrate the issues under discussion. Further engagement and debate are invited.     

Parent‐infant‐psychotherapy and psychoanalytic treatment: contradiction or mutual inspiration?

Psychoanalysis and parent‐infant‐psychotherapy are compared. Although parent‐infant‐psychotherapy developed from psychoanalysis, it appears at first glance not to be “analytic” with its aim of dealing quickly with the symptoms presented and also with its different setting. The author shows that an analytic approach in understanding the multi‐facetted net of relationships between family members and the infant in its “phantasmic interaction” and a consideration of the implication for analysis of the empirical research carried out in conjunction with parent‐infant‐therapy can lead to a fruitful exchange of ideas. One example of this is research into the correlation between attachment patterns and the processing of conflicts. Furthermore a dialogue between these two disciplines can remind psychoanalysts that a critical discussion of the external circumstances of their methods does not immediately call into question their fundamental approach to therapy: the work in transference on relationship fantasies.     

Adults' evaluations of children caring for a baby: The effects of gender and behavior

In this study adult subjects evaluated the behavior of a 5- or 8-year-old child interacting with his or her baby “sibling.” The adults saw a 5-minute videotape in which the child interacted in a minimal or active fashion with the baby. The eight tapes consisted of all possible combinations of older child and infant sex and behavior style. The adults evaluated the active interaction with the infant very differently than the minimal interaction, but found each behavioral style equally typical of girls and boys in this age range. The active children were seen as more positive, more expressive, more intstrumental, more active, and more tender. The gender of the subject and older child played small roles in some of the evaluations.     

A procedural theory of therapeutic action: Commentary on the symposium,Interventions that effect change in psychotherapy

Operating largely outside of awareness, the procedural mode of processing has been neglected in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, and yet it is critical to our understanding of therapeutic action. This group has made an outstanding contribution to a procedural theory of therapeutic action, integrating some of the most important current concepts in infant research, cognitive psychology, systems theories, and adult psychoanalysis. The procedural mode of “implicit relational knowing” is placed within the context of a moment-by-moment, mutual regulation model of co-constructed exchanges. Nonlinear dynamic systems theory has greatly influenced their theory of change. The centerpiece is Louis Sander's concept of the “moment of meeting.” Although the concept of intersubjectivity is central in all the papers, the multiple uses of the term suggests that a careful re-examination of the definitions of intersubjectivity is sorely needed. We must now integrate the work of this group with other current procedural theories of therapeutic action. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Psychotherapie®

Psychotherapy has not escaped the societal changes of the last decades, which are labelled by sociologists as “reflexive modernization”. Nevertheless, psychotherapists occasionally are supposed to avoid a discussion of issues related to modern societies. This article discusses economization, connected with reflexive modernization, in relation to psychotherapy focussing on the question if psychotherapy has already become a “product” (or is imminent to that). This question is discussed in connection with three specific issues: parallels between psychotherapy and industrial production related to terms such as quality assurance and quality management, the question of a monopoly within psychotherapy, similar to monopolies of industrial companies, and, finally, some phenomena connected with a boom of specific psychotherapies of the recent years that indicate the product-character of psychotherapy.     

The Value of Integration: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Meets Ego Psychology in a Psychotherapy Group for Children

ABSTRACT

Psychotherapy integration requires us to look beyond the confines of a particular theoretical or technical approach towards other perspectives. Integrative work with children, in particular, meets the socio-emotional needs of the child while simultaneously modeling behaviors and skills. This paper presents an explicitly integrative approach to child group psychotherapy: Relationships. Individuals. Skills. Engagement (RISE) Group. We begin with an in-depth discussion of the RISE group structure illustrated by clinical examples (the “what”) followed by a review of the theory and treatment modalities that inform the approach (the “why” and “how”). The RISE group is grounded in two theoretical perspectives (psychoanalytic principles and ego psychology) and draws upon clinical techniques from multiple treatment modalities (including cognitive behavior therapy, psychodynamic play therapy and dialectical behavior therapy). Combined, the merger of these perspectives results in a multilevel intervention that forges pathways to mastery and competence within the child. Finally, we discuss the value and limitations of integration as applied to group psychotherapy for children.     

Self- and other regulation during the infancy period

The “other regulation” views of Lev Vygotsky and of Jerome Bruner are contrasted with Jean Piaget's self-regulatory model of infant development. Examples of adult behavior in Piaget's writings and in mother-infant interactions suggest that adults perform behaviors which are analogous to Piaget's type a and b self-regulation. Data from infant games are provided to illustrate the processes by which mothers regulate the environments for their infants and the consequences of such maternal regulation for infant development.     

The dodo bird revisited: A qualitative study of psychotherapy efficacy research

This article is a qualitative study of psychotherapy efficacy research spanning more than four decades. The findings are organized into five temporal categories characterizing the evolution of psychotherapy research. All five categories are integrated in the central phenomenon of two views of human behavior, a reactive or a proactive view. The categories are (1) psychotherapy is no more effective than no psychotherapy (1950s and 1960s), (2) the “core conditions” (empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard, and congruency) are necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic personality change (1960s and 1970s), (3) psychotherapy is for better or for worse (early 1960s), (4) the core conditions are necessary but not sufficient for therapeutic personality change (late 1970s and mid-1980s), and (5) specific techniques are uniquely effective in treating particular disorders (late 1980s and early 1990s). The findings concerned with Categories 4 and 5 are (a) that the conclusion that Rogers's attitudinal conditions are necessary but not sufficient has virtually no direct research support, and (b) that the research concerning specificity of treatment, dysfunction, therapist variables, and client variables is characterized by fragmentation, few replications, and lack of generalizability. Implications of the study indicate that specificity research, driven by the unfounded assertion that Rogers' attitudinal conditions are not sufficient, have yielded inconclusive and misleading findings. The pattern of research is one that culminates in the picture of a self-fulfilling model driven and directed by the “scientificating” deterministic view of human behavior, the movement toward narrow and specific application. Over four decades, the major thread in psychotherapy efficacy research is the presence of the therapist attitudes hypothesized by Rogers.