The family sculpt as an educational experience: an exploration of appropriate professional involvement

The paper focuses on the importance of the unconscious interaction between therapist and family as a factor of continuance in treatment. Previous research on continuation in treatment is reviewed, within which mutual expectations and social class factors are highlighted as being significant.
The issue is then reviewed as it effects family therapy and the theme is illustrated through an extended example of a family sculpted by a seminar of social work students. In this, particular attention was given to the interaction between the worker and the family.
It is concluded that the family's pressure on the worker to meet their expectations in reality, may be an important aspect of therapeutic breakdown.     

Prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood risk factors and drug involvement in adolescence

This study examined prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood risk factors in relation to the etiology of adolescent involvement in cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Over a span of 10 years, data were collected on 638 mainly White mother-child pairs at three points in time: at T1, when the children were 1 to 10 years old; at T2, when they were 9 to 18, and again at T3, when they were 11 to 20. Results showed that the early risks of an unwanted pregnancy and major illness were linked to all of the drug categories except "other illicit drugs." Aspects of mutual attachment in the mother-adolescent relationship were negatively correlated with adolescent drug use. Data on the interrelationship of the domains (i.e., sets of variables) of early risk factors and mother-adolescent relations supported an independent model with respect to cigarette and marijuana involvement, a finding in keeping with results showing that early risk did not significantly affect mother-adolescent relations. However, mother-adolescent protective factors were able to mitigate the impact of early risk factors on adolescent drug involvement.     

Psychoanalysis and systems in family therapy

This paper describes three frames of reference for understanding family function. The three frames are (1) The Life-cycle of the Family, (2) The Intergenerational, Historical Aspects of the Family, (3) The Interactional Structure of the Family. It is suggested that these three frames can provide a detailed formulation of family functioning and disturbance in order to plan rational foci, strategies, techniques and aims of family therapy.     

Integrating childhood in the family context: Commentary on Bjorklund,Periss and Causey

Bjorklund, Periss and Causey use an evolutionary developmental perspective to highlight several reasons as to why children should be allowed to be children. Childhood is not just a training ground for adulthood, but there is a unique integrity to this phase of life. Bjorklund and colleagues suggest that several of the immature behaviours observed in children are adaptive in their own right providing children with immediate benefits for their particular age and do not necessarily (only) serve the function of providing benefits for the child later in development. The concept of ontogenetic adaptations is useful in providing a new lens on which to view infants, children, adolescents and even adults. In this commentary I focus on three issues related to their work: (1) the possibility that the overestimation tasks reviewed in their paper do not empirically verify that overestimation is related to perseverance in learning; (2) whether ontogenetic adaptations are gender specific; and (3) the costs of this extensive immaturity and how inappropriate overinvestment of parents may reflect a maladaptive response to low fertility in a resource-rich environment.     

Value systems and psychopathology in family therapy

Two sets of values—the continuity and the discontinuity—are readily apparent in family conflict. Pathogenic relating erupts after an impasse between the sets of values. Husband-wife conflict, parent-child conflict, and conflict between the family and neighborhood or community are described in terms of conflict in value systems. Family therapy is a method for influencing the value systems.Each of the three role functions of the family therapist—the go-between, the side-taker, and the celebrant—expresses both continuity and discontinuity values which are described. Depending on his assessment of pathogenic relating and other features of family dysfunction, the therapist selectively expresses values that serve to disrupt and then repair destructive family interaction.The process of engaging families in therapy is crucial because many families, especially those that are poor and uneducated, do not like to sit and talk about problems. Short-term therapy works best with the majority of poor, uneducated families; it even works best with middle-class families. Short-term therapy works mainly because it least violates value expectations the majority of families have about therapy.An invited presentation for the First International Congress of Family Therapy held in Tel Aviv, Israel, in February, 1976. A brief version of this paper is scheduled forPsychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1978, but due to an extraordinary delay in publication of the above-named journal, the lengthier version here may actually appear in print first. The possibility is mutually acknowledged by the editors of both journals.     

Parent psychopathology and family functioning among childhood firesetters

The purpose of this study was to identify parent and family characteristics related to juvenile firesetting and antisocial behavior among severely disturbed children. Hospitalized children (ages 6–12) identified as firesetters (n=27) and nonfiresetters (n=27) were compared in terms of parental psychopathology, dyadic adjustment, and family environment. To separate the impact of conduct disorder in contributing to group differences, diagnosis and firesetting status were separated in the data analyses. The results indicated that parents of firesetters showed significantly greater dysfunction in terms of psychiatric symptoms, and higher levels of depression, and reported lower levels of affectional expresssion, consensus, and overall adjustment in their dyadic relationships. The findings suggest that among a clinical sample, specific parent and marital characteristics delineate firesetters. The contribution of parental and marital influences to antisocial behavior more generally and the need to focus specifically on firesetting in relation to these variables are discussed.Completion of this research was supported by grants (MH39976, MH35408) and by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors appreciate the assistance of Debra Colbus and Antoinette Rodgers and the clinical research team of the Child Psychiatric Treatment Service.     

Developmental correlates of emotional intelligence: Temperament,family environment and childhood trauma

This study examined temperament, environmental factors (family environment and childhood trauma), and the interaction between them as developmental correlates of ability and trait emotional intelligence (EI). Using 97 university students, correlational analyses revealed that temperament characteristics were related to trait but not ability EI. Components of family environment and childhood trauma were not significantly related to ability or trait EI. Multiple regression analyses confirmed the importance of temperament in predicting trait EI, but provided little support for the role of environmental factors or their interactions with temperament in predicting either type of EI.     

A network of influences on adolescent drug involvement: neighborhood, school, peer, and family

The interrelationship of neighborhood, school, peer, and family factors and adolescent drug involvement was investigated. Data were collected separately from 518 adolescents and their mothers when the children were between 9 and 18 years of age and again two years later. Neighborhood and school effects were not directly related to adolescent drug use. Neighborhood effects were mediated through the domains of school, peer, and family; school effects were mediated through the peer domain. Family and peer variables had a direct impact on adolescent drug involvement. Risk factors in the adolescents' peer environment can be ameliorated by protective factors in their school environment. Implications for the prevention of drug use are discussed.     

Adolescents' individuation,romantic involvement,and mothers' wellbeing: A comparison of three family structures

This study compared concurrent as well as longitudinal associations between adolescent development and maternal wellbeing, in nuclear families with both biological parents and in single-mother and stepfather families. It relied on data from the first two waves of a longitudinal study in Germany (N = 436). Maternal wellbeing was assessed from mothers' reports of their sense of family mastery and self-esteem. Adolescent development was assessed from adolescents' reports of three aspects of individuation and of their romantic involvement. For single mothers and mothers in nuclear families, the associations between maternal wellbeing and adolescents' development were inconsistent. Mothers in stepfather families with daughters profited from their daughters' growing detachment. The results suggested that the associations between adolescent development and maternal wellbeing are family structure specific, and observable concurrently and across a one-year time period. The discussion considers the different demands and living situations of the three family structures.     

Formulations of self and family systems

The observations of systemic family therapy and self psychology fit together conceptually because both rest upon systems theory. Underlying assumptions common to both fields of inquiry are reviewed. The concept of the self and its parts is examined, with discussion of its systems properties featuring stability and change. Parallels are noted between healthy self-functioning and healthy family functioning; self-formation processes and family developmental processes; and sense of self and family paradigm. It is suggested that there are isomorphic patterns in these formulations that allow us to switch back and forth easily between the individual and the family. Two clinical case examples are also included.     

Positive and negative effects of family involvement on work-related burnout

We aimed to explain the influence of family involvement on feelings of burnout among employees who combine work and family tasks. As proxies for family involvement, we used the family structure (partner, number and age of children) and family tasks (e.g. hours spent on household chores). We compared conflict theory and enrichment theory, and investigated how well they explain the relationship between family involvement and feelings of burnout. Based on a sample of 1046 employees at 30 Dutch organizations, the results showed that the presence of young children and doing more household chores were positively related to feelings of burnout, whereas having children reduced employees’ feelings of burnout. We also investigated interaction effects of gender and gender-role norms. We conclude that family life can reduce work-related burnout and that for men, the relationship between family involvement and feelings of burnout differs depending on whether they have traditional or modern gender-role norms.     

Organizational and family systems factors in stress among ministers

Forty-one Protestant ministers completed measures of stress-related symptoms, family of origin contact, church governing body density, history of pastor-parish conflict in the church, and a measure of Bowen's (1959b/1985) concept of emotional triangles. A denominational executive provided ratings of each church's history of pastor-parish conflict. Path analysis using multiple regression showed support for a model in which governing body density and history of conflict predicted emotional triangles, and emotional triangles predicted stress symptoms. Contact with the pastor's family of origin moderated the relationship between emotional triangles and stress symptoms. Results suggest that the organizational and family ecology of the ministerial role can be important in understanding occupational stress among ministers.