The skeleton in the cupboard: experiential geneogram work for family therapy trainees

This paper outlines the experiences of five family therapy trainees, relating to seminars which involved visual geneogram analysis and research into their extended families of origin. Changes induced by the seminars and their impact on the trainees' personal lives and clinical performance will be examined. These findings are discussed in the light of some of the literature dealing with the relevance, for the family therapy trainee, of an appropriate family-oriented experiential training.     

HIV/AIDS and the family: a review of research in the first decade

Most studies of the psychosocial implications of HIV/AIDS have been focused on the individual. This paper reviews the small but growing body of research into the impact of HIV/AIDS on the family system. Special reference is made to definitions of the family, same-sex relationships and the African family. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the family is discussed in terms of social stigma, isolation and secrecy, stress and coping, social support, communication and disclosure, responses to illness, and changing structure and roles in families. It is anticipated that in the 1990s, the study of the family will become a dominant topic in HIV/AIDS-related research.     

School-based social work and family therapy

This paper discusses the importance of family therapy as part of the armamentarium of school-based social work. It provides a rationale for school-based intervention, noting that the school represents for the child the one fixed point (i.e., constant experience) in an endlessly changing world. The author believes that family therapy should be emphasized in school because school social workers are in a strategic position to thoroughly assess family dysfunction. Further, he notes that unless adolescents' problems are understood in the context of improperly functioning families, any help provided will be impermanent at best.     

A family history of psychopathology modifies the decrement in cognitive control among patients with HIV/AIDS

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of HIV/AIDS on cognitive control and to determine if the effect is modified by familial risk for either alcohol or mood disorders. Sixty HIV-1 seropositive and 75 seronegative volunteers were assigned to four subgroups defined by the crossing of a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the biological father with diagnoses of either major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder in the biological mother. Cognitive control was evaluated during a task in which subjects were asked, on occasion, to inhibit the impulse to respond in the same physical direction as the stimulus and instead respond in the opposite direction. Event related brain potentials and measures of task performance were recorded. The task evoked a negative shift in a late slow potential (SP) as well as an increment in reaction time when cognitive control was challenged. An important finding was an interaction between trial type, HIV/AIDS, and family history: HIV/AIDS and family history each attenuated the negative shift in the SP to such a degree that no further attenuation could be accomplished by the other. The effects of familial risk for alcohol versus mood disorders were equivalent. In conclusion, the absence of change in a late slow potential following a challenge to cognitive control may represent a marker of familial risk for both externalizing and internalizing disorders. The effects of familial risk on this slow potential are sufficiently robust as to attenuate the effects of HIV/AIDS on the probable generators of the response: the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex.     

HIV/AIDS prevention support resourcing with family and peers: University student perspectives

This study explored how students construct family and peers as resources for their HIV prevention. The participants were 20 education students from a South African technology education university (female = 60%, black = 85%; age range = 18 to 24). They completed a semi-structured interview on their access to family and peers talking about HIV/AIDS prevention in the context of perceived cultural influences. The data was thematically analysed using open-coding. Findings suggest that students shared information about HIV/AIDS prevention with peers, and less so with family. They perceived cultural taboos around sex talk to be a barrier to open discussion of HIV/ADS. Students may need to acquire strategies to negotiate HIV/AIDS prevention approaches with family in the context of culture.     

Development of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale

Development of a self-report measure of stress specific to HIV/AIDS is needed to advance our understanding of the role of stress in adaptation to HIV/AIDS; hence, the aim of this study was the development of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale. A total of 132 homosexual/bisexual men with HIV/AIDS were interviewed and completed the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale and measures of coping strategies, appraisal, social support and adjustment (global distress, depression, social adjustment, number of HIV symptoms, and subjective health status) at three time points. Thirty-nine primary caregivers were interviewed and completed measures of stress and adjustment. Exploratory factor analyses of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale items revealed three factors: Social, Instrumental and Emotional/Existential Stress. Factors had adequate internal reliabilities and were stable over 12 months. Construct validation data are consistent with recent stress/coping research that links higher levels of stress with more HIV symptoms, reliance on emotion-focused coping, lower social support, poorer levels of adjustment and higher levels of caregiver stress. Results extend this research by revealing new differential relations between various stress dimensions and stress/coping variables. Convergent validation data suggest that the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale shares conceptual similarity with threat appraisal, and differs from controllability and challenge appraisals. The HIV/AIDS Stress Scale shows potential for the elucidation of the role of stress in coping and adaptation to HIV/AIDS and disease progression in both research and clinical applications.     

Evaluation of family therapy trainees: acquisition of cognitive and therapeutic behavior skills

In this study, which describes the evaluation of a structural family therapy training program, we developed an evaluation procedure that can be used with other similar training programs. Trainees were evaluated before and after training as to their improvement in cognitive, case-planning and in-therapy intervention skills. Results suggest a progression of skill learning, beginning with cognitive understanding, followed by case planning, and then intervention skills. Though trainees made significant progress in cognitive and planning skills, this was not the case with intervention skills. Trainees' self-evaluations were similar to their results on other measures.     

艾滋病揭示的性别不公正

贫困妇女人群中HIV新发感染不成比例上升的现象揭示了社会中的性别不公正,通过美国和肯尼亚的案例说明,预防艾滋病需要认可和促进妇女的人权,减少针对妇女的暴力,并保障妇女的教育,普及艾滋病相关知识.对女性主义进行了重新阐释,并以南非"和平与和解"运动为例指明了新的前进方向.     

护理扩展培训在艾滋病干预模式中的探讨

新疆艾滋病形势严峻,艾滋病重点疫区的护理人员普遍存在着对艾滋病知识的缺乏,对艾滋病患者持有歧视、恐惧的心理及缺乏基本的防护知识等现状,艾滋病护理扩展培训项目的实施,通过对护理人员进行的艾滋病知识培训,对艾滋病干预模式进行了有益的探索和实践.     

护理扩展培训在艾滋病干预模式中的探讨

新疆艾滋病形势严峻,艾滋病重点疫区的护理人员普遍存在着对艾滋病知识的缺乏,对艾滋病患者持有歧视、恐惧的心理及缺乏基本的防护知识等现状,艾滋病护理扩展培训项目的实施,通过对护理人员进行的艾滋病知识培训,对艾滋病干预模式进行了有益的探索和实践。     

The role of a mentoring group for family therapy trainees and therapists of color

This article discusses the development, process, and impact of a mentoring group for family therapists of color. A within-group process for trainees of color in a predominantly White institution can provide a valuable resource for support, validation, empowerment, and collective action. The article examines how such mentoring promotes the effectiveness of therapists of color, as well as the practices and goals of social justice and diversity within training institutions and the field in general. Reflections and recommendations for implementing such a group are offered, as well as a personal narrative of a group member's experience of finding her voice in the group.     

浅析影响艾滋病流行的社会因素

影响艾滋病流行的社会因素从宏观层面看有经济发展水平、法律政治和宗教文化等,从微观层面看有贫困、社会资本、教育、就业和人口流动、歧视等.研究社会影响因素不仅有助于揭示艾滋病流行根源,制定科学干预策略,也有助于反思当前的社会治理,促进社会公平与和谐发展.     

Disengagement and Engagement Coping with HIV/AIDS Stigma and Psychological Well-Being of People with HIV/AIDS

The stigma associated with HIV/AIDS poses a psychological challenge to people living with HIV/AIDS. We hypothesized that that the consequences of stigma-related stressors on psychological well-being would depend on how people cope with the stress of HIV/AIDS stigma. Two hundred participants with HIV/AIDS completed a self-report measure of enacted stigma and felt stigma, a measure of how they coped with HIV/AIDS stigma, and measures of depression and anxiety, and self-esteem. In general, increases in felt stigma (concerns with public attitudes, negative self-image, and disclosure concerns) coupled with how participants reported coping with stigma (by disengaging from or engaging with the stigma stressor) predicted self-reported depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Increases in felt stigma were associated with increases in anxiety and depression among participants who reported relatively high levels of disengagement coping compared to participants who reported relatively low levels of disengagement coping. Increases in felt stigma were associated with decreased self-esteem, but this association was attenuated among participants who reported relatively high levels of engagement control coping. The data also suggested a trend that increases in enacted stigma predicted increases in anxiety, but not depression, among participants who reported using more disengagement coping. Mental health professionals working with people who are HIV positive should consider how their clients cope with HIV/AIDS stigma and consider tailoring current therapies to address the relationship between stigma, coping, and psychological well-being.     

山西省艾滋病防治政策分析

阐述了艾滋病在山西省流行的现状,探讨了艾滋病引发的社会问题,分析了艾滋病防治条例、四免一关怀政策以及艾滋病自愿咨询与检测制度的执行情况以及在执行过程中所存在的主要问题,研究了山西省艾滋病防治工作相关基金的来源和使用情况,针对山西省在艾滋病防治工作中存在的问题,提出了艾滋病防治工作与社区工作相结合的建议.     

山西省艾滋病防治政策分析

阐述了艾滋病在山西省流行的现状,探讨了艾滋病引发的社会问题,分析了艾滋病防治条例、四免一关怀政策以及艾滋病自愿咨询与检测制度的执行情况以及在执行过程中所存在的主要问题,研究了山西省艾滋病防治工作相关基金的来源和使用情况,针对山西省在艾滋病防治工作中存在的问题,提出了艾滋病防治工作与社区工作相结合的建议。     

Gender as an Obstacle in HIV/AIDS Prevention: Considerations for the Development of HIV/AIDS Prevention Efforts for Male-to-Female Transgenders

SUMMARY

Social discourses regarding gender are responsible for molding people's cognitions, perceptions, behaviors, and interactions with others. Approaching and understanding gender socialization is an important strategy that must be included in the development of HIV/AIDS prevention intervention efforts targeting male-to-female (MTF) transgender people.

This paper represents an effort to identify the influence of gender construction among a group of MTF transgenders in Puerto Rico. Using combined methodology, authors examined results from a questionnaire and in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of MTF transgenders living in the San Juan metropolitan area.

Quantitative analysis demonstrated that this sample is composed of young, unemployed, and undereducated population. Many participated in the sex industry. Participants reported need for basic health and social services and alienation from social networks. Qualitative analysis confirmed their traditional social construction of the “feminine.” Their discourse underlines their need to reinforce their identity by the construction of a female self which undermines their possibilities for negotiating safer sex, as happens to most females in Latino societies.

Social vulnerability, institutional exclusion, and gender construction issues are obstacles for the HIV prevention efforts among these communities.