One Counselor's Intervention in the Aftermath of a Middle School Student's Suicide: A Case Study

The authors discuss the application of Gestalt theory as a means of dealing with the surviving classmates of a student who committed suicide.     

Family Functioning of Male Alcoholics and Their Female Partners during Periods of Drinking and Abstinence

Family functioning of 20 alcoholic male veterans and their female partners was assessed in relation to drinking (wet) and abstinent (dry) intervals. Repeated measures analyses performed on the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) indicated that on all 7 scales of the FAD, alcoholics and their mates perceived family functioning to be better during dry than wet periods. In contrast to their alcoholic mates, female partners gave healthier ratings to all FAD scales except Roles in the dry condition and Affective Involvement in the wet condition. According to published cutoff scores for healthy and unhealthy family functioning, alcoholics as a group viewed their wet and dry family functioning as unhealthy, although the female group regarded the family's dry Problem Solving and Behavioral Control as healthy. These findings suggest that the family functioning of alcohol-involved couples is biphasic, oscillating between drinking and abstinent periods.     

SELF-REPORTED ASSERTIVE JOB-SEEKING BEHAVIORS OF MINIMALLY EDUCATED JOB HUNTERS

Little research attention has focused on the job-search behavior of minimally educated workers. The primary objective of the studies reported was to examine the relationship of self-reported assertive job-hunting behavior to acquisition of employment among minimally educated workers. The results of three studies provide: (a) construct validity evidence for the Assertive Job-Hunting Survey (AJHS; Becker, 1980), (b) evidence for construct similarity across minimally educated job seeker and college student populations, (c) evidence of a significant relationship between the AJHS and both subjective and objective job acquisition criteria in postdictive and predictive research designs, and (d) evidence that the AJHS, a measure of a non-cognitive variable, can make a unique contribution to the prediction of job acquisition beyond cognitive ability measures.     

“We were just fated together”… Chinese love and the concept of yuan in England and Hong Kong

Recent research into cultural variations in personal relationships has stressed the significance of “etic” measures such as individualism-collectivism. This study, however, focuses on a more culture-specific concept, the Chinese notion of yuan, derived from a Buddhist belief in the role of predestiny and fate in relationship development. One hundred Hong Kong Chinese and 100 British respondents completed a specially constructed yuan beliefs scale and then a 24-item version of Hendrick and Hendrick's (1986) Love Attitudes Scale. Although Chinese respondents scored significantly higher lhan did British respondents on the yuan scale, replies in both cultures demonstrated at least a moderate endorsement of yuan beliefs. Belief in yuan was highly correlated with pragmatic and agapic love styles, and was negatively correlated with erotic love. Results are interpreted in the context of the wider relationship beliefs and practices of the two cultures.     

Compassion: An east‐west comparison

Compassion is an emotion that occupies a central position in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy while it is often a neglected subject in contemporary western philosophy. This essay is a comparison between an Eastern view of compassion based upon Mahāyāna Buddhist perspectives and a western view of the same emotion. Certain principles found in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy such as the Bodhisattva Ideal, and suffering (dukkha) to name two, are explored for the information they contain about compassion. An essay by Lawrence Blum is taken as representative of a Western view (but not exclusively) and it is analyzed for its shortcomings in light of the Buddhist view. The conclusion briefly describes the value of understanding an eastern view on compassion as a means of filling the void one finds in western medical ethics discourse which focuses so heavily, and redundantly, upon issues such as patient autonomy and paternalism.     

Displaced Homemakers: Unresolved Issues

The problems of displaced homemakers are not new, nor are they associated with only one target group. By reexamining the literature and personal counseling experiences of the 1960's, Zawada identifies 16 problems that overlap with those of today's displaced homemakers. Hopefully, this identification of unresolved issues will provide a working base for helping this new target group.     

Sensitizing Counselors and Educators to Multicultural Issues: An Interactive Approach

This discussion describes a program that was developed to provide an opportunity for children of farm workers to accrue academic credit toward graduation. It was also designed to include intense interaction between the students and educators. This program illustrates how multicultural awareness can be developed within a relatively short period of time through immersion in experiences and by providing appropriate incentives. Se describe un programa que se desarrolló para dar una oportunidad a los hijos de agricultores para ganar créditos académicos para graduarse. También lo diseñaron para incluir interación intensa entre estudiantes y educadores. Este programa muestra como se puede desarrollar un conocimiento multicultural en relativamente muy poco tiempo a través de la inmersión en experiencias y dando incentivos apropriados.     

A faith for all seasons

A FAITH FOR ALL SEASONS:ISLAM AND WESTERN MODERNITY. By Shabbir Akhtar. London: Bellew Publishing, 1990. 251pp. Hb. £25.00. ISBN 0–947792–41–4.