Further Thoughts on Second-Order Family Therapy — This Time It's Personal

A series of articles has recently appeared in which implications of second-order cybernetics for the practice of family therapy have been discussed. In this article, we attempt to advance the discussion by addressing ideas that we think have not been adequately emphasized thus far. Specifically proposed are ideas about conditions that might facilitate the emergence of consciously pragmatic strategy informed by the kind of systemic wisdom that delicately balances natural systems without the benefit of human planning. It is argued that a shift in the personal habits of knowing and acting that typically organize individual human experience is required. After attempting to specify what this shift might involve, implications of these ideas for the practice of family therapy and for human action in general are discussed.     

Team Family Therapy Training: Conceptual and Pragmatic Considerations

This paper presents a family therapy training model that can be used to teach conceptual and executive skills to beginning therapists in community and academic settings. The model is based on the organization and philosophy of family therapy teams and the methods of live supervision. The goals, structure, and leadership of traditional family therapy teams are discussed and contrasted with the proposed team training model. Pragmatic details of the training program are described and advantages and disadvantages explored. Team leadership skills are categorized by context and future directions proposed.     

The Philosophy of State Compensation

Notwithstanding that there is now widespread interest in the rights of victims, little has been written about the theoretical justification of state compensation. Here we offer an initial exploration of the field in the hope that others might venture further and examine the points at which issues of compensation connect with other general and specific themes in social and political philosophy. For example, there has been much discussion about communitarian conceptions of civil society but the practical implications of such views, other than those relating to multiculturalism, have been largely ignored. The application of theory to social policy needs to take account of existing laws and institutions and these vary from one society and jurisdiction to another. In what follows we are principally concerned with the situation obtaining in the United Kingdom but the underlying issues are general ones [1].     

COMBINING BIODATA TEST AND INTERVIEW INFORMATION: PREDICTING DECISIONS AND PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

An important question in real world selection situations is: How do interviewers integrate employment test scores and interview information in making selection decisions? The present study expands on previous research by examining how valid biodata test scores and interview information interact in the prediction of actual interviewer selection decisions and actual job performance criteria for hired candidates. The sample for the study was 577 actual candidates for the position of life insurance sales agent evaluated by insurance agency managers from a single company. The results indicated the presence of interaction effects in predicting both the interviewers' decision and 12-month survival. The interview information predicted the decision and survival best for candidates with low passing scores on the biodata test and poorest for candidates with high passing scores. The results clarify the conditions under which interview information is most predictive of job performance criteria.