A Structural Approach to the Single-Parent Family

Although the single-parent family is becoming a predominant family structure, there is a surprising scarcity of articles discussing its typical problems or detailing specific therapeutic approaches. This paper attempts, first, to list some core problems encountered by all single parents and, second, to present a sequence of therapeutic approaches geared toward dealing with these problems.
Structural theory, with its emphasis on subsystems, generational boundaries, and organizational patterns, provides a framework for viewing the built-in vulnerabilities of the single-parent family unit. Minuchin's ( 3 ) emphasis on generational boundaries and the problem of enmeshment underlies the theoretical and therapeutic approach presented here. I have drawn heavily on Haley's ( 2 ) idea that the therapist must be an authority, a problem-solver, and a teacher. Finally, the emphasis on creating new organizational patterns is most thoroughly explored in Aponte's ( 1 ) discussions of "underorganized families" (many of whom are single-parent families).     

A MODEL FOR THE USE OF ATTITUDE SCALES ACROSS CULTURES

To minimize the verbal content of the attitude measurement situation with Papua New Guinea students, a set of pictorial items was selected for use in the place of verbal items. Initially, 150 pictures related to concepts in the Wilson-Patterson Attitude Inventory (WPAI) were described by a group of 50 students. Seventy of these items, those which were described in a consistent way, were presented to 227 students along with a Papua New Guinea version of the WPAI. A final set of 25 pictures was selected on the basis of their discriminative power, internal consistency, and their content validity. Reliability and validity measures and the rotated factor structure of the 25 item pictorial scale were consistent with the WPAI.     

Cortical substrates of taste aversion learning: dorsal prepiriform (insular) lesions disrupt taste aversion learning

The functional relation between restricted damage to ventral primary somatosensory neocortex and the ability of rats to acquire conditioned taste aversion (CTA( was examined by a combination of behavioral and neurohistological techniques. Lesions confined exclusively to the established gustatory neocortex (GN) did not disrupt CTA acquisition, nor did lesions confined to suprarhinal cortical areas ventral to the GN. Lesions that encroached on dorsal prepiriform and insular cortices produced CTA acquisition deficits and damaged a large proportion of efferent projections to the prefrontal and precentral neocortex. In a second experiment, lesions of dorsal prepiriform and insular cortices did not modify taste preference-aversion threshold to any of the four taste modalities. It is concluded tha ventral somatosensory neocortical fields, including the established GN, do not mediate CTA acquisition and that rhinal cortices ventral and posterior to the GN are preferentially involved in associative learning for tastes and illness.     

The future case: An alternative to single case study

Traditional single case studies have tended to focus on the individual's past and/or present with minimal reference to one's future. This allows for an incomplete assessment of the reality in which humans participate as organisms-in-process. The future case is advanced as a complement to traditional single case designs. Emphasis is upon imaginative and creative involvement with one's future in the clinical setting. The rationale and concrete outline for this future invention process reflect how individuals can move beyond restricting conditions to higher levels of emotional growth and satisfaction.     

RITALIN VS. RESPONSE COST IN THE CONTROL OF HYPERACTIVE CHILDREN: A WITHIN-SUBJECT COMPARISON

A within-subject comparison was made of the effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) and response cost in reducing the off-task behavior of two boys, 7 and 8 years of age, who had been diagnosed as having an attentional deficit disorder with hyperactivity. Several dosages of Ritalin (5 to 20 mg/day) were evaluated with the results indicating varying effects of the drug for both children. Response cost (with free-time as the reinforcer) was superior to Ritalin in raising levels of on-task behavior and in improving academic performance.     

TRAINING FAMILY THERAPISTS: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

This study implemented and evaluated a training program (a written manual, videotaped models, rehearsal, role plays, and performance feedback) designed to teach five subjects the skills to become effective family therapists. The study examined the therapists' use of three target behaviors: instructing, informing, and praising. The therapists, each paired with a parent and a preschool-aged child (2 1/2–4 1/2 yr old), were trained in the clinic to use, and to teach to the parents, several behavioral skills (e.g., praising, planned ignoring, and time-out) relevant to teaching children compliance to parental instructions. A multiple-baseline design across triads (therapist/parent/child) demonstrated that after the training program was instituted, the therapists increased their rates of instructing, praising, and informing the parents; all parents increased attention to compliance, decreased attention to noncompliance, and increased rates of praise to their children; and all children increased their compliance and decreased their noncompliance.     

On the search for meaning

The author demonstrates heuristic ways to differentiate healthy from pathological meanings in life. He argues that no one can tackle such a task without first detecting the purpose of life. To find it, one must recognize that, ultimately, life does not belong to anyone, and this on two accounts: First, it is received through parental union, and second, it is only temporal and must thus be given back. Life is a loan that must be returned through death. These two polar realities, it is here believed, inform the whole of existence and guide us toward healthy growth (positive existential mental health).     

In defense of monotheistic father religion

Many questions are currently being raised, by women especially, regarding the religious, social, and psychological effects of the emphasis on God as father in Western religion. Viewed in the light of key insights from developmental psychoanalysis, patriarchal monotheism does indeed seem to confront us with a dilemma. However, a resolution of this dilemma does not appear to lie in a move toward androgyny or matriarchy. Evaluated from the point of view of its overall capacity to mediate a meaningful, unified, personal religious reality to both sexes, monotheistic father religion is still the preferable ultimate symbolic configuration.     

Truth telling and terminal illness: A Jewish view

The focus of this paper is a Jewish view of truth telling and the dilemma of revealing to a terminal patient his imminent demise. Directions are given to physicians, medical personnel, and children of the patient on how to deal with truth telling. Attitudes reflected in Jewish thought suggest that the welfare of the patient is primary, and any information that will upset his psychological state is clearly prohibited. Physicians may not reveal to patients their terminal state. Children and family are obligated to withhold information of a patient's terminal state, even if the latter demands to be told. Hope is seen as a central feature of truth telling even during the period of confession. This view contrasts with the liberal attitude of truth telling in some Western countries, where it is the patient's right to know of his imminent demise.     

Religious faith and adjustment to long-term hemodialysis

This study examines religious faith as associated with adjustment to end-stage renal failure and its treatment regimen of maintenance hemodialysis. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected initially and after a three-year interval in order to observe changes over time. The variable of the patient's perception of the import of religious faith was found to be positively related to interactional behavior and sick role behavior and to be inversely associated with alienation. Content analysis of qualitative responses for the item of perceived import of religious faith revealed a pattern of increasingly more positive patient attitudes occurring over time.