Drug testing in the public and private-sector workplaces: Technical and legal issues

This paper examines the technical and legal issues surrounding the implementation of drug testing programs in the public and private-sector workplaces. In Part I of the paper, technical issues important to an understanding of urinalysis drug testing methods are examined. In Part II, recent federal case law is reviewed in order to identify the different legal parameters associated with drug testing in the public and private sectors. Part III presents guidelines for employers who already have or are about to implement a drug testing program within their organizations.     

Reductions in type a behavior,anxiety, anger,and physical illness as related to changes in irrational beliefs: Results of a demonstration project in industry

A series of stress management workshops was conducted in a Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) format for an entire department in a large corporation (N=49). The population was rather general, i.e., nonstudent, nonclinical, and nonvolunteer. Measures were obtained before the program began and three to four months following completion on the dependent variables of Type A behavior, anxiety, anger, depression, assertiveness, and physical illness symptoms, and on the cognitive independent variables of irrational beliefs. Major changes were obtained on all dependent measures supporting previous work on the usefulness of an RET approach in reducing various types of distress. Further, these changes were shown to be strongly related to changes in irrational beliefs and changing such irrational beliefs was the major focus of the program. It is concluded, therefore, that a fundamental assumption of Rational-Emotive Therapy and theory is given additional empirical support.Paul J. Woods, Ph.D., co-editor of this Journal, is an associate fellow and an RET training supervisor of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy     

The efficacy of rational-emotive group therapy in psychiatric inpatients

The impact of rational-emotive theory and therapy upon the practice of clinical psychology has been profound, and many purportedly objective experimental tests of its efficacy as a mode of treatment have been reported. Yet the great majority of these reports have failed to utilize actual clinical populations. This study evaluated rational-emotive group therapy with psychiatric inpatients. Results supported the claim that irrational beliefs are related to emotional disturbance. It was also shown that patients undergoing rational-emotive group therapy changed their self-reported irrational beliefs more than did a control group. Finally, there was a trend for the experimental subjects to be more likely to have been discharged from the hospital during the 90-day follow-up period than were control subjects. However, this study failed to demonstrate that change in irrational beliefs was related to improvement in psychiatric symptoms or rates of discharge from the hospital. Some of the difficulties in conducting treatment evaluation research in a psychiatric hospital setting are discussed with respect to these results.     

Employee development in a downsizing environment

This paper explores the meaning of employee development in a corporation experiencing force reductions. In this environment, development takes the form of enhancing employees' contributions on their present jobs and preparing them to meet the future needs of the business. The paper describes the personnel psychologist's role in establishing and communicating directions for skill development, maintaining opportunities for high potential managers, tracking employee attitudes about development opportunities, implementing lay offs, retraining survivors, and generally trying to stimulate a corporate development ethic.Manny London is a district manager in charge of employee development and organization effectiveness at AT&T. He is a consulting editor for theAcademy of Management Journal and a member of the editorial boards ofPersonnel Psychology and theJournal of Management Development.     

Personality correlates of a measure of honesty

It was hypothesized that screening applicants for theft proneness using the Reid Report might screen in more conservative, more rigid, and less creative candidates, in effect outweighing the benefits of the instrument. A sample of 179 applicants were administered the 16PF and the Reid Report. Sex, minority status, and type of position applied for were shown to be independent of performance on the Reid Report. Applicants passing the Reid Report were shown, at a statistically significant level, to have higher ego strength, to be less anxious, more apt to behave in socially desirable ways, less driven by id impulses, and less inhibited. Furthermore, applicants failing the Reid Report were shown to have total 16PF profiles which were statistically significantly closer (D²) to the 16PF profiles of five pathological groups than were those passing the Reid Report. Higher scores on the Reid Report were related to faking good on the 16PF. Since the relationship between 16PF faking good and the Reid Report may be indicative of real personality variance, distortion variance, or both follow-up research has been suggested.     

Models of the relationship between genetic counselor and client

Three alternative models of the relationship between genetic counselors and clients are typified by the paternalistic professional, the expert consultant, and the autonomous client. Kant's principle of autonomy stipulates that the agent with rational will is to be treated as an end in itself rather than merely as a means to an end. Mutual respect between two such autonomous agents, in our case a genetic counselor and a client, will dictate elements of the clinical encounter.     

Towards a spiritual psychology: The synthesis of the desert fathers

The author presents a model of spiritual enlightenment based on an analysis of the aphorisms and experiences of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th century monastics of the deserts of Egypt contained in the standard 18th century Greek Orthodox compilation of their writings. It is argued that the attainment of a hierarchy of four basic virtues, humility, obedience, repentance, and love, incorporated into the religious system of these early Christian contemplatives exemplifies a sophisticated knowledge of contemporary dynamic and social psychological phenomena. The author identifies three steps in the process of enlightenment proffered by this system, beginning with the practical spiritual life, in which the specific control and understanding of dynamic and social psychological principles come into play; moving on to an intermediate level of action based on natural knowledge, as it is derived from psychological self-understanding; and culminating in a level of personal self-intergration and self-realization that is mystical in nature. Thenovus homo as understood in the Christian West is contrasted with the enlightened person as he emerges from this interactive hierarchy of virtues and levels of self-knowledge in the system of the desert Fathers. The paper is written with a heuristic tone and suggests that further attention be directed toward the interaction between psychological principles and mystical notions in traditional Eastern Christian literature.This paper was originally presented by the author at the invitation of the Theological Institute of Lund University, Lund, Sweden, in the autumn of 1987.     

Classification and validation of family climate subtypes in Kibbutz fathers of disabled and nondisabled children

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of disabled children on their fathers. Perceptions of family climate, sense of coherence, and satisfaction from family life were measured among 66 fathers of disabled children and among 74 fathers with nondisabled children in an Israeli kibbutz. The fathers of disabled children showed lower sense of coherence, derived less satisfaction from family life, and viewed their families as less encouraging of personal growth among family members. Four subtypes of family climate patterns, perceived by fathers of disabled children, were identified by cluster analysis and validated by the sense of coherence and global family satisfaction measures. Cluster analysis for the fathers of nondisabled children replicated the subtypes identified. The four subtypes were conceptualized as families with a (a) personal growth orientation, (b) conflict orientation, (c) conflict avoidance orientation, and (d) recreation avoidance orientation. Significant differences were found between the subtypes with regard to the family climate variables and satisfaction and coherence measures. Results demonstrated that different patterns of family climate characterized the two groups of fathers: In almost every cluster the measures of personal growth were lower for the fathers of disabled children.The authors would like to acknowledge the editorial assistance of Dee M. Bargteil.Special Education, Kibbutzim Movement, Tel Aviv, Israel 61400.     

The effects of background illumination and stimulant medication on smooth pursuit eye movements of hyperactive children

Problems with visual information processing have been reported in children with the diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD H), and deficits in oculomotor control have been posited as an important factor in this phenomenon. To assess aspects of oculomotor performance, smooth pursuit eye movements (PEMs) were recorded electrooculographically in 20 ADD H and 20 age-matched control children and computer-analyzed for discrete (velocity arrests) and global (root mean square error) disruptions. The effects of stimulant medication (methylphenidate), together with manipulations designed to influence behavioral (attention) and physiological (cerebellar) processes involved in PEM performance, were examined. The tracking patterns of nonmedicated ADD H children contained significantly more discrete aberrations on baseline conditions. Although no single experimental manipulation significantly improved tracking performance in ADD H children, combining all experimental conditions did normalize PEMs in these subjects. Slight improvements in PEM performance in association with medication correlated positively with does of madication of with medication-related improvments of behavior. In light of these data, arguments are presented in supported of (a) hyporousal as a contributing factor underlying oculomotor difficulties in ADD H children and (b) subcortical involbment in PEM dysfunction.This research was funded in part by grants from The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation and the Ontario Mental Health Foundation (RTP). The authors thank Susan Anthony, Dr. Pamela M. Cooper, Stella Cowley, Dr. Kathy Margittai, and Ralph Nevins for technical assistance, Martin Gillett for computer programming, Dr. Phil Firestone and the staff of the University of Ottawa Child Study Centre, and Dr. B. Lena of the Family and Child Unit, Ottawa General Hospital, for subject referral.