Bereavement following the death of a child: Implications for family therapy

The death of a child, is perhaps one of the most excruciating events that a family could experience. Although much literature exists on the short-term effects of child death, little is written on the long-term family repercussions.This article briefly reviews the literature on bereavement, and then focuses on the effects of child death in the family. Issues of specific interest to the family therapist are highlighted.     

The effect of brief restricted environmental stimulation therapy in the treatment of essential hypertension

This pilot project investigated the effects of controlled frequent brief REST relaxation sessions on the blood pressure of three subjects with borderline essential hypertension. A flotation REST system was used, and subjects had 2 or 3 sessions weekly for 2 months. All three subjects had blood-pressure reductions of a clinically significant magnitude across the treatment and follow-up periods.     

Natural deduction and arbitrary objects

Journal of Philosophical Logic -     

The Social Construction of “What's Fair” at Work1

This paper examines how the public views an act of discrimination as a consequence of the social context in which the injustice occurs and as a function of how the victim rcsponds. Results indicate that a context that offers grievance procedures to workers who feel unjustly treated enhances the public's perception of injustice if the victim decides not to file a grievance or if the victim files a grievance and wins. The victim who loses her or his claim is derogated and the act of discrimination justified. Implications for policy and public opinion on sex and race discrimination cases are examined.     

The power of the Brown v. Board of Education decision: theorizing threats to sustainability

Interviews with African American and White American elders capture the immediate power of the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision and the biography of its impact over time. This article reviews the lived experience of the decision and theorizes 3 threats to sustainability that ruthlessly undermined the decision over time: (a) the unacknowledged and enormous sacrifice endured by the African American community in the name of desegregation; b) the violent and relentless resistance to the decision by government officials, educators, and many White community members; and (c) the dramatic shrinkage of the vision of Brown from the dismantling of White supremacy to a technical matter of busing. Implications are drawn for the study of desegregation and for the study of sustainability of social justice more broadly.     

The family of origin scale: A construct validation study

Data from 69 women and 63 men along with ratings from a panel of expert judges were used to assess the construct validity of the Family Of Origin Scale as a measure of family health. Loevinger's conception of construct validity, focusing on the substantive, structural, and external components of validity, was employed to organize the research procedures followed and the data analytic techniques used. Results showed that the instrument appears to be a useful measure of a warmth-coldness affect dimension in the family of origin, but the multi-dimensional structure of the test, as a measure of family-of-origin health, could not be validated. Suggestions for use, score interpretation, and further development are discussed.