'Audit-mindedness' in counselling: Some underlying dynamics

Some key ideological beliefs that typically inform and underlie 'audit-mindedness' in counselling are critically examined. Specifically, and drawing upon the radical and neglected ideas of psycho-social analyst Wasdell, it is argued that the preoccupation with 'quantity' and measur-ability that typifies 'objective' counselling outcome studies reflects, at least in part, the disintegrative splitting process that pervades technocratic culture; and that this is in turn rooted in the pathological aspects of early developmental experience. Positivist conceptions of the scientific method are seen to be not only fundamentally ideological and pathology-driven, but a singularly inappropriate means of evaluating the efficacy of counselling and psychotherapy. The article then considers the possibility of transforming the ideological belief system that underlies the positivist conception of science which drives the demand for 'objective' outcome studies in counselling and psychotherapy. It concludes by considering some implications for counselling practice of these challenging arguments.     

Maternal Uniparental Isodisomy Causing Autosomal Recessive GM1 Gangliosidosis: A Clinical Report

Uniparental disomy is a genetic cause of disease that may result in the inheritance of an autosomal recessive condition. A child with developmental delay and hypotonia was seen and found to have severely abnormal myelination. Lysosomal enzyme testing identified an isolated deficiency of beta-galactosidase. Subsequently, homozygous missense mutations in the galactosidase, beta 1 (GLB1) gene on chromosome 3 were found. Parental testing confirmed inheritance of two copies of the same mutated maternal GLB1 gene, and no paternal copy. SNP analysis was also done to confirm paternity. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with autosomal recessive GM1 gangliosidosis caused by maternal uniparental isodisomy. We provide a review of this patient and others in which uniparental disomy (UPD) of a non-imprinted chromosome unexpectedly caused an autosomal recessive condition. This is the first case of GM1 gangliosidosis reported in the literature to have been caused by UPD. It is important for genetic counselors and other health care providers to be aware of the possibility of autosomal recessive disease caused by UPD. UPD as a cause of autosomal recessive disease drastically changes the recurrence risk for families, and discussions surrounding UPD can be complex. Working with families to understand UPD when it occurs requires a secure and trusting counselor-family relationship.     

A review of: “Agency,Health and Social Survival: The Ecopolitics of Rival Psychologies”

Caroline New (1996) Agency, Health and Social Survival: the Ecopolitics of Rival Psychologies, London: Taylor & Francis, 190 pp., $12.95     

Implicit chaining in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) with elements equated for probability of reinforcement

Three experiments examined the implicit learning of sequences under conditions in which the elements comprising a sequence were equated in terms of reinforcement probability. In Experiment 1 cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) experienced a five-element sequence displayed serially on a touch screen in which reinforcement probability was equated across elements at .16 per element. Tamarins demonstrated learning of this sequence with higher latencies during a random test as compared to baseline sequence training. In Experiments 2 and 3, manipulations of the procedure used in the first experiment were undertaken to rule out a confound owing to the fact that the elements in Experiment 1 bore different temporal relations to the intertrial interval (ITI), an inhibitory period. The results of Experiments 2 and 3 indicated that the implicit learning observed in Experiment 1 was not due to temporal proximity between some elements and the inhibitory ITI. The results taken together support two conclusion: First that tamarins engaged in sequence learning whether or not there was contingent reinforcement for learning the sequence, and second that this learning was not due to subtle differences in associative strength between the elements of the sequence.     

‘Pluralistic accountability’ for the psychological therapies? Holding the tension between diversity's virtues and the need for accountability

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that the field of counselling and psychotherapy needs to find values-congruent ways of managing, and creatively engaging with, the challenging tension between accountability and diversity in therapy work. The authors strongly support the preservation of pluralism and diversity in therapy practice, in the face of the increasingly urgent, anxiety-driven demands for audit, regulation and accountability typifying Late Modernity. It is argued that if accountability itself is to be ‘evidence-based’, then incorporating a relational dimension is essential; for if relationship factors are central to successful therapy, then accountability frameworks must themselves be founded on/in ‘relationship’. The arguments against formal institutional regulation of the psychological therapies in relation to the ineffectiveness of systems are rehearsed, and alternative, more values-congruent approaches considered. In making a case for ‘pluralistic accountability’, a detailed case-study of Bristol's developing local directory of therapists is offered, illustrating how local initiative can deliver good-enough accountability, avoiding the many negative side-effects of more didactic, centralised systems. The paper concludes that innovation and diversity in the field are more likely to be preserved if approaches can be found that hold and embrace the tensions between accountability and diversity, rather than seeking ‘solutions’ that prematurely and inappropriately resolve them.     

Ethical Dilemmas in Multicultural Counseling

In a random survey of counselors working with socioracial minority clients (N = 256), multicultural ethical dilemmas were rated according to frequency encountered and significance. Comparisons of counselors' ratings of multicultural ethical dilemmas determined specific dilemmas relevant to counselors in various professional settings. En una encuesta hecha al azar de consejeros/as que trabajan con clientes de minorías socioraciales (N = 256), se clasificaron dilemas éticos multiculturales de acuderdo con su frecuencia y significancia. Las comparaciones de las clasificaciones de los dilemas éticos multiculturales subrayaron aquellos dilemas específicamente importantes para consejeros/as en varios escenarios profesionales.     

Diverse ontogenies of reciprocal and prosocial behavior: cooperative development in Fiji and the United States

Contingent reciprocity is an important foundation of human cooperation, but we know little about how reciprocal behavior develops across diverse societies, nor about how the development of reciprocal behavior is related to the development of prosocial behavior more broadly. Three‐ to 16‐year‐old children were presented with the opportunity to control the allocation of real food rewards in a binary‐choice cooperative dilemma. Within dyads children alternated making choices across multiple trials, and reciprocal behavior emerged in three diverse populations (rural Fijian villages, and urban communities in both Fiji and the United States) by age 7–8. There was more societal variation in prosocial behavior than in reciprocal behavior, and there were more substantial differences between Fijians and Americans than between rural and urban populations. This suggests that the development of prosocial behavior is not driven entirely by the development of reciprocity, and differences in prosocial behavior across rural Fijians and urban Americans may not be due only to differences across rural and urban populations.     

Unraveling Cultural Threads: A Qualitative Study of Culture and Ethnic Identity Among Urban Southwestern American Indian Youth Parents and Elders

We utilized qualitative methods to explore ethnic and cultural identity among urban Southwestern American Indian youth, parents, and elders. Twenty-four respondents ranging in age from approximately 13 to 90 years were interviewed in focus groups divided by age. Six major themes and seventeen sub-themes related to tribal and pan-American Indian ethnic identity were identified. Two important findings emerging from our study were that common ethnic identity constructs can be validated and new identity constructs discovered through qualitative methods. These and other findings suggest the importance of qualitative methods in better understanding cultural and ethnic identity. Of particular significance was the notion that the most salient and relevant identity constructs can be learned from the voices and perspectives of ethnic identity members themselves across generations, age, tribal groups, gender, and reservation and urban residence.