Vocational Rehabilitation Day-Care Services for a Drug-Dependent Population

The philosophy, history, and operations of the Vocational Opportunities Center (VOC) are described. The functions of VOC include intake and evaluation, vocational and educational training, job development, child care, a women's vocational group, legal services, and cultural activities. The VOC is offered as a model of employability service to a specific client group and part of a more comprehensive multimodality drug program.     

METAPHYSICS AND THE REDEMPTION OF SACRIFICE: ON RENÉ GIRARD AND CHARLES WILLIAMS

René Girard is something of a Janus for philosophers and theologians interested in the question of sacrifice. On the one hand, few thinkers in any century have made such a compelling case for the importance and centrality of sacrifice within all human culture. On the other hand, Girard has steadfastly insisted that sacrifice be understood in exclusively anthropological terms thus foreclosing the metaphysical and theological questions that prima facie seem to attend any robust consideration of sacrifice. In this essay, I seek to move beyond this Girardian impasse by supplementing Girard's late-thought with a more robust metaphysics of sacrifice as found in the work of the novelist, literary critic, and theologian, Charles Williams (one of the Oxford 'Inklings' and a close companion of C.S. Lewis). To begin with, I first explain Girard's understanding of the mimetic mechanism and the sacrificial origins of human culture. I then consider a number of the criticisms with which he has been charged, especially the accusation of methodological reductionism. I explore the way that Girard's late work has responded to a number of these criticisms but argue that Girard's responses fail to diffuse the charges. By way of conclusion, I suggest that Girard's insights can be saved when supplemented with the kind of relational metaphysics found in Williams' most perfectly realized novel, Descent into Hell . Rather than dispensing with ontology in favour of praxis, Williams transforms the profoundly Girardian themes of mediated desire, the doppelganger, mimetic rivalry, ritual, and the function of sacrifice by placing them in the context of what he calls the metaphysics of 'co-inherence.' This allows Williams to provide a far more positive account of both mimesis and sacrifice (even in its substitutionary mode) than Girard, not just non-retaliation but the actual bearing of one another's deepest burdens in communion, prayer, and love.     

Family Interaction as a Function of Experimental Task

To assess consistency family interaction across different experimental tasks, the present study evaluated family patterns of talking and interrupting, as elicited from discussions of a Plan Something Together Task, a set of TAT cards, and an Unrevealed Difference Questionnaire. With few exceptions, data analyses indicated that such family patterns are not altered significantly as a function of experimental tasks and, therefore, suggest considerable interactional stability across differing contexts. Characteristics of the present study (as well as related investigations of task effects) are discussed in terms of implications for future research efforts.     

Marital Interactions of Male versus Female Alcoholics

This study assessed the interactions of 131 alcoholic and nonalcoholic couples as they engaged in discussions of personally relevant problems. For 50 couples, the husband was alcoholic; for 15 couples, the wife was alcoholic; for 16 couples, both spouses were alcoholics; and for 50 couples, neither spouse was alcoholic. Observations were conducted during sessions when alcohol was consumed and in nondrinking sessions. Female alcoholic couples (with nonalcoholic spouses) demonstrated high negativity in the “no-drink” session, which was normalized in the drink session, suggesting an adaptive function to alcohol use. Concordant couples (both members were alcoholic) also demonstrated high negativity in the no-drink session, but exhibited increased negativity in the drink session, suggesting that concordance has a maladaptive impact on marital interaction. All alcoholic groups demonstrated greater negativity and lower positivity and congeniality in their marital interactions compared to nonalcoholic couples. Couples with male alcoholics were the least divergent from normal control couples. Unique female patterns in alcoholism are discussed in terms of adaptive and reinforcing patterns and spousal influences.     

Intra‐Organizational Constraints on Churches' Public Witness

We examine the effects of some oft‐overlooked influences on clergy public speech, an important component of a church's public witness. While there are many studies of denominational conflict, few studies connect denominational‐level conflict with the ways in which clergy address salient public issues to their congregations. We also explore the impact that the presence of a congregant who has struggled with his or her sexuality, that is, the contact hypothesis, has on clergy speech. We test these ideas using 2004 survey data from clergy in Columbus, Ohio concerning their speech on the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage. We find that these intra‐organizational constraints shape opinions that in turn affect speech, tempering indirectly the ability of clergy to present concerns about the proposed ban.     

科学与宗教合作的危险探求

宗教与科学正在联手探寻自然界的真相吗？事实并非如此。当今有神学界的基金会支持这样的研究。这样的研究很难称得上客观公允。此外,“宗教教义”（Religio）这一古老词汇也常被今人误读。本文通过考察概念的流变发现,区分科学与宗教是探究真理的两个不同途径的努力,其本质仍是中世纪宗教概念的延续与复兴。中世纪发展起来的宗教概念是将超自然和科学相融合,来阐明世界和人类的种种论述。如果放弃使用“宗教”这个术语,取而代之以“超自然主义”的说法,也许就能澄清目前的争议。