BALD-FACED LIES! LYING WITHOUT THE INTENT TO DECEIVE

Abstract:  Surprisingly, the fact that the speaker is lying is sometimes common knowledge between everyone involved (the addressee, the general audience, bystanders, etc.). Strangely, we condemn these bald-faced lies more severely than disguised lies. The wrongness of lying springs from the intent to deceive – just the feature missing in the case of bald-faced lies. These puzzling lies arise systematically when assertions are forced. Intellectual duress helps to explain another type of non-deceptive false assertion: lying to yourself. In the end, I conclude that the apparent intensity of our disapproval of non-deceptive lies is a rhetorical illusion.     

Therapists Ratings of Fundamentalist and Nonfundamentalist Families in Therapy: An Empirical Comparison

Using the Family Health Scale, Part I of an instrument developed for this study, two randomly selected groups of certified family therapists rated either nonfundamentalist or fundamentalist families in therapy on eight recognized indicators of family health. Factor analysis yielded eight factors accounting for 66% of the variance between groups. Cannonical discriminant function analysis revealed that therapists rated fundamentalist families as significantly less healthy on three of the eight factors and more healthy on one factor. Part II of this instrument, the Religion Impact Scale assessed the effects of church community and church teachings upon families. For fundamentalists, the church and concomitant belief system had a significant impact upon family organization and functioning. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Power as the Achievement of Ends: A Problematic Approach in Family and Small Group Research

Most conceptions of power refer to the relative ability of persons to achieve individual ends in interpersonal contexts in which their ends conflict. Within groups, such as the family, which are characterized by functionally disuse and ongoing relations, there are serious methodological problems with determining actors' ends. This has led to the use of a variety of substitute procedures that allow one to talk of power without assessing the particular ends of specific persons. This paper critically examines these substitute procedures and suggests their inadequacy for the study of families and similar small groups. It is suggested that an alternative to power must be found in order to proceed with the work for which that concept has been used. The sketch of one alternative is presented and its implications discussed.     

Behavior Modification in Marital Conflict: A Case Report

The ability of marital partners to directly change an unhappy marriage to a happy one may be a function of each individual's conscious awareness of the topography, frequency, and other parameters of his own behavior, as well as his awareness of the consequences these behaviors have on his spouse. This paper reports an attempt to combine the use of relevant behavioral awareness and a token economy to rehabilitate a marriage in crisis. An initial two-month follow-up indicated, both from the data and the couples' subjective report, that the relationship was now much more reinforcing and both partners were satisfied with the marriage.