Jamaican Family Structure: The Paradox of Normalcy

The relationship between basic research, theory, and clinical work with families is conceptualized during a discussion of Jamaican family structure and the application of change theory to a clinical case of depression in a Jamaican woman. It was found that three types of family structure are prevalent in Jamaica. The European ideal of a patriarchal-patrifocal structure creates problems for working-class Jamaicans. General system theory provides support for a different model. Change theory is applied to resolve the paradox created by the European model.     

VALIDITY GENERALIZATION RESULTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OCCUPATIONS

The Schmidt-Hunter interactive validity generalization procedure was applied to validity data for cognitive abilities tests for law enforcement occupations. Both assumed artifact distributions, and distributions of artifacts constructed from information contained in the current sample of studies were used to test the hypothesis of situational specificity and to estimate validity generalizability. Results for studies using a criterion of performance in training programs showed that validities ranged from .41 to .71, and for four test types the hypothesis of situational specificity could be rejected using the 75% decision rule. For the remaining test types, validity was generalizable, based on 90% credibility values ranging from .37 to .71. Results for studies using a criterion of performance on the job indicated that the hypothesis of situational specificity was not tenable for three test types, which had validities between .17 and .31. For the remaining test types, estimated mean true validities ranged from .10 to .26 and were generalizable to a majority of situations. Results for both groups of studies were essentially identical for the two types of artifact distribution. Possible reasons for the apparently lower validities and lesser generalizability for job performance criteria are discussed, including possible low validity of the criterion (due to lack of opportunity by supervisors to observe behavior) and the potential role of noncognitive factors in the determination of law enforcement job success. Suggestions for specifically targeted additional research are made.     

A Comparison of Two Cases of Counseling with the Same Counselor

Process analyses revealed that interpretations and exploration of feelings were helpful across two cases. Other interventions were helpful for one case but not the other.     

Counselor Signals

A humorous comparison of athletic and counselor signals is made, and the authors note unique aspects of counseling that make it more than a sport.     

THE IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL TRAINING LABORATORIES UPON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND INTERACTION OF ONGOING WORK GROUPS

The impact upon four work groups (N= 31) which participated in organizational training laboratory sessions is evaluated in comparison with eight similar groups (N= 60) which did not participate. Criteria were six-factored dimensions, each composed of items gathered from earlier interviews which group members perceived as problems. Significant changes occurred in training groups in the following three dimensions: group effectiveness, mutual influence, and personal involvement. No significant changes occurred in leader approachability, intragroup trust, or in the evaluation of group meetings. The relevance of a work unit participating in training as a total group, rather than each member participating in a separate session, is discussed.     

Assessing and Facilitating Children's Cognitive Development: Developmental Counseling and Therapy in a Case of Child Abuse

This article presents practical implications for assessing a child's cognitive development and then facilitating developmental growth. The concepts of developmental counseling and therapy (Ivey, 1986, 1990) are presented as a systematic framework to integrate neo-Piagetian developmental theory into the interview. Specific techniques may be used for assessing cognitive development, expanding horizontal and vertical development, designing systematic questioning sequences, and planning overall treatment. An example of treatment of a case of child abuse illustrates the concepts in action.     

Renaissance Madonnas and the Fantasies of Freud

Through the work of Julia Kristeva, this paper challenges Freud's laws that everyone is always already gendered, that the mother is feminine and every infant masculine, and that one cannot love the same (gender). The figure of the Madonna, seen through the paintings of Giovanni Bellini, is used to theorize the time in the life of a child before Oedipus and to undo the conceptual knot with which Freud has bound the feminine to the maternal.     

Disordered Communication and Grieving in Deaf Member Families

When a deaf child is born to hearing parents, a grieving process is initiated in the parents. Unresolved grieving over their child's deafness often makes it difficult for hearing parents to accept the importance of signing, thus increasing the child's problems — further source of grief for these parents. Clinical illustrations are provided of (1) the reciprocal relationship between disruption of the mourning process and disturbance of communication between family members, and (2) the transmission of the dysfunctional relationship between hearing parents and deaf children to the subsequent relationship between the deaf children, when they reach adulthood, and their hearing children.