Leadership behavior,group climate and outcome in group psychotherapy: A study of outpatient psychotherapy groups

A recent clinical study of outpatient psychotherapy groups in a community mental health center explored the linkage between group leadership variables, group climate, and outcome. The study involved nine outpatient therapy groups, over 50 group clients, and several group therapists. A repeated measures design involving assessment of clients' outcome and level of functioning, group leadership style, and group climate was used to assess changes over a 6-month period. The findings suggest: 1) a reduction in symptoms and improved functioning for clients; 2) a similarity of perceptions by members and leaders of perceived leadership behaviors and group climate; 3) the presence of direct and indirect influences of group climate and leadership behavior on clients' outcome; and 4) a linkage between leadership behavior and group climate with the theoretical orientation of the group. The findings of the research are discussed in relation to the understanding of specific effects in group psychotherapy and the implications for construction of group psychotherapy theory.The authors would like to thank Robert Dies, Ph.D., for his helpful suggestions in the early phase of this study; Roy MacKenzie, M.D., for permission to use the Group Climate Questionnaire; Diane DePalma, Ph.D., for permission to use the Global Leadership Behavior Index; Chris Boltwood, B.A., for her untiring efforts in administering the instruments and coding and entering the data; and most importantly, the psychotherapy group members and the group therapists for their cooperation in this endeavor—without their help, this clinical study would not have been possible.A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, 1987, New Orleans, Louisiana. Lenore Phipps, R.N., M.S., C.S., was formerly Director, Group Psychotherapy Program at Park Ridge Mental Health Center, Rochester, now in private practice at Guild Medical Center, Norwood, MA 02062.     

Knowledge in society: anatomy of an emergent field

An emergent social science of knowledge applications, drawing on a substantial multidisciplinary literature published over the past twenty-five years, signals an inversion of typical scholarly reasoning about the knowledge-society nexus. Whereas most scholarly research thus far has concentrated on conditions believed to affect the production of scientific and professional knowledge, we pose a new problematic: What must we examine in order to comprehend and consciously shape applications of scientific and professional knowledge to the manifold problems facing contemporary societies? To date, approaches to this problematic have proceeded on the basis of four broadly accepted if abstract theses about the nature of contemporary knowledge systems: subjectivity, corrigibility, sociality, and complexity. Within the boundaries supplied by these commonly accepted theses are unresolved controversies expressed in competing visions of complexity, alternative perspectives of causation, rival images of progress, and conflicting criteria of application.     

Burden of proof

This paper presents an analysis of the concept of burden of proof in argument. Relationship of burden of proof to three traditional informal fallacies is considered: (i) argumentum ad hominem, (ii) petitio principii, and (iii) argumentum ad ignorantiam. Other topics discussed include persuasive dialoque, pragmatic reasoning, legal burden of proof, plausible reasoning in regulated disputes, rules of dialogue, and the value of reasoned dialogue.     

A high-gain,low-noise amplifier for EEG

This paper describes an amplifier for an electroencephalograph with gain of 1×10⁴ to 1×10⁶ and made entirely of commercially available IC components. The two-stage amplifier has a preamplifier stage with fixed gain of 1000, and a second stage with variable gain from 1 to 100. The final stage, an anti-aliasing filter, adds a gain of 10 to the signal. The circuit has high common mode rejection, low input bias current, very low noise characteristics, low offset voltages, and offset nulling capability built into the circuit.     

Beyond medical ethics: New directions for philosophy and medicine

A unique relationship exists between physicians and philosophers — one that expands on the constructive potential of the liaison between physicians and, for example, theologians, on the one hand, or, social workers on the other. This liaison should focus in the scientific aspects of medicine, not just the ethical aspects. Philosophers can provide physicians with a perspective on both the philosophy and the history of medicine through the ages — a sense of how medicine has adapted to the social cultural and ethical needs of each period. This perspective, while emphasizing medicine asscience, should not be limited to matters of methodology, or to criteria for distinguishing science from other intellectual pursuits, but should be concerned also with the history, sociology and politics of science. Both physicians and philosophers stand to gain from a strengthening of their active liaison now as never before; but most of all, the public will be the beneficiary.