The effects of two methods of training and sequencing on structuring and relationship skills of family therapists

Abstract

This study was an attempt to evaluate two methods of training family therapists (n = 26). Specifically, this research evaluated the relative effectiveness of observation-feedback (OF) and skill-based (SB) training methods, as well as OF-SB and SB-OF sequences of training on the acquisition of structuring and relationship skills. The only significant finding was that the OF-SB sequence resulted in significant gains in the acquisition of relationship skills. Implications are discussed for the training of family therapists.     

Wilāyah (authority and governance) and its implications for Islamic bioethics: a Sunni Māturīdi perspective

Juridical councils that render rulings on bioethical issues for Muslims living in non-Muslim lands may have limited familiarity with the foundational concept of wilāyah (authority and governance) and its implications for their authority and functioning. This paper delineates a Sunni Māturīdi perspective on the concept of wilāyah, describes how levels of wilāyah correlate to levels of responsibility and enforceability, and describes the implications of wilāyah when applied to Islamic bioethical decision making. Muslim health practitioners and patients living in the absence of political wilāyah may be tempted to apply pragmatic and context-focused approaches to address bioethical dilemmas without a full appreciation of significant implications in the afterlife. Academic wilāyah requires believers to seek authentication of uncertain actions through scholarly opinions. Fulfilling this academic obligation naturally leads to additional mutually beneficial discussions between Islamic scholars, healthcare professionals, and patients. Furthermore, an understanding derived from a Māturīdi perspective provides a framework for Islamic scholars and Muslim health care professionals to generate original contributions to mainstream bioethics and public policy discussions.     

THE BEGINNING OF HUMAN LIFE: ISLAMIC BIOETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract. In January 1985, about 80 Muslim religious scholars and biomedical scientists gathered in a symposium held in Kuwait to discuss the broad question “When does human life begin?” This article argues that this symposium is one of the milestones in the field of contemporary Islamic bioethics and independent legal reasoning (Ijtihād). The proceedings of the symposium, however, escaped the attention of academic researchers. This article is meant to fill in this research lacuna by analyzing the proceedings of this symposium, the relevant subsequent developments, and finally the interplay of Islam and the West as a significant dimension in these discussions.     

The Effect of Self‐Efficacy and Issue Characteristics on Threat and Opportunity Categorization1

The purpose of the current study was to examine self‐efficacy and issue characteristics as antecedents of issue categorization. A laboratory experiment using 277 participants manipulated self‐efficacy, scenario category (threat/opportunity), and scenario strength (weak/strong), and subsequently measured perceptions of threat and opportunity. Results indicate that high self‐efficacy participants categorized scenarios as more representative of opportunity and that self‐efficacy influenced the framing of opportunity scenarios, but not threat scenarios. Parallel results were found across both categorical and dimensional threat and opportunity measures.     

Cultural Influences in the Aetiological Beliefs of Saudi Arabian Primary Care Patients About Their Symptoms: The Association of Religious and Psychological Beliefs

Objective To develop a self-report questionnaire to measure the beliefs of Arabic primary care patients about the causes of their physical symptoms; to use this to quantify the beliefs of patients consulting their general practitioners (GPs) in Saudi Arabia; and to test whether patients with psychological problems differ from others in their beliefs, particularly religious and supernatural beliefs. Methods Consecutive patients (N = 224) completed a specially developed aetiological beliefs’ questionnaire. Patients were divided into two groups (cases and non-cases of emotional disorder) according to the GHQ-12. Results Religious and supernatural aspects of culture colour patients’ symptom beliefs: that their symptoms were a test or punishment from Allah’ was the most common belief. Even in non-cases, around half the patients also endorsed nerves and stress as a cause of their physical symptoms. Cases were more likely than non-cases to endorse items related to both religious and psychological factors. Conclusion There is no support for the view that Saudi Arabian patients explain symptoms supernaturally as a way of denying psychological factors. GPs and health professionals in Saudi primary care need to understand what patients believe to be the cause of their problems and to appreciate that religious and psychological beliefs are both very common. GPs should address psychological beliefs and concerns even with those patients who present physical symptoms.     

The Self- and Other-Blame Scale (SOBS). The background and presentation of a new instrument for measuring blame in families

This article presents an account of the development and reliability of an observational instrument to measure blame: the Self- and Other-Blame Scale (SOBS). Fifty-one eating disordered patients together with eighty of their relatives were interviewed using a semi-structured family interview. Videotapes were assessed by two independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was good for both dimensions of SOBS: self-blame (SB) and other-blame (OB). One of the aims in developing the instrument was to be able to explore the relationship between self- and other-blame and criticism. Preliminary data are presented showing the distribution of SOBS scores within families rated as high or low on Expressed Emotion (EE). High EE was associated with high levels of self-blame in the parents, but not in the patients. Fathers in high EE families were more blaming of the patient than those in Low EE families but this was not true for mothers' levels of daughter blaming.     

Ethical Dilemmas at the End of Life: Islamic Perspective

Many Muslim patients and families are often reluctant to accept fatal diagnoses and prognoses. Not infrequently, aggressive therapy is sought by the patient or his/her family, to prolong the life of the patient at all costs. A series of searches were conducted of Medline databases published in English between January 2000 and January 2015 with the following Keywords: End-of-life, Ethics and Islam. Islamic law permits the withdrawal of futile treatment, including all kinds of life support, from terminally ill patients leaving death to take its natural course. However, such decision should only take place when the physicians are confident that death is inevitable. All interventions ensuring patient’s comfort and dignity should be maintained. This topic is quite challenging for the health care providers of Muslim patients in the Western World.