Coercive uses of mandatory reporting in therapeutic relationships

Mandatory reporting legislation was enacted with little consideration of its consequences for ongoing therapeutic relationships. One consequence is the unanticipated and coercive uses of the law in mental health settings. Thirty therapists and 25 child protective service workers were interviewed about their experiences with mandatory reporting in therapy relationships. The interviews revealed unanticipated as well as coercive uses of mandatory reporting in therapeutic relationships, including prompting crisis in family systems to promote change, and using reporting or threats of it to enforce attendance and engagement in therapy. Therapists'd anger and view of reporting as a form of power or tool for social control also related to coercive uses of mandatory reporting. The special case of coercion in mandated cases resulting from mandatory reporting legislation is discussed as well.     

Co-creating shared realities with couples

We are presenting a unique approach to understanding couples and relationships based on social constructionist principles. It is our belief that individuals possess constructions of reality with regard to relationships and must co-create a reality in which both partners participate. The implication of this theoretical principle is that differences between partners are not as important as the negotiation of such differences. One thousand premarital couples were examined to determine the effect of levels of flexibility and perceived differences on the quality of their relationships. Data analysis revealed that levels of flexibility were a significant factor in couples' abilities to cocreate a successful shared reality.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, October 1992, Miami Beach, FL.Both authors were primary contributors to this paper.     

Optimistic Bias Among Cigarette Smokers1

Smokers, unlike other populations engaging in risky behavior, readily acknowledge that tobacco use increases their susceptibility to smoking-related illness. This study used data from the Adult Use of Tobacco Survey to demonstrate that smokers, while acknowledging increased risk for illness, still show evidence of an optimistic bias in their perception of the hazards of their usual brand of cigarette. Optimism was assessed, first, by grouping respondents by perceived cigarette hazards (higher, lower, or about the same as others), and, second, by comparing Federal Trade Comission (FTC)-calculated and respondent-estimated cigarette tar levels. An optimistic bias was observed in all assessments. Perceived cigarette risk was not related to desire to stop smoking, if an easy way to do so were available, nor was it related to the number of previous quit attempts lasting one week or longer.     

The rorschach search for the borderline Holy Grail: an examination of personality structure, personality style, and situation

Much of the research on the use of the Rorschach to diagnose borderline disturbance has sought to discover a specific borderline pattern or Rorschach configuration. Given our increased understanding of borderline functioning representing a level of personality organization (or personality structure), this single pattern approach is excessively simplistic. It fails to consider the complex interaction between personality structure, personality style, and situational variables. An approach to the Rorschach assessment of borderline functioning is presented using a clinical example. The patient was tested at the onset of psychotherapy and then some 4 years into treatment. Results from the two testings were compared using Weiner and Exner's (1991) Rorschach variable clusters for assessing change in psychotherapy.     

Perceived Contraceptive Attributes and Method Choice1

This research investigated the relationship of perceived contraceptive attributes to contraceptive choice. More specifically, the study a) examined what attributes women perceive as important in their choice of a contraceptive method; b) compared women who use the vaginal sponge with women who use oral contraceptives or the diaphragm on perceived importance of attributes; and c) compared sponge users with pill users and diaphragm users on perceived characteristics of three contraceptive methods. Data were collected in telephone interviews from a national sample of 330 current sponge users and 330 women who use other forms of female contraception. Those attributes that were rated highest concerned effectiveness and safety, whereas those that were rated lowest focused on convenience of use and interference with sexual activity. Women differed somewhat by user status on the attributes they believe are important in contraceptive choice, with each group emphasizing those attributes characterizing their own method. Moreover. each user group perceived their own method more favorably than did users of other methods. Perceptions of specific contraceptive methods. particularly the sponge. were more predictive of user status than were general importance ratings.     

AX murderers,dragons, spiders and webs: Therapeutic metaphors in couple therapy

Using metaphors in psychotherapy is not a new practice. Metaphor has long occupied the interests of theorists and practitioners of psychoanalysis. Recently, influenced by the work of Erikson, metaphors have been utilized by non-analytic therapists. This paper explores the historical background of metaphors, examines the components of metaphors, explores metaphors and the social construction of reality, and presents a discussion of the use of metaphor in couple therapy.     

Treating preschool children with multiple behavior problems: Testing for the response covariation phenomenon

This study was conducted with four subjects with multiple behavior problems (noncompliance, nonattending, and poor academic performance). The subjects ranged in age from 3-years 1-month to 5-years 6-months. Treatment occurred in a classroom setting using an interacting elements design counterbalanced across subjects. The results indicated the existence of behavioral covariations and treatment side-effects. The implications of these findings for research on generalization effects and treatment approaches to children with multiple behavioral problems was discussed.     

Sex differences in the relationship of height to children's actual and attributed social and cognitive competencies

In three studies, the relationship of children's height to both (a) adults' attributions regarding the children and (b) preschoolers' social and cognitive competencies were examined. Sex differences were consistent with stereotypic conceptions. In the first two studies, mothers of preschool children rated photographs of toddlers varying in height on a variety of social and cognitive abilities. The mothers also assigned punishment to the children for hypothetical transgressions. In Experiment 1, mothers rated the large boys as more competent than the average-sized and small boys (even when effects of mothers' perceptions of the children's ages were covaried). In Experiment 2, involving female stimuli, mothers rated small girls as being less able (especially less independent) than average-sized or tall girls. While the effect of height on mothers' attributions was still evident when the effects of perceived age of the children were covaried, the pattern of results was less clear. Mothers assigned more punishment to tall girls (but not tall boys) than to small girls regardless of perceptions of age. In Experiment 3, height was associated with boys', but not girls', competence on tasks of logical ability and boys' sociometric nominations of whom they prefer to play with (significant for girls, marginally significant for boys). Height was not highly correlated with peers' perceptions of competence. The implications of the research for the socialization process are discussed.The authors wish to express their gratitude to the parents, teachers, and children at the Child Study Laboratory, Students' Child Center, Palo Alto Preschools, and Tempe Preschool. The authors would also like to thank Michael Gunzelman, Michelle White, Julie Mankowski, Marsha Kaplan, and Melissa Rook for their able assistance in data collection.     

The Prevention of Cigarette Smoking in Children: A Comparison of Four Strategies1

Adolescent cigarette smoking remains a serious public health problem. Recent preventive efforts have concentrated on the social influences which encourage smoking onset. They appear more effective than earlier efforts which considered primarily the long term health risks of smoking. In spite of this progress, it has not been possible to identify the necessary or sufficient conditions for the reported treatment effects due largely to issues of research design. We report data from two consecutive studies designed to address this problem. In each study, four treatment strategies were compared for their effectiveness in deterring smoking onset and in minimizing future smoking levels. In the second study, an untreated reference condition was also included. Approximately 7000 students participated in the two studies. Baseline data were gathered in September of the seventh-grade year, interventions were conducted during the full year, and post-test and followup data were collected annually beginning in May of that year. These data suggest that a program which teaches specific skills to resist social pressures to begin smoking and which teaches students about the short term physiological consequences of smoking is more effective than a program which concentrates on long term health consequences. Perhaps most important, the use of same-age peer leaders as teachers appears to be a necessary condition for successful use of this intervention program.