Difficulties in Family Therapy Evaluation I. A Comparison of Insight vs. Problem-Solving Approaches II. Design Critique and Recommendations

In Part 1, an outcome study comparing two methods of family treatment, is reported. Families were randomly assigned to one of two forms of conjoint therapy: an Insight-oriented treatment (N = 10 ) or a Problem-Solving intervention (N = 10 ). The results on self-report measures of family functioning indicate that the Problem-Solving intervention produced more favorable changes after three months. Experienced therapists did better than inexperienced therapists in the Insight-treatment condition but level of experience did not make a difference in the Problem-Solving therapy. A group of eight families who dropped out of the Insight-treatment group provided data on correlates of premature termination. In Part II, the study is critically reviewed. The practical obstacles to implementing an experimental design in a clinic setting are considered. Special attention is given to issues involving the selection of treatment and control conditions: sampling and the measurement of outcome. Alternatives to experimental designs are considered.     

BACKGROUND, NEEDS, JOB PERCEPTIONS, AND JOB SATISFACTION: A CAUSAL MODEL

Data concerning sex, social status, need strength, job perceptions and job satisfaction were collected from 411 people who were entering the work force for the first time at the time they obtained their jobs and approximately 10 months later. Using maximum likelihood path analysis, support was obtained for the following causal sequence: Background → Need Strength → Job Perception → Job Satisfaction. As in other studies, growth need strength was related to job dimensions. However, relatedness needs also appear to play a significant role in determining perceptions of jobs and job satisfaction. Sex and social status determined to some extent the subjects' initial level of need strength and indirectly their job perceptions.     

Outline and description of an electronic system for lateralization of visual stumuli in studies of hemispheric asymmetry

An automatic electronic systenm for lateralization of visual stimuli research on hemispheric asymmetry is described. The system consists of three different units: 1) A stimulas projection- unit; 2)an electronic control-unit; and 3)a programming-unit. Necessary characteristics of apparatus for studies using lateralized visual stimuli are described in the paper. Among the listed requirements are: range of stimulus-duration, rise- and fall-time for onset and offset to full intensity of the stimulus, stimulus-eccentricity, and eye-fixation control. The system described in the paper has been in use in our laboratory for the last two years. It is concluded that the system meets the requirements for apparatus used in studies with laterlized visual input. A block-diagram of the electronics and a schematic outline according to scale of the stimulus projection-unit are enclosed with the paper.     

COMPARISON OF EARLY RETIREES AND NON-RETIREES

A group of 250 early retirees and a similar group of 422 nonretired Civil Service employees were compared on demographic, experience and job attitude variables. Consistent with earlier published studies, demographic, health, and income variables accounted for approximately three times as much variance in the retirement status variable as did the motivational and attitudinal variables. Retirees reported that their jobs afforded less Autonomy, Skill Variety, Opportunity to Deal with Others, and less intrinsic satisfaction, but more Feedback from Others relative to nonretirees. Analysis of the demographic variables indicated retirees were more likely to be female, have less financial commitments, and have had more jobs in their career. It is suggested that the retirement decision may represent a positive attempt on the part of individuals to pursue more challenging, interesting activities, and that longitudinal research be initiated to explore in more detail the determinants of the retirement decision and subsequent retirement satisfaction.     

Social Group and Moral Orientation Factors as Mediators of Religiosity and Multiple Attitude Targets

Although there is a tradition of examining generalized discrimination against multiple targets, recent studies have tended to consider race and homosexuality as separate targets without considering their relationship with each other. Recent studies have also argued for a moral dimension in attitudes to homosexuality, but this has not yet been explicitly modeled as an explanation for patterns of social attitudes. In a questionnaire study of practicing Australian Christians (N= 143), we examined the relationship of religious orientation and ideology (intrinsic, extrinsic, fundamentalism, orthodoxy, and quest) with four attitude targets (Aboriginal Australians, women, homosexual persons, and abortion). Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we develop a two‐factor model, incorporating group and moral orientation factors, which completely mediates the relationships between the religiosity variables and the social attitudes. Religiosity variables exhibit different patterns of correlation with the two factors. The two‐factor model provides a useful framework for further exploration of socially and politically contested attitudes.     

A Pentecostal Way of Doing Theology: Method and Manner

Abstract:  Pentecostalism as a Christian religious movement has been given much attention by historians, sociologists and even biblical scholars yet little attention has been given to the development of a Pentecostal theology. This article emphasizes the necessity of doing Pentecostal theology by means of an integrative methodology and in a narrative manner that flows out of Pentecostal identity. Pentecostal theology must move beyond the impasse created by subsuming its identity under the rubric of 'Evangelical' in order for it to articulate a vibrant fully orbed mature Pentecostal theology. This can be accomplished only when 'Pentecostal' is taken seriously as an authentic Christian tradition with its own view of reality. I argue that one very important way of articulating a Pentecostal theology in keeping with its identity is to ground it pneumatologically and organize it around the Five-fold Gospel.