Spirituality: The Key to Recovery From Alcoholism

The authors suggest that a condition of “negative spirituality” underlies and sustains alcoholism, and perhaps all addictions, and that a secure recovery is not possible unless a “spiritual awakening,” such as is envisioned by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), is achieved. A broadly applicable conceptual model of spirituality is inferred from the AA 12-step rehabilitation program.     

The Acquisition of Information: An Important Life Skill

This article proposes the acquisition of information as a relevant step in the problem-solving process. A problem-solving model is outlined, the link between individuals and information is explored, and an information system is presented. The authors identify formal and informal resources and develop a model for teaching information acquisition. The need for learning this skill is considered in both a preventive/enhancement and counseling context.     

THE SOUNDNESS OF SUPERVISORY RATINGS AS PREDICTORS OF MANAGERIAL SUCCESS

A model of career development is presented. Using this model, three types of validity, empirical, content, and construct, are considered for supervisors' rating of non-managers as a predictor of success as managers. As denned in the Uniform Guidelines and the professional literature, all three are inapplicable to this prediction situation. Characteristics of a sound rating system are suggested.     

SELECTION INTERVIEWING IN THE LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY: AN UPDATE OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Over the past decade, the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association has been researching and implementing the use of structured selection interviews in the agent selection process. The practical problems encountered during this period are reviewed, and studies of the most recent interview guide are presented. These studies are based on interview evaluations made by 270 managers in interview training sessions, as well as field managers'evaluations of 163 applicants in actual agent selection situations. The results indicate that it is possible for managers to agree on their evaluation ratings of an applicant, that there is a stable factorial structure for the ratings, and that the ratings are related to the selection decision although not all items carry the same weight. The implications of these results for the use of structured selection interviews and for further research are discussed.     

Relatives' Awareness of Their Own Expressed Emotion as Measured by a Self-Report Adjective Checklist

Relatives' ratings of their affective attitudes toward a schizophrenic family member (N = 54 ) on a self-report adjective checklist were compared with two methods for rating expressed emotion (EE) — the original Camberwell Family Interview (CFI-EE) and a Five-Minute Speech Sample method (FMSS-EE). Eighty-four relatives were included in the sample. Results indicate that, in general, the relatives in the present sample perceive in themselves attitudes toward the patient that parallel those assessed by outside raters. A higher rate of correspondence was found between adjective ratings and concurrent FMSS-EE status than with prior CFI-EE status. Relatives classified as high-EE, critical by either method, were more readily discriminable in their adjective ratings from those rated low-EE than were relatives rated high-EE on the basis of emotional overinvolvement.     

Supervision Needs of Correctional Mental Health Counselors

Supervision of mental health counselors and psychologists is a developing field within psychology. Supervision models and needs are being researched and defined. Supervision for correctional mental health counselors and psychologists is an important part of correctional psychology, but has received very little research attention. There are many aspects of correctional psychology that are unique from the field of psychology as a whole; this is certainly true for supervision of correctional mental health staff. This article examines the supervision needs of correctional mental health counselors and psychologists. An application of one supervision model to correctional psychology is presented.     

Linguistic styles and complementarities in analyzing character

This paper discusses and illustrates some technical implications of D. Liberman's contributions to character analysis. Psychoanalysis is an extended conversation, and character structure is expressed linguistically as part of an interactive linguistic fi eld. Liberman's notions of linguistic styles and communicative interaction defi ne a unique analytic surface from which to examine the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects of character. The presence of a rigid and defensive linguistic style refl ects resistance and communicative impasse within the transference and countertransference matrix. A fully interactive communicative experience integrates all aspects of the conversation and allows both participants to take part in a shared semantic fi eld, the precondition to the generation of new meanings. Liberman suggests responding to miscommunication by means of a methodical linguistic attitude. Various such complementary responses are explored through several vignettes, with a particular focus on the interplay of the epic and narrative modes.     

Explaining a Religious Anomaly: A Historical Analysis of Secularization in Eastern Germany

The sociology of religion is engrossed in a debate concerning the process of secularization. Some theories of secularization hold that religiosity decreases under the effects of modernization. In opposition, supply-side models of religious change maintain that declines in religiosity can be explained only through changes in the supply of religious goods. To further examine mechanisms of secularization, this article investigates the emergence of the most secularized society in the world today—eastern Germany. The extremely high percent of atheists in contemporary eastern Germany suggests that the public demand for religion has diminished. But the process of modernization did not bring about this change; instead, current drops in religious demand and religiosity in eastern Germany are the result of dramatic interventions in the supply of religious goods over the past two centuries. We trace the historical conditions that have created the most atheistic society ever.