Heterosexual Therapists Leading Lesbian and Gay Therapy Groups: Therapeutic and Political Realities

The authors describe the thought processes, plans, and reflections of two heterosexual therapists who decided to lead gay and lesbian therapy groups in a university counseling center. The debate regarding the viability of the heterosexual counselor and the gay and lesbian client pair is discussed, as are the practical issues informing and maintaining thegroups. Campus political issues regarding the groups and counselor homophobia are explored.     

Role perceptions: Variations by sex and roles

A Role Perception Scale utilizing a combined projective-objective methodology was developed to assess female and male perceptions of each of three single roles — work, marriage, and parent — and two combined roles — work-marriage and work-parent. Research participants were 134 college students, 88 females and 46 males. Factor analysis of the objective scale, the only part to be scored, resulted in two major orthogonal factors labeled role engagement and competition factors. Sex and role differences for each factor were analyzed using 2×5 split block analysis of variance design with repeated measures. On three out of the five single and combined roles women perceived more engagement than men. In general males perceived roles as more competitive. These sex differences and patterns identified in within-sex analyses across roles are discussed.Parts of this paper were presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C., September 1976. Research was supported in part by the Dean's Development Fund, New York University, School of Education, Health, Nursing, and Arts Professions. Both authors are senior authors. The order of names is randomly determined. The authors wish to thank Philip Merrifield and Barbara Hummel-Rossi for their statistical assistance in data analysis.     

Attitudes and duration of unemployment among sixteen-year-old school-leavers

Research is reported which looks at the possibility of using attitude measures to identify, before they leave school, those low-attaining pupils at risk of longer periods of unemployment, and therefore in particular need of support, information and skills. Two independent assessments of attitudes were used: ratings by class teachers, and attitude scales. Findings were largely negative: we cannot predict, through the use of attitude measures alone, which pupils will take longest to find jobs. A variety of other factors influencing duration of unemployment are discussed, together with some implications for careers teaching in schools.     

Evaluating competence of women and men: Effects of marital and parental status and occupational sex-typing

A sample of 160 female and male college students read a completed job application and a letter written by the applicant. The job was in either a feminine or a masculine field. The applicant was described as either female or male, single or married, and having one or no children. Subjects answered seven evaluative questions about the competence of the applicant and the merits of the letter. Women, especially single ones, who applied for a sex-typical job generally were evaluated most favorably. Men, especially single ones, and women who applied for sex-atypical jobs were evaluated least favorably.     

Persistence in seminary and in ministry

A follow-up study of 672 seminary students from 14 seminaries who took the Theological School Inventory in 1962 and 574 from 10 seminaries who took it in 1973 investigated factors involved in persistence in seminary and in ministry. Among those found were definiteness of decision, interest in parish ministry, a supportive spouse, unambivalent resolution of the authority problem, good role models in father and ministers. Motivations included redemptive outreach, pastoral care, Christian insight and scholarship, the encouragement of other people and a sense of effectiveness in ministry.Dr. Cardwell is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Christian Theological Seminary, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208. This study was the basis for her Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, June, 1978. TSI data for the 1973 subjects were made available by Richard A. Hunt, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, and Director of Ministry Inventories, P.O. Box 8265, Dallas, Texas 75205. TSI data for the 1962 subjects were coded and made available by Edgar W. Mills. Ph.D., presently visiting Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas, San Antonio, formerly Director, Ministry Studies Board. Special credit is due the 16 seminaries who cooperated by furnishing follow-up data.     

The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: the warning signal hypothesis

Individuals who had experienced a range of different traumas were asked to describe the quality and content of their intrusive memories. Visual intrusions were the most common, and thoughts were uncommon. Intrusion quality varied little with type of trauma. Intrusive memories commonly consisted of stimuli that were present immediately before the traumatic event happened or shortly before the moments that had the largest emotional impact (i.e., when the meaning of the event became more traumatic). It is suggested that intrusive memories are about stimuli that through temporal association with the trauma acquired the status of warning signals, i.e., stimuli that if encountered again would indicate impending danger. This explains why intrusive memories are accompanied by a sense of serious current threat. The warning signal hypothesis may be useful in guiding therapists in identifying the moments with the largest emotional impact that will need reprocessing in treatment, and in educating patients about the nature of reexperiencing symptoms.     

Implications of test revisions for assessment with Asian Americans

There are serious gaps in knowledge with respect to the use of standardized assessment instruments such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997) or the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) with Asian Americans. Issues surrounding the availability, reliability, and validity of assessment instruments must be addressed before extended discussions about the implication of test revisions for this population can take place. The authors review the current status of the WAIS-III and MMPI-2 with Asian Americans with respect to their availability, reliability, and validity, including reasons why Asian Americans have been severely underrepresented in validation studies. The authors argue for the need to collect data on the use of standardized assessment instruments with Asian Americans and conclude with recommendations for the inclusion of this population in future test revision projects.     

In the eye of the storm: race and genomics in research and practice

The difficulties of operationalizing race in research and practice for social, behavioral, and genetic researchers and practitioners are neither new nor related to recent genetic knowledge. For geneticists, the bases for understanding groups are clines, observed traits that gradually change in frequency between geographic regions without distinct identifiable population boundaries and population histories that carry information about the distribution of genetic variants. For psychologists, race may not exist or be a social and cultural construct associated with fluid social inferences. Because definitions of populations and race can be socially and biologically incongruent, the authors suggest that geneticists and social and behavioral scientists and clinicians attend to external validity issues by operationalizing population and racial categories and avoiding race proxies for other biological, social, and cultural constructs in research designs, data analyses, and clinical practice.     

Gender differences in the relationship between young children's peer-related social competence and individual differences in theory of mind

In this study, the author examined the relationship between theory-of-mind understanding and preschool-aged children's peer-related social competence. One hundred eleven 3- to 5-year-old children (48 boys, 63 girls) participated in 2 theory-of-mind tasks designed to assess their understanding of false belief. Teachers rated children's peer-related social behavior in terms of prosocial behavior, aggressive or disruptive behavior, and shy or withdrawn behavior. Results indicated that, after controlling for age, theory-of-mind understanding significantly predicted aggressive or disruptive behavior for boys and prosocial behavior for girls. Theory-of-mind understanding also was related to lower scores of shy or withdrawn behavior for boys. Results are discussed in terms of the gender differences in the factors contributing to early peer competence.