Female Aspirants to the Roman Catholic Priesthood

Parish priests (n=85), nonparish priests (n=55), and women who aspire to, but who are barred from, ordination in the Roman Catholic Church (n=235) participated in an investigation of Holland vocational-personality types, job satisfaction, and psychological dysfunction. Of the three groups, the women's Holland-type code, as determined by the means of the Holland-type scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory, was the most similar to the Holland-type code of clergy member as assigned by the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. Women who were barred from the priesthood reported less job satisfaction than the priests. Significant differences on three clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were in the direction of greater psychological dysfunction on the part of the priests.     

Theories of Family Adaptability: Toward a Synthesis of Olson''s Circumplex and the Beavers Systems Models

Two typologies of family process, Olson's Circumplex Model and the Beavers Systems Model, are discussed, focusing particularly upon their definitions of family adaptability. It is argued that the two typologies are not simply "separate but equal" (11), but, rather, that there is an ambiguity in the Circumplex Model that disguises a fundamental theoretical overlap between the two. Olson's definition of adaptability is founded upon the concepts of morphogenesis and change; Beavers builds upon the concepts of negentropy and competence. It may be shown, however, that both understandings are necessitated by the theoretical writings of Olson and his colleagues. The nature of this ambiguity in the Circumplex Model is critically explored, and a higher-order model that attempts to synthesize these two theories is proposed.     

Privileged Communication in Selected Helping Professions: A Comparison Among Statutes

The authors present findings of an examination and assessment of existing privileged communication statutes and rules of evidence in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for clients of selected helping professionals: psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists or counselors, school counselors, and licensed professional counselors. Data are reported regarding the extent to which each of these professional groups has succeeded in establishing that their clients' communications with them are entitled to legal privilege, the scope of privilege extended, and specified exceptions to privilege. The report concludes with implications and suggested guidelines for practice.     

Hospitalization of Single-Parent Families of Disturbed Children

In this paper, six years of experience with well-planned, short-term family hospitalization is described. Each family has at least one identified patient who is a child. The approach to treatment is systemic and structural. Areas discussed are selection of families, planning of the hospitalization, stages of the hospitalization, and the organization of the staff. Illustrations are provided by seven case vignettes.     

ARE WE VALIDATING MORE BUT PUBLISHING LESS? (THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENTAL REGULATION ON PUBLISHED VALIDATION RESEARCH–AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION)

Criterion-related validity studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology between 1960 and 1979 are examined to determine what changes have occurred in the volume of published research, the types of research design, occupations investigated, predictors and criteria used, and obtained validities. The major changes in the published research are both an absolute and relative decline in the volume of reported validation research, an increase in the average sample size, a decline in the proportion of studies utilizing supervisory rating criteria, a de-emphasis of aptitude tests as predictors, and a tendency towards greater use of predictive research designs. However, no significant change has occurred in the absolute magnitude of reported validity coefficients during this 20 year period nor in the types of occupations being investigated. These changes are interpreted in terms of increasing governmental intervention in employment selection during the last two decades.     

The Use of Time Limits in Brief Psychotherapy: A Comparison of Six-Session,Twelve-Session,and Unlimited Treatment with Families

This study compared the relative effectiveness of two durations of time-limited psychotherapy with time-unlimited treatment and a waiting list control group. Thirty-seven families applying for treatment at a child guidance clinic were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (a) time-limited therapy of 6 sessions within 8 weeks; (b) time-limited therapy of 12 sessions within 16 weeks; (c) time-unlimited therapy; and (d) a waiting list control group in which families waited approximately four months before beginning treatment. Outcome was assessed from multiple sources: parents, child, therapist, family interaction ratings, and missed and canceled sessions. Analysis of data provided some evidence that families who received treatment fared better than those on the waiting list. There were no consistent differences between 6-session, 12-session, and unlimited therapy. A model is proposed for the further investigation of time-limited treatment.