CONDUCTING NONSEXIST RESEARCH, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT WITH FATHERS AND MOTHERS:

In published research and in unpublished doctoral dissertation research, fathers are underrepresented in the investigation of child and family functioning. A number of possible explanations for this underrepresentation are discussed, including researchers'use of sexist theories that either directly or indirectly result in mother blaming, family demographics that suggest fathers are less present in the lives of their children when compared with mothers, and researchers'perceptions of fathers'unwillingness to participate in research. In order to encourage nonsexist family research that includes both mothers and fathers, recommendations are provided to increase the inclusion of fathers in child and family research. Specifically, researchers are encouraged to always provide parallel investigations of paternal factors when maternal factors are investigated. Researchers are also encouraged to investigate similarities as well as differences between mothers and fathers in relation to their children's functioning. Implications for the involvement of fathers in prevention and clinical interventions are discussed. In order to move beyond non-sexist research, feminist research issues are also raised.     

Aging of attention: Does the ability to divide decline?

Previous research has yielded conflicting results regarding the relationship between adult age and the ability to divide attention between two concurrent tasks. At least some of the inconsistency is probably attributable to methodological variations, such as the manner in which divided-attention ability has been assessed, how single-task performance has been considered, and the degree of control over relative emphasis placed on each task. Two experiments employing procedures sensitive to these concerns were conducted in which a speeded decision task was performed during the retention interval of a letter-memory task. The results of both experiments indicated that there were relatively few age-related influences on dual-task performance vis-à-vis those on single-task performance.     

Family therapy after a death in the traditional Jewish family

A family therapist working with a religious family should be aware of its religious dynamics which, as part of the family's overriding belief system, influence coping mechanisms. We discuss here some of the dynamics within a traditional Jewish family following a death, including traditional and specially constructed therapeutic rituals.     

Perceptions of mothers' and fathers' responsibility for children's behavior

Mother-blaming has been well documented in research related to the etiology and maintenance of child psychopathology and family dysfunction. However, there has been almost no research that investigates the differential attributions of maternal and paternal blame for different types of problems or attributions of responsibility for prosocial child behaviors. In the current study, young adult participants (primarily Caucasians from the middle class) were asked to rate their perceptions of mothers' and fathers' responsibility for children's internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behavior. Mothers were rated as more responsible for their children's internalizing behavior problems, and fathers were rated as more responsible for their children's externalizing behavior problems. Perceptions of mothers' and fathers' responsibility for their children's prosocial behaviors did not differ. Ramifications of mother-blaming and father-blaming are discussed.     

Implementing Housing First Across Sites and Over Time: Later Fidelity and Implementation Evaluation of a Pan-Canadian Multi-site Housing First Program for Homeless People with Mental Illness

This article examines later fidelity and implementation of a five‐site pan‐Canadian Housing First research demonstration project. The average fidelity score across five Housing First domains and 10 programs was high in the first year of operation (3.47/4) and higher in the third year of operation (3.62/4). Qualitative interviews (36 key informant interviews and 17 focus groups) revealed that staff expertise, partnerships with other services, and leadership facilitated implementation, while staff turnover, rehousing participants, participant isolation, and limited vocational/educational supports impeded implementation. The findings shed light on important implementation “drivers” at the staff, program, and community levels.