The Assessment of Marital Adjustment with Muslim Populations: A Reliability Study of the Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment Test

The Muslim population is growing rapidly throughout the world and a sizable population of 6–8 million Muslims is estimated in North America alone. This population deals with a vast array of issues, including marital adjustment. Nevertheless, the marriage and family literature lacks the research needed to facilitate therapeutic treatment with Muslim couples adequately. Marital adjustment assessments that are commonly utilized have been tested on predominantly Anglo-American or Caucasian couples. The present study is a preliminary investigation of the Locke–Wallace marital adjustment test’s (LWMAT) reliability when administered to married, Muslim-American people.     

Temperance: with a consideration of evil,violence, and pedagogy

The article investigates the meaning of temperance by noting some cultural assumptions, raising the question as to why this classical virtue has largely disappeared from modern ethical discourse. By means of some historical notes temperance is identified as the unifying virtue in the person and in society. In its Christian form it is related to love of the transcendent goal of human life. By being similarly goal driven, education should consider the cardinal virtues and celebrate them through worship.     

A noble quest: cultivating Christian spirituality in Catholic adolescents and the usefulness of 12 pastoral practices

The essay considers the process of cultivating Christian spirituality in Catholic adolescents. It will integrate and document official Catholic Church teachings on the subject and also unofficial scholarly reflections. The exposé briefly defines adolescent spirituality and situates the process of cultivating adolescent spirituality in Catholic youth ministry. The concentration of the inquiry is predominantly single‐minded – addressing briefly – 12 Catholic spiritual virtues, traits, practices, and disciplines that cultivate adolescent spirituality in US Catholic young people.     

Defense Mechanisms and Object Relations as Factors in Marital Satisfaction

Two hundred and seven married men and 202 married women completed the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI; Ihilevich & Gleser, 1986) and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI; Snyder, 1981). The DMI was scored to yield defensive as well as object relations indices. Results show that Turning Against the Object exacerbates conflict while Principalization minimizes it. Marital satisfaction is seen as correlated with mastery of object relations. Results are discussed in the context of DMI psychometrics.     

Increasing Marital Intimacy: Lessons from Marital Enrichment

Both marriage and family therapists and family life educators work to increase marital intimacy. In this study the effectiveness of two marriage enrichment programs was assessed with implications for practicing therapists. Participants were randomly assigned to an Adventure or ACME (Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment) treatment group or to a control group. Marital intimacy was assessed before and after treatment. Findings demonstrated that both enrichment groups had a statistically significant increase in marital enrichment. Suggestions for adopting adventure-based interventions for traditional therapy are discussed.     

Assessment of factors in marital adjustment

The present study sought to assess important factors in marital adjustment and their interrelatedness. The explored factors were (a) sexual satisfaction and adjustment, (b) verbal and nonverbal communication, and (c) several demographic variables (e.g., age and number of years married). Marital adjustment was found to be significantly related to verbal and nonverbal communication, but not to sexual satisfaction and adjustment. Demographic variables were not found to be related to marital adjustment, but some were significant predictors of verbal and nonverbal communication and sexual satisfaction and adjustment. The implications of these findings for assessment and intervention in marital and sexual counseling and for future research are discussed.     

Effects of Couples' Perceptions of Genogram Construction on Therapeutic Alliance and Session Impact: A Growth Curve Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine how the construction of a therapist-administered genogram (TAGE) versus a self-administered genogram (SAGE) would affect therapeutic alliance and session character in couples therapy across time. Eight student marriage and family therapists conducting therapy with 17 couples administered a TAGE, SAGE, or control treatment intervention in the second therapy session. Measurements were taken following the first five sessions. Results of a growth curve analysis showed no significant differences in couple members' growth curves based on their participation in one of the three treatment groups. Recommendations for clinicians and future genogram researchers are provided.of the Marriage and Family Therapy program at     

The relationship of marital satisfaction and social support to depressive symptomatology

The relationship between depressive symptomatology, as measured by the short-form Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and two social support variables was assessed. Based on a sample of 131 married men and 136 married women, the results indicated that the quality of the marital relationship and the frequency of positive social contact with adults other than the spouse were significantly related to depressive symptomatology for both men and women. These two variables accounted for 16% of the variance in BDI scores. Further, analyses of risk for high BDI scores showed that individuals having the least support were 13 times more likely to be in the high-BDI group than individuals with the highest levels of social support. These results suggest that social isolation and marital discord are related to high BDI scores among married adults.     

Being Unimpressed with Ourselves: Reconceiving Humility

I first sketch an account of humility as a character trait in which we are unimpressed with our good, envied, or admired features, achievements, etc., where these lack significant salience for our image of ourselves, because of the greater prominence of our limitations and flaws. I situate this view among several other recent conceptions of humility (also called modesty), dividing them between the inward-directed and outward-directed, distinguish mine from them, pose problems for each alternative account, and show how my understanding of humility captures truths present but exaggerated in several of them. Responding to some problems for my view, including what I call “Driver’s Paradox”(i.e., the strangeness of someone’s proclaiming ‘I’m humble!’), I suggest that some over-ambitious claims about our moral responsibilities may indicate a lack of proper humility. I discuss the relationship of the character trait of humility both to what humiliates and to what humbles, concluding with consideration of the background assumptions against which, and the circumstances in which, humility may reasonably be classified as a moral virtue.