DIE MARXISMUS – DEBATTE IM “SILBERNEN ZEITALTER”

Im Anfang des 20.Jahrhunderts unterzog eine Reihe von jungen, später berühmt gewordenen Philosophen den Marxismus einer tiefen Kritik. Ihnen ist es gelungen, wichtige Defekte der revolutionären Doktrinen aufzudecken und ihre verhängnivsollen Konsequenzen vorwegzunehmen. Diese Kritik ist auch für die gegenwärtige geistig-politische Situation aktuell.     

'The Rich Squander Money by the Thousands'

Following the publication of an unknown letter of Jung's on the theme of the possibility of liberal dictatorship, the authors have presented the actual letter that prompted Jung's reply and a further letter from the 16–year-old boy in Kansas. An interview with Jung in Hearst's International Cosmopolitan Magazine conducted by H.R. Knickerbocker in 1938 initially prompted the boy to write to Jung and the interview, which has been published, is summarized. Economic and financial themes were prominent in the boy's mind and links are made to earlier discussions in this Journal about these matters.     

Resistance and adherence to the norms of genetic counseling

Genetic counseling for women of advanced maternal age who are considering prenatal testing continues to be based on a principle of nondirectiveness. We interviewed 11 genetic counseling students and four counselors about how they experience and manage, in practice, the tensions between the ideology of nondirectiveness and the acknowledged reality that one can never be truly nondirective. We found that our respondents creatively resolve this tension—simultaneously resisting and adhering to the values of nondirectiveness and information-giving—in individual and situation-specific ways. This resolution is facilitated by the extent to which information given to counselees is fluid, mobile and context-dependent, but these very features of information also have critical implications for both the norms and the practice of genetic counseling.     

Taking an individualized approach to the assessment of self-efficacy and the prediction of alcoholic relapse

The present study reports on a clinical instrument designed for assessing self-efficacy in alcoholics. In contrast to studies that construct general measures, it was proposed that taking an individualized approach to assessment might offer an effective methodology. Thirty-four alcoholics in an outpatient, behaviorally oriented treatment program participated as subjects. During therapy, an Individualized Self-Efficacy Survey (ISS) was developed for each subject. The ISS was developed by (a) administering the Drinking Patterns Questionnaire (DPQ) to identify important problem areas (e.g., work, children, marital) and specific drinking antecedents and (b) constructing a 15-item scale using each drinker's most important cues. The utility of having clients choose their own items was supported by finding a significant relationship between problem areas identified as important on the DPQ and the areas reported as surrounding relapse. ISS ratings were reflective of efficacy changes during treatment, while posttreatment ISS scores were predictive of subsequent relapse. Situation-specific prediction of relapse was not found. The advantages of this methodology for clinical use are discussed, while general directions for future research are suggested.     

Families and family therapy in Germany

The author describes some of the effects of decades of life under a dictatorship for East Germans and the effects on family life and family therapy of changes following the recent reunification of Germany. A case example illustrates some intergenerational family problems associated with the changes. Contrasts are drawn between East and West Germany and family therapy's present stage of development is depicted in both parts of the reunified country. Germany has approximately 10,000 trained family therapists, a minority of whom work in private practice. The largest amount of family and couples therapy is performed in agencies.Portions of this material were first presented in a poster session at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy annual conference in Miami Beach, 1992.