Abuse and Older Persons: Issues and Implications for Counselors

Counselors can play a vital role in addressing the needs of increasing numbers of older persons subject to and at risk for abuse from their families, caretakers, and themselves.     

A Study of the Role of Gender in Family Therapy Training

A survey of the role of gender in family therapy training programs was conducted by the Women's Task Force of the American Family Therapy Association (AFTA) in order to determine the extent to which gender issues were included in the curriculum. Questionnaires were sent to 285 programs in the U.S., Canada, and overseas. Only 19% (n = 55) of the original sample participated, with the East Coast representing the largest proportion of respondents. Findings revealed that the three most frequently addressed gender issues are: 1) the impact of cultural and economic conditions on single, female-headed families; 2) gender issues associated with wife abuse; and 3) an examination of the implications of the therapist's gender in therapy interventions. Only 27 programs identify with a feminist model or have a clearly defined sense of gender awareness. A significant finding associated with the introduction of feminist content was the difficulty of integrating gender issues with major theoretical models. Trainee resistance and lack of faculty awareness were also considered obstacles to including gender in program curriculum.     

DESIGN, VALIDITY, AND USE OF STRATEGICALLY FOCUSED EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SURVEYS

This paper presents logic, procedures, validity, and use of employee attitude surveys targeted on strategic objectives of the firm. The logic is that employees at the front line are in an optimal position to report on the degree to which strategic initiatives are being carried out. The procedure is to design survey questions that focus on the initiative rather than on employees' personal feelings or satisfaction. To validate employee reports, the relationships between those reports and customer satisfaction over four quarters of the use of the survey are shown. Evidence shows that the logical and empirical keying of employee surveys to strategic initiatives and objectives of the firm provide data of immediate use to management, in the present case to both marketing and human resources management.     

Counseling the Older Rural Worker: A Report

This project's goals were to sensitize job service counselors to the needs and employment problems of older rural job-seekers and to develop a model in-service program.     

THE ATTRACTION PARADIGM REVISITED Responses to Dissimilar Others

A laboratory study investigated the effects of three kinds of information on response to dissimilar others. A2 × 2 × 2 design with two levels of “expectation of evaluation” (expressed like or dislike), two levels of “message openness” (open or closed), and two levels of “attribution of intent” (expressed desire to share or change attitudes) was employed to test hypotheses related to impression formed, defensiveness of response, and attraction toward a dissimilar other. Results from a multivariate analysis showed that response to dissimilarity differed significantly with variation in expectation of evaluation and message openness, but that responses did not vary in relation to attribution of intent. Results support uncertainty reduction theory, and it is suggested that some of the rewards normally associated with similarity can also be associated with dissimilar others, thus making for a more positive response to dissimilarity.     

Beyond Nuclear Deterrence: the concept of a retributive policy

ABSTRACT The primary aim of the paper is to apply the concept of retribution to nuclear defence policy. Nuclear defence policy, as I conceive it, is concerned with addressing the threat Soviet nuclear weapons pose for Western security. I argue that, contrary to popular opinion, MAD is not a retributive doctrine—that in fact it violates two constitutive principles of retribution: culpability and proportionality. After explicating these constitutive principles, I apply them to retaliatory strategy—showing that the culpability criterion restricts retaliation to the agents of aggression while the proportionality criterion requires a just measure of retaliation. The result is a defence policy continuous with the just war tradition—one which rules out deterrence based on threats against the civilian population. I show why a retributive policy requires non-nuclear forces and discuss the feasiblity of replacing all nuclear forces with conventional weapons. I anticipate and answer major objections to the denuclearization of U.S. and NATO forces. Finally, I conclude that an advocate of a retributive policy—specifically, a policy calling for a proportional or measured response against combatants only—must be willing, in the name of justice, to accept the risk of making war more thinkable by making it less horrible.