An Inter-Rater Reliability Study of Parental Alienation Syndrome

The dual purpose of this study was to first test the acceptance of the concept of parental alienation among therapists, and secondly, to assess the validity of parental alienation as a syndrome among therapists who are familiar with this phenomenon. The study measured the independent variable, symptoms of parental alienation syndrome, and the dependent variable, therapists' perception of the syndrome.

The respondents analyzed five cases using Dr. Richard Gardner's differential diagnosis chart built into a questionnaire for the potential alienator and the child. For the measurements of reliability and inter-rater reliability, the researcher used Microsoft Excel and Kendall's coefficient of concordance.

The findings showed a significant level of concordance among raters in all five cases except in Case 2, where there was a lower consensus on the presence of parental alienation syndrome or meeting Dr. Gardner's criteria due to the complexity of the case presentation. Similarly, findings also reflect the relatively recent discovery of this phenomenon, evidenced by some level of apathy from the general population of therapists to get involved.

The completed surveys were from therapists familiar with parental alienation syndrome, which indicated their level of understanding of the phenomena and how their views differed from other therapists who were unfamiliar with PAS. The data gathered from the completed surveys was sufficiently reliable to suggest a wider study for the purpose of classification in the next edition of the DSM.     

GENEROSITY: VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM ARISTOTLE TO LEVINAS

This paper traces the concept and phenomenon of generosity from Aristotle to Emannuel Levinas and beyond. The question motivating this investigation is: must the generous act be restricted by a rational calculation of correct, or prudent, giving? Answers to this question vary. Aristotle and Kant would answer in the affirmative, while Emerson and Levinas would (apparently) not. The bulk of this paper is dedicated to Levinas's characterization of excessive generosity as a condition for the fundamental ethical relation, namely, the generous welcome of the Other. I end by considering the phenomenon of generosity from the point of view of the mid‐20^th century Mexican philosopher, Emilio Uranga.     

Between memory and destiny: Repetition1

This essay focuses mainly on the topic of repetition (agieren)—on its metapsychological, clinical, and technical conceptions. It contains a core problem, that is, the question of the represented, the nonrepresented, and the unrepresentable in the psyche. This problem, in turn, brings to light the dialectical relation between drive and object and its specific articulation with the traumatic. The author attributes special significance to its clinical expression as ‘destiny’. He points out a shift in the theory of the cure from recollection and the unveiling of unconscious desire, to the possibility of understanding ‘pure’ repetition, which would constitute the very essence of the drive. The author highlights three types of repetition, namely, ‘representative’ (oedipal) repetition, the repetition of the ‘nonrepresented’ (narcissistic), which may gain representation, and that of the ‘unrepresentable’ (sensory impressions, ‘lived experiences from primal times,’‘prelinguistic signifiers,’‘ungovernable mnemic traces’). The concept‐the metaphor‐drive embryo brings the author close to the question of the archaic in psychoanalysis, where the repetition in the act would express itself. ‘Another unconscious’ would zealously conceal the entombed (verschüttet) that we are not yet able to describe‐the ‘innermost’ rather than the ‘buried’ (untergegangen) or the ‘annihilated’ (zugrunde gegangen)‐through a mechanism whose way of expression is repetition in the act. With ‘Constructions in analysis’ as its starting point, this paper suggests a different technical implementation from that of the Freudian construction; its main material is what emerges in the present of the transference as the repetition of ‘something’ lacking as history. The memory of the analytic process offers a historical diachrony whereby a temporality freed from repetition and utterly unique might unfold in the analysis. This diachrony would no longer be the historical reconstruction of material truth, but the construction of something new. The author briefly introduces some aspects of his conception of the psyche and of therapeutic work in terms of what he has designated as psychic zones. These zones are associated with various modes of becoming unconscious, and they coexist with different degrees of prevalence according to the psychopathology. Yet each of them will emerge with unique features in different moments of every analysis, determining both the analyst's positions and the very conditions of the analytic field. The zone of the death drive and of repetition is at the center of this essay. ‘Pure’ repetition expresses a time halted by the constant reiteration of an atemporal present. In this case, the ‘royal road’ for the expression of ‘that’ unconscious will be the act. The analyst's presence and his own drive wager will be pivotal to provide a last attempt at binding that will allow the creation of the lost ‘psychic fabric’ and the construction, in a conjectural way, of some sort of ‘history’ that may unravel the entombed (verschüttet) elements that, in these patients' case, come to the surface in the act. The analysand's ‘pure’ repetition touches, resonates with something of the new unconscious of the analyst. All of this leads the author to underline once again the value of the analyst's self‐analysis and reanalysis in searching for connections and especially in differentiating between what belongs to the analyst and what belongs to the analysand. A certain degree of unbinding ensures the preservation of something ungraspable that protects one from the other's appropriation.     

The Double Bind as a Universal Pathogenic Situation

In this report we have tried to propose specific models for the genesis of three types of neurosis (i.e., hysteric, phobic, and obsessive-compulsive). We believe that this approach, based on a conceptual reconstruction of the specific learning contexts and experiences of an individual, is applicable to the study of the other functional disturbances as well. A central position is assigned in this to the ubiquity of double-bind phenomena which are assumed to be of greater importance than previously believed.     

Expectancies, Setting, Age, and Beverage Choice as Predictors of Sexual Behaviors in Hypothetical Dating Situations

Brief vignettes depicting heterosexual dates were used to examine how date location (bar/restaurant), age (21/35), female character's beverage choice (alcohol/soda), and respondents' gender interacted to determine participants' estimations of the likelihood of sexual behaviors between daters. Participants were randomly assigned to read vignettes that combined these factors in a factorial design. Younger, alcohol-drinking females in a bar date were perceived as more likely to engage in sex than were nondrinking females at a restaurant. For older daters, neither factor was relevant. The drinking female was perceived as more likely to initiate sex than was the nondrinker. Alcohol use by the male target was not related to perceived initiation likelihood. Participants with stronger alcohol expectancies gave higher estimates of likelihood of sex.     

The Coalitionary Process in Initiating Family Therapy

The observation and use of the coalitionary process constitute a substantial component of family therapy. Through monitoring this variable, the therapist can rationally establish basic ground rules, that is, lay down metacommunicational principles, that will frame and guide an effective course of treatment. In addition, as the coalitionary configuration in the course of family therapy replicates crucial family stereotypes, its careful analysis allows the calibration and refinement of therapeutic strategies.