A Systems Dilemma

The current shift of interest, reflected in public policy, from the production of goods to the provision of services, has caused a major re-examination of the nature of the services the individual can expect from his society. This re-examination is producing a number of insights, some of them shocking. In particular, we are learning that many of the systems we have created to deliver services are, in the name of “progress” and “civilization,” contributing to the conditions of human distress they were designed to alleviate. Much has been written lately about how service systems of one kind or another subvert their announced goals—how a welfare system perpetuates poverty, or how the medical profession creates iatrogenic illness. There has not been very much written, however, about how several systems inadvertently combine in their day to day operations in such a way as to frustrate each others' activities, and how, in so doing, they destroy in varying degrees the lives of people, or render it difficult for them to improve their lives. We have all been much too tightly locked in our own niches by training, experience, and various types of private interest to see this kind of interlock. It comes into sharp perspective only when one studies the problems of a single person in terms of his total life space, his “ecology.” This paper represents an effort to describe one such situation in a family as viewed from a community health services program designed to approach human crises as ecological phenomena, and to explore and respond to them within this framework. We have found that the best way to organize our view of the environmental field people move in is according to the diverse systems which make it up, so we have labeled our theoretical base “ecological systems theory.” ( 1 ) What is of particular interest to the behavioral scientist in the situation described is that neither individual nor family diagnosis, nor the contributions of the larger systems (in this case a housing system and a system of medical care) will, if viewed separately, explain the state of the man in question. Only when the contributions of all of these systems are made clear, and their interrelationships explored, do the origins of the phenomena described begin to emerge.     

Sexual Dual Relationships in Counseling: Confronting the Issues

Sexual intimacy between counselors and clients is a frequently claimed type of violation against licensed professional counselors. This article examines the issue of sexual dual relationships in terms of prevalence, harm inflicted on clients, counselor awareness, predictability, and parameters for concern. Implications for counseling practice, education of prospective clients, legislation, research, and counselor training are also discussed. It is suggested that despite the complexity and controversy surrounding the topic of sexual dual relationships, the challenge to counselors to confront and to explore these issues is critical to the profession and cannot be ignored.     

The impact of politeness and relationship on perceived quality of advice about a problem

Advice is a common but potentially problematic way to respond to someone who is distressed. Politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987) suggests advice threatens a hearer's face and predicts that the speaker‐hearer relationship and the use of politeness strategies can mitigate face threat and enhance the effectiveness of advice messages. Students (N=384) read 1 of 16 hypothetical situations that varied in speaker power and closeness of the speaker‐hearer relationship. Students then read 1 of 48 advice messages representing different politeness strategies and rated the message for regard shown for face and for effectiveness. However, neither speaker‐hearer relationship nor politeness strategies was consistently associated with perceived threat to face or perceived advice effectiveness. We suggest revisions to politeness theory and additional factors that may affect judgments of face sensitivity and advice effectiveness.     

APPLYING RANGE RESTRICTION CORRECTIONS USING PUBLISHED NORMS: THREE CASE STUDIES

This study evaluated the accuracy of range restriction corrections. Initial range restriction corrections used published norms as a proxy for unrestricted applicant data. The accuracy of the initial correction was evaluated using two large independent follow-up samples ( n = 983 and n = 1,389). The author found the initial norm-based correction to be very consistent with empirical findings. The application of these findings to range restriction corrections with customized (i.e., non-published) selection tests is also discussed.     

LARGE-SCALE PREDICTOR VALIDATION IN PROJECT A: DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND DATA BASE PREPARATION

The data base for the Army Selection and Classification Project (Project A) contains two major samples referred to as the concurrent validation sample and the longitudinal validation sample. The former was drawn from a cohort that joined the Army in 1983/84, and the latter from a cohort that entered in 1986/87. This paper describes the data base resulting from the concurrent sample. The sampling procedure, the distribution of sample sizes over jobs, the total array of variables, and the data collection procedures are described. Also discussed are the extensive data editing procedures that were used to deal with missing data.     

Constructing Realities: An Art of Lenses

In this essay I attempt to map the dimensions of my own move away from a cybernetic-biologic analogy for "family-systems" therapy. Central to this shift has been social construction theory augmented by two other lenses: a second-order view, and a sensitivity to gender. These conceptual tools have helped me to distance myself from my previous therapeutic stance and to envision a very different model, one that is less strategic and instrumental, and more collaborative and unconcealed.