In-Home Treatment of Families with Seriously Disturbed Adolescents in Crisis

This article describes an innovative Adolescent In-Home Treatment Program that was designed as a hospital alternative for families with adolescents in serious crises. Using multiple-impact, in-home, and in-office techniques, a mental health team systemically intervenes with families to assist them in resolving this major developmental event. Since the program's inception, over 160 high-risk adolescents have completed the 90-day course of treatment. Preliminary data gathered from an early group of families and clinicians suggest the potential of significant improvements in family and adolescent functioning, and the attainment of clinical goals among the majority of families served.     

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Therapists and theorists have long sought to define and thus contain the complex constellation of people and their stories that together constitute what we call “family.” Locating the use of metaphor in family therapy and practice within its historical context, and mindful of the ultimate limits of even the most congruent metaphor, the authors present a metaphoric reconceptualization, that of family as anthology, to propose how individual and collective voices are heard, edited, subjugated, emphasized, embellished, and assembled; to illuminate the synergistic nature of family stories; and to integrate the dualistic simultaneity within families of “being” and “becoming.”     

Animal fears in the Antipodes: normative data from an Australian sample

The present study investigated reported fear of snakes, spiders and mutilation in an Australian sample ( N =235). Standardized questionnaires were used, and scores from the Australian sample were compared with those obtained by other authors from North American and Swedish samples. The psychometric characteristics of test scores from the Australian sample were similar to those from the North American and Swedish samples. Although there were no differences in reported fear of snakes between the three samples, both the Australian and North American samples reported greater fear of spiders than did the Swedish sample. Females scored higher on all scales than did males, and Australian and North American females reported greater fear of mutilation than did Swedish females. Test-retest reliability in a non-clinical Australian subsample ( n =48) was low for all scales. The results are discussed in terms of the adaptation/habituation hypothesis and the preparedness account of the acquisition of fear.     

THE INFLUENCE OF RATER AND RATEE AGE ON TWO PERFORMANCE JUDGMENTS

The influences of rater age and rater age on performance evaluations of 513 exempt managers from a large manufacturing organization were examined. Two general performance criteria and six specific performance criteria were used. Results showed small but significant age influences on two of the specific performance measures, Self-Development and Interpersonal Skills. Older workers received lower ratings than younger workers on both of these dimensions. In addition, younger raters gave significantly higher ratings than older raters on Interpersonal Skills. Small but significant age interactions were found in both Interpersonal Skills ratings and Self-Development ratings. The findings were replicated in a second sample ( N =178). The influence of age on performance ratings is consistent with previous research and is compared. The extent of the influence is smaller in the present study than in previous research.     

Excess in Art: The Case of Oversinging

“Oversinging” is singing that is excessive in one or more dimensions: too loud, too ornamented, too melismatic, too expressive, or employing too much vibrato. I begin with a characterization of oversinging and establish a context for discussion (Section I). Next I consider performances by Christina Aguilera and Michael Bolton as examples (Section II). In light of these examples, I consider how oversinging might be both aesthetically and morally problematic (Section III). Along the way I raise concerns about authenticity and sincerity (Section IV). Finally (Section V), I consider a “paradox” of oversinging involving the role of skill in artistic performance. My discussion touches on the aesthetics of performance, aesthetic judgment, virtuosity, and taste.     

What's the Buzz? Undercover Marketing and the Corruption of Friendship1

abstract Undercover marketing targets potential customers by concealing the commercial nature of an apparently social transaction. In a typical case an individual approaches a marketing target apparently to provide some information or advice about a product in a way that makes it seem like they are a fellow consumer. In another kind of case, a friend displays a product to you, and encourages its purchase, but fails to disclose their association with the marketing firm. We focus on this second type of case and argue that the constitutive dispositions of friendship that provide for the development and maintenance of intimacy also render friends especially vulnerable to undercover marketing techniques and so to the exploitation of friendship for commercial ends. We show how this is corrupting both of the friendship and the commercial agent.