“Becoming”: A Method for Expanding Systemic Thinking and Deepening Empathic Accuracy

The method of “becoming,” as an approach to increasing empathic ability, promoting exploratory dialogue, and heightening consciousness, is described. The method is seen as applicable across theoretical orientations. It is a way to operationalize Martin Buber's concept of “inclusion,” which he defined as a “bold swinging” into the consciousness of another person. Details are given about the method's application to resistance, confusion, defensiveness, criticalness, and other barriers to awareness, relationship, and the co-creation of shared meanings. Case examples are provided to illustrate the use of the method in a variety of contexts.     

HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN MOTHERS ASSIST THEIR EARLY ADOLESCENT DAUGHTERS WITH READING TASKS

Three African American mothers and their daughters participated in three, 30-minute reading sessions. During each session, daughters read narrative text for 15 minutes and expository text for the other 15 minutes. Categories of interaction emerged from those reading sessions. Results revealed nine mother interaction reading categories and seven daughter interaction categories. Irrespective of the type of reading, the categories were linked to the transmission, maturational, and transactional points of view. Implications provide suggestions for helping parents develop reading experiences that foster positive reading behaviors for their children.     

Impact of Group Settings and Gender on Meals Purchased by College Students

This study examines the impact of social context and perception of weight on calories purchased by college students in a natural setting. Not only did women in mixed‐gender groups purchase fewer calories than did women in same‐gender groups, but significant interaction effects exist among the gender composition of groups, perception of being overweight, and gender of respondents. Men modified calories purchased across mixed‐gender and same‐gender groups, purchasing more when in mixed‐gender groups. The study helps address theoretical and methodological gaps in prior research and frames the findings in terms of variation of gender salience across social relational contexts.     

After the Shooting Stops

Five pupil service personnel in a small, midwestern school system combined their efforts in responding to student, teacher, and parent needs after a 14-year-old boy wounded two teachers and a student and killed the principal in a shooting spree. It is suggested that schools develop tactical plans for responding to catastrophic situations.     

Is Expressed Emotion an Index of a Transactional Process? I. Parents' Affective Style

The degree to which expressed emotion (EE) attitudes in key relatives reflect ongoing transactional processes in families is a topic of controversy. The associations between EE attitudes, as measured during an acute hospitalization (using the Camberwell Family Interview) and during the aftercare period (using 5-minute speech samples), and interactional behavior in parents of recent-onset schizophrenics (this article) and in patients themselves (second article), were investigated. In the first study, EE attitudes manifested by parents during the aftercare period were stronger correlates of their interactional behaviors during the aftercare period than were EE attitudes measured during the inpatient period, despite the frequent correspondence between the two EE measures. The pattern of attitudes shown between the inpatient and outpatient periods also predicted transactional styles in parents during the outpatient period, findings not accounted for by clinical attributes of patients. When high-EE attitudes persist during the aftercare period and are reflected in transactional behaviors, the risk for subsequent patient relapse may be enhanced.     

Beliefs-Focused and Skills-Focused Employment Interventions for Women

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the beliefs- and skills-focused approaches to women's employment counseling. Results tend to support the value of the use of beliefs- and skills-focused interventions in assisting women who are experiencing employment dissatisfaction.     

Income Maintenance in the United States: An Examination of Unemployment Insurance

This article explores some of the historical and philosophical bases of unemployment insurance in the United States. Special attention is given to the issues involved in this major income-maintenance program that are relevant to employment specialists.