Attribution of Responsibility for Marital Sexual Dysfunction and Tradionalism

Attribution of responsibility for sexual dysfunction among couples seeking sexual counseling was investigated in relation to sex of respondent and traditionalism of religious affiliation. Subjects were 190 married couples applying for treatment of sexual dysfunction. The results indicated a tendency for women to attribute responsibility to their spouses complemented by men's attribution of responsibility to themselves. However, when traditionalism of religious group affiliation was employed as a moderator, these sex differences in attribution were found to characterize only members of nontraditional religious groups. No sex differences were found for members of traditional religious groups, with average attribution scores falling around the midpoint of the spouse-self attribution dimension. Implications of the findings for further research and for practice are discussed.     

试论正确处理弱势群体权利保护中的几种关系

在弱势群体权利保护过程中,弱势群体的利益是否会与公共利益发生冲突?公共权力能否干涉弱势群体的权利?救助弱势群体是否只是社会的责任?在宪政法治条件下是否需要法制强权?要解决这些问题,必须以构建社会主义“和谐社会”作为时代背景,正确处理弱势群体利益与公共利益的关系;弱势群体权利与公共权力的关系;自我救助与社会救助的关系;宪政法治与法制强权的关系。     

Increasing Client Voice within Involuntary Groups

Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) is a client-driven outcome management system that has been proven effective with engaging voluntary mental health client populations through several randomized clinical trials. Little is known, however, about PCOMS application to clients who are court ordered or pressured to attend group programs. This study (N = 10) interviewed group facilitators who use PCOMS with involuntary groups. Participants strongly endorsed the use of the instruments to increase client voice, respond supportively to client incongruence, and focus on client responsibility for change. Guidelines for application to involuntary groups and research and practice implications are discussed.     

How Creative Group Work Helps Adolescents Create Relations with Self and Peers

ABSTRACT

Practitioners often face questions about how to approach adolescents to join a group where they can develop healthy relationships with themselves and their peers. A growing number of practitioners and researchers value creative—nondeliberative—forms of working with such groups. This article discusses the artful, actional methods the authors use in their work with time-limited small groups of adolescents (age 14–17) who experienced behavioral challenges. These creative methods were used in settings such as secondary schools, counseling centers, and nongovernmental organizations in Lithuania during social skills training groups facilitated by the social workers.     

壮族麽经布洛陀中的“麽汉皇”与布依族摩经中同类题材文献对比研究

布洛陀经诗是壮族重要的历史文献,有关"麽汉皇"的题材是经诗中重要的组成部分。贵州的布依族与壮族有着非常密切的历史渊源关系,其重要的宗教文献———摩经中也有不少与壮族布洛陀经诗内容相似的成分,摩经中的"安王"与壮族布洛陀经诗中的"汉皇"题材文献在名称、功能、内容、人物等各方面都存在着相同和不同之处。     

教育公平实现中弱势群体利益补偿机制的政策分析

“探讨弱势群体的教育利益补偿,促进教育公平”是当前教育政策研究的重要议题,这是基于我国社会现实的强烈吁求、教育公平的理性诉求和公共政府的责任使然。教育政策作为政府对社会全体成员的教育权益进行权威性分配的方案,在教育公平实现过程中扮演着重要角色,已成为教育领域弱势群体利益分配和补偿的主要手段。转变理念,民主决策,合理表达弱势群体的教育利益;明确教育政策补偿的构件,加强弱势群体补偿的针对性;加强教育政策补偿的执行力度,积极促成教育公平的实现,成为教育领域弱势群体利益补偿机制的建构策略。     

The systematic application of ethical codes in the counseling of persons who are considering euthanasia

As health psychology develops, psychologists and counseling professionals are becoming progressively more involved with patients who have chronic terminal illnesses such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. Consequently, they will be consulted increasingly by patients, caregivers, and lawyers in cases where euthanasia is being considered. There are numerous ethical dilemmas that could arise when counseling persons who are contemplating euthanasia. Professionals must consider carefully issues such as informed consent, bodily autonomy, respect for a person's dignity, patient welfare, as well as responsibility to society. The national psychological, social work, and medical associations of North America have each adopted a code of ethics. These codes may be used by counseling professionals to assist in the resolution of ethical dilemmas that may arise as a result of working with persons considering euthanasia. This paper discusses the relevance of these codes to the counseling of terminally ill patients.     

Use of Play in Parenting and Family Groups

Parents who play with their children are more likely to have a strong parent-child attachment. Including play in parenting and family groups can help build parent-child relationships. However, little is written about how to include play in existing protocols for parenting and family groups. This article explores how a multi-family group used playful activities to build client engagement, scaffold parent skills in using play, and increase parents’ willingness to play with their children at home. It concludes by providing a list of play activities which can be easily integrated into parenting and family groups.     

A SHORT-TERM GROUP TREATMENT MODEL FOR PROBLEM-DRINKING DRIVERS

Problem-drinking drivers have, from the outset of the New York State Program in 1975, presented a real challenge to alcoholism treatment providers. The very nature of the "mandated" condition of treatment as a prerequisite for return of a driver's license lends itself to resistance and rage. A short-term group treatment model is a response to the difficulties encountered in fitting the problem-drinking driver into a treatment system that is primarily designed for latter stage-alcoholics in need of long-term, intensive rehabilitation. The short-term group approach is an application of situational crisis theory, adjustment demand theory, and treatment contracting. The intervention model begins with two individual family evaluation sessions followed by from twelve to sixteen group therapy sessions of ninety minutes duration each.     

Race,Color, Ethnicity,and Class

The issues of race, color, ethnicity, and class present many challenges for goup workers leading adolescent counseling groups in culturally muted urban areas. These issues are examined in detail in the context of a school-based group work program for middle school teenagers. The role of the group leader in working with this population is discussed, and guidelines are offered for developing biculturalism in group members and for addressing race, color, ethnicity, and class as they arise in bicultural group processes.     

参照群体、相对位置与微观分配公平感:都市户籍移民与流动人口的比较分析

本文详细考察和比较了都市户籍移民和流动人口分配公平感形塑过程中参照群体选择及相对位置效应的内在逻辑，揭示了社会比较机制的具体作用机理。研究发现，在报告分配公平感时，户籍身份成为都市移民选择参照对象的制度性基础，拥有都市户口者方可成为户籍移民的参照对象，而流动人口的参照群体更为开放和多元，倾向于与所有都市常住居民进行比较。与此同时，即便考虑到社会网络结构、迁移时长、迁移世代等因素，结论仍具稳健性，来源地居民均不会被二者视为参照群体。另一方面，实证结果显示，相对位置距离对分配公平感的形塑作用之于户籍移民和流动人口并无显著差异，同时呈现非对称性特征：参照优势地位者体现了“平等主义”心态，参照劣势地位者则表现出“损失厌恶”的特征；相对位置距离的拉大给参照劣势者因损失带来的厌恶情绪大于参照优势者因获益而产生的满足感知。     

Them and Us: Hidden Ideologies-Differences in Degree or Kind?

This article looks at three measuring instruments—the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, the Social Dominance Orientation Scale, and the Attitudes About Reality Scale—used to examine covert ideology and its relationship to social and political beliefs and behaviors. These scales share similar ideological components involving abdication of moral responsibility to an outside agent, belief that one's own ideology represents the only form of truth, and negative beliefs about individuals who are not members of one's own group. Evidence is provided to suggest that radical fundamentalists and some groups within U.S. society share ideological beliefs that differ in degree rather than kind. These beliefs make it easy for them to divide the world into "us" and "them" and exacerbate the present conflict.     

Risk, Contingency and the Third Way: Evidence from the BHPS and Qualitative Studies

New Labour's "Third Way" in welfare derives its intellectual underpinning from "risk society" theory as developed in the UK by Anthony Giddens. The theory suggests that the crucial changes affecting citizens of modern societies are globalization, the post-traditional social order and social reflexivity. These changes lead people to question authority and to wish to take greater responsibility for meeting their needs. Applied to welfare, the analysis suggests a diminution in the role of government, greater proactivity by citizens and subsidiarity favouring community groups and also the private sector. It buttresses Third Way calls for "no rights without responsibility" and "equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome". This paper reports qualitative and quantitative research which indicates that the risks of modern social life are experienced differently by different social groups. Risk society theories assume value consensus. They understand social change to have a common impact across society, leading to a common response, and direct attention away from the particular needs and aspirations of more vulnerable groups. The risk society thesis is class ideology masquerading as social theory: it serves the interests of those already privileged in a more flexible society by obscuring the needs and aspirations of the more vulnerable, who already bear most of the burdens of social change.     

Measuring the Treatment Outcome of Short-Term School-Based Social Skills Groups

ABSTRACT

Short-term groups are frequently being used in schools today to address the ever-increasing needs among at-risk students. This research was intended to address some of the current gaps in our understanding of how short-term groups affect the functioning of children and adolescents. A combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods was utilized in the study to measure the treatment outcome of these school-based groups. A comparison of the results surfaced from this two evaluation methods was very informative and adds to our current knowledge and understanding of the treatment impact of short-term groups. Study participants and the group facilitators reported more internal areas of change as opposed to external behavioral changes. Future research questions and suggestions for designing more rigorous studies of short-term groups for at-risk students are delineated based on the results of this study.     

Personal Identity and Civic Responsibility: "Rising to the Occasion" Narratives and Generativity in Community Action Student Interns

Twenty–two students in a community action certificate program supplied "rising to the occasion" narratives during summer–long internships. They also filled out measures of generativity. Twenty–one students in an international studies certificate program that also included a summer internship served as a comparison group. Both groups reported equal personal growth from rising to the occasion experiences and no differences on measures of optimism, self–esteem or generativity. However, the community action students linked their personal growth experiences to future community service; a regression analysis also revealed that the best predictor of their stress–related growth was their level of generative concern. No comparable links emerged for the comparison group. Implications for cultivating connections between personal identity and civic responsibility through service–learning are discussed.     

Agency-Family Partnerships

This paper describes a research and demonstration project in which partnerships are formed between agency social workers and family members of elderly clients. While the social worker retains responsibility for counseling and provision of support to the elderly client, the family member is taught by the social worker to assume responsibility for the case management of services provided to his/her elderly relative. Practice issues which have emerged during the first year of this three-year project include: the generalizability of findings in light of the special characteristics of agency clients, the definition of the agency-family partnership, confidentiality in the context of this partnership, exceptions to family involvement, clients without families, and our experiences with research-practice collaboration. Each of these issues is discussed in this paper.     

Lessons Learned from Experiential Group Work Learning

This study evaluated the efficacy of student-led support groups designed to increase students' perceived knowledge of social group work. The student groups described here were based on theories of experiential learning described by Kolb and colleagues. The mixed-method evaluation used Clements' 17-item scale to measure readiness for group practice and narrative journal entries submitted by students about their experiences in the class. This was part of a larger study to determine whether student-led support groups decreased levels of stress among BSW students. Although limited in scope, this research suggests that student-led groups may improve BSW students' knowledge, skills, and readiness for group work practice.     

The Multiple Meanings of Peer Groups in Social Cognitive Mapping

Social cognitive mapping (SCM) is a common approach to identifying peer groups in developmental research. However, this approach involves three stages that each implies a unique conception of peer group. This article aims to bring conceptual clarity to the identification of peer groups using SCM by demonstrating how the meaning of peer groups differs at each stage of SCM. First, in the data collecting stage, interaction groups identify sets of children that hang out together. Second, in the data aggregating stage, co‐membership groups identify sets of children who are members of many of the same interaction groups. Third, in the data analyzing stage, similarity groups identify sets of children with similar patterns of relationships with their peers. After reviewing these three conceptions of peer groups, we briefly discuss some potential problems with using SCM as a tool to measure children's social networks and peer groups. Finally, we conclude by arguing that despite these issues, SCM remains a valuable methodology, and indeed one with untapped potential. Thus, we offer suggestions for the appropriate application of these theoretically and empirically distinct conceptions of peer group, noting that developmental researchers using SCM must identify which conception of peer group is used and justify why this conception is the appropriate one.     

The Middle‐class in the German Welfare State: Beneficial Involvement at Stake?

The working‐class is typically regarded as the driving force of welfare state development. Yet, some argue that the middle‐classes' beneficial involvement in the welfare state is crucial for its financial sustainability and popular legitimacy. Against this backdrop, we investigate how recent welfare state reforms in Germany which affect the status of the middle‐class are viewed and discussed by this group. Germany is a particularly interesting case because its welfare state is seen to be centred on the desires of the middle‐class, especially through its focus on status maintenance and horizontal redistribution over the life‐course. However, the move from status maintenance to minimum income support in unemployment provision and the strengthening of private old age provision challenge this assumption. Thus, we ask how the German middle‐class views the emerging abandonment of the principle of status maintenance and the shift from collective to individual responsibility. Based on qualitative material from focus groups, we find that individual responsibility is generally supported, but that the state is still assigned responsibility for providing basic levels of social security. Furthermore, for those groups seen as less capable of acting individually responsible (e.g. the poor or long‐term unemployed) the ‘inducement’ of – or assistance for – individually responsible behaviour by the state is demanded. Overall, while the principle of ‘individual responsibility’ seems to find some resonance among the middle‐class members interviewed, they still try to balance individual and collective responsibility.     

An Exploration of Cohesion and Recovery Outcomes in Addiction Treatment Groups

This article explores the relationship between group cohesion and recovery outcome variables in inpatient addiction treatment groups. We surveyed 104 people in group therapy using measures of cohesion, self-efficacy, social support, and coping. Length of stay in treatment has a relationship with cohesion. Significant higher order interactions were found with group cohesion (length of stay by type of addiction and length of stay by type of referral). The interaction of gender by addiction on measures of social support and self-efficacy were also significant. The latent construct of collective efficacy was confirmed using factor analysis, and we discuss collective efficacy and implications for group work with addictions.