SEX ROLE CONSIDERATIONS AND BEHAVIORAL MARITAL THERAPY: EQUAL DOES NOT MEAN IDENTICAL*

Despite the egalitarian position espoused in behavioral marital therapy, little attention has been paid to sex role issues and female-male differences. This paper explores advantages and disadvantages of behavioral marital therapy vis à vis the treatment of women and men. Features of behavioral marital therapy implicated as important in the consideration of sex role issues include underlying assumptions of egalitarianism, assumptions of external causality, and orientation toward action, as well as specific procedures such as goal setting, behavioral exchange and training in communication and problem-solving skills. Each of these features is evaluated with respect to clinical considerations as well as to research findings on female-male differences in marriage. The paper concludes with recommendations as to how behavioral marital therapy could become more sensitive to sex role issues.     

Cognitive and behavioral therapies for pathological gambling

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of behavioral and cognitive treatment approaches in the management of pathological gambling disorders. Disappointingly, the literature to date contains only one controlled outcome study in which two differing behavioral techniques were compared. Although research in general has focussed on identifying the nature of cognitive distortions in gambling, findings from these studies have not been systematically translated into treatment programs. It is concluded that methodological limitations including small sample size, absence of control groups, multiple concurrent interventions and poorly defined outcome criteria preclude conclusive statements to be drawn regarding the active ingredient of either behavioral or cognitive strategies. The program offered within the Impulse Disorders Research Centre is outlined.The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance and contribution of Zachary Steel, Research Assistant, in the preparation of this paper.     

Research on the treatment of couple distress

This article reviews the research on couple therapy over the last decade. The research shows that couple therapy positively impacts 70% of couples receiving treatment. The effectiveness rates of couple therapy are comparable to the effectiveness rates of individual therapies and vastly superior to control groups not receiving treatment. The relationship between couple distress and individual disorders such as depression and anxiety has become well established over the past decade. Research also indicates that couple therapy clearly has an important role in the treatment of many disorders. Findings over the decade have been especially promising for integrative behavioral couples therapy and emotion-focused therapy, which are two evidence-based treatments for couples. Research has also begun to identify moderators and mediators of change in couple therapy. Finally, a new and exciting line of research has focused on delineating the principles of change in couple therapy that transcends approach.     

Anti-social youth? Disruptions in care and the role of ‘behavioral problems’

This paper explores the mechanisms behind the disturbingly high occurrence of placement disruption among young people in out-of-home care. Discussions have usually been framed in a vocabulary of risk and protection, with the bulk of research designed for singling out factors that correlate with stability and discontinuity in care arrangements. From this research tradition, we have learned that ‘behavioral problems’ are by far the strongest predictor for disruptions in care. By exploring the quality of care as experienced by young people themselves, this study suggests an alternative strategy. Findings suggest that disruptions occur as a result of complex social relations, as when young people struggle to fit in among other troubled youth in demanding residential settings. The paper concludes that labels such as ‘behavioral problems’ may have a reifying effect that individualizes the problem of care disruption while not being particularly helpful in explaining the phenomenon.     

Controlled Gambling for Pathological Gamblers

Despite its high prevalence, pathological gambling often remains untreated. It is estimated that only 10% of the pathological gamblers identified in prevalence studies will enter treatment. Within this small proportion, a high percentage will drop out. Despite the facts that some researchers argue against abstinence as the unique treatment goal and that regaining control appears to be possible for some pathological gamblers, abstinence has been the only treatment goal in most problem gambling interventions thus far. This paper examines the avenue of controlled gambling embedded in a harm reduction context as a viable solution for some pathological gamblers.     

Behavioral treatment of marital discord

Many techniques derived from various family therapies such as filial therapy (Stover & Guerney, 1967), conjugal therapy (Ely, 1970), conjoint parent/child therapy (Wertheim, 1959), conjoint marital therapy (Haley, 1963; Satir, 1964, 1965), and conjoint family therapy (Satir, 1964, 1965) have recently been incorporated into the practice skills repertory of clinical social workers. Of all of these approaches the behavioral view has a substantial pool of accumulated data to support its wide use in practice (Jacobson & Martin, 1976). However, virtually no detailed explanation of the behavioral view appears in the social work literature, thus hindering its application. To alleviate this deficiency this article reviews the following topics: basic philosophy; behavioral exchange and marital satisfaction; development of marital conflict; clinical implications; clinical assessment; tools for intervention; and procedural guidelines for the treatment process.     

Custodianship and its implications for the Children Act

SUMMARY. Custodianship of children was introduced by the 1975 Children Act, but not implemented until 1985. It has now been overtaken by new concepts in the 1989 Children Act, but the experience thus far provides useful indications of how Residence Orders may be operated. Based on Department of Health funded research, this article shows how careers and birth families see such measures designed to give security to children while maintaining contact with their original parents. The article gives important information to all professionals who will have to work with the new principles of parental responsibility.     

Treatment for Hoarding Behaviors: A Review of the Evidence

This article reviews the empirical literature on treating clients with hoarding behaviors, including psychosocial treatments, mainly cognitive behavioral, and pharmacotherapy. Standard treatments used for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) such as medication and/or behavior therapy have been associated with poor treatment response for those with hoarding. Recent prospective pharmacotherapy research suggests that serotonergic medication may be helpful to OCD patients with or without hoarding. A multi-component cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) designed specifically for hoarding has shown promising results especially in trials of individual therapy with periodic home visits. Social work researchers have played a prominent role in the development and testing of this CBT intervention and development of instruments to assess hoarding treatment outcomes. This CBT intervention has demonstrated modest success when delivered individually in an open trial and a waitlist-controlled trial, and in quasi-experimental studies of group treatment modalities, including in-person and web-based groups as well as bibliotherapy-based support groups. Overall, evidence supports the use of specialized CBT methods to improve hoarding symptoms. Future testing may include controlled trials with more diverse samples.     

A Field in Search of Concepts: The Relevance of Generativity to Understanding Intergenerational Relationships

Intergenerational relationships are increasingly recognized as an important field of practice and research. However, it has been argued that appropriate concepts and theories are still required to guide and consolidate the discipline. Although a number of concepts borrowed from the social sciences have been used with some success thus far, few attempts have been made to conceptualize intergenerational relationships from a psychological and developmental perspective. This article explores the usefulness of the Eriksonian concept of generativity as a framework for understanding intergenerational relationships. We describe the contribution of generativity to the intergenerational field and we explore the prospects, limitations, and potential of this contribution.     

Urban sacred natural sites – a call for research

Urban sacred natural sites are not well documented or understood as potential repositories of biological diversity or as critical components of local and indigenous tradition and cultural patrimony in urban areas. Virtually all research and activity on sacred natural sites thus far has focused on sites in non-urban areas, and most interest in sacred sites in urban areas has been on human-built heritage and structures. Minimal attention has been given to sacred natural sites that are in urban areas. These urban sacred natural sites may be connected to mainstream religions, or may exist where cities have developed on indigenous land and associated sacred sites. Given the lack of systematic study of urban sacred natural sites, we recommend further research, including: undertaking inventories; assessing biological features and their possible contributions to conservation; assessing the possible contribution of these sites to wider strategies; examining possible management and protection options; and promoting linkages to relevant global initiatives.     

The Organizational Niche

Although the concept of niche has been extremely useful in sociological theory and research, some aspects of the concept have not been clearly developed. This article advances a theoretical reconstruction of the concept of niche, with special application to organizations. The proposed formal model unifies several active lines of sociological theory. It also extends the notion of the niche from the realm of behaviors to apply to the rules coding social identities and organizational forms. The reconstruction gives deeper insight into the niche of an organizational population as well as individual organizations. Finally, the model analyzes the (thus far) tacit assumption that niches are convex, examines the implications of convexity for commonly used measures of niche width, and provides a general sociological argument for the predominance of convex niches.     

Gay Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Sexual Minority Youth: A Clinical Adaptation

Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at high risk for negative mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidality. However, there has been a disconnect between clinical social work practice and research with SMY, resulting in a lack of rigorous research that demonstrates the use of effective interventions. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has long been established as a best practice option for the general adolescent population suffering from mental health problems, knowledge about the use of CBT with SMY lags far behind. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present a clearly defined adaptation of CBT for SMY that integrates gay affirmative practices for youth (e.g., coming out, stigma and discrimination, the role of social support and community). Specifically, the authors: (a) discuss the impact of minority stress on SMY; (b) highlight the specific components of CBT that represent a good fit for SMY and also address the criticisms of using such an approach; (c) consider the importance of using gay affirmative practices with SMY; and (d) offer recommendations for incorporating gay affirmative practices into traditional CBT models to better meet the needs of SMY.     

Childhood behavioral and emotional disorders

We reviewed the literature on family treatment for childhood behavioral and emotional disorders and found an increase in the number of studies since 1995; however there was significant variation by disorder and therapy model. There is substantially more research on externalizing disorders (i.e., conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder) then internalizing disorders, depression and anxiety disorders. The data support the conclusion that family-based interventions produce results comparable to individually oriented interventions, and in some cases family-based interventions are superior to individual treatments. To date, cognitive behavioral family therapy and parent management have been the two models studied, almost exclusively. Implications for family therapy and future research are considered.     

I disagree,therefore I am: how to test and strengthen cultural versatility

In the last few decades, a perspective on how to resolve wicked social problems has become increasingly prominent: the cultural theory pioneered by anthropologist Dame Mary Douglas. So far, the empirical evidence garnered in support of this approach has mostly been of a qualitative nature. Cultural theory has fared less well in survey-based, statistical tests. However, several features make it hard to test the theory with questionnaires. We overcome this research dilemma by showing how cultural theory can be tested with observational and experimental tests developed in cross-cultural psychology. We argue that this is possible due to the remarkable overlap between concepts and theories in cross-cultural psychology and Douglas' approach. We present five research designs that add up to a rigorous test of cultural theory. Finally, we sketch some contributions that cultural theory could make to the further development of cross-cultural psychology, as well as to efforts to resolve wicked problems, if it were thus confirmed.     

Addiction Social Work Fellowship Program in Canada

Substance use disorders (SUD) disproportionally contribute to the global social and economic cost of disease; however, their treatment has been inadequate in large part due to an enduring research to practice gap in which competencies for treating and preventing SUDs are often lacking from social work education curricula. Training social workers in managing SUDs has been separated from nurse and physician training, partly due to the long-standing divide between the behavioral health and medical care system. Recently, a new interdisciplinary fellowship in addiction social work, nursing and medicine has been established in Vancouver, Canada. We describe the novel fellowship program and outline initial impact of the training on knowledge and skills in addiction social work from our qualitative evaluation of the fellowship. We conclude that training social workers, and other allied health professionals alongside physicians and nurses may extend the reach of this type of training program even further.     

The political economy of sociology: An interview with David Goslin,national research council

In this interview, David A. Goslin responds to a variety of questions concerning the relationship between the federal government and the political economy of sociology. He addresses the identity of sociology in Washington, the treatment of behavioral and social sciences as a special case in science policy, the greater acceptability of the behavioral sciences, the battle of 1981, the recurring need for reviews of the discipline, the role of the National Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences, the current status and rising prospects of the social sciences, and emerging areas of national concern. Lawrence J. Rhoades has been on the Washington scene for more than a decade. During the first four years, he served as executive associate of the American Sociological Association and wrote a social science and government series forFootnotes. He has since served in research policy, planning, and evaluation positions in the federal government. He currently is Washington correspondent forThe American Sociologist.     

Social-ecological innovation: adaptive responses to urban environmental conditions

Novel approaches to natural resource management, particularly those which promote stakeholder participation, have been put forward as fundamental ingredients for establishing resilient, polycentric forms of environmental governance. This is nowhere more pertinent than in the case of the complex adaptive systems associated with urban areas. Decentralisation of urban green space management has been posited as an element thereof which, according to resilience thinking, should contribute to the adaptive capacity of cities and the ecosystem services upon which they rely. Implicit in this move towards increased adaptive capacity is the ability to manage through innovation. Although the importance of innovation towards system adaptability has been acknowledged, little work has thus far been carried out which demonstrates that innovative use of urban green space represents a form of adaptive response to environmental conditions. The current paper reports on research which maps examples of organised social-ecological innovation (OSEI) in an urban study area and evaluates them as adaptive responses to local environmental conditions which may contribute to system resilience. The results present OSEI as a coherent body of responses to local social and environmental deprivation, exhibiting diversity and adaptability according to individual contexts. The study therefore provides evidence for the importance of local stakeholder-led innovation as in the building of adaptive capacity in urban social-ecological systems.     

Computerized Behavioral Interventions: Current Products and Recommendations for Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Unlike traditional methods of delivering substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health treatment, computerized behavioral interventions deliver services via computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of Web-based treatment programs designed for certain target populations. Studies have shown that many of these programs are evidence-based, and some are just as effective as traditional in-person interventions. This article reviews current computerized behavioral interventions and makes recommendations for how these tools can be incorporated into SUD treatment services.     

Adoptive Parents and Identity Development for Chinese Children

Summary

In 1991, the People's Republic of China passed an Adoption Law that legalized the adoption of abandoned female infants. The majority of adopted parents were from the United States, which caused a major impact on parental childrearing practices. The lack of birth information forced these adoptive parents to prepare for questions concerning the shaping of identity development and formation. Research has documented the Chinese policy changes, parents' initial adjustment to bonding, and problems with special needs. But little attention has been paid thus far to identity development. This qualitative study examines the anticipated concerns and projected strategies in addressing the lack of birth information and identity development. The study found parents focusing on creating a birth heritage, instilling pride in Chinese culture, nurturing American backgrounds, addressing the orphan identity, and coping with special needs. Practice implications for theory building, practice innovations, and new research developments are discussed.     

Housing first: paradigm or program?

Sobriety, treatment compliance and celibacy have traditionally been behavioral requirements for housing persons who are homeless, regardless of the circumstances leading to loss of home. This remnant of the British Poor Laws is based on the premise that personal and behavioral flaws lead to housing loss and must be remediated before a person can live in permanent housing. A recent approach has reversed this logic and predicates the ability to change based on first providing stable and long-term housing. Termed “housing first,” it is both a housing philosophy or paradigm that everyone deserves a home of their own, regardless of personal circumstances, prior to engaging in any rehabilitative efforts, it also describes specific program models. A review of the research indicates that the success of “housing first” relies more on political support than wide-spread scientific evidence of “best practices”. This report examines the development and scientific evidence for “housing first” programs in North America and suggests that future housing first research examine modifications necessary for distinct geographies and groups of homeless persons.