Effects of Conflict Styles and Conflict Severity on Quality of Life of Men and Women in Family Businesses

Studies show that family businesses need to manage conflict, but there has been little research on different conflict manifestations and their impact on families involved in businesses together. This study investigates the impact of six conflict styles on severity of conflict and quality of life for husbands and wives in 206 farm family businesses. Data analysis was done using structural equation modeling, with independent models for each gender. For men, the assertion style negatively impacted, and aggression positively impacted the severity of conflict; for women, aggression and withdrawal styles positively impacted, and denial negatively impacted severity of conflict. There was a strong negative relationship between severity of conflict and quality of life for both men and women in family businesses.     

Adoptive Family Adjustment and Its Relation to Perceived Family Environment

ABSTRACT

Fifty-one adopted college students from three mid-sized East Coast universities participated in interviews structured to gather information regarding adoptees' perceptions of adoptive family life. Additionally, subjects completed a scale which measured their perceptions of general characteristics of family environment. Multiple regression analysis revealed that of ten adoption-specific factors derived from interview data, overall satisfaction with one's adoptive status and family life was the strongest predictor of perceived general family environment. Adoptee satisfaction predicted high levels of family expressiveness, ethical focus and involvement in shared activities as well as low levels of family conflict. Adoptees' perception of adoptive fathers' and mothers' communication styles predicted different aspects of family environment. Adoptees' acknowledgment of life differences due to their adoptive status did not relate to family expressiveness. The latter finding lends support to recent research suggesting that acknowledgment and expressiveness are independent aspects of adoptive family functioning.     

A review of literature: An examination of the correlation between attachment styles and adolescent girls’ sexual behaviors

ABSTRACT

This literature review examines eight studies of parental attachment styles, sexual behavior, and health outcomes among adolescent girls. The review focuses on studies that analyzed the perceived relationships between parents and their adolescent daughters and whether instabilities of life experiences correlated with risky sexual behaviors and if high-risk sexual behaviors were associated with an increase of sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies, and other poor health outcomes in adolescent girls. Findings show adolescent girls with insecure parental attachment styles were at a higher risk of sexual behaviors, early pregnancies, and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). The most common finding in the studies reviewed was the significant association of how higher parental communication and monitoring may prevent risky sexual behaviors at an earlier age. Recommendations for mental and health care providers include the development of treatment programs to address the importance of parent-attachment relationships and multifaceted health needs of adolescents girls. Programs can be strengthened by involving other family members, improving parent-daughter communication and relationships and emphasizing system-level change (policy, procedure, practice). Adding these elements may ultimately lead to sustained improvements over time. Future research on other family social factors (e.g., divorce and separation of attachment figure, poverty, and single-parent homes) associated with attachment and high-risk behaviors is warranted. More research is needed to exam how secure attachments among adolescent girls may prevent earlier sexual encounters, unplanned pregnancies, and STI’s.     

The Family Outreach Model: Tools for Engaging and Working With Families in Distress

The purpose of this article is to present a family intervention model to family service providers that builds on previous research in areas of social support and family problem solving. The Family Outreach Model provides a set of strategies for engaging and working with families in five phases of family coping at different points in time in the family's life. The strategies reflect intentional choices by family service providers about both collaborative and directive styles of therapeutic alliance and highlights ways to determine which style best fits with what specific families want and need, depending on the manner of family coping that it is using. Implications for programs and public policy are presented.     

Juvenile Delinquency in Search of a Practice Model: Family Health,Differential Association,and Social Control

ABSTRACT

Historically, practice research on juvenile delinquency has often been guided by the theories of differential association and social control. However, current research indicates that no matter what theory of delinquency is pursued, it has had little effect on decreasing juvenile arrest and violent crime rates. This article will explore the dynamics of the theories of differential association and social control in relation to juvenile delinquency. These linear, normative, and deficit-based theories are then contrasted with family health practice, an alternative theory and intervention model which focuses on the multiple forms and needs of families and their strengths. Specific family health practice principles and interventions are suggested for practice with families in which juvenile delinquency occurs. Finally, a case example utilizing family health interventions is presented.     

Making sense of the parenting ‘soft/hard split’

This paper explores the common parenting style tension around nurture versus limit-setting often evident when working with families with a symptomatic child. Firstly it will delve into the parenting ‘soft/hard split’ with an overview of the literature on parenting styles. Next, it summarises the appearance of this phenomenon in the family therapy literature during its formative days, noting how Bowen, Minuchin, Haley, MRI (Bateson), and the Milan associates respond to this parent presentation in their approaches. Next, the paper outlines recent iterations of these family therapy interventions. An expanded discussion follows on Bowen theory's understanding of the parenting tension triangle. The article then outlines elements of the author's qualitative research study of parents' experience of adolescents' mental health treatment where the ‘soft/hard split’ emerged as a repeating theme. Finally, a clinical intervention based on Bowen theory, the Parent Hope Project, is outlined for how it addresses the parenting ‘soft/hard split.’ The goal is to contribute to understanding this phenomenon and its implications for clinical practice.     

The Impact of Family Therapists’ Adult Attachment Styles on Their Career Choice and Approach to Therapy: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Attachment theorists have highlighted the role of the therapist in providing a ‘secure base’ for therapy. This raises the question of how therapists with insecure as well as secure attachment styles manage the integration of their personal experience and their therapeutic work. This study explored the relationship between family therapists’ adult attachment styles, influences on their career choice and their approach to therapy. Participants’ (n = 11) attachment styles were previously assessed using the self-report Experiences in Close Relationship questionnaire. Three participants were assessed as having a ‘secure’ attachment style; three were ‘preoccupied’, three ‘fearful’ and two ‘dismissing’. They were interviewed about their practice and the impact of past or current relationships on their development as therapists. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the verbatim accounts into cluster of master themes and subthemes. The analysis identified two master themes: understanding one’s self and the impact of family of origin experiences, and the integration between personal experiences and therapeutic work. There were differences in responses relating to the therapists’ attachment styles. Therapists with ‘secure’ adult attachment styles were aware of their challenges and able to utilise their experiences in their practice and respond sensitively to their clients. Conversely, those with ‘insecure’ styles have difficulties in mentalisation and in using counter-transference responses in their practice. We suggest that family therapists, social workers and others engaged in therapeutic work with families should undertake an exploration of the ‘self’ of the therapist in the context of their own family relationships and adult attachment styles as part of their training and continuing professional development.     

Adult learning styles: Implications for practice teaching in social work

This paper focuses on the current aspiration to further the process of continuing professional development in social work. It contends that knowledge from the field of adult learning theory may be helpful in sign-posting some tangible ways forward here. The particular emphasis is on critically assessing the usefulness of identifying learning styles as indicators of preferred ways of learning. Knowledge of learning styles is explored as one way of promoting students' learning on practice placements. A small-scale qualitative research study with a group of practice teachers and their students is presented as a vehicle for exploring this new terrain in social work. The findings of this research build on key themes identified by the current literature in this area. The author's findings suggest that information about learning styles has direct practical application in the social work practice teaching arena. The data points to the potential value of using such information to guide students' learning on practice placements and has relevance to considerations of their continuing professional development. Suggestions are put forward to highlight how practice teaching and Diploma in Social Work programmes could facilitate this process. The paper stresses the over-riding need to view students as actors in a broader social context, however, and highlights how information regarding learning styles needs to be utilised in this context.     

Adolescents' Self-Reported Risk Factors and Desire to Talk About Family and Friends

Summary

Adolescents entering an urban mental health program completed Adquest, an 80-item self-report inventory asking about important areas in their life such as school and education, work, health, sexuality, substance abuse, personal and family life. This article examines how much adolescents wanted to talk about family and friends with their counselors, gender and age differences in this desire, and how that is mediated by behavioral risk factors. Irrespective of the existence of coping problems and behavioral risks, adolescents expressed a strong desire to discuss family, and, to a lesser extent, friends, in counseling. From a clinical standpoint, this finding highlights Adquest's limitations because it is based on an individual, behavioral risk paradigm rather than on more systemic factors in the lives of these adolescents. Implications regarding the use of practice-based research to facilitate reflective practice are discussed.     

Ambicultural blending between Eastern and Western paradigms: Fresh perspectives for international management research

East and Southeast Asian worldviews are distinctly different from those of the West. Westerners and Asians construct their environments differently, not least because they construct the notion of ‘self’ very differently. This paper describes and exemplifies distinctions in cognitive and linguistic styles between the East and the West and outlines the implications of these styles for environmental perspectives and research paradigms. Examples from Thailand illustrate the philosophical roots and practical implications of an indigenous Eastern perspective for local business interactions. We explore the privilege afforded in Western, Cartesian paradigms in (Asian) management research and stimulate debate on the benefits of promoting alternative Asian indigenous perspectives for both management research and management practice. We support the idea that Asian management discourse needs more self-confidence and deserves a more prominent place in international research, not least because international management research will greatly benefit from freshly ‘blended’ perspectives that incorporate Eastern and Western perspectives.     

Working with Parents to Reduce Juvenile Sex Offender Recidivism

SUMMARY

Although there is very little research in the area of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment, one of the factors that might be worth exploring is how the parental relationship may aid in successful relapse prevention. Since the family environment is a potential risk factor for adolescent sex offenders, integration of relapse prevention into daily family life may be a significant part of these youths' success or failure in the community. This article focuses on the concept of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment. Issues addressed include what treatment providers can do to involve parents in relapse prevention, treatment providers' misconceptions about the inclusion of parents in treatment, a rationale for including parents in treatment, and research regarding different parenting styles.     

Kostenstruktur und Ästhetisierung?

Life style research has become an independent branch of social structure analysis, that systematically complements classical research on social inequality in the explanation of social action and of attitudes. However, there are important theoretical gaps in life style research: firstly, there is a lack of theoretical proposals to explain the statistical connection between life styles on the one hand and social action and attitudes on the other hand. Secondly, it remains unclear, why life styles sometimes are very good predictors of social action and at other times they are not. In a first step this article puts forward an action theoretic framework as foundation for life style research, that implies a conceptual shift from life styles to cultural preferences. In a second step I develop three theses, that state relatively precisely the conditions for a high or low explanatory power of cultural preferences. They are empirically tested in a secondary data analysis, that supports the applicability of the theoretical ideas developed in the paper.     

Cultural Competency and Achieving Styles in Clinical Social Work

Abstract

This paper attempts to build a cultural competency framework by reviewing the literature and laying a conceptual foundation for professional standards in clinical social work. It also explores the implications of cultural competency by relating some important factors to clinical decisions, alliance, and outcome in the mental health field. The pathways and directions of the relationships as well as the potential factors affecting cross-cultural clinical alliance are illuminated in a general model to guide hypothesis formulation in further research. Empirical data are presented on clinical social work practice with Asian American clients in light of a key factor in shaping cultural competency, i.e., clinicians' personal achieving styles. The findings suggest that such styles are culturally bound.     

The continuum of dependent family care: a theoretical explanation and model

ABSTRACT

Caring for dependents with disabilities and how this type of care differs from the care of typically developing dependents has largely remained unaddressed in the work–family literature, partly because of a lack of theoretical development on the concept of dependent family care. Studies examining dependent family care often apply a life course perspective, missing key disability factors influencing dependent family care demands and need for resources. This article develops a theoretical framework of dependent family care that accounts for both typical care, which follows the life course trajectory, and exceptional care, which follows a disability trajectory. We position dependent family care as based on a continuum, achieved by adapting life course theory, family adjustment to chronic illness, ecological systems theory, stigma theory and the social model of disability into a model. We explain how dependent family care occurs and what contributes to whether one is engaging in typical or exceptional care. We draw broad constructs representing predictors of different types of dependent family care. We provide specific examples to illustrate how one might test theoretical propositions, an agenda for further research and discuss implications for family–work–community research and practice.     

Family Social Work Practice: Onward to Therapy and Policy

ABSTRACT

In a recent article published in the Journal of Family Social Work McNeece (1995) argued that family therapy has no interest in or relevance for social policy interventions. Through the presentation of several arguments he constructs an irreconcilable dichotomy between policy and practice, suggesting that therapeutic interventions are responsible for pulling resources away from the development of effective social policy interventions. This paper challenges the dichotomy between policy and practice and presents an alternative view concerning the relationship between social policy and family therapy. The increasing importance of family policy in family therapy is summarized and a new trend within marriage and family practice, policy as practice, is discussed. Current family practice literature and personal case examples are used to provide alternative viewpoints to three main points that were presented by McNeece concerning family therapy practice, and the therapy/policy interface. Finally, the current practice context of managed care is used to illustrate the interdependence of practice and policy, and the need for a new understanding concerning family practice.     

Lebensstile und Wohnstandortwahl

Life style research and various disciplines dealing with regional studies argue that life styles are explanatory relevant for decisions in different behavioral areas, in particular for residential choices. However, the results of previous research are rather mixed. To specify the conditions for the explanatory relevance of life style based preferences for locational choices, this article ties in with a parsimonious decision theoretic model, which has been applied both in the sociology of the city and in life style research. Based on this theoretical framework an empirical study is presented, which tests the explanatory relevance of life styles for residential choices. The study is based on neighborhood survey data from Leipzig, representing a context, in which a strong impact of life styles may be expected. However, even in this context the empirical study shows rather limited explanatory power of life style based preferences for residential choices, whereas household arrangements and economic resource endowments of persons show much more explanatory power.     

Race,sex, and alternate lifestyle choices

This article is a criticism of recent work on alternative life styles both because of its lack of attention to structural constraints on the ability of individuals to pursue personal growth as an important goal in their lives and for its young, affluent, white male bias in the choice of alternatives being researched. Using a sample of first year students at a large urban university, we examined a range of lifestyle choices by race and sex. Differences in the students' background included larger families, lower levels of education, and more frequent contacts with the extended family for Black students as compared to their white counterparts. We were not surprised to find that, of the four groups, white male students most approved the types of alternatives usually discussed by alternative lifestyles researchers; specifically, those concerning sexual freedom, since this is an area traditionally more open to white males. On other alternatives, they were the most conservative. The other three groups were more likely to want egalitarian marriages and to be willing to raise an out of wedlock child. More blacks than whites supported extended family networks and radical political action. Women were more in favor of egalitarian marriages than men.     

Some Constraints in the Learning of Family Therapy

It is the authors' contention that there are identifiable learning constraints for trainee family therapists that influence their rate and range of practice development. These constraints are conceptualised at three levels of abstraction: 1. Dogmas from the stone tablets; 2. Restrictive styles of practice; and 3. Unarticulated presuppositions. The relationship between these constraints is discussed in relation to learning and is presented within a student-directed framework for adult learning.     

Working with parents to reduce juvenile sex offender recidivism

Although there is very little research in the area of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment, one of the factors that might be worth exploring is how the parental relationship may aid in successful relapse prevention. Since the family environment is a potential risk factor for adolescent sex offenders, integration of relapse prevention into daily family life may be a significant part of these youths' success or failure in the community. This article focuses on the concept of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment. Issues addressed include what treatment providers can do to involve parents in relapse prevention, treatment providers' misconceptions about the inclusion of parents in treatment, a rationale for including parents in treatment, and research regarding different parenting styles.     

A BLUEPRINT FOR INCREASING THE RELEVANCE OF FAMILY THERAPY RESEARCH

Family therapy research and psychotherapy research in general have been criticized for their lack of relevance to clinical practice. This paper presents a fivestage model that family therapy researchers can follow to increase the relevance of their work for clinicians and other consumers of family therapy research. Using lessons derived from private industry, the research model is based on a marketing and developmental perspective.