The Family Context of Relational Aggression in “Difficult to Treat” Female Juvenile Offenders

Female juvenile offenders often engage in socially aggressive behaviors that make them more difficult to treat than male juvenile offenders. This social (i.e., relational) aggression may be developed or maintained through transactions with family members. To investigate this issue, we measured relational aggression in the family interactions of 140 adolescents divided by gender and offender status into four equal‐sized groups (female juvenile offenders, male juvenile offenders, female nonoffenders, and male nonoffenders). Adolescents and caregivers completed a family discussion task, and raters coded relationally aggressive behaviors at the dyadic level. Results showed that female juvenile offenders and their mothers directed more relational aggression toward each other than did mother–adolescent dyads in the other groups. Implications of these results for treatment and research are discussed.     

Using a Book Group to Facilitate Student Learning About Social Work

The focus of this short paper is the increasingly popular format of the book group. This format has been used on an undergraduate social work programme in the UK with the aim of engaging students, as some enjoy reading fiction for pleasure but find it harder to read social science. The BA Social Work Book Group has met regularly to discuss non-social science books, such as novels and autobiographies. A specific example is presented of a best-selling novel with significant social work content (J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy) and the book group's discussion of this. The strengths and limitations of book groups in social work education are drawn out.     

Violent Behavior in Interpersonal Relationships*

Like all interpersonal behavior, violent behavior is constructed within a situation by its participants. Structural determinants have insufficient explanatory power precisely because they do not account for the large amount of variation among actors and between situations. As an alternative, the violations of relational rules are examined, for such violations may be perceived as threats to the situated identities of the participants. The subsequent negotiation of identities and implementation of threat-reduction tactics precede and facilitate violent encounters. The movement from a heightened identity threat to the initiation of violence as a threat-reducing tactic may then be accounted for in terms of the following structural variables: subculture of violence, experience, intoxicants, audience, cost of failure.     

Perceptions of Relational Practices in the Workplace

We examined the intersection of gender and work through an investigation of relationally motivated behaviour in the workplace. Using Fletcher's ethnography of women's relational practices in a masculine work environment as a springboard, we examined Fletcher's typology of relational practice, participants' perceptions of employees who perform these forms of behaviour and whether these perceptions were related to gender. Working adults (N = 128) completed online surveys containing workplace scenarios and rated how effective and submissive they perceived the behaviour to be. Overall, participants rated relational practices as ineffective and submissive, regardless of whether a man or a woman had performed them. However, they reported that they would behave the same way as the target and they offered relationally oriented reasons for their choice. Relational practices remain paradoxical in the workplace, both necessary and devalued.     

Argument-inconsistency in charity appeals: Statistical information about the scope of the problem decrease helping toward a single identified victim but not helping toward many non-identified victims in a refugee crisis context

It is known that both the characteristics of the victims one can help and the existence of victims one cannot help influence economic helping decisions in suboptimal ways. The aim of this study was to systematically test if these two aspects interact with each other. In Studies 1 and 2, we created hypothetical charity appeals related to the Syrian refugee crisis and factorially manipulated characteristics of victims possible to help (one identified child/nine non-identified children) and presence of statistical information about the scope and nature of the problem (information-box absent/present). We found a significant interaction effect both when using self-rated helping intention (Study 1), and when using actual donation behavior as the dependent variable (Study 2). Statistical information decreased helping intentions toward a single identified child but had no, or even a small positive effect on helping nine non-identified children. In Study 3, non-student participants reading a charity appeal with both a story about one identified child and statistical information donated less often than participants reading appeals with either only a story about one identified child or only statistical information. We suggest that both emotional arguments (e.g., a story and picture of an identified child in need) and analytical arguments (e.g., detailed statistical information about the scope and nature of the problem) can make us more motivated to help refugees, but that mixing different argument-types can make charity appeals internally inconsistent and decrease donations.     

‘I Just Don't Agree’: A Voice-Oriented Analysis of An IFPS Case of Alleged Child Maltreatment

In contrast to the many outcome studies of Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS), little is known about the underlying personal and relational dynamics of family crisis interventions. This article focuses on the core evolving dynamics of the changing self-presentations of a parent involved in an intensive home-based family preservation case of alleged child maltreatment. Three key family intervention sessions were videotaped and transcribed including both verbal and nonverbal behavior. The Listening Guide Method – a theoretically flexible, qualitative, relationally oriented method of in-depth interpretative analysis – served as our guide for this case analysis. In the processes of change toward a jointly constructed meaningful narrative on responsibility and self-care, two key elements emerged as playing a pivotal role: (1) the momentum of a potential referral of children to out-of-home care that precedes the start of an IFPS intervention and (2) the rhizomatic or root-like intertwinement of the voices of both parent and therapist with respect to the rationale for any involvement of society in the family. We argue that discourses on imminent placement in the context of family preservation deserve a genuine and valuable position in the initial discourse of a family therapist when entering a family in the context of crisis intervention. Both in understanding and driving any processes of change, we may need to reconsider our own willingness to step into the blending interplay of discourse and counter-discourse with our clients on the subject of our often drastic intervention. Consequently, we may read this narrative analysis as an invitation to reflect on the conceptualization of ‘client readiness’ in psychotherapy and to shift our thinking on preconditions for therapy from a client's readiness toward a therapist's attentiveness to listen.     

Monogamy,the Protective Fallacy: Sexual versus Emotional Exclusivity and the Implication for Sexual Health Risk

The authors examined the hypothesis that many individuals define monogamy based on emotional rather than sexual fidelity. Participants, 373 heterosexual college students and 282 gay men, read three vignettes of decreasing mitigation in which they imagined committing an act of infidelity against a hypothetical partner and where half the participants were cued to their emotional attachment toward the partner. Despite the infidelity, relationships in the emotional attachment–cued vignettes were rated as monogamous to a greater degree than relationships in the vignettes where emotional attachment was not cued. In addition, over one-third of the participants in our study reported infidelity in their current self-defined monogamous relationships yet also reported feeling more protected from sexual health risks and reported less condom use than individuals who defined their relationship as nonmonogamous. The implications for monogamy as a protective fallacy are discussed.     

Micro‐Situational Antecedents of Violent Atrocity1

This article presents an analysis of video recordings showing micro‐situational events that preceded the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which more than 7,000 Bosnian‐Muslim men were killed by troops of the Bosnian Serb Army. The article focuses on the sequential unfolding of micro interactions and emotional dynamics that preceded the atrocity. Micro interactions constitute situational turning points toward, or away from, atrocities. Even if there are preplanned plots or macro‐structural background conditions that lead particular persons to be motivated to commit violence, a micro‐situational, emotional momentum is needed for atrocities to occur. The article brings together the analysis of video material of violent situations with Ekman’s research tools for emotional cues and Collins’s micro‐sociological theory of violence.     

Men's recognition of violence against women and spousal abuse: comparison of three groups of men

Our goal was to assess whether men in the following three groups differ in their ability to recognize and judge the severity of diverse forms of aggressive behavior: (a) men who reported being physically aggressive toward their spouses and who were entering treatment for domestic violence; (b) men who, after participating in a treatment program, were no longer physically violent; and (c) men who reported never having been physically violent towards their spouses (NPV group-non-physically violent). All 81 men in the study reported being verbally aggressive toward their spouses. Men who had been in treatment for spousal abuse and who had not been physically violent toward their spouses since finishing the program were better able than the other two groups to recognize emotionally abusive behaviors.     

Posttraumatic Growth in Relationally Betrayed Women

The research literature on relational betrayal in a committed relationship has focused on the resulting trauma from the betrayal; however, few studies investigated the potential for posttraumatic growth following a relational betrayal. This study investigated the presence of posttraumatic growth in relationally betrayed women. The research focused on women's perceptions of the relational betrayal, and factors that facilitated posttraumatic growth. Results indicated relationally betrayed women perceived the betrayal as a traumatic event, to the extent that some met criteria for PTSD diagnosis. The passage of time was significant corollary to posttraumatic growth when moderated by a PTSD diagnosis. Finally, certain resources were reported to be more helpful than others in the development of posttraumatic growth. Clinical implications are presented.     

It's Not as Simple as It Seems: Ambiguous Culpability and Ambivalent Affect In News Representations of Violent Youth

While violence problems are a staple of both the mass media and work by constructionist social problems theorists, most of the latter has focused on violent adults. Constructionist research suggests that the media depict violent persons as evil victimizers, deserving of fear and condemnation, and their victims as deserving of sympathy. This article extends the constructionist literature on violence problems by examining news stories that construct youth violence as a social problem. My findings suggest that these media constructions are considerably more complex than previous work has claimed. Specifically, I find that the media (a) contextualize youth violence by casting extant, familiar social problems as its origins and (b) engender an ambiguous sense of culpability and ambivalent emotional orientations toward violent youth. This complexity is shaped, in part, by the media's appropriation of two seemingly contradictory cultural discourses—the evil, violent predator and the innocent child. I suggest that although aspects of these findings may be specific to the problem of violent youth, the contextualization, ambiguity, and ambivalence may well be found in social constructions of a variety of other problems.     

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development, 1993

This is not a boring, sterile review. Neither is it exhaustive, unbiased, or genteel. My aspiration was to write an interesting, informative, and forthright article that would encourage career counselors to continue their education by reading the original books and articles discussed herein. The praise I expressed is genuine, as is the criticism. My intent was to explain what I found useful, thoughtful, helpful—or not. My hope is that those who read this review will appreciate my viewpoints. I do not expect everyone, however, to subscribe to my positions for, surely, controversy and eclecticism may hone the critical and creative thinking necessary to move career counseling and development forward into the next millennium.     

Gender,relationship stage,and sexual behavior: the importance of partner emotional investment within specific situations

This study examined the relationship of type of sexually instigating situation (partner behavior conveying emotional investment or not), relationship stage, and gender to self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexual behavior. Participants (200 female and 122 male college students) read scenarios describing partner behavior in eight hypothetical sexual situations. Five of the sexual situations were proposed to explicitly communicate a sense of emotional investment in the relationship, and three other scenarios were conceived as not explicitly conveying emotional investment. Emotional investment situations were hypothesized to influence likelihood ratings as a function of imagined relationship stage (dating or in a serious relationship), manipulated across participants. Situations not conveying investment were hypothesized to influence ratings as a function of both relationship stage and gender. In large part, hypotheses were confirmed. The few exceptions were consistent with other gender-role considerations related to trust and power.     

新时代，我们做书女

一杯清茶，一本好书，一个下午，一人自在。在网络通讯、电子科技日益发达的今天，点点鼠标就可以在网上购买到打折图书，动动手指就可以用手机或电子阅读器浏览电子书，     

Gender,relationship stage,and sexual behavior: The importance of partner emotional investment within specific situations

This study examined the relationship of type of sexually instigating situation (partner behavior conveying emotional investment or not), relationship stage, and gender to self‐reported likelihood of engaging in sexual behavior. Participants (200 female and 122 male college students) read scenarios describing partner behavior in eight hypothetical sexual situations. Five of the sexual situations were proposed to explicitly communicate a sense of emotional investment in the relationship, and three other scenarios were conceived as not explicitly conveying emotional investment. Emotional investment situations were hypothesized to influence likelihood ratings as a function of imagined relationship stage (dating or in a serious relationship), manipulated across participants. Situations not conveying investment were hypothesized to influence ratings as afiinction of both relationship stage and gender. In large part, hypotheses were confirmed. The few exceptions were consistent with other gender‐role considerations related to trust and power.     

Collaborative Care at a Distance: Student Therapists' Experiences of Learning and Delivering Relationally Focused Telemental Health

There is mounting evidence that telemental health is an effective delivery method for treating a variety of mental, emotional, behavioral, and relational health problems. While many of the therapeutic skills leading to the effectiveness of face-to-face treatments are transferable, the effectiveness of telemental health requires unique skills. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the experience of learning how to use videoconferencing to deliver relationally focused mental health care. Participants included 10 graduates of a COAMFTE-accredited master's degree program emphasizing training in telemental health. Each student had practicum placements that required videoconferencing to deliver relationally based psychotherapy. Analysis of interview data revealed (a) personal reservations about distance delivery; (b) the importance of scaffolding student learning through curriculum, supervision, and mental health-care delivery protocols; (c) the technological barriers associated with this delivery method; and (d) overcoming technological barriers through intentionality.     

Obsessive relational intrusion: incidence, perceived severity, and coping

Two studies investigated the phenomenon of obsessive relational intrusion (ORI), defined as repeated and unwanted pursuit and invasion of one's sense of physical or symbolic privacy by another person, either stranger or acquaintance, who desires and/or presumes an intimate relationship. In Study 1, we sought to identify the incidence of a broad range of relationally intrusive behaviors, to identify the coping responses employed by victims of ORI, and to assess the associations between coping responses and ORI behaviors. Study 2 assessed the perceived degree of severity of ORI behaviors. Results revealed that each of 63 ORI behaviors was experienced by 3-78% of respondents in three different samples. Factor analysis revealed four types of ORI behavior: pursuit, violation, threat, and hyper-intimacy. Responses for coping with ORI consisted of interaction, protection, retaliation, and evasion. Virtually all intrusive behaviors were perceived to be annoying. Some types of ORI behaviors were perceived to be relatively more threatening, upsetting and privacy-invading than others. Although sex differences were not observed for the incidence of ORI or coping, women consistently perceived ORI behaviors to be more annoying, upsetting, threatening, and privacy-invading than did men.     

阅读与分享改变生活

吴海家庭来自宁夏回族自治区银川市,他们不仅热爱读书,也热衷分享。5年来,通过组织不同主题的阅读活动,吴海和妻子孙萍将许多喜欢读书的家庭聚在一起,分享收获,树立了“爱读书、读好书、善读书”的良好文明风尚。     

Attitudes Toward Juvenile Sex Offender Legislation: The Influence of Case-Specific Information

This study examined attitudes toward the application of adult sex offender legislation to juvenile sex offenders. Participants were randomly assigned to one of nine conditions. In the generic condition, the participants were asked to envision a generic juvenile sex offender, whereas in the manipulated conditions, participants read a vignette with three manipulated variables: offense type, victim age, and victim gender. Afterward, all participants (n = 978) completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of juvenile sex offenders and juvenile sex offender legislation. Overall, participants in the generic juvenile sex offender condition rated the perpetrator as more dangerous and more likely to reoffend than participants in the experimental conditions. Moreover, participants in the generic juvenile sex offender condition were more likely to endorse more punitive punishments and viewed perpetrators as “superpredators.” When examining differences between the experimental conditions, participants reading vignettes with younger victims and male victims as well as vignettes with contact offenses were more likely to view the perpetrator as dangerous, likely to recidivate, as a “superpredator,” and deserving of more punitive punishments. Implications for public policy as well as future research directions are discussed.