A Contribution to the History of Family Therapy in Australia and New Zealand: A Bibliometric Perspective*

The content of the first ten volumes of The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy is analysed to provide a picture of the major themes and subject matter addressed in its formative years using the techniques of bibliometrics and content analysis. A methodology is developed for measuring the prevalence of subject content in the journal which could have application in other fields. The interdisciplinary character of family therapy is demonstrated by the diversity of cited end-of-article journal references. A list of most-cited journals is provided. The characteristics of authorship are discussed with respect to geographic dispersion, institutional affiliation, seniority and gender. The issue of collaborative authorship is discussed in relation to the patterns of co-authorship observed in this period, 1979–1989. The analysis identifies signs of the emergence of family therapy as a discrete field. The paper concludes also that there are positive signs of maturation of the journal. It offers some pointers about directions for the journal in the next phase ofits development.     

Family Therapy for the Trainee in Family Therapy*

The growth and self understanding of the therapist as a person are considered by most training centres to be a significant part of the training process. This article reports on a pilot project which provided marital and family therapy for trainees in a two-year program. Therapy was established on a contract basis and included individual, conjoint, family intergenerational and small group. Interns and family members responded favorably to the program. Supervisors found the experience enabled trainees to maintain an experiential consistency with a general systems model utilized as the core theory of the training program.     

Consumer Feedback from Short Courses in Family Therapy: a New Zealand Report

Questions are emerging regarding the usefulness and efficiency of the present ad hoc and haphazard manner of providing short courses in family therapy. This paper reports on the responses of 105 participants in different types of short seminar-workshops to a mailed, evaluation questionnaire. The characteristics of those attending, their expectations, reported satisfaction and changes in practice following attendance are explored. Felt needs for further training are also reported. Suggestions are made to consumers, organisers and leaders of courses and to all interested in family therapy training regarding possible future directions in short, informal course provision. The need for more detailed study to test out these suggestions and other issues raised is highlighted.     

Coming Back Across the Fence: Masculinity and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture*

Abstract In this paper we explore the social construction of agricultural masculinity and its role in the transition to sustainable agriculture. We draw our evidence from a participatory qualitative study comparing members of the sustainable agriculture group Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) with their non‐PFI neighbors. On the non‐PFI farms, men more often represented what we call monologic masculinity, a conventional masculinity with rigid and polarized gender expectations and strictly negotiated performances that make a clear distinction between men's and women's activities. The male farmers belonging to PFI, on the other hand, more often represented what we call dialogic masculinity, characterized by different measures for work and success than in monologic masculinity, less need for control over nature, and greater social openness. Although both are present to some extent in all male participants, we argue that acceptance of a more dialogic masculinity helps promote the transition to sustainable agriculture.     

Family Therapy Training in Israel*

In Israel the difficulties met with in training social workers in family therapy arise from inherent resistance to change in social and other professional agencies and from insufficient experience in the methodology of training. The family in Israel—a developing country—is undergoing wide-reaching social and cultural changes, which make for additional difficulty in using training models developed in other countries. Nevertheless, graduates of the family therapy program of the Institute for Training and Continued Education of Social Workers in Tel-Aviv, Israel, have shown substantial improvement in several areas of working with problem families.     

Training Issues in Family Therapy*

Group versus individual supervision, the family therapy training model, videotape as a training method, and training paraprofessionals in a traditional academic setting are discussed from the authors' experience in conducting a family therapy training program. Editor.     

Contemporary Concerns in Family Therapy*

The literature indicates that recent clinical concerns concentrate on certain problem areas, while neglecting others. Theory building is slow; agreement on definition, indications, selection, evaluation, training programs, and a unifying conceptual schema is still lacking. Intervention and outcome evaluation remain insufficient. A need for broadness, flexibility, and avoidance of dogmatization is underlined. Resistance to a family and community intervention model continues. It is argued that strength rather than pathology needs emphasis. Some strategies to develop family therapy further are suggested and recommendations made to overcome outlined obstacles.     

Family Therapy and Lithium Deficiency*

Lithium carbonate's usefulness in relieving the more dramatic symptoms of bipolar-affective disorder can obscure the family systems components of this illness. A compromised form of family therapy results which may stabilize the marriage but cause troubles for the larger family system. This paper offers a partial modus operandi for keeping family therapy systems oriented and avoiding the infantilization of the identified patient which occurs when the importance of purely medical treatment is overplayed.     

Alcoholics Anonymous and Family Therapy*

Alcoholism affects the family of the alcoholic as well as the individual problem drinker. Change in drinking behavior is often brought about by change in the alcoholic's family members. There has been a natural evolution in the alcoholism field of self-help groups for mates and children of alcoholics. This development has paralleled the recent growth and development of family therapy as a major mode of psychotherapeutic intervention. Yet, crossfertilization of ideas and intervention strategies between the two fields has been slow in occurring. Arguments over whether one uses family therapy or A.A. and Al-Anon persist. This paper focuses on ways in which family therapy and the A.A. self-help groups add to, rather than detract from, one another. A note of caution about the misuse of family therapy when alcoholism is present is also provided.¹     

Family Context Therapy: A Model for Family Change*

Starting where family group therapy fails, this article breaks new territory in family context therapy. Consolidating the past 14 years of his work, Dr. Bell sets forth a conceptual program and methods to meet problems that earlier forms of family therapy could not reach. Here he provides a model drawn from studies, theories, and personal experience of organizational patterns, interrelations, and change among community institutions that provide settings for family functioning. His new methods are designed to modify the family environment so as to solve family problems and promote beneficial family growth—a framework that may bring together a broad variety of existing family development approaches.     

Goals of Family Therapy*

A review of family therapy goals is presented and discussed. Therapy goals are divided into two major categories: 1) Specific Goals for Specific Families; and 2) General Goals. The latter category is further divided into goals having to do with family interaction and those related to symptoms and character traits of individual family members. Familial and individual goals are discussed in relation to the concept of interrelated, hierarchically arranged systems.     

Family Therapy and the Alienation Syndrome*

This paper reviews the increasing separation of the contemporary family from the community in terms of the sociological concept of alienation. It proposes that there is compelling evidence that the isolation of the nuclear family exerts a pathological influence on the mental health of families and of individual family members; that family therapists have paid minimal attention to the isolation in their zeal to develop effective techniques for altering intra-familial processes; and that the family therapy movement has the potential for exerting a significant corrective impact on the social forces which further the isolation of contemporary families.     

Making Men: The Construction and Representation of Agriculture‐Based Masculinities in Australia and New Zealand*

Abstract Gender analyses of farming have become well established in rural sociological literature. In recent years, however, increasing attention has been given to the discursive processes influencing gender relations and identities. In the current paper I continue this trend by exploring how a range of key agriculture‐related masculinities are constructed and articulated in Australia and New Zealand. First, a conceptual discussion identifies the need to consider discourse and creation of knowledge and truths about masculinity. An outline of the research is provided. Then I report on two broad fields in which masculinity is constructed, namely the farm arena and industry politics. Finally, I make closing comments in relation to the possibility of alternative genderings of agriculture.     

Family Court Mediation: New Zealand Practices and Perspectives

Family separation is increasingly being dealt with by counsellors trained in the skills of mediation, along with skills of counselling and therapy. Other professionals also offer mediation services. In New Zealand, special provisions exist in the Family Court system to minimise the trauma for families by using mediation services, with the special opportunity for a couple to enter a Mediation Conference chaired by a Family Court Judge. It is argued that mediation is different from counselling and therapy, but that mediation requires many of the skills of counselling. This has particular consequences for training and for multidisciplinary teamwork.