Clients’ perceptions of marriage and family therapists’ way‐of‐being: a phenomenological analysis

Previous research highlights the influence of therapist factors on treatment outcomes. One therapist factor proposed as fundamental to the process of therapy is the therapist's way‐of‐being, a relational concept that refers to how the therapist regards a client—either as a person or object (Fife et al., [2014] Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 40, 20–33). Although this case has been made conceptually, there is little empirical research on therapists’ way‐of‐being with clients. The primary purpose of this research is to investigate clients’ perceptions of their therapists’ way‐of‐being. Utilizing a common factors perspective, the study seeks to explore: (a) how clients experience their therapists’ way‐of‐being and (b) the influence therapists’ way‐of‐being has on clients’ engagement. Phenomenological methods were used to gain a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon. Qualitative data were collected through semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with clients (N = 10) who received individual therapy from a marriage and family therapist. Results were organized into two main themes: core tenets (attunement, congruency, and aligning with clients) and operational tenets (providing affirmation and validation, balancing flexibility and structure, and accomplishing goals). Findings are used to make a case for adding the concept of way‐of‐being as an overarching construct for several well‐established therapist factors. Clinical and training implications are discussed.     

Factors shaping activists’ perceptions of corporate organizations: An empirical case from South Korea

The current study aims to explore the factors that shape activists’ perceptions of corporate organizations. This study administered the survey method to examine how activists perceive corporate operations and reputation in South Korea. The three factors that directed how the activist groups perceived the corporate sector are “corporate social responsibility,” “internal corporate culture,” “and “the extent of corporate openness.” Factor analysis showed that the activist groups used these criteria when they evaluate corporate reputation.     

Measuring rates of word‐final nasal velarization: The effect of dialect contact on in‐group and out‐group exchanges1

Three Salvadoran corpora were used to analyze word‐final nasal variation in a situation of dialect contact. To determine the effect of ethnicity on the variation, two different interviewers, one an out‐group member and a speaker of Mexican Spanish, the other an in‐group member and a speaker of Salvadoran Spanish, interacted with Salvadorans, born or claiming family ties to San Sebastián, El Salvador, now living in the Holly Spring area of Houston. To explore the impact of the speech community, the same Mexican interviewer gathered data in Segundo Barrio, which – unlike Holly Spring – is an area of Houston where Mexicans are the overwhelming majority. The Houston data were compared to data gathered in situ in San Sebastián, the latter serving as the control group used to quantify possible modifications in the contact speech samples. The Houston data showed that Salvadorans interviewed by an in‐group member of the community produced higher rates of nasal velarization; their velarization rates closely matched the patterns characteristic of the non‐contact variety. In addition, Salvadorans in Holly Spring velarized more than their counterparts in Segundo Barrio. The Houston informants used lower frequencies of nasal velarization to out‐group interviewers, thus showing accommodation and producing linguistic patterns closer to those found in the contact Mexican variety.     

The persistence of variation in individual grammars: Copula absence in ‘urban sojourners’ and their stay‐at‐home peers,Bequia (St Vincent and the Grenadines)1

Recent work on phonological variation largely supports the apparent‐time construct, though some change across an individual's lifespan is possible. But how much change is possible in an individual's grammar? How much is grammar affected by extended absence in a new, urban speech community? Social dialect surveys traditionally exclude individuals who have left their community for an extended period of time, under the assumption that dialect contact causes levelling or restructuring of the linguistic system. However, our ongoing work in a Caribbean speech community suggests that the kinds of changes that can affect grammatical variables are more constrained than we might think. Raw frequencies of vernacular variants may fluctuate, but language‐internal constraints persist. Drawing on recordings from Bequia we compare the group norms for absence of copula/auxiliary be in three villages. We show that ‘urban sojourners’– Bequians who have spent an extended period overseas – may sound very different from their stay‐at‐home peers, but close examination shows only superficial restructuring of their grammars. Overall frequencies of be absence may be dramatically reduced but the ranking of language‐internal constraints remains largely unchanged. These results reaffirm the validity of modelling variable rules in a community grammar, rather than as an aggregation of idiolectal norms.     

Syntactic variation and beyond: Gender and social class variation in the use of discourse‐new markers1

The paper explores the relations between syntactic variation and the large‐scale social dimensions of gender and social class. It argues on the basis of an analysis of the marking of discourse‐new entities in interview speech that syntactic variants may frequently be involved in sociolinguistic variation, but indirectly, as just one of a broad set of choices that includes forms drawn from other components of language besides syntax. The analysis shows that although there is no sociolinguistic variation in the use of the strategies speakers use to mark discourse‐new information, there are significant social class and gender differences in the use of Noun Phrases that are not marked. Whilst acknowledging the risks of generalising on the basis of large‐scale social categories, an interpretation of these differences is suggested in relation to findings from previous research that suggest differences in the interactive style of different gender and social class groups. The paper discusses some implications of the analysis for the fields of language variation and change, and pragmatics.     

End‐of‐Life Treatment Preferences Among Older Adults: An Assessment of Psychosocial Influences1

We explore the content and correlates of older adults’ end‐of‐life treatment preferences in two hypothetical terminal illness scenarios: severe physical pain with no cognitive impairment, and severe cognitive impairment with no physical pain. For each scenario, we assess whether participants would reject life‐prolonging treatment, accept treatment, or do not know their preferences. Using data from the 2004 wave of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 5,106), we estimate multinomial logistic regression models to evaluate whether treatment preferences are associated with direct experience with end‐of‐life issues, personal beliefs, health, and sociodemographic characteristics. Persons who have made formal end‐of‐life preparations, persons with no religious affiliation, mainline Protestants, and persons who are pessimistic about their own life expectancy are more likely to reject treatment in both scenarios. Women and persons who witnessed the painful death of a loved one are more likely to reject treatment in the cognitive impairment scenario only. Consistent with rational choice perspectives, our results suggest that individuals prefer treatments that they perceive to have highly probable desirable consequences for both self and family.