Regression,Self-Disclosure,and the Teach or Treat Dilemma: Implications of a Relational Approach for Social Work Supervision

This paper presents a brief review of a relational approach to clinical supervision and argues for its application in social work settings. Although an integral and essential part of practice, clinical supervision is underrepresented in the practice literature. Given this paucity of writings on supervision, the recent book by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea and Joan Sarnat, The Supervisory Relationship: A Contemporary Psychodynamic Approach, stands out as a seminal contribution because the authors present a fully developed relational model of supervision that fills a major gap in the development of contemporary relational theory and practice. We selectively review the basic concepts and principles of Frawley-O'Dea and Sarnat's model and apply this supervisory approach to current social work practice. Our focus will be on exploring three controversial and much-debated topics: self-disclosure, regression, and the teach or treat dilemma. Case vignettes from two supervisory experiences will serve to illustrate how a relational approach enhances both the treatment and the supervisory relationship.     

Manuals for socialization: Examples from Girl Scout handbooks 1913–1984

Although using content analysis to examine texts and other artifacts as indicators of societal expectations is not a new idea, youth organization handbooks have been largely overlooked as a rich and innovative source of data. Using examples from Girl Scout handbooks, this article shows how content analysis of these manuals of socialization can yield insights concerning societal expectations for family, career, gender roles, sexual behavior, social stratification, and other aspects of life of interest to sociologists.I gratefully acknowledge Meredith Gould for her special contributions and helpful comments on this paper. I also thank the staff of the Girl Scouts of America headquarters in New York City and the staff of the Penn Laurel Girl Scout Council in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the use of their archives.     

The biological children of foster parents in the foster family

This paper derives from a study of 15 biological children of foster parents, ages 6–12. While foster children have quite properly been the subject of much investigation, practically no research has explored the reactions of the foster parents' own children to the fostering experience. Findings of the study and examples from interviews will be cited which point to the possibility that these children exhibit, among other things, separation anxiety and superego conflicts related to fostering. Certain differences between the reactions of the younger (ages 6–8) and the older (ages 9–12) children will be highlighted.Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Social Welfare degree at New York University School of Social Work, 1985. The author wishes to thank Dr. George Frank, Emily Shachter and Dr. Irving Steingart for their valuable suggestions.     

Dual-careerism and the conjoint-career couple

This article introduces and defines the concept of conjoint-career couples, marital partners that work in the same field or profession. Drawing on the narratives of three couples with structurally varied experiences (older man/younger woman, older woman/younger man, peers), we describe and analyze some of the problems and issues confronting a growing number of academics in the current labor pool. We conclude by discussing some of the overarching patterns common to this situation and the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. Finally, we propose a variety of social policies which academic institutions may want to consider to help meet the challenge of these changing market demographics. Currently she is writing and teaching in the areas of deviance, social theory, and the sociology of children. She is the author ofWheeling and Dealing (Columbia University Press, 1985) and coeditor (with Peter Adler) ofThe Social Dynamics of Financial Markets (JAI Press, 1984). He is the author ofMomentum (Sage, 1981),Membership Roles in Field Research (co-authored with Patricia A. Adler, Sage, 1987), and the editor, along with Patricia A. Adler, ofJournal of Contemporary Ethnography andSociological Studies of Child Development. Her special interests are divorce and remarriage and she is the author (with R.H. Rodgers) ofDivorced Families (W.W. Norton, 1987). His areas of interest are family dynamics with a focus on myth and ritual formation in families. His interests are in social control and political economy. He is the author ofCastles of Our Conscience: Social Control and the American State, 1800–1985, Polity Press, forthcoming. She is the author of books and articles on deviance and social control, qualitative methods, and gender, includingGender Issues in Field Research (Sage, 1988),Madwives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (Rutgers University Press, 1987),The Court of Last Resort: Mental Illness and the Law (University of Chicago Press, 1982).     

The composition of public sector compensation: The effects of unionization and bureaucratic size

This paper examines the effect of the political power of public sector unions on the composition of public sector compensation. Public employee unions provide a relatively low-cost vehicle for organizing workers’ political activity in support of the rent-seeking behavior of local politicians. The unions also provide a conduit for employees to capture part of these rents as payment for political services. Since the public has little interest in paying for the political activities of public workers, these payments are most likely to be made through fringe benefits so as to minimize public scrutiny. The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee for helpful suggestions. Any errors remain those of the authors.     

Angle of regard: The effect of vertical viewing angle on the perception of facial expressions

Two studies were conducted using video records of real faces and three-dimensional schematic faces to investigate the perceptual distortions introduced by viewing faces at a vertical angle and their influence on the attribution of emotional expressions and attitudes. The results indicate that faces seen from below were perceived as morepositive and lessnegative, while faces seen from above appeared morenegative and lesspositive. This effect seems to be moderated by interindividual differences in facial morphology, and perhaps by differences in dynamic aspects of expressions. The second study investigated the respective contribution of the upper half and the lower half of the face to the perceptual distortion found. In general, judges based their attributions of emotional state more on cues from the upper half of the face.     

Evaluation approaches in mental health: Implications of the new federalism

Since the introduction of federal mental health legislation in 1963, there has been a changing emphasis on evaluation and accountability. With direct federal funding of community mental health services, accountability demands were met through expectations for local agency evaluation activities which were overseen by federal authorities. The advent of the New Federalism and the shift to block grant funding of mental health services to state mental health authorities have shifted responsibility for evaluation to the states and local programs. This paper reviews federal mental health statutes to trace the extent and locus of required evaluation activities and discusses two approaches to carrying out program evaluation: "top-down" where the evaluation topic, method, and data collection are mandated by an administering or funding body; and "bottom-up" approaches where the subject, method of study, and data to be collected are developed in response to a felt need at the local agency level. A case study of each approach as used at the state level in mental health is examined. Based on the literature and the case studies, conclusions are presented on the pro's and con's of each method in meeting accountability demands and the barriers which must be overcome for either method to be successful.     

Permissions and the social context

By focusing on formal intensive interview research, this essay explores how the sociohistorical context influences the routine procedures by which sociologists obtained permission to conduct their studies. We examine the permissions process within the specific historical context of the 1950s and contrast it with contemporary issues of informed consent. The need for a more theoretical and situational understanding of permissions is identified, both in regard to human—subjects regulations and social control. Her most recent books areMadwives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (Rutgers University Press, 1987) andGender Issues in Field Research (Sage, 1988). She has written extensively in the fields of mental illness and social control. Her current research focuses on the sociological analysis of art and culture as well as the processes of doing and writing fieldwork. She is also the co-managing editor of theMid-American Review of Sociology.     

The Mexicans and “Us Gringos”: A Case Study of Activist Work With Unauthorized Migrants

Lacking access to social services, unauthorized Mexican day laborers constitute a vulnerable population. This case study uses a critical theory perspective to examine activist efforts to support migrants when professional social workers were unavailable. Using qualitative methods, this study sought to answer three questions: (1) What strategies did unauthorized day laborers and activists deploy to contest anti-immigrant sentiments in a suburban community; (2) how were these strategies shaped by the workers' subterranean status as undocumented and poor; and (3) what are the implications for social work practice? This study seeks to delineate interventions and to identify how migrants themselves perceive such efforts.