Treating the Effects of Interpersonal Violence: A Comparison of Two Group Models

Surveys have shown that one in four women in the United States experiences intimate partner violence in her lifetime. Interpersonal violence has demonstrated negative effects on a victim's health and well-being. Yet research on interventions aimed at treating the psychosocial effects of this experience is limited. The purpose of the research reported here is to deepen our understanding of the impact of group-based interventions for treating this population. Specifically, this study looks at two different group models to determine their effectiveness in treating two widely recognized effects of intimate partner violence: increased depression and lowered self-esteem.     

Care Proceedings: Exploring the Relationship Between Case Duration and Achieving Permanency for the Child

The 1989 Children Act in England and Wales and the derivative1995 Children (NI) Order in Northern Ireland provide the legislativeframework within which issues pertaining to the care and supervisionof children that come before the Courts are examined. Both piecesof legislation were intended to address a number of problemswith the way that such issues were dealt with by the Court,particularly the tendency for proceedings to become protractedand for children to ‘drift’ in care as a consequence.The imposition of the ‘No Delay’ principle in bothjurisdictions was designed specifically to address these concerns.However, since the introduction of both the 1989 Children Act(implemented in October 1991) and the 1995 Children (NI) Order(implemented in November 1996), there has been a steady increasein the average duration of proceedings and concerns remain aboutthe impact that this may be having upon the children involved.This paper presents the findings of a research study (McSherry et al., 2004)that explored the complex relationship between the durationof care proceedings and costs to children in terms of the likelihoodof achieving permanency.     

Youth engagement and service dosage in a mandated setting: A study of residential treatment centers

Treatment theory in residential treatment centers (RTCs) is conceived as a two-stage process of first engaging the client and then delivering services or interventions aimed at presenting problems. This treatment logic has been criticized for “creaming clients” or reserving services for clients easier to engage or more amenable to treatment but less in need. The present study examines whether higher early levels of engagement by youth in RTCs leads to more intervention and compares the relative effects of engagement and seriousness of presenting problems on the quantity of services provided by the mid-point in the adolescents' stay. Data come from interviews with a clinical sample of 71 male and 59 female adolescents in two RTCs in an eastern state. Findings indicate that higher level of engagement predicts more treatment interventions. Treatment staff delivered higher dosages of services to youth with more current behavioral problems, not those with problematic behaviors at intake. Youth with positive peer group backgrounds also received more services. Findings extend knowledge of how treatment staff provide treatment to clients and the role engagement plays in RTC service delivery.     

Spouse-aided Therapy and Psychiatric Nursing: A Preliminary Report

The training of psychiatric nurses as behavioural nurse therapists has been successfully established in the U.K. by Marks et al. However, their approach has a number of theoretical and practical limitations, such as a rigid adherence to an illness model of psychiatric disorder. This paper describes and evaluates an approach to the training of psychiatric nurses based on systems theory. Four nurses were trained in the use of Spouse-aided Therapy, a time-limited, goal-orientated outpatient approach to the treatment of married psychiatric patients with persisting psychological disorders. Patients' spouses are involved throughout therapy, with the aim of making full use of resources within marriage which may facilitate patients' recovery. Questionnaire and anecdotal data from 12 patients showed a mean fall of 30% in patients' symptoms and a mean fall of 20% in marital dissatisfaction after therapy. The pattern of results supported a systems theory interpretation of outcome.